Baylor
Baylor should never have been a charter member of the Big 12, or any other top notch athletics conference. They don't have the resources, talent, or commitment to be in such a conference. That's not an attempt to smear a fine university. It's just a fact.
Getting (forcing?) Baylor into a conference in which they couldn't compete -- even when cheating -- is about the only legacy left behind by former Texas governor Ann Richards (aside from her big mouth and big hairdos).
None of this is really new, but John Lopez puts it into print for the Comical here:
Baylor couldn't even cheat its way to mediocrity.That by itself says something about the state of this athletic program and the depths to which the proud Bears have sunk.
It says something else loud and clear, too:
It's time for Baylor's Big 12 brethren to listen to their heads, not their hearts, and expunge the Bears from the Big 12 Conference.
[snip]
There should be no place for Baylor athletics in the Big 12. None at all.
It is a tough truth to face, which is why when the university and athletics council pushed Bliss and Stanton out, it stopped short of what really could have fixed the problem and begun repairing the embarrassment.
Baylor's nobility in the wake of the scandal was only selectively pure. Dropping out of the Big 12 would have been the most significant step toward resurgence.
But alas, at Baylor they know a thing or two about collection plates. And the school was not about to let this one slip through its grip -- not when up to $5 million a year comes in and all the Bears have to do in return is pray nobody gets hurt.
That's why other Big 12 institutions should finish the job Baylor's administration stopped short of completing.
Expunging Baylor would take what Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg called a "supermajority." In other words, nine votes, which means at least one Texas team would have to swallow state pride and go Judas on the Bears.
But this is an athletic program in disarray. The Bears have proved to be little more than pot lickers, living off the scraps from the big table and showing no hope of contributing to the Big 12 cause.
Then there's Gil Lebreton:
Baylor doesn't belong in the Big 12. It needs a quiet conference where its 13,000 football season tickets and $5 million budget will be a better fit.Conference USA? WAC? Yeah, I think that sounds about right.
And Dennis Dodd:
How long does it take league presidents to silently ask themselves the question that has been confounding Big 12 fans and media for several years?What the heck is Baylor doing in this league?
The athletic program brings nothing to the table in terms of NCAA Tournament units. There is no bowl revenue from this so-called football school. Instead, it continues to gladly cash the annual $8 million check from the league while humiliating it with recent developments. Who knows how long this institutional welfare will last now that the walls have crumbled around this noble campus.
Not after this fiasco. Not after the self-imposed basketball sanctions announced Friday, which are sure to grow when the NCAA gets involved. Not when Arkansas could and should have been the 12th member. Or TCU or SMU or Houston, three Southwest Conference members that got left out when the SWC was gerrymandered in 1994.
Not when this scandal is sure to have an affect on all sports at Baylor. Think football coach Guy Morriss was having trouble recruiting to a downtrodden program? Try selling a school where a basketball player is dead and a school investigation has shown his teammates were being paid and who knows what kinds of drugs were being used.
That Baylor's Big 12 invitation nine years ago is the product of strong-arming by then-Texas governor Ann Richards adds to the school's current illegitimacy. A small private institution of 14,000 with a religious bent is and was an odd fit with the Big 12's amalgamation of state schools and land grants.
Yep. The Ann Richards legacy. Impressive.
I'm not convinced the Big 12 will boot the losers. If it does come to pass, though, I don't see why LSU would leave the SEC (Lopez suggests them as a replacement). Arkansas is an interesting possibility, though. They recruit the same areas as OU/OSU and the Texas schools, and Big 12 travel would probably be more favorable. That could work.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/12/03 23:40 | Big 12 Football | Technorati
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Comments
Woo-pig, soo-ie. As much as I'd love to see it, I don't see Arkansas ever leaving the SEC. I think there's too much money and power being in the SEC. I love the Big 12, but I think that the SEC has better competition and revenue across all sports. Now, if the SEC could only kick out Vanderbilt and they could join with Baylor to have a brainy but unathletic conference.
Posted by Dave @ 10:27 on 08/13/03
HOUSTON!! UofH should have come with the other Texas schools. It will be hard to get the Texas contingent of the Big 12 to boot Baylor, but adding another Texas school will make it easier. Houston is a great venue for the Big 12, has the athletic facilities and programs in place, has the athletics history, and has a large enough population/student body to support its teams. UofH is a public institution (like the rest of the Big 12) and would really add something. Arkansas and LSU are staying with the SEC.
Posted by el_longhorn @ 00:28 on 08/14/03
As a UH grad school grad, I'd surely love to see it. And I think when the Big 12 was formed, it made a lot more sense than including Baylor.
But now? I'm not so sure. Every UH AD since our inclusion in C-USA has thought the SEC would eventually come calling because of Houston as a media and recruiting market. Problem is, UH has not been consistently competitive in any major sport in C-USA since its inception -- unless you count baseball or track. And Robertson is not a Big 12-caliber football stadium. It's a joke, in fact. But after spending money to renovate it, is moving to Reliant an option? Maybe, for the opportunity to be in the Big 12. Certainly, Hoffheinz is still a fine facility for basketball, and the athletics/alumni center is a gem. And UH baseball and track would be immediately competitive for Big 12 titles.
But football and basketball would be drags as big as Baylor right now. If Art Briles can get things turned around in the next couple of years, who knows? But will that be too late? Could be.
Don't get me wrong. You're right about UH's student base, history, location, and all the other. But recent athletic performance is also a big factor. Rather than aspiring to the SEC or Big 12, I (as a UH fan) am just hoping we can be competitive in C-USA for a few years, and avoid having to shut down football altogether. That would be a shame, given UH's proud history.
Posted by Kevin @ 21:22 on 08/14/03
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