http://nypost.com/2017/10/05/louisville-was-a-financial-mess-and-rick-pitino-the-beneficiary/

And PLEASE, PLEASE take Zenger with him!!!

@wrwlumpy

No “h” on Pittsburg in Kansas! grin

Well, we are “out”…the question is just where we are going to be “in”. If it is the “Big XII” (or other non-P conference) we are going to be on the stepping stone to death…be it slow or fast depending on where we land. If we don’t make the B1G or the SEC our athletic programs are going to take a MAJOR hit…to the tune of as much as $30M PER YEAR!! I certainly can’t write a check to cover that! Can you? The people over on KU Sports seem to think that we’re going to be “OK”…I don’t know if they are in denial or really just don’t understand what college sports have become…a BIG BUSINESS. And, in BIG BUSINESS, the “little guy” (read: Non P Conferences) really doesn’t seem to have much of a chance. Not only would we not have a plate at the table, we wouldn’t have a table!! Not trying to be an alarmist, but with I think no more than a 50-50 chance for landing in the B1G and even less for the SEC, I hope our new AD is in 24/7 mode!

HighEliteMajor said:

@ICTJayhawk So, is this the old “ict” Jayhawk from back a few years ago?

No, sorry. I’m relatively new to the Board…and have never used this nick before I signed on here.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I’ll RELUCTANTLY give you the benefit of the doubt on this…though the lack of progress in player development and the fact that on many plays (many of which I think were poorly called in the first place) the players appeared as if they didn’t know where they were supposed to be (or what they were supposed to do) gives me GREAT pause to accept your premises. However, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that Zenger MUST GO, and MUST GO NOW!!! His record in coach selection is ABYSMAL!! I also don’t think he can fairly evaluate Beaty as his firing of Beaty would be in effect admitting his THIRD mistake in football alone!! And, if he has made three mistakes in evaluating football coaches, there is certainly no reason to think a fourth choice would have a better result.

Actually, it seems that there is some “interest” in KU in the SEC. They seem to foresee that the NCAA will get phased out of the basketball tournament (whether that is realistic or not) which would make BB schools attractive. More surprisingly, there seems to be some sympathy to making Missouri more “comfortable” in the SEC by having KU there as well and again somewhat surprisingly, there is some talk of not only of the KU/MU rivalry but also a KU/UK rivalry as well. Also, the AAU connection has been commented on favorably. Again, I don’t forsee a SEC invitation forthcoming but interesting that there is even some positive interest, though admittedly it is comments on “fan boards” which of course have MAYBE 0.000000000001% influence!

How much is KU worth???

http://www.wdrb.com/story/36214824/crawford-louisville-adidas-set-to-announce-one-of-ncaas-richest-apparel-deals

I also wish we could wait but unfortunately I think we have to be worrying about conference alignment NOW. It will probably be pretty fast in the 2023-2025 period but it will all be based upon what preparations such as positioning that were made prior to that time…many of preparations YEARS before that time [see Memorial Stadium renovation, among other items (I wonder IF the stadium renovation will be at least partially based upon “informal” conversations about what a minimum B1G stadium should “be”…though that is maybe just my off the wall theory)] Other preps would probably be extended informal “what if” types of conversations (via 3rd parties in some cases) with any prospective conferences (including the B12) to determine “interest”/conditions,if any/conference “vision”/the “mindset” of current and/or prospective conference members as to their “feelings” and possible action(s), etc.; similar types of conversations with media partners on third tier rights(ESPN, FOX, etc.), especially because if we move from the B12 some of those must be terminated; and a whole slew of other preps that can not be made “overnight”. I think some of those conversations may take literally “years” as they must be informal, and with generally low “intensity”, hence not something to sit down at a table and pound out in a week or so!

HOWEVER, in a “worse case” scenario where others (especially UT and/or OU) do not wait for the GOR to expire and “move” from the B12 “early”, we need to be prepared “now” for such event, but hope that it does not happen. We have to be good Boy Scouts…".BE PREPARED", but that takes planning ahead to prepare, and that takes time. I think that time is now, not later.

Actually, it seems that there is some “interest” in KU in the SEC. They seem to foresee that the NCAA will get phased out of the basketball tournament (whether that is realistic or not) which would make BB schools attractive. More surprisingly, there seems to be some sympathy to making Missouri more “comfortable” in the SEC by having KU there as well and again somewhat surprisingly, there is some talk of not only of the KU/MU rivalry but also a KU/UK rivalry as well. Also, the AAU connection has been commented on favorably. Again, I don’t forsee a SEC invitation forthcoming but interesting that there is even some positive interest, though admittedly it is comments on “fan boards” which of course have MAYBE 0.000000000001% influence!

Well, we are “out”…the question is just where we are going to be “in”. If it is the “Big XII” (or other non-P conference) we are going to be on the stepping stone to death…be it slow or fast depending on where we land. If we don’t make the B1G or the SEC our athletic programs are going to take a MAJOR hit…to the tune of as much as $30M PER YEAR!! I certainly can’t write a check to cover that! Can you? The people over on KU Sports seem to think that we’re going to be “OK”…I don’t know if they are in denial or really just don’t understand what college sports have become…a BIG BUSINESS. And, in BIG BUSINESS, the “little guy” (read: Non P Conferences) really doesn’t seem to have much of a chance. Not only would we not have a plate at the table, we wouldn’t have a table!! Not trying to be an alarmist, but with I think no more than a 50-50 chance for landing in the B1G and even less for the SEC, I hope our new AD is in 24/7 mode!

@Texas-Hawk-10 I’ll RELUCTANTLY give you the benefit of the doubt on this…though the lack of progress in player development and the fact that on many plays (many of which I think were poorly called in the first place) the players appeared as if they didn’t know where they were supposed to be (or what they were supposed to do) gives me GREAT pause to accept your premises. However, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that Zenger MUST GO, and MUST GO NOW!!! His record in coach selection is ABYSMAL!! I also don’t think he can fairly evaluate Beaty as his firing of Beaty would be in effect admitting his THIRD mistake in football alone!! And, if he has made three mistakes in evaluating football coaches, there is certainly no reason to think a fourth choice would have a better result.

@dylans And what gives you such hope???

And PLEASE, PLEASE take Zenger with him!!!

kjayhawks said:

@Texas-Hawk-10 I heard when the B12 was about to implode a couple of years back that ISU, KU and KSU were headed to the B10.

There seem to be as many “I have heard” stories as there are people as to what “was” or “is” going to happen. So far, I am unaware of any evidence that virtually any of them have even a nugget of truth in them. They seem mostly just “made up” to advance someone’s hopes/dreams/fantasy/.

As to ISU being invited to the B10, it would seem duplicative to add ISU when Iowa is already in the B1G. Iowa being a small population state (though more people than Kansas), that hardly adds markets or anything else that doesn’t already exist with Iowa being the only member in the state. (Iowa & ISU play annually and have since 1977). ISU is an AAU school and does generally fit the B10 profile but would seem to otherwise lack a justification for membership.

KSU would seem to be a longer LONG shot. Every B1G school is AAU (Nebraska was when it joined but later "lost’ its membership). KSU is “not even close” to being AAU material (https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/membership-policy). In fact, even KU is in the lower third of the organization for research money and there was a concern several years ago that KU’s continued membership was in doubt. KSU would not add any “new” markets to the B1G that KU wouldn’t add and in a state with a population as small as Kansas, there is no reason to have 2 schools (just as in Iowa).

As to KU, I realistically think that if KU was EVER offered membership in the B1G it would have taken it. Not only would the stability and prestige of the athletic conference have been a “step up” but the tremendous advantages offered by the CIC (now, Big 10 Academic Alliance) would have trumped any hesitancy to leave, especially during the B12 upheaval several years ago.

I have yet to have anyone provide any evidence that KU has EVER received an invitation (or ever will) from the B1G. Yes, I’m sure we’ve been “looked at” by the B1G as we somewhat fit their profile (AAU, new market, flagship university, etc.) but as to extending an invitation, I just don’t believe that it has happened. I REALLY HOPE that an invitation IS forthcoming upon the presumed imploding of the Big12 at the expiration of the GOR, but until some authoritative source can provide at least some evidence that it has or is happening, at least for me I’ll have to “see it to believe it”.

P.S. Sorry, I didn’t mean to “write a book”!

@Texas-Hawk-10 I HOPE you are correct about moving to the B1G…I would LOVE for that to happen. But unless football changes to even mediocre, I don’t know that it’s anything like a “given.” Though it’s nice to believe, I seriously doubt KU and/or Missouri ever had an “invitation” to the Big10 (at that time) in the 90s. Other than somebody merely saying something like that I have never seen a credible report of that being the case. The former President of Ohio State said he always though the Big10 SHOULD have added Kansas & Missouri in the 90s but he never said that was the sentiment of others or that it was even voted on by the Big10 or an invitation extended.
KC is the largest market we could add but as a media market it’s only 33rd in the country, hardly a “get”. The BIG could have added Missouri and the St. Louis media market as well when Missouri hiked it’s skirt fairly recently, and it obviously didn’t seem compelling enough for the B1G to do it then! I really do hope that KU ends up in the B1G…and sooner rather than later. But, to think it is a “given” or a “slam dunk” is looking at it with rose-colored glasses rather than in the stark light of the day, in my opinion FWIW!

Texas Hawk 10 said:

preparing for a probable move to the B10 after the Grant of Rights expires at the end of the current TV deal

Unless something dramatically changes, I’m not all that sure how “probable” that is!

@wrwlumpy

No “h” on Pittsburg in Kansas! grin