You gotta think about the long-term ramifications of this. Grabbing OU and Texas is as much preemptive as it is expansionist. Yes, it's a great financial move, but it's also an SEC-killing move. If the Big Ten DOESN'T grab OU and Texas, guess what? The SEC will.
If the SEC goes to 16 teams, the ACC and B1G will have to follow suit. And remember that our other would-be suiter -- Notre Dame -- is already locked up into the ACC. All their non-football/non-revenue sports are already in the ACC and they currently share a whackjob New Years Bowl arrangement with the ACC, where bowl selectors essentially pick an ACC and/or Irish team to fill their slots. Notre Dame is basically the Puerto Rico of the ACC. It's all but a done deal.
So, the ACC legitimizes the Irish Shotgun Wedding and perhaps grabs someone like Cincinnati or maybe UCF.
What does that leave the Big Ten with?
Baylor? TCU? Iowa State?
Kansas is marginally non-barfy consolation prize, but they'd likely come coupled with KSU in that state and really the Jay-Cat combo doesn't move the needle much. It's a certain failure against the SEC swindling OU and Texas and the ACC grabbing the Golden Domers.
Delaney is FAR too shrewd to lose this chess game. If he preemptively grabs OU and Texas, he cuts off the SEC at the knees. The Irish go ACC anyway -- they were never gonna be an SEC team -- and it forces the SEC into a couple of terrible moves. They either double down on the Lonestar State with TCU/Baylor/Tech or grab what, Oklahoma State? UCF is a rising star, but they're no Gators.
The most likely move here is an SEC raid of the ACC, grabbing a pair that includes FSU, Miami, Clemson, UNC and/or Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels and Hokies open up two new states into the footprint and the SEC has been VERY strong about not wanting to repeat states they already "own." Really, the only way they would even consider doubling up is for a blue blood like Texas, FSU or Miami. MAaaaayybe Clemson.
West Virginia is still a wild card. They either fill a gap in the ACC or maybe there's an outside chance the SEC makes a play. But the Mountain State doesn't really bring any new television sets (do West Virginians even HAVE cable?) and it certainly doesn't bring any recruiting ground. The Mountaineers have made a push in recent years, but they're still a bridesmaid and not the Sooner/Horn/Irish Bride in this whole mess.
So yeah. We take Texas and let the Buckeyes castrate them.
If the SEC goes to 16 teams, the ACC and B1G will have to follow suit. And remember that our other would-be suiter -- Notre Dame -- is already locked up into the ACC. All their non-football/non-revenue sports are already in the ACC and they currently share a whackjob New Years Bowl arrangement with the ACC, where bowl selectors essentially pick an ACC and/or Irish team to fill their slots. Notre Dame is basically the Puerto Rico of the ACC. It's all but a done deal.
So, the ACC legitimizes the Irish Shotgun Wedding and perhaps grabs someone like Cincinnati or maybe UCF.
What does that leave the Big Ten with?
Baylor? TCU? Iowa State?
Kansas is marginally non-barfy consolation prize, but they'd likely come coupled with KSU in that state and really the Jay-Cat combo doesn't move the needle much. It's a certain failure against the SEC swindling OU and Texas and the ACC grabbing the Golden Domers.
Delaney is FAR too shrewd to lose this chess game. If he preemptively grabs OU and Texas, he cuts off the SEC at the knees. The Irish go ACC anyway -- they were never gonna be an SEC team -- and it forces the SEC into a couple of terrible moves. They either double down on the Lonestar State with TCU/Baylor/Tech or grab what, Oklahoma State? UCF is a rising star, but they're no Gators.
The most likely move here is an SEC raid of the ACC, grabbing a pair that includes FSU, Miami, Clemson, UNC and/or Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels and Hokies open up two new states into the footprint and the SEC has been VERY strong about not wanting to repeat states they already "own." Really, the only way they would even consider doubling up is for a blue blood like Texas, FSU or Miami. MAaaaayybe Clemson.
West Virginia is still a wild card. They either fill a gap in the ACC or maybe there's an outside chance the SEC makes a play. But the Mountain State doesn't really bring any new television sets (do West Virginians even HAVE cable?) and it certainly doesn't bring any recruiting ground. The Mountaineers have made a push in recent years, but they're still a bridesmaid and not the Sooner/Horn/Irish Bride in this whole mess.
So yeah. We take Texas and let the Buckeyes castrate them.