Big -12 ...TCU

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Wonder if they are still glad they are in the Big -12 now .. they are 0-12 in conf. play in basketball, and were 2-7 in conf in football...

If it better to be a big fish in a smaller pond or a minnow in large one.????

Careful what you ask for.... !

May be better for us. ... they likely get less media attention now.

[Green P1]

I think it's pretty clear they weren't ready. Can't begrudge and it's still early to judge them but they absolutely had to do it. Disconnected from the $$$ and as a fan I'd sure rather be the uber competitive little guy rather than the overwhelmed big boy.

[Greenrex]

If they never win another sporting event as a Big12 member they will get more respect from the DFW media than we will if we never lose another sporting event as a C-USA member.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Greenrex

[techdawg88]

better to stink in the Big 12 than dominate CUSA

[wardly]

I think they will recruit up in all sports, just like we will in basketball.

[CMJ]

A few years ago Baylor was in a similar, if not worse, position. Don't bury TCU yet.

[Green92]

We're so miserable with our own program that we've got to try to make fun of someone worse off?

[UNTexas]

better to stink in the Big 12 than dominate CUSA

Well said.

[greenminer]

We're so miserable with our own program that we've got to try to make fun of someone worse off?

Not miserable at all. I think it's a good perspective discussion, what with all the conference shuffling that has happened...and will happen.

[Mean Green Matt]

We're so miserable with our own program that we've got to try to make fun of someone worse off?

They are worse off? Uhhh...no.

[North Texas Shep]

They have never been great or even good at basketball. They will jump back in football. Trust me, there is no one their who regrets the move.

[NT03]

Anyone in their shoes would have made the jump in a heartbeat.. Football program will be fine , but might be a long time before they are a factor in men's hoops

[Ben Gooding]

If they never win another sporting event as a Big12 member they will get more respect from the DFW media than we will if we never loose another sporting event as a C-USA member.

No, just no. Stop it.

[Green92]

They are worse off? Uhhh...no.

I agree. Just more of a general comment.

[emmitt01]

If they never win another sporting event as a Big12 member they will get more respect from the DFW media than we will if we never loose another sporting event as a C-USA member.

But what if we never lose another sporting event? Will we get respect then?

[oldguystudent]

[North Texas Shep]

SCREW SMU! That is all I got to say about that.

[untjim1995]

A number of years ago, a top ten bowl game between TCU and Boise State was played in San Diego at the Poinsettia Bowl. TCU won a great game, 17-16. Afterwards, TCU finished in the Top Ten and Boise State finished ranked in the top 15, IIRC. That same year, Baylor went 3-9, losing all of their conference games--again. At the end of the year, Baylor got more bowl money for staying at home than TCU and Boise State got combined.

Now, TCU never runs into that problem ever again. The allure of that cash was too much to avoid. TCU better enjoy it as much as they can, too. Because when they get left behind again, they are gonna be glad they stuffed their coffers with all that AQ moolah when they had the chance.

[Greendylan]

TCU finished ranked (AP poll) 6,7,2, and 14 in the four years leading up to their move to the Big XII. If they weren't ready to move up, then no team ever will be. Also, it's not like their first season in the Big XII was a disaster. They won 7 games, lost a very close bowl game to Michigan State, and beat UT on the road. Doesn't sound so bad to me. This past season was a down year, and it would have been a disappointment in either the MWC or the Big XII. Every team in the nation has a down year now and then.

As for men's basketball, both TCU and the Big XII knew they were going to struggle for at least a few years. In the four years prior to joining the Big XII, they finished 5-11, 5-11, 1-15, and 7-7 in the MWC. The conference move was about football and nothing more.

[Mean Green Matt]

The conference move was about football and nothing more.

It was about $$$ and nothing more.

[MeanMag]

They have never been great or even good at basketball. They will jump back in football. Trust me, there is no one their who regrets the move.

They might not have been good recently, but I think they had a 5 seed in the NCAA tourney in 1998.

Also, they are getting a new basketball stadium.

[Green92]

They might not have been good recently, but I think they had a 5 seed in the NCAA tourney in 1998.

Also, they are getting a new basketball stadium.

Don't let facts get in the way of bashing another school.

[Mean Green 93-98]

It was about $$$ and nothing more.

There is more to it. I would love to have UT, OU and other Big XII teams coming to Apogee every other year. And playing in the Big XII is unquestionably a recruiting boost. And they are guaranteed great media attention throughout the state simply by being a Big XII school, regardless of record.

There is a downside to playing in a better conference, but the upsides far outweigh it. Every time.

[Green Mean]

They had a down year in football. Didn't they have a plethora of injuries and were also pretty young? Maybe it's just me but as long as Gary Patterson is there they'll be fine. They may not dominate but there's no reason why they could not be a very solid and good B12 team. As for basketball they haven't been good since the Billy Tubbs era if I'm not mistaken. Hey Chuuuuck.

[untjim1995]

There is more to it. I would love to have UT, OU and other Big XII teams coming to Apogee every other year. And playing in the Big XII is unquestionably a recruiting boost. And they are guaranteed great media attention throughout the state simply by being a Big XII school, regardless of record.

There is a downside to playing in a better conference, but the upsides far outweigh it. Every time.

No doubt on that last sentence.

When we look at teams that we want to have as peers (TCU, SMU, UH, etc..), you have to realize that all of them have had the massive luxury of playing in good or great conferences in their history--conferences with major media pull and teams that their fans want to watch. We have never had that--not once in our history. Beyond the SWC/original Big XII Texas schools, TCU had conference games against teams that fans in the Metroplex care about watching IF you are winning. SMU has that same thing going for them currently in basketball. UH has had that same thing going for them in football, too, recently.

When we started winning in the JJ years, we finally built the thing up to getting 4000 in the Super Pit for SBC games. SMU starts winning and they are selling out Moody already...why? Because they play UConn, Cincinatti, UH, Temple, Memphis, and others that people want to see. We have never had that luxury--I loved the story about Pat knight finally agreeing to play us in Denton after many attempts by UNT to schedule a home-and-home series that Daddy Knight wouldn't schedule (like Leach, he recognized that losing to UNT was too big of a risk, so they scheduled SMU instead)--he loses that game in OT, which leads to mounting pressure on him that eventually leads to his firing. Same thing happened with Sean Sutton at OSU. Since then, we haven't played a Big XII team at home--and probably won't for years to come if we ever have a good team again, which will be awhile considering our current coach.

People always consider football as the end all be all in conference alignment and what that brings, but SMU is a good example of how basketball impacts the bottom line, too, in a very meaningful way. The AAC is a basketball league first, just as the Big East was when they joined it. They didn't join because of basketball, but in the end, because of basketball, their time in the AAC won't be an abject failure, but it will be a huge step forward for a money sport that had died on the Hilltop. That will make them stay higher on the rung than any of us in CUSA. BOth leagues are about the same in football, maybe their top end has more potential to be ranked higher at the end of the season, but the two leagues are fairly similar in potential. But in hoops, its a whole different story--and as we are seeing right now with SMUs sudden resurrection, when you win AND play teams that casual fans have heard of, college hoops shockingly still gets fans attention, no matter how much the Texas media wants to downplay the sport. College hoops does matter big time--and the sooner that the ADs in this region figure that out again, the more their whole budgets will benefit.

Edited February 18, 2014 by untjim1995