At last the Big 12 has been saved, or at least that’s what David Boren and Joe Castiglione will have you believe. The past two days have not been kind to OU’s image. David Boren publicly made irreversible comments about the Big 12, its members, and its late commissioner Dan Beebe. What followed is a less than desirable outcome for Sooner fans.
It has not been proven that Larry Scott had been granted the votes to expand the Pac-12 and extend invitations to OU and OSU, but it is a well-believed rumor. The belief is that Boren made derogatory comments about the aforementioned because he knew he had leverage to gain from Texas, including concessions to The Longhorn Network, that were necessary to be on an equal footing. However, when the other shoe dropped, OU was left with no leverage and no power.
Late Wednesday night, Larry Scott announced that the Pac-12 would not be expanding at this time. That crippled any chance that OU and David Boren had at forcing Texas into further submission on their network. The next day David Boren made it clear that his intention was to remain in the Big 12 all along. With little regard for Boren’s confidence, many OU fans saw the writing on the wall. OU had no leverage to negotiate with. That said, OU was not yet without options as to what conference they would call home next season.
The SEC has been courting OU since the 2010 offseason. Furthermore, the Pac-12 decided not to expand because Texas was unwilling to make the necessary concessions to appease the current Pac-12 members for admission. The conference also felt that they didn’t want to expand to 14, as scheduling would become problematic if they were not to expand to 16. But that doesn’t mean that OU couldn’t have forced their hand.
In the wake of conferences undoubtedly expanding to 16 teams, the Pac-12 is geographically bound to limited options for expansion. The best option of available teams that do not cause a headache with their own network is limited exclusively to OU. The next best options are BYU or Boise State. Neither of those two look as appetizing as OU does. Now then, if the Big 12 were to have folded, OU would have multiple suitors.
If the Pac-12 were to see how sought-after their best option for expansion was, they would have little option but to offer entry to the Sooners without Texas attached at the hip. This could start a chain of events that could ultimately lead to Texas being forced to join the Pac-12 without The Longhorn Network, and that doesn’t even take into account the Big 10 or SEC options that OU could have.
Instead, David Boren, with his newly granted power to make all realignment decisions, decided to try and save the Big 12, or what was left of it. Before the Pac-12 made its decision on Wednesday night, Boren gave what was believed to be a list of superficial demands to the Big 12 conference, stating what it would take to keep OU. At the time it was believed that OU already had one foot out of the door.
Knowing what we know now, it’s clear that the list of demands were made without a single solidified offer from any conference. Boren was thought to have been playing with house money, but in reality was playing a losing hand and risking the perception of OU being in a strong position.
After the Pac-12 announcement, the Big 12 conference scheduled a teleconference to discuss the possibility of saving the conference for a second time in as many years. OU, with little bargaining leverage, held strong to its demands for reform by Texas. Instead, the only thing it got was a new (interim) commissioner.
The news today that came from the teleconference was that no concessions had been made regarding The Longhorn Network and that all teams had agreed to an equal revenue sharing system; a system that OU stands to lose money on by agreeing to it. In a matter of one day, OU went from being in the driver’s seat for realignment with a “done deal” to go to a more reputable, richer conference, with equal power for every member, to walking back to the Big 12 with its tail between its legs.
Worse yet, Boren, alongside Joe Castiglione and Bob Stoops, held a press conference this evening to address the reform that was made today. When the press conference was over, it was clear just how badly Boren handled OU’s realignment opportunities and worse, its perception. OU made concessions for equal revenue sharing. While it has been disputed if it is final, OU has also agreed in principle to sign away its media rights for the next 6 years to the Big 12 Conference, creating a much stiffer penalty to leave the conference, virtually handcuffing OU to the Big 12.
Boren tried to sell OU fans and boosters alike a bag of goods, stating that this was a success for OU. They made more concessions to the Big 12 than Texas did today, which Boren claimed was his ultimate goal. In a matter of one day David Boren contradicted everything he claimed in the previous two weeks, and we are being asked to like it?
The Big 12 is now going to make an effort to expand back to 12 teams, but the viable options for good quality schools are very limited. It’s hard to imagine this conference being more competitive without Texas A&M and Nebraska, but Boren sure thinks it will be. In fact, he’ll bet his legacy on it.
But hey, there’s always hope Missouri joins the SEC and blows this thing up all over again.
Scott
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