• You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.

HuskerMax readers can save 50% on  Omaha Steaks .

Oklahoma / B1G Deal?

DuckTownHusker

Blackshirt Sith Lord
10 Year Member
The Sooners are not happy with the Big XII media deal. Ironically, it's FOX (which part-owns BTN) forcing them into early kickoffs like the game with Nebraska.

There's an argument to be made about them forcing FOX's hand by dictating terms for a B1G deal, or maybe they go the CBS route and pursue the SEC.

Either way, if/when the next realignment happens, the Sooners will be in the spotlight much like NU was with the move to the Big Ten.

 
Top programs are probably going to eventually join a conference that maximizes their bottom line. Why stay in say the B12 if a team like OU is receiving many millions less revenue every year? Lets face it money is usually the secret sauce that breeds top programs and keeps them on top. Seems like the SEC would much better suited to OU as opposed to the BIG. Also don't believe the Swooners are a AAU member which Nebraska WAS when it joined the BIG. Maryland and Rutgers are members so I doubt every BIG member would vote to admit OU to the BIG.
 
Top programs are probably going to eventually join a conference that maximizes their bottom line. Why stay in say the B12 if a team like OU is receiving many millions less revenue every year? Lets face it money is usually the secret sauce that breeds top programs and keeps them on top. Seems like the SEC would much better suited to OU as opposed to the BIG. Also don't believe the Swooners are a AAU member which Nebraska WAS when it joined the BIG. Maryland and Rutgers are members so I doubt every BIG member would vote to admit OU to the BIG.

AAU membership means nothing in the face of TV money.

On a human level, sure, I like the idea of prestigious colleges all belonging to some elite membership club. But with stuff like NIL, players' unions and collective bargaining coming down the pike, the Big Ten would be foolhardy to keep clutching their AAU pearls while the other conferences pass them by.

There are currently 66 AAU members, but many of them do not sponsor FBS football (Harvard, Yale) or compete at some D3 / NAIA level like Brandeis and Emory. Scrubbing out those schools (as well as already-B1G schools) here's who's left in FBS:

ConferenceAAU Members
PAC (9)Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington
ACC (5)Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia
SEC (4)Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Big XII (3)Iowa State, Kansas, Texas
Other (3)Buffalo, Rice, Tulane

If the Big Ten expands, nobody is coming from the Pac-12. Colorado is the only school with a half-argument for admission, solely on the fact that a rivalry exists with Nebraska. But if you think travel problems for non-revenue sports is bad from Lincoln, try tacking on another 450 miles to Boulder. The Buffs are logistically much better in the Pac-12, and it's not like the Big Ten could somehow scoop up, what, Cal? Stanford?

The ACC offers 2-3 targets of any interest: Virginia and UNC/Duke. UVA would preserve the contiguous footprint of the conference but the Cavaliers are a non-factor in football, really. The have some impressive basketball and lacrosse teams but this is always about football. You'd be better off adding Virginia Tech, but the Hokies aren't an AAU member. UNC/Duke offers an interesting combo, but I feel like you'd have to get both of them, plus they'd need to forgo rivalries with Wake and NC State. They have their own quadrangle of hate with the four NC schools and I just don't see them jumping ship.

Nobody is leaving the SEC for the B1G. It's apples to apples. They make just as much money and have a better perception athletically, thanks to recent success by Alabama and to a lesser extent, LSU and UGA. Mizzou might be tempted but it would have to be some two-step tango where we also pull in Kansas and get the Husker-Jayhawk-Tiger triangle happening again.

On that note, Iowa State ain't getting in. Hawkeyes will see to that. Texas could. The Longhorns are literally the only remaining AAU member in the country that makes a tiny bit of sense geographically (not really) and are nationally relevant, and offer fertile recruiting ground.

Skip the G5 teams. Never happening.

So, basically Texas. Texas is the lone AAU member who could work in the Big Ten. And after all that, I'm supposed to believe that the Big Ten would patently reject Oklahoma (or Notre Dame, for that matter) if they wanted to join the conference? "Sure, we'll take Kansas over Oklahoma. We'll take Iowa State over Notre Dame..."

It makes no sense. Once conference realignment spins up again, AAU Membership as a prerequisite for Big Ten membership is about to go flying out the window. Or if Kevin Warren sticks to his academic guns, don't be surprised when NU, along with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin bail out for better football climates in a new conference or league.
 



AAU membership means nothing in the face of TV money.

On a human level, sure, I like the idea of prestigious colleges all belonging to some elite membership club. But with stuff like NIL, players' unions and collective bargaining coming down the pike, the Big Ten would be foolhardy to keep clutching their AAU pearls while the other conferences pass them by.

There are currently 66 AAU members, but many of them do not sponsor FBS football (Harvard, Yale) or compete at some D3 / NAIA level like Brandeis and Emory. Scrubbing out those schools (as well as already-B1G schools) here's who's left in FBS:

ConferenceAAU Members
PAC (9)Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington
ACC (5)Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia
SEC (4)Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Big XII (3)Iowa State, Kansas, Texas
Other (3)Buffalo, Rice, Tulane

If the Big Ten expands, nobody is coming from the Pac-12. Colorado is the only school with a half-argument for admission, solely on the fact that a rivalry exists with Nebraska. But if you think travel problems for non-revenue sports is bad from Lincoln, try tacking on another 450 miles to Boulder. The Buffs are logistically much better in the Pac-12, and it's not like the Big Ten could somehow scoop up, what, Cal? Stanford?

The ACC offers 2-3 targets of any interest: Virginia and UNC/Duke. UVA would preserve the contiguous footprint of the conference but the Cavaliers are a non-factor in football, really. The have some impressive basketball and lacrosse teams but this is always about football. You'd be better off adding Virginia Tech, but the Hokies aren't an AAU member. UNC/Duke offers an interesting combo, but I feel like you'd have to get both of them, plus they'd need to forgo rivalries with Wake and NC State. They have their own quadrangle of hate with the four NC schools and I just don't see them jumping ship.

Nobody is leaving the SEC for the B1G. It's apples to apples. They make just as much money and have a better perception athletically, thanks to recent success by Alabama and to a lesser extent, LSU and UGA. Mizzou might be tempted but it would have to be some two-step tango where we also pull in Kansas and get the Husker-Jayhawk-Tiger triangle happening again.

On that note, Iowa State ain't getting in. Hawkeyes will see to that. Texas could. The Longhorns are literally the only remaining AAU member in the country that makes a tiny bit of sense geographically (not really) and are nationally relevant, and offer fertile recruiting ground.

Skip the G5 teams. Never happening.

So, basically Texas. Texas is the lone AAU member who could work in the Big Ten. And after all that, I'm supposed to believe that the Big Ten would patently reject Oklahoma (or Notre Dame, for that matter) if they wanted to join the conference? "Sure, we'll take Kansas over Oklahoma. We'll take Iowa State over Notre Dame..."

It makes no sense. Once conference realignment spins up again, AAU Membership as a prerequisite for Big Ten membership is about to go flying out the window. Or if Kevin Warren sticks to his academic guns, don't be surprised when NU, along with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin bail out for better football climates in a new conference or league.
Interesting take. And agree on the importance of AAU status in the future. Let's all not kid ourselves...the term 'student-athlete' is becoming a joke anymore as NIL expands....
 
Interesting take. And agree on the importance of AAU status in the future. Let's all not kid ourselves...the term 'student-athlete' is becoming a joke anymore as NIL expands....

It can get pretty circular, too. Nebraska actually makes so much money off athletics that they sponsor "non-athletic scholarships" for kids who are not athletes (just general UNL students) using athletic money.

When you get to that point you can decide whether it makes sense to cling to your penniless academics, or make so much freaking money in sports that you can actually fund learning (among other things).
 
I agree OU looks like the key player in a lot of potential future movement (whether conference realignment or TV deals).

When you look at the per school money that TV revenue pays (https://forum.huskermax.com/threads...turning-to-the-old-big-12.124253/post-5004592), OU, Texas, & Clemson are the 3 in a position where they are currently getting underpaid, relative to what they'd be able to command in other situations.

However, Texas gets 15 million a year from their Longhorn Network, and while Clemson has been reputable for quite some time, it's only the last 10 years that they've been at the top, and are not a historic blueblood on the same level as the others - they seem to be happy being a bigger fish in a smaller pond, which is a partial key to their success, IMO.

OU is the big time school that checks pretty much all the boxes, their AD has been vocal on multiple occasions about TV/conference issues, and their TV partner is squeezing them while showing little interest in extending their deal. I'd pretty much bet the farm that OU is actively planning/discussing future moves that ensure either a better TV deal to remain, or finding a new home.

B1G & SEC would both almost assuredly accept them as an individual free agent... but what about if OU wants to bring along Texas, OK State, or has some other demands? SEC fits a little bit better geographically (already having A&M, Mizzou, & Ark), as well as having several other alphas that would probably be better suited to take on/control Texas, and by taking 2 schools like that, would be a 16 team superconference in prime position to pave their own NIL path, as well as negotiate a premium broadcast deal.

Zillions of moving pieces, but IMO a better than far-fetched chance that there's some movement along those lines in the next couple of years.
 
AAU membership means nothing in the face of TV money.

On a human level, sure, I like the idea of prestigious colleges all belonging to some elite membership club. But with stuff like NIL, players' unions and collective bargaining coming down the pike, the Big Ten would be foolhardy to keep clutching their AAU pearls while the other conferences pass them by.

There are currently 66 AAU members, but many of them do not sponsor FBS football (Harvard, Yale) or compete at some D3 / NAIA level like Brandeis and Emory. Scrubbing out those schools (as well as already-B1G schools) here's who's left in FBS:

ConferenceAAU Members
PAC (9)Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington
ACC (5)Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia
SEC (4)Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Big XII (3)Iowa State, Kansas, Texas
Other (3)Buffalo, Rice, Tulane

If the Big Ten expands, nobody is coming from the Pac-12. Colorado is the only school with a half-argument for admission, solely on the fact that a rivalry exists with Nebraska. But if you think travel problems for non-revenue sports is bad from Lincoln, try tacking on another 450 miles to Boulder. The Buffs are logistically much better in the Pac-12, and it's not like the Big Ten could somehow scoop up, what, Cal? Stanford?

The ACC offers 2-3 targets of any interest: Virginia and UNC/Duke. UVA would preserve the contiguous footprint of the conference but the Cavaliers are a non-factor in football, really. The have some impressive basketball and lacrosse teams but this is always about football. You'd be better off adding Virginia Tech, but the Hokies aren't an AAU member. UNC/Duke offers an interesting combo, but I feel like you'd have to get both of them, plus they'd need to forgo rivalries with Wake and NC State. They have their own quadrangle of hate with the four NC schools and I just don't see them jumping ship.

Nobody is leaving the SEC for the B1G. It's apples to apples. They make just as much money and have a better perception athletically, thanks to recent success by Alabama and to a lesser extent, LSU and UGA. Mizzou might be tempted but it would have to be some two-step tango where we also pull in Kansas and get the Husker-Jayhawk-Tiger triangle happening again.

On that note, Iowa State ain't getting in. Hawkeyes will see to that. Texas could. The Longhorns are literally the only remaining AAU member in the country that makes a tiny bit of sense geographically (not really) and are nationally relevant, and offer fertile recruiting ground.

Skip the G5 teams. Never happening.

So, basically Texas. Texas is the lone AAU member who could work in the Big Ten. And after all that, I'm supposed to believe that the Big Ten would patently reject Oklahoma (or Notre Dame, for that matter) if they wanted to join the conference? "Sure, we'll take Kansas over Oklahoma. We'll take Iowa State over Notre Dame..."

It makes no sense. Once conference realignment spins up again, AAU Membership as a prerequisite for Big Ten membership is about to go flying out the window. Or if Kevin Warren sticks to his academic guns, don't be surprised when NU, along with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin bail out for better football climates in a new conference or league.

If football was the primary driver for the Big Ten expanding, they would have never added Rutgers and Maryland. It's much more about expanding their footprint into significant TV markets (in those cases, NYC and DC). Given that, Duke, UNC, and Georgia Tech would be quite attractive to the Big Ten.
 



If talking BIG expansion, the school I'm intrigued in is Kansas. Kansas brings nothing to the football side, but brings a top 5 basketball brand. Basketball isn't the driver football is, but their addition would add valuable "inventory" and could draw eyeballs to the BTN during the football offseason. Plus, Kansas City would be the 10th largest media market in the direct BIG footprint (if you count NYC, DC, and Philly in the footprint).
 
I like the conference realignment fantasy stuff. Here is my proposal:

Money wise, I think 4- 18 team conferences would be best for all teams. All the major TV outlets could align with one conference. For example SEC= CBS, ACC = ABC/ESPN, BIG 18 = Fox; Pac 18 = NBC. Let the remaining non power 5 teams invite best teams from FCS to form their own 4- 18 team conferences and play in Spring, again with each network being able to align itself with a conference.

Have a 14 game schedule - 8 games against division opponent, 3 games against intra conference opponent and one game against each of the three conferences. 7 home games a year. Top 4 teams picked by committee have a playoff the remaining top 32 play in 16 bowl games.

Quality matchups and then get to watch college football in Spring with some decent teams, Navy, San Diego State, North Dakota State.

Here are my Power 5 conferences:

ACC

NorthSouth
Boston CollegeClemson
PittDuke
SyracuseCentral Florida
VirginiaFlorida State
Virginia Tech North Carolina
Notre DameNorth Carolina State
West VirginiaMiami
LouisvilleWake Forest
Georgia TechSouth Florida


BIG 18

WestEast
IllinoisPenn State
IowaRutgers
Iowa StateMaryland
MinnesotaOhio State
NebraskaMichigan
Wisconsin Michigan State
KansasCincinnati
Kansas StateIndiana
NorthwesternPurdue


SEC

WestEast
BaylorFlorida
HoustonGeorgia
ArkansasKentucky
LSU Alabama
Miss.Auburn
Miss. StateTenn.
Texas A & m South Carolina
MissouriVanderbilt
TCU Memphis

PAC 18

WestEast
Washington Arizona
Washington StateArizona State
OregonUtah
Oregon StateBYU
Stanford Colorado
CaliforniaTexas Tech
UCLATexas
USC Oklahoma State
Boise StateOklahoma
 
nice work cob..... I dont want to see any more movement, because I dont want a playoff bigger than we have now.

but if you were gonna carve up the country into mega-conferences.... this is prob as good a suggestion as any.
 
I like the conference realignment fantasy stuff. Here is my proposal:

Money wise, I think 4- 18 team conferences would be best for all teams. All the major TV outlets could align with one conference. For example SEC= CBS, ACC = ABC/ESPN, BIG 18 = Fox; Pac 18 = NBC. Let the remaining non power 5 teams invite best teams from FCS to form their own 4- 18 team conferences and play in Spring, again with each network being able to align itself with a conference.

Have a 14 game schedule - 8 games against division opponent, 3 games against intra conference opponent and one game against each of the three conferences. 7 home games a year. Top 4 teams picked by committee have a playoff the remaining top 32 play in 16 bowl games.

Quality matchups and then get to watch college football in Spring with some decent teams, Navy, San Diego State, North Dakota State.

Here are my Power 5 conferences:

ACC

NorthSouth
Boston CollegeClemson
PittDuke
SyracuseCentral Florida
VirginiaFlorida State
Virginia TechNorth Carolina
Notre DameNorth Carolina State
West VirginiaMiami
LouisvilleWake Forest
Georgia TechSouth Florida


BIG 18

WestEast
IllinoisPenn State
IowaRutgers
Iowa StateMaryland
MinnesotaOhio State
NebraskaMichigan
WisconsinMichigan State
KansasCincinnati
Kansas StateIndiana
NorthwesternPurdue


SEC

WestEast
BaylorFlorida
HoustonGeorgia
ArkansasKentucky
LSUAlabama
Miss.Auburn
Miss. StateTenn.
Texas A & mSouth Carolina
MissouriVanderbilt
TCUMemphis

PAC 18

WestEast
WashingtonArizona
Washington StateArizona State
OregonUtah
Oregon StateBYU
StanfordColorado
CaliforniaTexas Tech
UCLATexas
USCOklahoma State
Boise StateOklahoma

I'm not sure the B1G would see the additions of Cincinnati, Kansas, and Kansas Lite as a win.
 



AAU membership means nothing in the face of TV money.

On a human level, sure, I like the idea of prestigious colleges all belonging to some elite membership club. But with stuff like NIL, players' unions and collective bargaining coming down the pike, the Big Ten would be foolhardy to keep clutching their AAU pearls while the other conferences pass them by.

There are currently 66 AAU members, but many of them do not sponsor FBS football (Harvard, Yale) or compete at some D3 / NAIA level like Brandeis and Emory. Scrubbing out those schools (as well as already-B1G schools) here's who's left in FBS:

ConferenceAAU Members
PAC (9)Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington
ACC (5)Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia
SEC (4)Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Big XII (3)Iowa State, Kansas, Texas
Other (3)Buffalo, Rice, Tulane

If the Big Ten expands, nobody is coming from the Pac-12. Colorado is the only school with a half-argument for admission, solely on the fact that a rivalry exists with Nebraska. But if you think travel problems for non-revenue sports is bad from Lincoln, try tacking on another 450 miles to Boulder. The Buffs are logistically much better in the Pac-12, and it's not like the Big Ten could somehow scoop up, what, Cal? Stanford?

The ACC offers 2-3 targets of any interest: Virginia and UNC/Duke. UVA would preserve the contiguous footprint of the conference but the Cavaliers are a non-factor in football, really. The have some impressive basketball and lacrosse teams but this is always about football. You'd be better off adding Virginia Tech, but the Hokies aren't an AAU member. UNC/Duke offers an interesting combo, but I feel like you'd have to get both of them, plus they'd need to forgo rivalries with Wake and NC State. They have their own quadrangle of hate with the four NC schools and I just don't see them jumping ship.

Nobody is leaving the SEC for the B1G. It's apples to apples. They make just as much money and have a better perception athletically, thanks to recent success by Alabama and to a lesser extent, LSU and UGA. Mizzou might be tempted but it would have to be some two-step tango where we also pull in Kansas and get the Husker-Jayhawk-Tiger triangle happening again.

On that note, Iowa State ain't getting in. Hawkeyes will see to that. Texas could. The Longhorns are literally the only remaining AAU member in the country that makes a tiny bit of sense geographically (not really) and are nationally relevant, and offer fertile recruiting ground.

Skip the G5 teams. Never happening.

So, basically Texas. Texas is the lone AAU member who could work in the Big Ten. And after all that, I'm supposed to believe that the Big Ten would patently reject Oklahoma (or Notre Dame, for that matter) if they wanted to join the conference? "Sure, we'll take Kansas over Oklahoma. We'll take Iowa State over Notre Dame..."

It makes no sense. Once conference realignment spins up again, AAU Membership as a prerequisite for Big Ten membership is about to go flying out the window. Or if Kevin Warren sticks to his academic guns, don't be surprised when NU, along with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin bail out for better football climates in a new conference or league.
Perhaps you're correct but then look at how the BIG reacted to covid? When the BIG admits it's first non AAU member I'll start believing they don't care about snob appeal anymore. Just remember it only takes 1 NO vote for denying admittance. There's several BIG schools that don't seem to really care all that much about football imo.
 
Perhaps you're correct but then look at how the BIG reacted to covid? When the BIG admits it's first non AAU member I'll start believing they don't care about snob appeal anymore. Just remember it only takes 1 NO vote for denying admittance. There's several BIG schools that don't seem to really care all that much about football imo.

And if they can't see what's coming, Nebraska - and their powerful football brand - will leave.

I suspect OSU, UM, PSU and others would follow suit. Any of the B1G snobs who want to poo-poo the new football reality can become the next University of Chicago.
 

And if they can't see what's coming, Nebraska - and their powerful football brand - will leave.

I suspect OSU, UM, PSU and others would follow suit. Any of the B1G snobs who want to poo-poo the new football reality can become the next University of Chicago.
Long as the BIG keeps paying conference members big bucks no one is going anywhere. Of course that's always subject to change.
 

GET TICKETS


Get 50% off on Omaha Steaks

Back
Top