Big trouble brewing for this Midwest dirty dozen

[MajorMike]

Big trouble brewing for this Midwest dirty dozen
Tom Dienhart's Sporting Blog
June 17, 2007

I was stunned to learn that Big 12 commish Kevin Weiberg was leaving to take a position with the Big Ten Network. But not Nebraska A.D. Steve Pederson.

"He was burned out," Pederson told me. "He did a great job and I like him. But I think he had had enough of trying to unify 12 schools and keep everyone happy."

Regardless, it looks bad for the Big 12 to have its big boss man leave for a lesser position with another BCS league. Not good for a league that I believe rates behind the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Pac-10 among BCS conferences. And the Big East is gaining fast on the Big 12.

The biggest issue: Large budget discrepancies between the league's elite and second-class have created a massive chasm between schools' ability to build sparkling facilities and pay coaches top dollar. And, ultimately, compete. Face it: 85-scholarship caps and 208-page media guide limits don't level the playing field. Sorry, NCAA.

Also, even though the league evenly splits bowl and league championship game money, some Big 12 ADs are honked off because TV revenue isn't divvied up evenly, as schools that make the most appearances get more money. Conversely, the Big Ten splits its TV loot.

"It's really not that big of an issue and the discrepancy in money isn't huge because of it," Pederson says. "Besides, if a school is willing to stick its neck out and play a tough non-conference game that gets picked up by the networks, it should be rewarded for that."

There's no debating this: The Big 12's out-of-whack budgets have helped create gross imbalance, with the South running roughshod over the North. Texas and Oklahoma are the 10,000-pound gorillas. Texas A&M is right behind. And Oklahoma State is investing heavily and looms as a rising power.

The North? Well, there's Nebraska. Did I mention Nebraska? Yeah, Nebraska. That's it.

Issue No. 1 to address for the new Big 12 Big Cheese: Finding new revenue streams. But there's limited growth potential in the Big 12. Why? A lack of big TV markets. It's pretty simple. Denver? Kansas City? Dallas? Houston? St. Louis? San Antonio? That's it, people. I don't think that excites TV fat cats in New York. One solution is expansion. Another possibility is defections.

I have to think folks in Austin, Norman and Lincoln have had conversations about bolting for a better home. They'd be silly not to have an eye on the future. How about the Longhorns or Huskers joining the Big Ten to make it an even 12? Maybe the SEC can grab OU and dump, say, Vandy. The Pac-10 also has to be looking toward tomorrow and the possibility of becoming a 12-team league.

Imagine what adding properties like those would do to the value (read TV money) of the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10. Yeah, it would give any bean counter a facial tick.

"Whoever follows Kevin, I'd like to see us get a great person who will give us a national voice," Pederson says.

[RonMexico]

Of course the Big 10 shares revenue evenly - they're on TV all the fucking time despite having a perennially overrated conference in both football and basketball.

Individual Big 12 teams should be rewarded for actually making it on TV.

[degenerate_gambler]

The conference will fade away faster than Phil Mickelson on Sundays when UT and A&M decided to move on to greener pastures.

[K-State Spur]

Of course the Big 10 shares revenue evenly - they're on TV all the fucking time despite having a perennially overrated conference in both football and basketball.

Individual Big 12 teams should be rewarded for actually making it on TV.

That would be true if it were really a reward. But the fact of the matter is that the networks are always going to cater to the traditional powers of UT, UNL, and OU.

Now...I freely admit that the other 9 schools haven't done enough to warrant much of a complaint over TV in recent years. But even when they do, it doesn't matter.

KSU has never had more than 5 conference games televised in a single season, even during the stretch starting in the late 90s where the Cats were a top 15 team over 6 out of 7 years.

Compare this to OU that had ONE conference game NOT televised last season for the first time in 3 years.

[K-State Spur]

The conference will fade away faster than Phil Mickelson on Sundays when UT and A&M decided to move on the greener pastures.

The weird thing would be that they would leave because they don't want to share their revenue in this conference...but any conference that they went to would already have revenue sharing in its by-laws.

One problem with that too is that the magic number for teams in a conference is 12. This is because 12 is the minimum number to have for a conference championship game. 13 or more and the number lost in the split is greater than any new revenues that a new school would bring in.

The $EC might make sense, but would they be willing to boot one (or two) schools to make way? The Big 10 and the Pac 10 don't make as much sense because the travel expenses would be huge (this is obviously not that big a deal for FB or BB at Texas, but it does weigh heavily on the non-revenue sports).

[RonMexico]

The conference will fade away faster than Phil Mickelson on Sundays when UT and A&M decided to move on to greener pastures.

We found that out yesterday by looking at the numbers.

Yes, everyone knows OU should not be televised as much as they are, but that just means the new Big 12 head needs to lobby with the networks more for teams that are playing well (KSU in the late 90s) to get them on the TV.

[j-6]

Haven't we had this conversation around here before?

The best solution is to divide the Big 12 into non-geographic divisions like the ACC did in going with generic 'Atlantic' and 'Coastal' instead of North and South. Oh, and it's way past time to drop Baylor and pick up someone like TCU.

[samikeyp]

The best solution is to divide the Big 12 into non-geographic divisions like the ACC did in going with generic 'Atlantic' and 'Coastal' instead of North and South. Oh, and it's way past time to drop Baylor and pick up someone like TCU.

That would be cool.

Send Baylor to the WAC or something.

[K-State Spur]

Haven't we had this conversation around here before?

The best solution is to divide the Big 12 into non-geographic divisions like the ACC did in going with generic 'Atlantic' and 'Coastal' instead of North and South. Oh, and it's way past time to drop Baylor and pick up someone like TCU.

How does that solve anything? That's not a solution to this issue. The problem that most schools are complaining about is revenue...not competitive balance.

[j-6]

How does that solve anything? That's not a solution to this issue. The problem that most schools are complaining about is revenue...not competitive balance.


Ummm...competitive balance will create revenue, regardless of what large market is around which campus. You as a K-State fan should know that better than anyone. Nobody gave a fuck about your football program until 1993. Nobody gave a fuck about your hoops program until last season. Now they're both profitable entities with Nike swooshes and Powercats abound.

Kids don't care that Mike Beasley or Bill Walker are playing in Manhattan, Kansas or Manhattan, New York when they're wearing their jerseys. When your football team is winning eleven games a year against the UT's and OU's, they'll get more TV revenue because they will be nationally relevant. Not because they're close to a major TV market or because everyone is up UT or OU's ass.

That's the reason that the Billy Gillispie's of the world go from making $250K in 2002 with UTEP to making $2.6M five years later at Kentucky. Win, and everyone in the nation will beat down your door to televise you and fill the coffers of the athletic department. Stay mediocre, and watch this problem flare up repeatedly.

How many national championships has Notre Dame won since inking that exclusive deal with NBC in 1990?

[K-State Spur]

You're talking about teams as a national presence. That won't happen by realigning the divisions. You will see more teams finishing around .500 in the conference in both sports, but I don't think the funds would be reigning in.

And not that it matters much, but by all accounts KSU is a top 25-30 basketball program of all time. The last 10 years leading up to last were pretty rotten, but the 40 leading up to them were very good.