Keeping up with the Joneses is the driving drive within the ever-changing and chaotic world of school conference realignment, and the newest strikes on that entrance may pace up the timeline for when Oklahoma soccer will take up its new residence within the SEC.
The newest rendition of conference realignment– or when the massive conferences proceed to get richer and greater, leaving the smaller ones on the sting of extinction — has Pac-12 kingpins USC and UCLA going to the Big Ten. That announcement coming virtually a 12 months after Oklahoma and Texas declared their exit from the Big 12 to aspect up with the SEC.
Earlier this 12 months, the Big 12 introduced that Cincinnati, UCF and Houston, present members of the American Athletic Conference, could be becoming a member of the Big 12 together with BYU. And a month in the past, after it was reported that the three AAC faculties had negotiated an exit date, the Big 12 introduced that the 4 new faculties could be becoming a member of the Big 12 in the summertime of 2023.
When OU and Texas formally introduced in 2021 that they had been leaving the Big 12, each faculties stated they supposed to meet their current grant of media rights settlement, which doesn’t expire till 2025. No one actually believes that the Sooners and Longhorns will nonetheless be members of the Big 12 for the complete time period of that settlement.
With 4 new groups becoming a member of the Big 12 in 2023 and UCLA and USC asserting that they’re leaping ship and heading to the Big Ten for the 2024 season, I consider that will probably be sufficient impetus for Oklahoma and Texas to barter an early exit from the Big 12 as early as 2024, or two years forward of what could be the complete time period of their media rights settlement. They will little question incur a monetary penalty, however let’s be trustworthy, each faculties can simply make that up with the income bump they may obtain from the SEC income distribution.
The Big 12 will probably be as much as 14 groups in 2023…and counting
The manner issues stand proper now, nonetheless, it seems Oklahoma and Texas will nonetheless be round in 2023, which might end in a 14-team construction, and the Big 12 has indicated it may not be completed including extra groups. The conference is reported to be in critical discussions with the 2 Arizona Pac-12 faculties in addition to former Big 12 faculty Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Utah.
If the Big 12 had been profitable in including as many as six different Pac-12 faculties, that would depart the Pac-12 as only a shell of its former self and on the verge of collapsing all collectively. Moreover, it will give the Big 12 a leg up over the ACC in surviving all this Power Five shakeup that I consider goes to ultimately find yourself because the Power 3 or maybe higher put because the Power 2+.
It’s essential to recollect, all of this scrambling about and conference leaping is football-driven and actually about not being unnoticed when all of the mud lastly settles. What this sadly means is that vast basketball faculties like Kansas and Duke, for instance, which traditionally haven’t been robust soccer manufacturers, might be left scrambling to discover a new conference residence.
The SEC and Big Ten may not be completed with growth, however the pickings are certain to be slimmer as a result of each of these conference consider they’ve already picked off the most effective of the remaining.
Sans OU and Texas, the Big 12 construction would improve to 18 members. That could be greater than the 16-team construction that may exist within the Big Ten and SEC after the additions of UCLA and USC within the Big Ten and the Sooners and Longhorns within the SEC. That may not trouble both the SEC or Big Ten, nonetheless, as a result of the income stream and model composition of these two conferences would clearly dwarf that of the reconstructed Big 12.
From 5 energy conferences to 2, probably three, tremendous conferences?
None of this, nonetheless, speaks to what is going to or would possibly occur with the Atlantic Coast Conference, which at the moment boasts 15 members. No disrespect supposed, however except for Clemson and at one time Florida State and Miami, the ACC is a basketball-driven league. To some extent, you could possibly additionally say that in regards to the Big 12 after Oklahoma and Texas swap allegiance.
The query shouldn’t be whether or not both the ACC and Big 12 will stay viable after all of the power-mongering has divided up and reallocated the largest of the soccer manufacturers — once more, had been speaking about the primary driver behind your entire realignment motion — however can they continue to be at a aggressive stage each by way of income era and distribution in addition to the standard of the athletic product to be seen and revered on equal phrases, as they’re presently.
That is a query for which there isn’t a transparent reply at current, however it has turn into abundantly clear school soccer, and school athletics usually, is quickly altering and can by no means once more be the identical as we as soon as knew it. This commentary is about conference realignment, however the different massive adjustments going down with the switch portal and Name, Image and Likeness are including extra gasoline to the hearth that’s engulfing your entire Super Conference motion
Once the newest spherical of conference musical chairs has been performed out — and it received’t be the final spherical, I can guarantee you — what was as soon as 5 so-called Power Conferences will probably be all the way down to 4 and teetering towards what is going to ultimately turn into not more than three Super Conferences. But the true financial worth by way of income distribution will predominantly reside in simply two: the SEC and the Big Ten.
Data projections made in March by the agency Navigate, and reported by the Oklahoma FanNation website, for the Big 12 income distribution in 2022, which incorporates Oklahoma and Texas, had been estimated at $40.3 million per faculty. The comparable forecast for the Big Ten was $57.2 million and $54.3 million for the SEC. To end out the income comparability amongst Power Five faculties, the Pac-12 was forecast at $34.4 million and the ACC at $30.9 million.
When the Sooners and Longhorns turn into full-fledged members of the SEC, the income determine per faculty is anticipated to leap to round $75-80 million, virtually double what they presently obtain from the Big 12.
Sooners are absolutely conscious and ready for what they’re moving into
In the class of “Be careful what you ask for,” there are a lot who consider Oklahoma received’t be almost as profitable within the SEC because it has been within the Big 12 and can all the time be a notch under Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU insofar as competing for SEC championships.
Historically, Oklahoma has held its personal towards groups from the Southeastern Conference. The Sooners have gone head-to-head towards 12 of the 14 present SEC groups and have a profitable report towards eight of these groups. Most of OU’s head-to-head encounters towards SEC groups naturally have come towards Missouri and Texas A&M, former members of the Big 12. The Sooners are 67-24-5 all-time towards Missouri and 19-12 towards the Aggies.
Against everybody else within the SEC, Oklahoma owns a 24-13-2 report all-time and a profitable report over 8 of the 12 SEC groups they’ve performed. That features a 3-2-1 report towards Alabama.
So, to suppose Oklahoma received’t have the ability to compete and do properly within the SEC shouldn’t be supported by reality. For one factor, with an SEC presence, OU recruiting, which has been at a top-10/top-15 stage for the previous 20 years, can solely be enhanced, and I can guarantee you that the Sooners received’t be going to the SEC with a middle-of-the-pack mentality.
That’s by no means been the Oklahoma manner, and it’s not the Oklahoma customary.
Warning to the SEC: The Sooners are coming, and so they’ll be bringing h— with them!
story by The Texas Tribune Source link