Tech loses its primary advantage over the Cougars. Adding Houston hurts Tech (and other Texas schools) in recruitingĪs soon as Houston joins the Big 12, hundreds of local kids who would’ve committed to a different Power 5 school in Texas are going to stay home. This move further dismantles regionalism and tradition in college football and no one seems to care. College football is all about regionalism and proving your area of the country does football better than anyone else. This appears to be the new reality in college football, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Yeah, West Virginia didn’t make sense either and honestly, it still doesn’t. There are a few things I dislike about the Big 12 adding these particular schools: 1. This move is going to do the opposite of what it set out to do, which is to elevate the strength of the conference over the long term. ![]() Word is finalization could come this academic year. I’d really like to talk about the opener against Houston, but The Athletic is making that quite a challenge with its latest report.Įvidently, the Big 12 Conference has keyed on four schools for expansion in Cincinnati, Houston, UCF and BYU, the latter of which could join as a football-only member. It's also about the partnership, and what it can do for our business and our brand and the profile of our schools, which is critically important to me.'' ![]() ''Obviously, it has to be the right economic deal, but it's not just about economics. ''The strategy was clarity and stability as we're looking to grow this conference in every respect,'' Yormark said. Yormark said engaging with ESPN and Fox was an effort to create some certainty for the conference. Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff has said his conference being next in line for a new media rights deal after the Big Ten's $7 billion megadeal with three networks was an advantage the Pac-12 had over the Big 12. ![]() The Pac-12 could still land a deal with ESPN, but it can now bring its rights to the open market. The Pac-12's deal expires next year and the conference did open the exclusive negotiating window with ESPN, but that has now closed without a deal being struck. And I think they're the two best partners to do it.'' We're at a point right now where it's important to elevate and amplify our brand. ''If we can't get to a deal, then the fallback is 16 months from now. The Big 12's deals with the networks expire in June of that year. ![]() The Big 12 announced in late August it planned to engage ESPN and Fox, even though the exclusive negotiating window between the conference and the networks does not open until February 2024. And I can tell you that we've had meaningful conversations for the last three-plus weeks, and we'll see where they go.'' But in a world that's changing, why don't we explore an early conversation which could, maybe, lead to a negotiation. ''I can't go out there and talk to an Amazon or an Apple or CBS. ''So (the conference) is not a free agent,'' Yormark told AP on Wednesday. NEW YORK (AP) Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark described recent discussions with television partners ESPN and Fox as ''meaningful'' as the conference looks into the possibility of striking a media rights deal almost two years before the current contract expires.
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