The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

Hi.

June 2, 2016 by Mike Casazza

I said I’d be back, and here I am. Another wedding weekend is upon us, but I’m not leaving until Saturday for that one, so I’ll be here and we’ll F Double tomorrow as a token of my appreciation.

I’ve scanned through the comments — it’s where and how I learned Baylor hired Jim Grobe, which is a fairly amazing move — and there’s plenty to unpack, so that’ll be fun.

Yesterday was the first day of the Big 12 meetings, and it was not a good day for the increasingly uncertain Big 12. Three interim presidents are at the event, including Baylor’s, because Ken Starr resigned. That’s big, because he was on the three-person composition committee.

So there was no way Wednesday was going to be the day the Big 12 made up its mind, and it won’t happen today, either. What Wednesday showed, though, was the league seems split and selfish all at once.

For starters, Texas did what Texas is going to do, and athletic director Mike Perrin, who is the full-time guy promoted from an interim status, just bashed the concept of expansion. Left it in pieces.

When he glowingly mentioned how strong the Big 12 was in so many areas like competition, television rights, ability to reach the playoffs and other areas, Perrin inadvertently called it the Big Ten. Called on his mistake, Perrin chuckled and said, “Texas has not moved.”

And he didn’t sound like he wanted Texas to move to another league or grow the Big 12 anytime soon. “It would be prudent to stay where we are,” he said. “Philosophically, I’m not for expansion for just expansion’s sake.”

As for Texas’ beloved Longhorn Network, Perrin said he was emphatically in favor of keeping the only single-school network in the country other than BYU’s, probably into perpetuity. But at least through a contract running through 2031. “I would not disturb it at this time,” he said.

There are two variables, if not obstacles, out in the open and explained. Texas, which is said to have other schools under its wing, doesn’t want to grow. (And the explanation is logical.) Texas is also not interested in folding up the Longhorn Network so ESPN would have the resources to start a Big 12 network.

If you thought the leadership at Texas was new and perhaps nuanced and not a bully, well, this sort of answers that … though I don’t think Texas can be blamed for either stance, or for thinking we’re heading toward future realignment and that decisions made now could have consequences (ie, an exodus) then.

Bob Bowlsby, meanwhile, is theoretically in charge of this meeting, the one his membership hoped and prayed to exit with a direction on expansion. He did this instead:

Mr. Duarte, by the way, covers the University of Houston. I’m sure he was pleased to hear that. This is the opposite of how the Big Ten and SEC are led, by the way, but maybe this is what happens with three interim presidents, a monumental problem at Baylor and Texas doing Texas stuff. Circumstances stink sometimes.

But here’s where things got bad: The league didn’t vote to change its silly walk-on transfer rule, which will continue to state that a walk-on — not a scholarship player — who transfers within the conference loses a season of eligibility. The intended change was to take away that one-year hiatus, because the player is a walk-on getting a scholarship somewhere else, and it’s solely because of Baker Mayfield.

The league instead voted 5-5, which means no change, and the explanation is just absurd.

This never happens. It’s spin and we’re too smart to accept that right? If this wasn’t about Mayfield and was instead about just a guy, it wouldn’t be an issue. But Mayfield is now an Oklahoma senior this fall. The best part? If he doesn’t go to the NFL after this season, which is quite possible, he’s instead free to graduate and transfer to any other school outside the Big 12 in 2017 … when he’ll be lured by other teams with the promise of a scholarship and a national title.

Way to keep the group together.