Big 12 Expansion



  • @jayhawks2010 Your analysis is correct, but that saturation of college games is precisely why KU would not command a massive audience in the regular season. Too many other choices.



  • I think the bottom line is , that we as fans can try and twist things around , wish , hope , , talking about why being independent would work- - the fact is these super conferences are now a reality - -this is the future for football & College sports it’s just the fact of life now.

    We can complain & wish all we want about KU not merging , KU becoming an independent KU going to the BIG - -thing is IT’S NOT HAPENING Or as far as the BIG goes not happening for some time to come. - We just don’t bring enough Market value for them to invite. - You can argue all you want. - -If they are not adding Stanford & Washington calling them tweeners where they don’t bring enough value- -then they sure the hell aren’t inviting KU for some time

    The Big 12 & KU by talking with these Pac 12 4 Schools is doing what they need to do at this time. We CAN NOT just sit still and do nothing If they did then the Big 12 would be screwed and would be a thing of the past. Then we would have to hang onto our butts and hope to GOD for the best. - This at the present time anyways is about the best scenario - either add these 4 Schools OR just merge total with the PAC 12 we become that 3rd Conference



  • So I read where the law makers is Washington & Oregon that said there was a movement to emphasize to put tax pyers and public not wanting to split PAC 12 public Schools. - If they are successful that would force Oregon State? Oregon & Washington State & Washington together - you take one - -you take them both or not at all.

    I’m sur the Big 10 would neve accept that as it waters down the amount for evey school because WSU & OSU for sur do not bring enough market value.

    This in turn may add more credence to the Big 12 ? Pac 12 joinging together/merging as a mega conference - merging together and having all of these schools come together



  • Read Dennis Dodds latest from like a half hour ago. - -Saying the Big 12 was in DEEP discussions with the Pac 12 of adding at least 4 teams to the Big 12 , could be more- - -maybe 6 with Washinton & Oregon. -Talking about how the big 12 has a small lean in their favor with the two leagues



  • Seems like we might hear about Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, & Utah first. Oregon and Washington later on, perhaps waiting to see what Notre Dame does. If everything moves forward as rumored I’m really liking how things are shaping up for the Big12.



  • Also, Utah fans are something else. Had no idea. If they join this will take some getting used to.



  • @RockkChalkk said in Big 12 Expansion:

    Also, Utah fans are something else. Had no idea. If they join this will take some getting used to.

    Sounds like Arizona State fans are a piece of cake also



  • @RockkChalkk said in Big 12 Expansion:

    Seems like we might hear about Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, & Utah first. Oregon and Washington later on, perhaps waiting to see what Notre Dame does. If everything moves forward as rumored I’m really liking how things are shaping up for the Big12.

    Yea if that is how this shakes out, I’ll be very happy. What would the Vegas odds of the B12 surviving another round of expansion after the OU/UT fiasco?

    I would have said 100 - 1 no chance in Hell the B12 would survive as a power conference. But here we are about to poach from the Pac12.

    Would LOVE some commentary from Bill Walton right about now.



  • Any guesses how soon this gets done with these 4 Schools ? - -End of the week ?



  • I’d caution everyone not to count our eggs before they hatch. This has the feel of something that could fall through. There hasn’t been a ton of reporting about it, just the same rumor/tip being repeated over and over, not a lot of hard facts to go off of.



  • This has all the feeling of my son and him collecting Pokemon cards.

    What would happen if we ditch football? It’s a huge loser for us and why not focus our AD on more productive sports. Then we go independent in basketball with the goal to truly become “America’s team.”

    @Texas-Hawk-10 opened my eyes to our potential hit in academic programs and I do consider that a major consideration.

    What happens when we think “outside of the box?” Big 10 inclusion is not going to happen and we waste our time having thoughts like that.

    We form a union with the west and what happens (besides playing games late at night with viewership #s down)? If we are desperately seeking the financial strength of a conference… will this bring it to us? All I see is suddenly we are playing a bunch of games out west, when TV viewership drops considerably. Why do we win with that?

    What could we be without football? Obviously, we won’t be able to join these two super conferences (that aren’t asking us anyways). If we didn’t have the drain of football on our AD what could we become in many other sports? Since Kansas basketball is a well-known brand… why couldn’t we be independent and draw home/away serious with most of the top teams? How would that work financially? Couldn’t individual sports join conference memberships independently?



  • @RockkChalkk said in Big 12 Expansion:

    I’d caution everyone not to count our eggs before they hatch. This has the feel of something that could fall through. There hasn’t been a ton of reporting about it, just the same rumor/tip being repeated over and over, not a lot of hard facts to go off of.

    Colorado Board of regents has a meeting scheduled from between 5:30 & 7 tonight - -not off an site but off offical Web site - -pulled this of post from Baylor board. - Now does this have to do with the talks we had today ? - - hmmmm



  • @drgnslayr said in Big 12 Expansion:

    This has all the feeling of my son and him collecting Pokemon cards.

    What would happen if we ditch football? It’s a huge loser for us and why not focus our AD on more productive sports. Then we go independent in basketball with the goal to truly become “America’s team.”

    @Texas-Hawk-10 opened my eyes to our potential hit in academic programs and I do consider that a major consideration.

    What happens when we think “outside of the box?” Big 10 inclusion is not going to happen and we waste our time having thoughts like that.

    We form a union with the west and what happens (besides playing games late at night with viewership #s down)? If we are desperately seeking the financial strength of a conference… will this bring it to us? All I see is suddenly we are playing a bunch of games out west, when TV viewership drops considerably. Why do we win with that?

    What could we be without football? Obviously, we won’t be able to join these two super conferences (that aren’t asking us anyways). If we didn’t have the drain of football on our AD what could we become in many other sports? Since Kansas basketball is a well-known brand… why couldn’t we be independent and draw home/away serious with most of the top teams? How would that work financially? Couldn’t individual sports join conference memberships independently?

    I think FarmerJayhawk pretty well answered your question about going independent in Basketball. – -Conferenes and networks aren’t going to do any KU favors in the middle of the season and schedule just so we can play them KU going indepedent would be suicide for our program just not workable



  • Funny story: a bunch of Az Mildcat fans are going on the Phog and hoping and praying they get invited to the B12. They want to play Kansas, and they are excited about it! That’s going to be a hell of a basketball league- KU, Baylor, Az, Houston were all Top 10 last year. I think we’ll hear very shortly we have AZ, Az St, Utah and Colorado going to the B12. Don’t quote me on it- I have a strong hunch.



  • @drgnslayr are you Lew Perkins?



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    Ha… Actually, I knew Lew.

    I’m expressing my complete frustration with this entire bs. No amount of money is going to put a shine on this turd.

    Can’t we bring in some Russian and Chinese teams to our conference? They can draw in millions of viewers and we’ll be RICH! lol



  • @jayballer67

    Why wouldn’t they schedule in a team that would lift their SOS, regardless of the time of year? Their current conference is nothing but a joke anyways. lol



  • @drgnslayr said in Big 12 Expansion:

    @jayballer67

    Why wouldn’t they schedule in a team that would lift their SOS, regardless of the time of year? Their current conference is nothing but a joke anyways. lol

    Nobody is scheduling a random non-con game in February. The money would be terrible, Self would leave, and the program would effectively die. There would be no incentive for, say, Purdue to play KU in February. You’d have to disrupt the regular league schedule or add a game midweek. Which the conferences just won’t do and 3 games in a week just for fun would be not intelligent scheduling. There are good reasons why the last independent joined a conference in 2016. Go look at NJIT’s schedule that last year. Sometimes they played back to back nights, sometimes it was almost 2 weeks between games. Good luck selling season tickets or recruiting when you have no idea when or who we’re playing until the summer.

    And that’s not even going into where you park other sports. Or we just drop all but football, basketball, and women’s rowing to meet Title IX compliance. I know some want to drop football and be Gonzaga of the Big East. Which would involve an almost 90% cut to tv revenue. Good luck keeping Self happy, being competitive with NIL, and keeping facilities upgraded with less than $5m per year coming in from TV.



  • Now they’re talking about the pac 12 leftovers joining the ACC.



  • We should merge with the Pac12 and ACC and rename it the Continental Conference. Great players could be named All-Continent.



  • I’m having a hard time figuring out why the Pac 12 talking heads are having such a hard time accepting the Big 12. they snubbed us before when some big 12 teams were possibly thinking about merging and now these same dam people are turning their noses when there is talk of some Pac 12 teams coming to the Big 12.

    Still with the ACC reading their boards and for the most part Arizona and State fans think this talk of a loose parentship with the ACC would be a joke and not the answer to the money situation.

    My question now becomes though if the Pac 12 does form this relationship with the ACC then what happens with us ? - -Doesn’t paint a very pretty picture and again NO the chances of KU getting an invite to the glamorous BIG is a very remote possibility as they other schools still in line for invites before KU



  • Well read this from TOS Greg Swaim tweeted out : " The Big 12 has made their offer to the six Schools in the Pac 12 very clear and has detailed Fox TV numbes to go with it. - - Understand that this offer has expiration date of 30 days. - - -Farmer , what you think ? - -any validity to this have you heard anything ?

    I know from reading boards still lots of Arizona - -Arizona St and Utah fans thinking the best move would be for them to join Big 12 - -just don’t know how much truth there is in this but on the other hand I’ve never heard of the guy but same goes FOR NOT being true.

    Read an article saying that ESPN owns the shabang with the ACc and that the PAC 12 & the ACC hooking up really wouldn’t make much of difference money wise. - let me hear your thoughts farmer



  • @mayjay

    Or even bigger…

    “One World Conference!”

    Just in case we expand to international partners!



  • Well I’m not feeling nearly as confident as I was earlier. Just listened to Matt Brown from the extra point , and he was saying that from the athletic directors he had talked to about how the Big 12 was in the drivers seat and that it was a close to anything the PAC 12 AD’S were saying Whoaaa not so fast that their weren’t really any serious discussions and not really that sure about this whole Arizona and group joining If it does happen they said it’s going to be awhile it’s not something that is going to happen soon.

    He said he really didn’t think the Big 12 was in the drivers seat saying really he doesn’t think there was going to be any more re-alignment or merging until he siad he thinks it’s going to take until Norte Dame makes up their mind what they are going to do. - After they decide then we very well could see the next Domino fall. - He sure wasn’t as positive about the Big 12 getting these teams from the Pac 12 as was thought



  • I understand the PAC12 is going into television rights negotiations 2 years early to get a value on their remaining teams. Remaining teams may want to hear that before deciding. I’m thinking this will be a drawn out process.



  • @Gorilla72 said in Big 12 Expansion:

    I understand the PAC12 is going into television rights negotiations 2 years early to get a value on their remaining teams. Remaining teams may want to hear that before deciding. I’m thinking this will be a drawn out process.

    That’s the whole purpose of them opening their negotiations up early so they can make some kind of counter offer to whatever the Big 12 presented yesterday. I still think at the end of the day, 4 teams moving to the Big 12 is the most likely and I could see Oregon and Washington following USC and UCLA to the Big 10 once Notre Dame makes their decision.

    Personally, I think all Notre Dame’s decision does is affect how big the Big 10 goes in expansion. If Notre Dame says yes, not as difficult as what some may think, then the Big 10 adds 4 more to get to 20 so they’d be looking for a 4th school, which KU should fight tooth and nail to try and be. If Notre Dame says no, then I think the Big 10 only adds two more being Oregon and Washington.



  • Getting this from Baylor board. ( Jim Hill from CBS sports at 6 p.m. reported that Oregon & Washington are also in discussion with Big 12. Hill also mentioned that Phil Knight ( Nike Owner ) and huge booster for Oregon wants to follow USc & UCLA to the BIG or move to the SEC.

    2 out of the 6 schools came out today and said they were committed to Pac 12 - ( Arizona State & Utah )



  • @jayballer67 said in Big 12 Expansion:

    Well read this from TOS Greg Swaim tweeted out : " The Big 12 has made their offer to the six Schools in the Pac 12 very clear and has detailed Fox TV numbes to go with it. - - Understand that this offer has expiration date of 30 days. - - -Farmer , what you think ? - -any validity to this have you heard anything ?

    I know from reading boards still lots of Arizona - -Arizona St and Utah fans thinking the best move would be for them to join Big 12 - -just don’t know how much truth there is in this but on the other hand I’ve never heard of the guy but same goes FOR NOT being true.

    Read an article saying that ESPN owns the shabang with the ACc and that the PAC 12 & the ACC hooking up really wouldn’t make much of difference money wise. - let me hear your thoughts farmer

    The Big 12 is trying to get the 6 attainable big dogs in the PAC: 4 corners + Oregon and Washington. I don’t think Stanford and Cal are interested.

    Some PAC 12 presidents would much rather be associated with the ACC than Big 12. Which is fair. The ACC is a terrific academic league with UNC, dook, UVA, GA Tech. All well above anything the Big 12 has to offer. Smart financially? No. But they have huge endowments and can sacrifice some revenue for academics. KU? Not so much.



  • I’ll remain the barking dog… but I appreciate all the opinions here because it educates me on this disgusting topic. Thank you!

    Question: Does any of this challenge antitrust laws? Do antitrust laws still exist? I realize conferences represent associations versus buyouts… but still…



  • The only expansion I’m concerned about is my waistline.



  • Here is a list of the best remaining teams we can scrap for:

    https://www.boardingschoolreview.com/basketball-boarding-school-sports

    (sarcasm… as usual)



  • Apparently North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson, and Virginia are in talks to join the SEC. If it happens it could open up a whole other can of worms with the ACC leftovers. The possibilities seem endless. Teams like Pitt, Miami, NC State, Duke, Louisville, etc. could start to be looked at.



  • Wake me when it’s over… 😵



  • @drgnslayr said in Big 12 Expansion:

    I’ll remain the barking dog… but I appreciate all the opinions here because it educates me on this disgusting topic. Thank you!

    Question: Does any of this challenge antitrust laws? Do antitrust laws still exist? I realize conferences represent associations versus buyouts… but still…

    I have to imagine that behind the scenes there is a massive breach of contract going on at the very least. My gut tells me something illegal, but who is going to speak up about it? Schools aren’t going to bite the hand that feeds them, ya know?

    KU isn’t going to sue ESPN for tampering because they still need ESPN.



  • @RockkChalkk

    Wow… I’d feel much better about going east than west! Bring these teams into the Big12!

    How about we name our new conference “F*CK THE SEC!”



  • @RockkChalkk said in Big 12 Expansion:

    Apparently North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson, and Virginia are in talks to join the SEC. If it happens it could open up a whole other can of worms with the ACC leftovers. The possibilities seem endless. Teams like Pitt, Miami, NC State, Duke, Louisville, etc. could start to be looked at.

    ya I’m hearing this too. - -SEC talking to ESPN or whoever it is about getting this GOR void for these ACC teams. They were talking saying if this happens would really help big 12 cause forcing the Pac 12 Schools plus possibly looking at Louisville & Miami from the ACC. - I can’t keep up with this anymore just crazy.

    Like one said though you can say good bye to March Madness



  • @drgnslayr said in Big 12 Expansion:

    @RockkChalkk

    Wow… I’d feel much better about going east than west! Bring these teams into the Big12!

    How about we name our new conference “F*CK THE SEC!”

    Some talk I’ve seen too that if this were to happen possibility of Louisville & Miami from the imploded ACC



  • 🦗 🦗 🤦♂️ the suspense is once again killing me.



  • Well after all the hub bub looks like the PAC 12 is sticking together



  • @jayballer67 I haven’t seen anything to indicate that. Actually quite the opposite, lots of indications that the Big 12 will be expanding again soon and are trying to pull at least a few PAC 12 teams. Things just don’t move as fast as we’d like. There are a lot of dynamics that need to be sorted out.



  • @RockkChalkk said in Big 12 Expansion:

    @jayballer67 I haven’t seen anything to indicate that. Actually quite the opposite, lots of indications that the Big 12 will be expanding again soon and are trying to pull at least a few PAC 12 teams. Things just don’t move as fast as we’d like. There are a lot of dynamics that need to be sorted out.

    Oh ya I’ve seen multiple , multiple articles about how the PAC 12 is going to stick together or try and stick together. - -You can go on almost any PAC 12 message boards and there wil be posts or links where the Commissioner or others are talking about they not going any where and gonna stick it out.

    Now that’s not saying that’s how it’s gonna turn out. I think we could get a couple of teams at least anyways from the PAC 12. I think Arizona WANTS to come , I think Colorado is looking for an escape - BUT from what I have read off multiple articles Utah is not crazy about coming to the Big 12 - - Arizona State fans come across to me like they think they are better then the Big 12.

    The talk is with if Oregon & Washington don’t get that invite to the BIg which that’s not happening they are not going there right now anyways - -so if they stay in the Pac 12 it might be just for a short time but the article is saying it will give the league time to figure out what they are going to do.

    It’s a mess but I wouldn’t say for the Big 12 that anything with the PAc is etched in stone by a longs ways - maybe we can - -maybe we don’t - Some figure we will have a lot better read on how it will play out by the time they break camp for the Season we will see - -Nothing gonna happen for a while



  • The good news is that the Big 12 has the upper hand. That’s certainly not everyone’s shared opinion, but its a majority opinion from what I can gather. Big 12 is currently evaluating their options, has gotten many calls about joining, however has not sent any official invites out yet.

    Its hard to really know but I also think Arizona and Colorado are going to end up joining. I think Oregon holds a lot of power too. They obviously want into the Big 10 but the Big 10 has basically said no for now so now they need to weigh their options. It should be noted that Oregon did not issue an official statement about staying in the PAC 12. If Oregon were to switch to the Big 12 that would probably break the PAC 12 because we’d likely see Washington and the four corner schools do the same.

    Assuming ACC schools are locked up with GOR for now, a few other schools that could be in the mix are SMU and Memphis. Might see one of them if say Colorado is the only PAC 12 team wanting to break away and the BIG 12 wants to keep numbers even.



  • @RockkChalkk The PAC 12 schools are going to wait and see what happens with the new TV deals they and Big 12 are working on which is the smart way to go. If you’re officials at Arizona, Arizona St., Oregon, Colorado, Utah, and Washington, you’d definitely want to know what those potential values are before making a decision about the long term future of a school. I think it’s more likely we see movement next year after each league gets their project TV deal packages which for the Big 12 will likely include values if they stay at 12, or go to 16 or 18 with the potential PAC 12 school additions.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 yeah thats definitely possible. There are models that use historical data and market share that can provide projections for what those numbers will be though. Not exact but ballpark. It might be enough information that schools don’t need to wait until its finalized in order to make a decision. I’ve heard there is one network interested in the PAC 10 deal. I’ve heard there are at least two that have expressed desire for a Big 12 deal. Always a benefit to have multiple bidders! The projections that are out there show PAC 10 at around $40M per school and Big 12 at about $51M per school. Its also been suggested that Oregon & Washington would likely demand a larger share of the PAC revenue to stay which adds another wrinkle to that formula.

    Further, there are other dynamics like air times, PAC games not being seen by large sections of the country due to time zones and kickoff times is always going to suppress potential viewership. Another interesting variable in play is culture/politics. Some states/schools/conferences are quicker than others to cancel events, limit crowds if another covid-like event was to happen. For example, no fans at football games in California is a lot of potential lost revenue for both schools. I could see that weighing on the minds of more reddish states like Arizona, Colorado, Utah, etc. Maybe its not a coincidence that the heaviest rumored schools to join the BIG 12 from the PAC are from states furthest to the right politically.

    I find this whole topic of conference realignment so interesting. Anxious to see where the chips fall!



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 said in Big 12 Expansion:

    @RockkChalkk The PAC 12 schools are going to wait and see what happens with the new TV deals they and Big 12 are working on which is the smart way to go. If you’re officials at Arizona, Arizona St., Oregon, Colorado, Utah, and Washington, you’d definitely want to know what those potential values are before making a decision about the long term future of a school. I think it’s more likely we see movement next year after each league gets their project TV deal packages which for the Big 12 will likely include values if they stay at 12, or go to 16 or 18 with the potential PAC 12 school additions.

    Was listening to the pod cast of Arizona or one of the pac 12’s. - -Heard that Fox is declining to bid on the Pac 12 network. Which means if ESPN is the sole bidder then the Pac 12 is in trouble , they come in and low ball the Pac 12 and you will see Schools bailing out and bailing out fast. – Feeling is CBS is going to be on the Big 12

    Also read/ heard that Fox & CBs Both appears likely to bid on the Big 12. Saying Fox has every incentive to drive the best Pac 12 Schools to the Big 12 to increase their return and cut ESPN off from late night inventory.

    Multiple sources I’ve heard/read have also said they think that we won’t know anything till after this coming football Season after that they think you will see game on… In the end I think we will end up more likely then not with at least Arizona & Colorado. They were talking like Arizona really wants out and may even it it happens they would try and come by theirselves if the have to. They like others have said if Oregon & Washington are trying to hold out for an invite to the BIG , they very easily could be waiting for awhile , as the BIG isn’t looking to add they thinking for like two years and then it will be Norte Dame. - They just say Oregon and Washington are tweeneres and just don’t bring enough market value to the conference for the league to have to give them a slice of the pie.



  • Really good article in The Athletic on the new Big 12 commissioner. He plans on being active and taking the initiative in all areas, including expansion. He’s already working of the Big 12 but doesn’t start contractually until August. Active, instead of “reactive”! Refreshing.



  • @FarmerJayhawk said in Big 12 Expansion:

    Nobody is scheduling a random non-con game in February. The money would be terrible, Self would leave, and the program would effectively die. There would be no incentive for, say, Purdue to play KU in February. You’d have to disrupt the regular league schedule or add a game midweek. Which the conferences just won’t do and 3 games in a week just for fun would be not intelligent scheduling. There are good reasons why the last independent joined a conference in 2016. Go look at NJIT’s schedule that last year. Sometimes they played back to back nights, sometimes it was almost 2 weeks between games. Good luck selling season tickets or recruiting when you have no idea when or who we’re playing until the summer. And that’s not even going into where you park other sports. Or we just drop all but football, basketball, and women’s rowing to meet Title IX compliance. I know some want to drop football and be Gonzaga of the Big East. Which would involve an almost 90% cut to tv revenue. Good luck keeping Self happy, being competitive with NIL, and keeping facilities upgraded with less than $5m per year coming in from TV.

    Good points!



  • This has all become about dollars and cents… I feel like there is more to this.

    I’m in my 60s… and changes like this can be challenging. I have over half a century of experiencing Kansas sports and with many of the teams we may be saying goodbye to. It was devastating to me to say goodbye to OU. I’ve been an OU fan all my life, too. It seems like fanbase demographics are important.

    Social changes… are schools or fanbases going to fight it out over Roe or climate change? hmmmm…

    If a tornado wipes out half of Lawrence, does other members of our conference and their fanbases give a rat’s ass?

    Are rivalries now officially dead?

    I wonder what my perspective would be if I was 40-years younger? More accepting of these big changes?

    My son is 8. He asked me about my financial investments returns over the two Covid years. He showed to me some general returns of Pokemon cards during those two years. “Dad… did your investments return 600% growth like my Pokemon cards did?” So I’m thinking… this genius is onto something. Now that we have NIL… why don’t we create college sports cards like the old baseball cards? If no other conference wants us we will make up the $ with sales of very rare Kansas basketball player cards! lol

    Thanks to everyone for posting news and ideas… I feel blindsided by most of this! Have a great weekend!



  • Is Jay-Z coming along for the ride?




Log in to reply