| 17 February 2012
Honus "The Dude" Sneed gives thanks for Big 12 Membership and the return of Big Boy Football.
After five long months of angst over conference expansion John Mariantto blinked, the Big East capitulated and the Mountaineers have a new home in the Big 12.
The Big 12 wasn’t West Virginia’s first choice and maybe it wasn’t even their second choice, but in the end the Mountaineers ended up exactly where they belong.
With their entry into the Big 12 West Virginia University begins play in what maybe the nation’s best football conference from top to bottom. The Big 12 schedule offers the toughest competition the Mountaineers have seen week in and week out in decades.
And that’s just the way we want it.
WVU is a football school. Now it’s a football school in real football conference. We may not be geographically close to many of our new rivals in the Big 12, but we share the same culture as they do – a football culture.
Sure the ACC would have been a better fit geographically and I understand the SEC has the better football reputation. Yet consider that the ACC is, for the most part, a conference that values basketball above football and the SEC is top heavy conference dominated by the Superman and Batman of college football.
So the way I look at it the Big 12 is the perfect fit for WVU.
We have the conference giants Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and TCU; just below them are five other teams equally committed to playing college football at a championship level.
You can’t say the same thing about the ACC. UNC and Duke ensure the ACC’s focus is basketball and only a handful of the 14 teams that comprise the ACC consider themselves football first schools. You can even make the argument that ACC football was equal to, or just slightly better than, the football product the old Big East put on the field. Certainly the old Big East has had far more BCS success (thanks to WVU) than the ACC.
If I sound like I’m spewing sour grapes I’m not – I’m being a realist. If WVU’s goal is to win a national championship in football then the Big 12 offers a more realistic path to the national championship game than the ACC.
If you don’t believe me just ask anyone; even the most ardent ACC loyalist admits Big 12 football is superior to ACC football.
As for me I’m embracing Big 12 membership with open arms. I’m proud WVU is in the Big 12 and I’m exited to playing the Longhorns, Sooners, Cowboys, Raiders, Frogs, Jayhawks, Cyclones, Wildcats, and Bears on an annual basis.
I’m just ready to cheer on the Mountaineers as they play big boy football again.
Notes:
I'm still waiting to hear back from a few resources on their opinion of the numbers I was given yesterday. They seem accurate at first glance if a little undervalued. According to what I’ve seen Big 12 teams will be earning anywhere from $18 million to $21 million per team from Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights. I've been told by a few Big 12 contacts they numbers seem conservative and the Big 12 expects Tier 1 rights to increase from $60 million to anywhere between $125 and $190 million per year.
By comparison ACC schools earn about $13 million per team each year under their new deal with ESPN, which seems to include Tier 3 rights as well.
Be advised that some ACC experts believe the numbers are bogus and that the Big 12 and ACC will have almost the same TV rights compensation. I don't know how they can make that argument while admitting Big 12 football is superior than ACC football.
Questions or Comments
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