Conference Shake Up 2.0

[1972Shocker]

I think that, IF the SuperConference scenario continues to unfold what you might see with the Big East is a separation of their Football and Non-Football schools with the Football schools joing the ACC to form a SuperConference to compete with the SEC, Big 10, Pac 10.

Not sure where whether the Big XII would survive this realignment or not. Where would they go for expansion? More likely Texas, OU, OSU, Missou and KU probably get picked off by one of the other SuperConferences. Maybe Texas goes indy but that's a tough road. K-State, Iowa State, Baylor and Texas Tech will be looking for homes in second-tier football conferences. (Conference USA, MWC, WAC, MAC, etc.)

Hard to say what the long range implications of those left out of the SuperConferences will be. However, it would seem to follow the old adage that the "Rich just keep getting richer!"

[wu_shizzle]

How long can TCU afford to compete in the Big East?

I know they jumped at the chance to join a BCS conference, but outside that the BE makes little sense.

Maybe the instability of the Big XII scared them off, maybe the Big XII wasn't interested.

Are they going to bus every revenue-negative to the Northeast or take the financial hit of flying out of DFW?

TCU in the Big XII makes much more sense.

[fastbow]

Epic post John. I think you just had a mind mush moment at the beginning when you said Colorado to the Big10 when they went Pac-12. But I knew what you meant.

Texas has very much created their own demise imo. Their future is the one that is in a big state of questioning. I think Texas will always be a super power for football, but under what conference is the big question. Arguably with their TV Network, they have the best course of actually making their own conference, and I've discussed that avenue with friends before. That I wouldn't be surprised to see a Texas conference that pulls in some of the smaller Texas schools along with Tech, and possibly the Oklahoma schools.

Something along the lines of:

Texas, 0klahoma, OSU, Houston, UTEP, Tech, North Texas, SMU, Baylor and Rice?

Add UT-San Antonio and Tulsa to that list. Tulsa's no slouch, and from the rumblings down here, UTSA wants to do football in a big way...

[Aargh]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that (in my opinion) neither OU nor UT wants a B12 FB playoff game. They look at it the way sometimes look at Brack Busters. It's an elimiation game. For OU and UT it's an elimination game from consideration for NC.

Neither school needs the money from a FB playoff. A league with 10 FB schools makes sense to those schools. We all know how well a 10-team basketball conference works.

I think the B12 goes for one more team and tries to stick with that as long as possible.

Any ideas of WSU getting a basketball-only invite are pretty far off base. How in the world do you think the flagship school of the State would react to that suggestion. In an unholy alliance, KSU would join KU in opposing a WSU invite. WSU has a better chance of being invited to the B10 as a football school and a grant from that league to fund the startup costs and build a new stadium.

[WstateU]

A&M-SEC reminds that superconferences would damage hoops

"Things continue to head the exact same direction they've been going for a while. The power conferences will get bigger. The gap between the haves and have-nots will widen. We'll eventually have the four super conferences folks have long predicted. That's when I fear college basketball will change forever."

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/15441059/amsec-reminds-that-superconferences-would-damage-hoops/rss

[shock]

A&M will end up in the SEC in less than a month. By A&M moving right now, the B12 could sue the SEC for many many millions for breech of contract with tv stations. But, in less than a month, it will happen.

[MoValley John]

Actually, the Big XII can only collect exit fees from aTm. The Big XII potentially could sue the SEC for tortious interference, not breach of contract. There is a distinct difference. The Big XII and SEC have no contract, so the Big XII cannot sue the SEC for breaching anything. In fact, the SEC would have breached nothing. That said, the Big XII could file a tort against the SEC for interference, meaning that they interfered with the Big XII's ability to fulfill their contract.

(It is 3:00 AM, I am not a lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express and I think I have this pretty close to how it works. Maggie, or one of the other checkerpants attorneys on this site, please feel free to make corrections.)

In other words, had the SEC made the initial contact with aTm, and had the SEC urged aTm to leave the Big XII, and if aTm's departure prevented the Big XII from fulfilling their television contract with Fox, then the Big XII could have a tort case against the SEC.

In reality, the SEC vote last Saturday, along with the very strong public wording of the statement from the SEC, probably was an effort to disprove any tortious interference. Afterall, if the SEC states that they never offered aTm, and upon the great controversy created soley from statements made by the administration of aTm, the SEC scheduled their first meeting to discuss potentially adding aTm, and at the end of that meeting, the SEC voted to not offer aTm, there was no tortious interference. The SEC has demonstrated publicly that this was their first official interaction and anything else is pure speculation and heresay. Unless some document stating otherwise surfaces, which it won't, as of last Saturday, the SEC has had zero discussions with aTm regarding leaving, they have not interfered at all with the Big XII's ability to fulfill their contractual obligations. There is no standing for a tortious interference complaint.

Now, if in two weeks, aTm suddenly leaves the Big XII to go independent, and as a result, the SEC once again meets to discuss including aTm and approves their admission, the SEC is still clear of tortious interference, as aTm had already left the Big XII so the SEC interfered with nothing.

On a footnote, Fox has stated that if aTm leaves, they are still committed to the current contract. If Fox allows aTm to leave without ammending or voiding the tv deal, the Big XII has no case for interference, either.[/quote]

[Maggie]

I don’t know what type of contractual relationship Texas A&M and its current conference has with Fox or that Texas A&M may have with the Big XII. But MVJ is correct that the Big XII (or Fox for that matter) would not have a breach of contract claim against the SEC. There is no privity of contract. MVJ is also correct that a tortious interference claim could arise if the SEC is seen as, shall we say, encouraging Texas A&M to breach its contract with FOX and/or the Big XII.

I haven’t given it much thought, but I might disagree with MVJ’s assertions in the second to last paragraph. If Texas A&M goes independent and subsequently the SEC reverses its previous vote and allows A&M to join the SEC – they might not be off the hook. Leaving FOX out of this for a moment – the Big XII may still have a claim. Changing its position in such short order just looks really fishy – it may make the case harder to make but not impossible. As MVJ points out the first vote by the SEC is probably a CYA vote while its real intention is to allow A&M to join the SEC – they are just trying to be sneaky about it. The Big XII could file suit and immediately serve discovery: Carefully tailored Request for Admissions, Interrogatories, and most importantly document production. Maybe some mope at A&M or the SEC wrote something really stupid in an e-mail – electronic communication lasts forever – this happens all the time as people seem to much more casual with e-mails, than other written correspondence.

As for the last paragraph – if FOX doesn’t care it doesn’t care. But any potential cause of action for the Big XII will depend on what the contract says – Texas A&M leaving may not adversely affect FOX contractually but it might in the case of the Big XII, I just don’t know.

[SubGod22]

Did the SEC vote NO to aTm, or elect to not take action at the time? I've heard that they didn't actually decline aTm's entrance, but only pushed it down the road and chose not to do anything at the time of the meeting.

[MoValley John]

Did the SEC vote NO to aTm, or elect to not take action at the time? I've heard that they didn't actually decline aTm's entrance, but only pushed it down the road and chose not to do anything at the time of the meeting.

In reality, it was all and also none of what you said. Here is a good article on the actions of the SEC. As you can see, the statement was quite cryptic:

http://www.macon.com/2011/08/14/1665671/sec-statement-on-expansion-texas.html

[MoValley John]

Don't kill the messenger, this is simply the latest rumor on conference expansion. From orangebloods:

This is just what I am hearing,so take it as such.

UNC will be willing to let NC State walk and The Legs. in Virgina would be willing to let Va. Tech walk to the SEC.

The catch would be if that does happen, UNC-Chapel Hill along with Duke, Virginia and Maryland would walk to the Big Ten. I am hearing that the Big Ten doesn't want Mizzou at all, and is done with ND and willing to move forward to 16 if those 4 would apply. Apparently OU, Okie Lite, Kansas and Mizzou talked to the Big Ten last week, and the Big Ten said don't even apply.

Again, just a rumor, but a interesting rumor.

[_kai_]

Don't kill the messenger, this is simply the latest rumor on conference expansion. From orangebloods:

This is just what I am hearing,so take it as such.

UNC will be willing to let NC State walk and The Legs. in Virgina would be willing to let Va. Tech walk to the SEC.

The catch would be if that does happen, UNC-Chapel Hill along with Duke, Virginia and Maryland would walk to the Big Ten. I am hearing that the Big Ten doesn't want Mizzou at all, and is done with ND and willing to move forward to 16 if those 4 would apply. Apparently OU, Okie Lite, Kansas and Mizzou talked to the Big Ten last week, and the Big Ten said don't even apply.

Again, just a rumor, but a interesting rumor.

I really don't think VTech is joining the SEC. Its not a smart move for the SEC. In Virginia, VT is a very small market. The SEC wants to expand TV ratings, there are many more schools out there with larger TV markets to expand on than VTech. Honestly the SEC is more likely to take Virginia over VT.

If the SEC is going to poach from the ACC, the likely schools would be maybe Maryland, Clemson, Florida St. and NC St.

[BostonWu]

Go ask the kitties (I'm not sure what KU boards are saying) and they'll tell you ND is replacing A&M. Now I ask you what in the world does B12 have to offer ND?

[_kai_]

Go ask the kitties (I'm not sure what KU boards are saying) and they'll tell you ND is replacing A&M. Now I ask you what in the world does B12 have to offer ND?

A winning record in conference play?

[SubGod22]

Go ask the kitties (I'm not sure what KU boards are saying) and they'll tell you ND is replacing A&M. Now I ask you what in the world does B12 have to offer ND?

A winning record in conference play?