Big 12 possible expansion. Thoughts?
Anyone here fans of any college football team in the Big 12? I'm not going to pretend that I understand any of the inner workings of a college football conference but could anyone shine any light on why the Big 12 is against expansion? I know they want to have a college championship game without splitting into divisions and expanding but what I'm not understanding is why. What are the negatives for a conference expansion?
So, thoughts?
Biggest reason I believe they are against expansion is the money. Right now each team splits a pot and that pot is among 10 teams. If two teams were added, then there would be less for each team. The only way to alleviate that would be to bring in two teams that added a lot of money (i.e Florida state, clemson, maybe Louisville), but since those teams are unrealistic and pipe dreams at best, the next options are cincy, memphis, boise, BYU, and again those won't add as much to the conference in terms of revenue. When bring new teams into a conference, you want them to add something back. For SEC, A&M opened up Texas as a recruiting trail. Rutgers added the NY market to the Big Ten, etc. The Big 12 would want teams that add something to the conference to make the hit of splitting the pot among more teams less painful.
This is all mostly my opinion of course lol, I won't pretend to know that much about CFB conferences.
A&M added the Houston television market to the SEC TV deal. Missouri added St Louis.
Geography isn't an issue....after all, West Virginia's making it work. Getting Florida State and Notre Dame would be a major coup. Pipe dreaming, of course.....but damn whatta conference the B12 would be then, right?
Still a second rate conference.
It's a bunch of bullshit that the Big 12 doesn't play a Championship Game. Oklahoma got to sit around jacking off while the other three top teams had to play one more quality opponent each. I never understood why you wouldn't want a Championship Game. It's an extra game. extra money, extra exposure, and it gives a team with no National Championship chances a chance to still win the Conference (ie. Florida or North Carolina this past season).
I did recently hear that the Big 12 will be allowed to have a Championship Game without expanding. We'll see if they finally do the right thing or not.
BTW - LSU is returning almost every starter next year, so watch out, bitches!