Let's Stay Together: The Case for Preserving the Big 12

The rumors are rampant. Everyone has everyone leaving the conference. The Big XII is on death row. You sure?

The best thing for the potential survival of the B12 are the rumors/speculation this week created by the MU/UNL leak and all the UT to the Pac 10 business. Why?

URGENCY!!!

Urgency is a damned powerful action agent. Urgency now requires the B12 bigwigs to move a quickly as possible on a TV deal. The Pac-10 partnership TV deal.

Now, I’m not the economic wonk that some of the boys on Barking Carnival are. I’m just a caveman. And not even an Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.

What I do believe is that the money motivation is powerful but not omnipotent. Yes, everyone wants more money. Yes, the B12 TV revenue sharing (or not sharing) is at the heart of this.

Yes, AD’s are CEO’s now and no longer the head football coach’s caddy. But, in the words of the Fab Four, Money Don’t Buy Me Love.

I believe, I really do, that the best outcome for everyone currently in this league, is a lucrative television arrangement with the Pac-10. Will it be as lucrative as the Big 10 Network? Nope. Doesn’t have to be. It just has to be within the margin of error.

Nebraska, in its heart, doesn’t want to leave the old Big 8 schools.

Missouri is destined for anonymity in the Big Ten.

Texas doesn’t want to play granola schools 1,500 miles away every Saturday and twice a week in the winter. And they don’t want to be the homewrecker.

Oklahoma doesn’t want to go to the SEC.

Neither does Okie Lite.

Tech is screwed if all this goes down and it’ll be a political problem for UT and A&M.

KU has real value.

This is the kick in the ass that this conference needs to get its internal issues resolved and its TV future in order.

September in a Big 12/Pac-10 partnership would be awesome. 2:30 and 7:00 (Central) doubleheaders, four weeks in a row. The 7:00 game a national network broadcast (CBS? They can’t be happy with SEC deal with the enemy).

The 2:30 game a national cable broadcast (FSN). Four of the best in each conference playing each other while SEC teams play Furman and Big 10 schools play Ball State. Lots of eyes. SHOWCASE national matchups every week.

The football depth in these two leagues is so good (The Pac-10 needs U-dub/UCLA resurgence as much as the Big 12 needed Nebraska and needs A&M and CU).

On conference weekends, you could literally have a sextuple header and be on TV from 11 Central to midnight Central.

11 Central—Big XII game on FSN/Comcast.
2:30 Central—Second best game of either league for the day on over the air network.
2:30 Central—Third best game of either league on FSN/Comcast.
6:00 Central—Fourth best game of either league on FSN/Comcast.
7:30 Central—Best game of either league on national over the air network.
9:30 Central—Pac-10 game on FSN/Comcast.

As mighty as the Big 10 Network is, is it truly national? It’s not on my Dish Network package. FSN/Comcast is truly national and is on “basic” cable everywhere.

If CBS doesn’t step up to be the national over the air partner, doesn’t Fox? Fox is a busy bee trying to make the Jerry Cotton Bowl look like a BCS game. Its anchor is the Big 12.

There will be many who believe my head is in the sand on this. But change for change’s sake doesn’t cure all ills. I think that most of the Big 12 schools, with the exception of Mizzou, want the Big 12 to work out.

I, in the minority, believe it will.

Beat me up now……….

This column originally appeared on: Boomer And Sooner

Follow Boomer And Sooner on Twitter: @BoomAndSoon