The Missouri board of curators has voted unanimously to give Chancellor Brady Deaton the authority to explore other options for the Missouri Tigers conference realignment. In layman's terms, the SEC option is now in play. If that wasn't telling enough, Deaton announced his resignation as the Chair of the Big XII's Board of Directors soon after the meeting.
SS Missouri
This doesn't mean Missouri has left the Big XII. Perhaps, they are posturing. But, if I were a betting man I would say Missouri has a back door commitment from the SEC. This allows the SEC to expand in to the Missouri (St. Louis and Kansas City) markets and possibly into Kansas. That means more TV's and a larger regional coverage for the SEC. Missouri is more Southern than it is Midwest anyway. That doesn't rule out the Big Ten, but I think it less likely. The Big Ten didn't tip their hand last year, when Missouri pulled up their dress and proudly displayed their black and gold panties.
The plan calls for the conference to equally distribute all revenue from its network and cable television football contracts — known as Tier I and Tier II, along with men’s basketball and NCAA Tournament television revenue.
The sharing would take effect this year if each school agrees to a six-year grant of its Tier I and II rights. Essentially, a school surrenders that income to the conference for that amount of time.
The schools are in the process of exploring that provision through their boards, but the vote to accept the proposal among presidents was unanimous.
The Big 12’s five-member expansion committee has been reactivated and that the conference has been encouraged by the amount of schools that have shown interest in the league, although Neinas wouldn’t be specific.
This doesn't mean Missouri has moved from the street corner to the bed of the Big XII just yet. But, this should be the first step in smoking out, Missouri to see where they stand or lie for that matter.
Iowa State Suffered a significant loss this weekend. 3 Turnovers in the first quarter, a blocked punt resulting in a touchdown, and 34-0 at halftime is a difficult valley to traverse. There were plenty of people that were complaining about the referees. I personally do not like to blame the refereeing. But, there were definitely two calls made the nullified touchdowns and two more calls when Iowa State was deep in Texas territory and one call when Iowa State had Texas stopped that gave them a new set of downs. The following play resulted in a 40 yard touchdown. I have heard numerous people complain that the game was not called evenly - including the Iowa State Radio announcers. Personally, I believe we could have overcome the refs if we had not turned over the ball 3 times in the first quarter. If you turnover the ball 3 times in a game you will often have a long hill to climb. But, three in the first quarter almost ensures defeat.
Let's talk positives. The weather was great and the stadium was packed for the third time this year. That was one of the loudest ISU games I've been to. During the kickoff I could not hear the canon, and two minutes later started to smell the gun powder. ISU played Texas very close other than the 3 Turnovers and blocked punt. So, I contend ISU is still a good team, not a great team. But, if we can fix the Turnovers we should be able to play with most of the team in the Big XII this year. Our Sophomore running back tandem of James White and Shontrelle Johnson are starting to look very good with some nice runs throughout the game. ISU showed some good movement on offense when they went to the no huddle offense. I would expect to see us run more no huddle in the future. Unfortunately, I think ISU is better than we played on Saturday, but you only get one shot to prove it.
All the Whos down in Whoville are wondering what happened. Nebraska went in to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, WI to face the Wisconsin Badgers for the first time as a new member of the Big Ten. Final Score: Wisconsin 48 and Nebraska 17.
My favorite quote of the day comes to us from Chris Meyer. Commissioner, "What's up Chris?" Chris, "Taxes."
And finally the Commissioner and his daughter Julia were highlighted in the Des Moines Register in the tailgaters section.
Final picture: more future tailgaters from the our tailgate group.
Texas is the Homecoming Queen, the Prom Queen, and the County Fair Queen all rolled into one. If you land Texas: The Good News is she is smokin’ hot and everyone else wants her just as bad as you. Her modeling career treated her well, she carries a Visa Black Card with an ESPN emblem on it. The Bad news is she knows she is hot and she doesn’t like to share. Texas is all kinds of Bitchy, like 28 days out of the month. You’ve also made your last decision about what to wear or what you’ll be allowed to eat. Learn to enjoy birthdays and anniversaries, Sparkey, because these are likely the only times you will be allowed to see her naked, if you have been well behaved. Enjoy sleeping on the floor when you have actually had the nerve to voice your opinion. Afterward your allowance will have been suspended.
1. Let Steele Jantz loose and allow him to be creative.
Through three games, Jantz has thrown for 666 yards and six touchdowns, solid numbers by any measure– but has been just as effective on his feet, running for two touchdowns and 112 total yards. Jantz’s ability to scramble and throw on the run will present a challenge to the Texas defense. Edge Iowa State
2. Contain the Texas Passing game.
Iowa State has given up a total of 619 yards through the air to a total of 414 on the ground. Case McCoy– and David Ash, if used– must find a way to throw the ball downfield and test the Cyclones’ secondary. Texas has run the ball well through 3 games. However, they have struggled in the passing game. Last week they brought in Case McCoy (Colt McCoy’s younger brother) and played a 2 quarterback offense. Utilizing 2 quarterbacks has never been an offensive strategy I have loved. If Iowa State can force Texas to rely on the run and keep the game close or play from ahead for once it could be a back to back victory. Edge: Iowa State
3. Special teams and turnovers.
Through 3 games Texas has been susceptible to turning over the ball. Iowa State has as well but ISU has been able to overcome those obstacles, play from behind, and push through for victories. Edge: Texas
4. Confidence and Focus.
Texas is facing Oklahoma next week, while Iowa State is heading to (Wacko) Waco Texas to face Baylor. Both teams are coming off a bye week and inevitable both teams have begun preparing for the following week’s match-up. Oklahoma is rated Number 1 in the nation and Baylor is rated number 15 with a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate in their standout quarterback Robert Giffin III. Whoever is most focused and confident about winning the game right in front of them will prevail. Iowa State beat the Longhorns in Austin last year, and you can see the confidence building in each game. Paul Rhoads emotional coaching style and riverboat gambler mentality is very contagious. Edge: Iowa State
ESPN To Air Paul Rhoads Feature On College Gameday Saturday
AMES, Iowa - An ESPN video crew was in Ames Wednesday filming a segment on head coach Paul Rhoads and the 3-0 Iowa State football team for College Gameday.Be sure to check out the feature on ESPN College Gameday, beginning at 9 a.m. CDT on ESPN.
The Texas A&M Aggies will officially join the SEC conference in July 2012, making this football season the school's last in the Big 12. Postponed due to opposition from other schools unwilling to waive their right to sue the SEC, talk of opposition has died down in recent days as the national media casts its collective eyes on yet another last-second survival by the Big 12. It's unclear at this point whether or not those schools waived their right to sue or if the SEC removed that condition for acceptance. The move is effective July 1, 2012, with competition to begin in all sports for the 2012-13 season.
Texas President William Powers declared Wednesday that the Longhorns are open to a new revenue-sharing model and have already suggested that top-level television and cable money be shared equally. What's not on the table is the money from Texas' 20-year, $300 million deal with ESPN to create the Longhorn Network, which has been blamed in large part for Texas A&M's pending departure from the SEC. The Big 12 splits the revenue from its $1.2 billion Fox Sports contract evenly, but only half of the money from its top-tier deal with ABC goes into equal shares. The rest is weighted toward the programs that play on the network more frequently, such as Texas and Oklahoma.
This thing has got me scratching my head more than complex fractions. I was of the understanding there would be no math (part of the reason I became a Marketing Major). Honestly, this story line is as complicated as a non-linear equation with more variables than I have fingers to count on with a couple Cosines and some derivatives added for extra spice. So, here is my Math word problem: If Pittsburgh and Florida are parachuting from a plane flying at 15,000 feet with a landing pad in the ACC, and Texas A&M is leaving on a train heading East toward the SEC at a speed of 75 miles per hour, and Missouri is standing on the street corner like a $50 hooker waiting for the highest bidder, and TCU is being Fed Exed back and forth between The Big East and The Big XII, and BYU, West Virginia, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Boise State are all hanging with their homies, how long will the Big XII survive?????
Through Wednesday of last week, Iowa State has sold 37,446 season tickets and orders continue to come in. The previous record was 36,610 in 2007. The Cyclones' opening two home games drew the second (56,085 vs. Iowa) and fifth-largest (54,672 vs. UNI) crowds in Jack Trice Stadium history. "We have already sold more than 53,000 tickets for our game against Texas (Oct. 1)," said Pollard. Iowa State is on a pace to average more than 50,000 fans per home game. The Cyclones' current home attendance average is ranked 35th nationally. That mark is higher than seven schools in the Big East, eight schools in the Pac-12, seven schools in the ACC and five schools in the Big Ten.
“In light of the widespread speculation about potential scenarios for Conference re-alignment, the Pac-12 Presidents and Chancellors have affirmed their decision to remain a 12-team conference. Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said, “after careful review we have determined that it is in the best interests of our member institutions, student-athletes and fans to remain a 12-team conference. While we have great respect for all of the institutions that have contacted us, and certain expansion proposals were financially attractive, we have a strong conference structure and culture of equality that we are committed to preserve. With new landmark TV agreements and plans to launch our innovative television networks, we are going to focus solely on these great assets, our strong heritage and the bright future in front of us. “
Let’s translate shall we, “We worked very hard to get USC and UCLA to agree to equal revenue sharing in the PAC 12. Texas you don’t want to share revenue from your Longhorn Television Network worth an estimated $300 Million. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech you can call anytime. You have our number. But, you can’t move in next door without Texas. So for the time being we, The PAC 12, have decided to shut the garage door. But you have the pass code and you know where we store the spare key, but next time bring some beer. So it appears the Big XII has to make this conference work. The tremors have temporarily subsided. But, people this is like saying don’t worry about earthquakes we live in California and vacation in Japan.
Here is some good news, Oklahoma insisted that there be change of leadership in the Big XII for OU to stay in the Big XII. Yea, um Duh. Can someone please grab a sharpie and draw a mustache on Dan Beebe, Big XII Commissioner, and a put a sign on his back that says, “Kick Me (out the door)”. Because dude, has been passed out since he celebrated the 1.2 Billion contract negotiation with Fox last spring, that might as well have been drawn up on toilet paper.
Are you with me camera guy? This is moving fast, let’s glance back to the Big East. They are in worse shape than the Big XII. Pitt and Syracuse leaving The Big East makes it a basketball conference. Reports surfaced earlier this week that West Virginia had been rejected by the ACC and Southeastern Conference, but the university has not publicly confirmed or denied that. "As I stated before, WVU is an excellent flagship, land-grant University, with national-caliber athletic and academic programs," Luck said in the statement. Does this sound familiar?
Let me break it down a little further for you. West Virginia has been a perennial top 20 program for a significant period of time. This is where Bobby Bowden, famed Florida State Head Coach, started his career and then catapulted Florida State to a consistent Top 10 Football powerhouse program similar to Hayden Fry only much bigger. So, it doesn’t really matter how well you perform. What really matters is population or available eyeballs to watch these programs on television. Boise State, Missouri, West Virginia all big names in college football over the last 5 years are getting shunned, only because they don’t have a big enough Television draw.
The real power brokers and the folks that have the most control in this whole ordeal are ESPN, FOX, CBS, and NBC. These are the guys with the money and the power, everyone else is just a pawn. Unfortunately for Iowa State, Texas and Oklahoma are the King and Queen. More to come on the Networks.
