The Big 12 is a joke

[MBHORNSFAN]

Picks by conference through first two rounds of NFL draft. 

1. SEC-18

2. Big-10

3. Pac 12-9

4 ACC-8

5. MWC-5

6. AAC-4

7. Big 12- 3 

 

[joeywa]

When your two flagship programs are down, this is what happens.  Expecting Baylor, TCU, TT, KU, WVU, KSU, ISU, etc to make up for that is a pipe dream.

Does the conference need an overhaul?  Depends on what your expectations are.  If you want a fairly easy road to the Playoff, then no.  If you want to see teams play better competition in-conference, then yes. 

The Big 12 offers the easiest road to the Playoff, bar none.  It's not even close.  Most years it will be a 2-horse battle between Texas/ou. 

I'm somewhat on the fence here; on the one hand, the Playoff thing is nice.  OTOH, I'd really like to see us play top-notch competition week-in, week-out.  Unfortunately, in the latter scenario, there is not a conference out there that offers that right now.  B1G is down.  SEC has 3, possibly 4 teams that are top-notch competition.  ACC, ha.  PAC12, nope. And everything is cyclical.

What I'd really like to see is a consortium of universities pull away from the NCAA, and divide the country into 5 regions; West, Great Lakes, Southwest, Southeast and East.  Depending upon the membership, play everyone in your region, and mix in teams from the other regions to fill your schedule on a rotation basis.  It's really not that difficult of a plan to design.  The holdup is and always has been the university presidents and the NCAA. 

 

[Aaron Carrara]

The positive I see in all of this is that Charlie Strong (via his Louisville players) had 4 draft picks in the first 2 rounds ------> 3 in the first round.

Excited for Texas!

#HOOKEM

 

[Etex Horn]

Yep, per the NFL Draft, it's a bad year for the Big 12 and in particular, any UT players with any chance of being drafted. A couple of UT guys may go late, maybe. Looking back, I can't remember many pro drafts without at least 1 or 2 Longhorns being drafted, even in the lean years. This is just a down year for UT and other Big 12 members, as per the NFL draft. That having been said, I prefer to be optimistic that the future will be better, because Louisville had 3 players taken in the 1st round. All 3 were recruited and coached by Charlie Strong...who is now UT's Head Coach. That's an impressive stat for Charlie Strong, IMO. Things are going to get better, soon, with Strong as HC. It will take 2-3 years for him to get it going at Texas. We must be patient with Strong...I believe he will reestablish UT as a top ten college football program and soon UT will "represent" again in the NFL draft by having great football players, as UT has historically done. 2014 may be another "down" year for Texas football. We just need to be patient and give Coach Strong some rope for a couple of years. He'll get us back to where we want to be, I believe he will.     

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

The positive I see in all of this is that Charlie Strong (via his Louisville players) had 4 draft picks in the first 2 rounds ------> 3 in the first round.

Excited for Texas!

#HOOKEM

So, there is that.

However Aaron, don't ruin the pity party going on.  It is much easier to cry about the past then see what the future holds forTexas.

 

[MBHORNSFAN]

So, there is that.

However Aaron, don't ruin the pity party going on.  It is much easier to cry about the past then see what the future holds forTexas.

It's not a pitty party but call it what you will but this sounds a lot like the same denial that Mack has had the past few yrs which led to this mess.

 

[Darrell McPhaul]

You are right Mike, Texas should have never been in this situation.

 

[DougNTexas]

But, but, but Mack was gonna fix it. We fired his ass about three years to late. In fact, we would not have fired him this year had not the BMD's had a conniption the morning after the banquet and demanded Powers fire him. 

 

[streettopeschel]

But, but, but Mack was gonna fix it. We fired his ass about three years to late. In fact, we would not have fired him this year had not the BMD's had a conniption the morning after the banquet and demanded Powers fire him. 

...and?

so what... he's gone.

 

[castlebravo1]

In my opinion, the sooner UT is out of the Big 12, the better.  I would much rather see us play "national" caliber competition week in and week out than have an easy road to the playoff.  

Regarding the playoffs, given the perception of the Big12, the conference champ would probably have to run the table to get into the playoff.  A one loss conference champ from any of the other conferences would probably get in.  Even a one loss non conference-champ SEC team would probably make it in over a one loss Big12 team.

 

[streettopeschel]

In my opinion, the sooner UT is out of the Big 12, the better.  I would much rather see us play "national" caliber competition week in and week out than have an easy road to the playoff.  

Regarding the playoffs, given the perception of the Big12, the conference champ would probably have to run the table to get into the playoff.  A one loss conference champ from any of the other conferences would probably get in.  Even a one loss non conference-champ SEC team would probably make it in over a one loss Big12 team.

Florida State won the NC from a conference that had exactly one other ranked team. i doubt they're lamenting not playing a 'national' caliber competition.

3 big 12 teams were ranked 17 or better in the final AP poll. the pac 12 and Big 10 had 2 each. the notion the big 12 is some sort of inferior product isn't justified based on the numbers. 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

These "the Big 12 is a lousy conference" threads are tiresome...and very aggy.

It would be different if UT had reeled off 3-4 consecutive Big 12 titles.  Then maybe we can criticize the "inferior quality" of our opponents.  But, that hasn't happened yet.  Only team with a legit beef, unfortunately, is OU.

Aggy's line about "a rising tide lifts all boats" is BS.  When was the last time Arky, Miss State, Vandy, or UK won a SEC title?  Or even a divisional title (like this matters)?  

 

[JimR]

consistently whining is very consistent

 

[MBHORNSFAN]

consistently whining is very consistent

Is that you Mack?

 

[DougNTexas]

Yes Street Mack is gone, but the results of his Coaching and recruiting will linger on for a good while yet. If you want to pretend otherwise then fine. He mailed it in the last few years while cashing those weekly $100,000 checks..

 

[Sejjr]

The Big 12 is perceived as very weak right now. The lack of NFL picks this year would support that perception. That said, there are 2 realities to remember moving forward:

1. College Football is extremely cyclical and we are about to begin a new era never experienced before with the Playoff. The picture will be very different in 3-5 years.

2. There is ZERO chance that the Big 12 exists in it's current form 5 years from now. The playoff windfall will force the glacial-paced decision makers to add teams to the playoff because they are only motivated by money. There is no chance that we stay at a 4 team playoff and I imagine it will move to 8 rather quickly. This will also force further conference re-alignment and possible Championship game requirements.

All we really need to worry about right now is putting a dominant team on the field. Texas will usually receive the benefit of the doubt in any tie-breaking scenarios, due to the fact we are the premier brand in the sport. It sucks badly that we will have to wait a couple of years for Strong to fix the Mack Brown mess, but we are clearly moving in the right direction. Once Heard is starting I expect a Playoff appearance will soon follow.

 

[castlebravo1]

You can call the Big 12 what you want, but outside of Texas and OU, it is not "big time" football.  To me, big time football is defined by how many butts in the seats the home teams have for games, the number of championships those teams have won over the years, how rabid their fan base is, and national recognition/following.  The teams outside of Texas and OU have none of that.  Sure the Big 12 kicks ass when Texas and OU are up, but who picks up the slack when they are down?  In the SEC, if Alabama and LSU are down, Auburn, Tennessee are up.  When those teams are down, Florida and Arkansas are up.  Same with the Big10 and Pac12.  I would put the ACC in the same boat as the Big12.

Average attendance per home game 2012 (I think a good benchmark for defining "big time football"): 

ACC 48,519

Big 10: 70,387

Big 12:  58,712

Pac12:  53,586

SEC:  75,216

Striving to be in a conference the equal of the PAC12 and ACC is great if you're Baylor or Kansas, but it doesn't cut it if you are Texas with a 102,000 seat stadium.

 

[Sejjr]

You can call the Big 12 what you want, but outside of Texas and OU, it is not "big time" football.  To me, big time football is defined by how many butts in the seats the home teams have for games, the number of championships those teams have won over the years, how rabid their fan base is, and national recognition/following.  The teams outside of Texas and OU have none of that.  Sure the Big 12 kicks ass when Texas and OU are up, but who picks up the slack when they are down?  In the SEC, if Alabama and LSU are down, Auburn, Tennessee are up.  When those teams are down, Florida and Arkansas are up.  Same with the Big10 and Pac12.  I would put the ACC in the same boat as the Big12.

Average attendance per home game 2012 (I think a good benchmark for defining "big time football"): 

ACC 48,519

Big 10: 70,387

Big 12:  58,712

Pac12:  53,586

SEC:  75,216

Striving to be in a conference the equal of the PAC12 and ACC is great if you're Baylor or Kansas, but it doesn't cut it if you are Texas with a 102,000 seat stadium.

Not sure that is a good metric, as the average stadium size in the SEC and Big 10 is much larger than that of the Big 12 and ACC. The Big 10 has 3 stadiums over 100,000. 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

The teams outside of Texas and OU have none of that.

I disagree

Both K-State and OSU have proven themselves over the years.  Tech and TCU, too, recently.  Your points about attendance and "rabid fan bases" is certainly valid though.

Is the Big 12 ideal for Texas?  No, but it's very difficult to achieve the perfect balance of marquee TV games each week, convenient travel, and historical rivalries.  Sadly, it can't be Texas-OU every week.  Compromises have to be made.  Don't you think Aggie fans would rather travel to the Alamo Bowl versus ATL's Peach Bowl?  

In time, the Top 64-80 CFB teams may align geographically into 4 super-conferences with 2 divisions each.  That's what TV is pressuring us to do.  Does that mean a split from the NCAA?  Maybe, but I don't see how we can do it while maintaining our exciting NCAA hoops and baseball tourneys.  We'd also have to consider anti-trust lawsuits from the schools that are left out.