I'm not sure how crazy this thing will get, but it makes sense to dedicate a daily thread to the topic along with a recap of the previous day's events so those who can't sit on the board all day can have a chance to catch up.
For me, the day started with the Greg Lovelady press conference. In a way, I feel bad that he got a little upstaged. I've been trying to follow this Big 12 thing all day, otherwise I would have already posted the press conference and had a story up. The press conference itself was basically the introductory and opening statements with a couple questions that followed. The format of being up on a stage is a little bit awkward for anything in-depth, so I figured I'd catch Lovelady afterward.
The surprise was Dr. Hitt showing up. I have to suspect he knew that the press conference would be a media opportunity in light of the Big 12 news. It's interesting. Most of these presidents and ADs are releasing generic statements while Hitt wasn't shy to put his face out there.
Anyway, as far as Lovelady, by the time I got the opportunity to speak to him one-on-one, and seeing that he had already done quite an extended one-on-one interview with Shannon, I just kept it brief and informal, just getting to know him off-the-record. I will visit with him in a few weeks after he's gotten settled down here. I'll post a few more baseball-centric tidbits tomorrow.
Back to the Big 12. There were a lot of stories, tweets and statements put forth on Wednesday, but I thought two items were particularly interesting:
-Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News caught up with Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby for a follow-up interview. Bowlsby offered this zinger:
"I would call it a seller's market," Bowlsby said, "and we're the sellers and there are a lot of eager buyers."
Bowlsby confirmed what he had hinted at during Tuesday's teleconference. Basically the expansion boils down to a "cash grab" by utilizing the existing clauses in the TV contract to extract more money from their partners. And to make it worth the while for the current members, the new schools would receive significantly less money.
"There isn't any question there will be a phase-in of revenue from a distribution standpoint," Bowlsby said.
I recommend you read the entire Dallas article yourself, but here's a key excerpt:
And here's another interesting portion that I think has to bode well for UCF.
I asked Carlton if "electronic footprint" is what I thought it meant - growth potential for a future market where the number of fans and alumni become more important - perhaps for a Netflix-like future - as opposed to simply existing in a state with a large number of cable homes. UCF does indeed bring both. BYU clearly has the best fanbase of any candidate, but it's hard to deny the possibilities of a UCF, which in my opinion possesses the strongest football fanbase behind BYU, plus is churning out huge numbers of graduates per year.
I'm not sure if Carlton has any special insight to a candidates list - I don't think anybody does - but he did run the possibilities of going East, West, splitting up, football-only, etc. Bowlsby acknowledged a football-only arrangement would "probably not be our first choice," so I think we can shelve those BYU/UConn rumors for now, at least in the football-only aspect.
-The other thing I found interesting was a Houston radio interview with Tilman Fertitta, a billionaire and Chair of the University of Houston Board of Regents. You can read that full recap here, but he sounds pretty frustrated that Texas and other Big 12 schools may not be keen on a UH addition, plus seems to think UCF, USF and/or UConn could be ahead of Houston in the Big 12 pecking order. I'm not sure if anybody knows for sure, but he would be clued in to what UH knows. For UCF's chances, I think you'd like to see UH blocked.
To piggyback, Brian Davis, Texas beat writer for the Austin American Statesman, tweeted this and later referenced it in a story:
"Multiple sources tell me this idea Texas would somehow block Houston from joining Big 12 not true. Out-of-state schools might, though. Out-of-state schools aren't fired up about the idea of adding a 5th Texas school like Houston to Big 12, sources said."
The other interesting aspect of the Feritta interview is he believes the Big 12 will basically host interviews with all the top candidates, allowing everyone to make formal presentations.
-To highlight a couple media speculation stories, a columnist for the Dallas Morning News, Tim Cowlishaw, seems to think UCF is the best candidate. Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com, who has been on top of everything, "re-ranked" the Big 12 candidates list like this: 1. BYU, 2. UConn, 3. Houston, 4. Cincinnati, 5. UCF, 6. Memphis. But Dodd was contradictory in his story with comments regarding Texas calling the shots on additions and the likelihood they'd block Houston. If true, how can Houston be third?
-And lastly, in what might be the worst possible day for bad news to break, Jeff Goodman of ESPN reported USF men's basketball is under NCAA investigation for purported academic fraud that traces back to assistant Oliver Antigua, head coach Orlando Antigua's brother. He had been taken off the road recruiting and late on Wednesday resigned from his position. A source tells me the fallout could be massive. Up to eight players will face scrutiny and there's a chance Orlando Antigua could lose his job as well.
For me, the day started with the Greg Lovelady press conference. In a way, I feel bad that he got a little upstaged. I've been trying to follow this Big 12 thing all day, otherwise I would have already posted the press conference and had a story up. The press conference itself was basically the introductory and opening statements with a couple questions that followed. The format of being up on a stage is a little bit awkward for anything in-depth, so I figured I'd catch Lovelady afterward.
The surprise was Dr. Hitt showing up. I have to suspect he knew that the press conference would be a media opportunity in light of the Big 12 news. It's interesting. Most of these presidents and ADs are releasing generic statements while Hitt wasn't shy to put his face out there.
Anyway, as far as Lovelady, by the time I got the opportunity to speak to him one-on-one, and seeing that he had already done quite an extended one-on-one interview with Shannon, I just kept it brief and informal, just getting to know him off-the-record. I will visit with him in a few weeks after he's gotten settled down here. I'll post a few more baseball-centric tidbits tomorrow.
Back to the Big 12. There were a lot of stories, tweets and statements put forth on Wednesday, but I thought two items were particularly interesting:
-Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News caught up with Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby for a follow-up interview. Bowlsby offered this zinger:
"I would call it a seller's market," Bowlsby said, "and we're the sellers and there are a lot of eager buyers."
Bowlsby confirmed what he had hinted at during Tuesday's teleconference. Basically the expansion boils down to a "cash grab" by utilizing the existing clauses in the TV contract to extract more money from their partners. And to make it worth the while for the current members, the new schools would receive significantly less money.
"There isn't any question there will be a phase-in of revenue from a distribution standpoint," Bowlsby said.
I recommend you read the entire Dallas article yourself, but here's a key excerpt:
How could things work? The pro rata amount this year was reportedly $23 million. An industry source indicated that the Big 12 might start new members $5 million to $7 million, still more than in their current conferences.
Assume four members getting $6 million each initially. That would leave a windfall of $68 million to be divided among the 10 current full members. That's real money guaranteed to get the attention of any college president crunching budget numbers.
So the financial negotiations may be as important as what attributes each school brings to the Big 12.
Assume four members getting $6 million each initially. That would leave a windfall of $68 million to be divided among the 10 current full members. That's real money guaranteed to get the attention of any college president crunching budget numbers.
So the financial negotiations may be as important as what attributes each school brings to the Big 12.
And here's another interesting portion that I think has to bode well for UCF.
The Big 12 seems open to a wide net. Oklahoma president David Boren, the chairman of the conference's board of directors, listed six qualifications but omitted geography.
Bowlsby suggested a school's "electronic footprint" was a more pressing concern than its geographic footprint.
Bowlsby suggested a school's "electronic footprint" was a more pressing concern than its geographic footprint.
I asked Carlton if "electronic footprint" is what I thought it meant - growth potential for a future market where the number of fans and alumni become more important - perhaps for a Netflix-like future - as opposed to simply existing in a state with a large number of cable homes. UCF does indeed bring both. BYU clearly has the best fanbase of any candidate, but it's hard to deny the possibilities of a UCF, which in my opinion possesses the strongest football fanbase behind BYU, plus is churning out huge numbers of graduates per year.
I'm not sure if Carlton has any special insight to a candidates list - I don't think anybody does - but he did run the possibilities of going East, West, splitting up, football-only, etc. Bowlsby acknowledged a football-only arrangement would "probably not be our first choice," so I think we can shelve those BYU/UConn rumors for now, at least in the football-only aspect.
-The other thing I found interesting was a Houston radio interview with Tilman Fertitta, a billionaire and Chair of the University of Houston Board of Regents. You can read that full recap here, but he sounds pretty frustrated that Texas and other Big 12 schools may not be keen on a UH addition, plus seems to think UCF, USF and/or UConn could be ahead of Houston in the Big 12 pecking order. I'm not sure if anybody knows for sure, but he would be clued in to what UH knows. For UCF's chances, I think you'd like to see UH blocked.
To piggyback, Brian Davis, Texas beat writer for the Austin American Statesman, tweeted this and later referenced it in a story:
"Multiple sources tell me this idea Texas would somehow block Houston from joining Big 12 not true. Out-of-state schools might, though. Out-of-state schools aren't fired up about the idea of adding a 5th Texas school like Houston to Big 12, sources said."
The other interesting aspect of the Feritta interview is he believes the Big 12 will basically host interviews with all the top candidates, allowing everyone to make formal presentations.
-To highlight a couple media speculation stories, a columnist for the Dallas Morning News, Tim Cowlishaw, seems to think UCF is the best candidate. Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com, who has been on top of everything, "re-ranked" the Big 12 candidates list like this: 1. BYU, 2. UConn, 3. Houston, 4. Cincinnati, 5. UCF, 6. Memphis. But Dodd was contradictory in his story with comments regarding Texas calling the shots on additions and the likelihood they'd block Houston. If true, how can Houston be third?
-And lastly, in what might be the worst possible day for bad news to break, Jeff Goodman of ESPN reported USF men's basketball is under NCAA investigation for purported academic fraud that traces back to assistant Oliver Antigua, head coach Orlando Antigua's brother. He had been taken off the road recruiting and late on Wednesday resigned from his position. A source tells me the fallout could be massive. Up to eight players will face scrutiny and there's a chance Orlando Antigua could lose his job as well.
