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From a guy fairly dialed in:
“Just got done texting a client of mine, he is saying GT is close to committing to the B1G.
...timing is after the ACC CCG since GT is in it. Probably next week.”
Third party info:
This is by an 'Insider' named Tuxedo Yoda:
Just got off the phone with an East Coast journalist who wanted to exchange info about conference realignment. He has solid connections at several ACC schools and gets information about other conferences. I let him know what I am hearing from my Austin source in the Texas Athletics Department......a nice little quid pro quo.
The highlights of my conversation with him that I can share:
* Just like I have heard from the Austin side of things, he is hearing it on the East Coast - the Big 12 and the ACC football schools are talking. Behind the scene arrangements are being made on how to help them with exit fees. The Big 12 is being generous. It would be a surprise to this journalist, and to me, if some current ACC schools aren't in the Big 12 when the 2014 season kicks off. Interestingly enough, while these schools are in a wait & see mode, they aren't waiting on finding out Maryland's exit fee. They are waiting on.....
*.....the Big 10. Every journalist on the East Coast has a different source telling them that the Big 10 will SOON add 2 more ACC schools. BC is being talked about but UNC, Ga Tech and UNC are the primary candidates. I'm sure that doesn't surprise you. What may surprise you is that Ga Tech may very well be on the top of the list. Who the Big 10 selects will have a trickle down effect on the SEC and the Big 12, regarding available teams, so things are in limbo for the moment....but it shouldn't last long.
* The most interesting aspect of this drama is how this is playing out at FSU. Not so much their communications with the Big 12 (intermediaries {rich alumni} are regularly used in roles like this to offer deniability to University Presidents and ADs) but the communication between FSU board members. Most public universities can take board meetings into executive session where no written record is kept. That makes talking about realignment rather easy. Not so with FSU.....the Sunshine Laws in the State of Florida prohibit this. In fact, if 2 board members discuss state business anywhere under any circumstance, there is a legal requirement for a written record. As you can imagine, college realignment talk between board members has to be carried out in interesting ways through creative back-channels to cover everyone's ass. We are talking some James Bond **** here. It takes a little longer for FSU to process information and to react because of these shenanigans, and this has consequences for many entities in realignment. FSU is the blue ribbon addition for the Big 12, and Clemson and Miami are likely to follow the lead of the Seminoles. We are all going to have to be patient.
I know a lot of Big 12 fans are worried about the conference being only at 10 members right now. I have always felt this concern was ill-founded. The Big 12 has the Grant of Rights, the Sugar Bowl tie-in with the SEC and 2 of the top 7 college football programs of all-time. Even the Big 12's most desired asset, Texas, is politically hand-cuffed to Baylor and Texas Tech and the LHN would make any transition all the more difficult. If that doesn't pacify you then I hope this post does. Some heavy-hitter additions are coming to the Big 12. The 2014 season will be something very special.
***ADDENDUM***
I've had a lot of people email me the following question, "Why is Texas politically handcuffed to Baylor & Texas Tech but A&M was allowed to go free?"
I'll admit, I was originally surprised that the Aggies were allowed to break free of the Texas cluster, considering the events that occurred right before the formation of the Big 12. Bottom line - it boils down to this: if Texas had left instead of A&M, would the Big 12 have stayed together? Of course not. If you are in a conference with Texas, you are guaranteed to always be in a top tier conference. This is the protection the Texas politicians were looking for when they anchored Baylor & Tech to Texas. This is why the Big 12 can endure multiple defections and still be one of the 4 power conferences. A&M is having a nice year, full of moral victories to last the Aggies a lifetime, but they are generations, at the earliest, away from being Texas.
“Just got done texting a client of mine, he is saying GT is close to committing to the B1G.
...timing is after the ACC CCG since GT is in it. Probably next week.”
Third party info:
This is by an 'Insider' named Tuxedo Yoda:
Just got off the phone with an East Coast journalist who wanted to exchange info about conference realignment. He has solid connections at several ACC schools and gets information about other conferences. I let him know what I am hearing from my Austin source in the Texas Athletics Department......a nice little quid pro quo.
The highlights of my conversation with him that I can share:
* Just like I have heard from the Austin side of things, he is hearing it on the East Coast - the Big 12 and the ACC football schools are talking. Behind the scene arrangements are being made on how to help them with exit fees. The Big 12 is being generous. It would be a surprise to this journalist, and to me, if some current ACC schools aren't in the Big 12 when the 2014 season kicks off. Interestingly enough, while these schools are in a wait & see mode, they aren't waiting on finding out Maryland's exit fee. They are waiting on.....
*.....the Big 10. Every journalist on the East Coast has a different source telling them that the Big 10 will SOON add 2 more ACC schools. BC is being talked about but UNC, Ga Tech and UNC are the primary candidates. I'm sure that doesn't surprise you. What may surprise you is that Ga Tech may very well be on the top of the list. Who the Big 10 selects will have a trickle down effect on the SEC and the Big 12, regarding available teams, so things are in limbo for the moment....but it shouldn't last long.
* The most interesting aspect of this drama is how this is playing out at FSU. Not so much their communications with the Big 12 (intermediaries {rich alumni} are regularly used in roles like this to offer deniability to University Presidents and ADs) but the communication between FSU board members. Most public universities can take board meetings into executive session where no written record is kept. That makes talking about realignment rather easy. Not so with FSU.....the Sunshine Laws in the State of Florida prohibit this. In fact, if 2 board members discuss state business anywhere under any circumstance, there is a legal requirement for a written record. As you can imagine, college realignment talk between board members has to be carried out in interesting ways through creative back-channels to cover everyone's ass. We are talking some James Bond **** here. It takes a little longer for FSU to process information and to react because of these shenanigans, and this has consequences for many entities in realignment. FSU is the blue ribbon addition for the Big 12, and Clemson and Miami are likely to follow the lead of the Seminoles. We are all going to have to be patient.
I know a lot of Big 12 fans are worried about the conference being only at 10 members right now. I have always felt this concern was ill-founded. The Big 12 has the Grant of Rights, the Sugar Bowl tie-in with the SEC and 2 of the top 7 college football programs of all-time. Even the Big 12's most desired asset, Texas, is politically hand-cuffed to Baylor and Texas Tech and the LHN would make any transition all the more difficult. If that doesn't pacify you then I hope this post does. Some heavy-hitter additions are coming to the Big 12. The 2014 season will be something very special.
***ADDENDUM***
I've had a lot of people email me the following question, "Why is Texas politically handcuffed to Baylor & Texas Tech but A&M was allowed to go free?"
I'll admit, I was originally surprised that the Aggies were allowed to break free of the Texas cluster, considering the events that occurred right before the formation of the Big 12. Bottom line - it boils down to this: if Texas had left instead of A&M, would the Big 12 have stayed together? Of course not. If you are in a conference with Texas, you are guaranteed to always be in a top tier conference. This is the protection the Texas politicians were looking for when they anchored Baylor & Tech to Texas. This is why the Big 12 can endure multiple defections and still be one of the 4 power conferences. A&M is having a nice year, full of moral victories to last the Aggies a lifetime, but they are generations, at the earliest, away from being Texas.
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