Also, I don't see the Big 12 looking to add any new members until we get a permanent conference commissioner in place.
I'm sure, at that point, he'll get acclimated, talk with the expansion committee, talk with the TV partners, and then define whether or not we stay in place, add obvious candidates (Louisville, BYU), or go for a home run with some ACC schools.
Regardless, a guy like Shaheen would probably wait a little longer because he'd probably have some pretty forward thinking ideas he'd have to sell to the conference before making official invites. I highly doubt we go to 12 or more teams until 2014 or 2015.
Invites for teams 11 and 12 will go out way before then, probably right after they know what the new bcs structure will be.....they may not play until 2014 but it will be done way before then
I agree w/ this timing. Doesn't our first tier rights come up for negotiation in two years? Gotta think that we want this nailed down prior to that as well as once the BCS shuffle is done. I would imagine that there are, or will be, offers made that are contingent upon BCS structure landing spot.
BCS status doesn't matter any longer. Anyone that we want already has it (except BYU if we believe they're a top option, which they probably aren't).
What matters is money and how much your conference can offer each member. And that price is determined by your TV partners. And you need to tell your TV partners what kind of inventory you can offer before they'll commit to a value.
I'm almost betting that we'll hear about who we're inviting shortly before we commit to a TV contract, which is exactly what happened with the Pac-12. However, we're going to go to the TV partners and say, "How much will you give us with FSU and Clemson?" Then we'll take that number back to them and ask them if that will be enough to make them jump. If not, we'll ask them how much with Louisville and BYU? Then we'll figure out if that value is worth more than what we'd make staying at ten. A decision would be made at that point.
A conference commissioner, at least a decent one, would come in here and construct a long-term plan around television deals. That's Shaheen's specialty. You can almost bet that if he came in here, it wouldn't be as simple as adding two teams and negotiating a TV deal. He's going to construct what his vision is around a TV deal and then find schools and TV partners that fit that vision (within the current contractual obligations).
If Neinas stayed, we'd invite and renegotiate. If we get a forward thinking commissioner like Delany or Scott, we'll come up with a plan and then invite.
You want the Delany/Scott version. You don't want the Slive/Swofford version of, "Invite and negotiate later".
