big 12 is saved map

Apparently, reports of the death of the Big 12 have been greatly exaggerated. The conference will continue– and keep its current name–after locking down its ten remaining teams, thanks in large part to a large bag of TV money, of which a mighty share will fall toward Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

According to sources, Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M will be guaranteed $20 million per year, while the seven remaining schools will collect between $14 million and $17 million in TV revenue in combined deals with ABC/ESPN and Fox.

Both networks stepped forward and averted what could have been complete chaos in college realignment by putting forth a combined package that will push the Big 12 from a $78 million take in annual TV revenue to just less than $200 million, sources say. –Chip Brown/Orangebloods, who have owned this story from Day One.

The other seven schools will see their TV revenues double after the deal goes into effect. Unfortunately for Colorado, they’ll have to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 million to buy their way out of the Big 12. The Pac-10 conference, with their invasion of Texas thwarted, will look to add Utah as a 12th school.

Some people are now saying that Colorado and Nebraska scurried out of the conference in panic, which might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Think about it; this deal–this ransom that Dan Beebe paid out to save his conference and his job–was made in the face of an apocalypse that was created by the departure of those teams. It’s quite stupid to say that Nebraska panicked because Nebraska panicked. But one has to wonder why this deal couldn’t have been put together sooner.

Oh, and this is just a courtesy message to everyone out there: we know that the Big 12 now has ten teams and that the Big Ten has 12 teams. You are not being clever in pointing this out, and if I hear it again, I will slap the white off your teeth. There’s nothing clever about that observation. At all. Thank you. I feel a lot better now.