College Football Questions and Musings

The Game Room
41

Yeah, I meant “never”! I just got kind of carried away with the typing.

I’m not surprised that Baylor, and IA State are taking the route they are; I’m hoping it’s a delaying tactic to allow them time to negotiate deals without the mad scramble to find a home that they would have had if A&M had officially bailed the other day.

Still, it does seem like a very sour-grapes and lawyerly sort of BS to roll along with Beebe, and then pipe up at the last second with “tortious interference” and throw the wrench in the works. This SEC business isn’t a surprise to anyone in the wider world; it has to have been one of those widely known secrets to everyone with skin in the game.

Baylor had NO business in the Big 12 in the first place; they only got in because of heavyweight political wrangling in the Texas Legislature (IIRC, UT, A&M and Texas Tech were held hostage from being allowed to join the Big 8, unless we took snot-nosed little brother Baylor with us). In all that time, I think they’ve had 4 seasons where they won more than one conference game (out of 7 or so each year), and have made 1 bowl game in the entire history of the Big 12, and that was last year. The rest of their sports programs haven’t done much better.

I’m surprised Kansas is in on it; you’d think their basketball program would have enough mass to get them a home and to bring K-State along with them.

42

It’s almost certainly a delaying tactic by Baylor. They’re trying to convince Oklahoma to stick around. Failing that, they’re looking for any way to stay in an AQ conference. Just beat TCU, too. I’m not shedding many tears over them.

I’m not surprised about Kansas. The big conferences are about football first. Look at the ACC. Big basketball conference. But not much doing otherwise.

It’s all about money. The NCAA is funded through the basketball tournament but football bowl game revenue goes to the conferences and schools. A halfway decent football school is vastly preferable, revenue wise, to a bad football/good basketball school. Hence, Kansas.