Somewhat lighthearted look at the 2011 conference expansion winners and losers (so far). What y'all think?
Winners:
Nebraska, Colorado!
- They upgraded bigtime last year by getting off the Titanic, and are now having some serious schadenfreude watching all of this go down. Link
Texas A&M!
- Despite a few accusing them of breaking up the Big XII or killing a great rivalry, it's hard to deny that A&M made a good business decision and a good football decision. Link ... oh crap, wrong link ... try this one instead ... link
Texas!
- Texas always wins. Even when the Pac 12 pretty much told them to shove the Longhorn Network down their throats, they bounce back and still control their own little Big XII playground. Money money money, Texas will always be alright. Good luck with them, Oklahoma. Link
Pac 12!
- Can you imagine that just four days ago, we all thought that the Pac 12 was going to get stuck with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and the Longhorn Network? Meh. It may still happen, but now the Pac 10 looks like a rare bastion of sanity in an insane world. Link
Notre Dame!
- Why? Well, because NBC is still paying them out the wazoo to broadcast really terrible football games. Texas, this should be a warning shot over the bow ... Notre Dame used to get any recruit they wanted, too. Link
Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State!
- Whew!
Every team currently in the B1G, SEC, and Pac 12!
- No explanation needed.
Losers:
Oklahoma and President David Boren.
- Dear Lord, they look like buffoons. If you're gonna tell lies, at least make them plausible. At least give your OWN fans the opportunity to blindly believe you. But no. They chose instead to try to convince us they were a double agent fighting to undermine the evil Pac 12 and bring about Big XII glory ... and, there was that whole media rights grant agreement ... errr ... Link
(Note: if anyone was a double agent, it was Texas. Seriously, well played!)
Baylor.
- Wait, they're winners, right? Litigious, whiny, pathetic winners, led by their litigious, whiny, pathetic President Ken Starr. Is it too late for the Big XII to get rid of them? Link
ACC.
- Seriously, can they take it back? Well, they added a couple more pretty good basketball schools, and that's good, right? Link
West Virginia.
- Lord have mercy. Oh the humanity. They're what we thought Iowa State, Kansas, and Kansas State were going to be. For that matter, they're what Texas Tech and Oklahoma State are. Link. Speaking of ...
Texas Tech, Oklahoma State.
- So, let me get this straight. You thought you were going to get a free ride into the resplendant riches of the Pac 12. You thought you were going to get road trips to Seattle, the Bay Area, and SoCal. And you got ... well ... six more years in the Texas playground. Link
To be determined:
Missouri.
- Will they get roped into a six-year commitment to play on Texas' playground? Burnt orange monkey bars are a real hoot! Or, is the door still open for them to join the SEC, and through it the opportunity to put the dysfunctional years in the Big XII behind them? They absolutely won the Big XII Press Conference battle last night, with Missouri's Brady Deaton unwittingly smacking down Oklahoma's Boren. Link
Now, I eat Papa Johns.