College sports fans who think big money will soon spark a big shakeup in conference membership might want to hold off long enough to consider a Big 12 athletic director's cautionary tale.
“The loudest rumors I've heard about us,'' Texas A&M's Bill Byrne said Monday from College Station, Texas, “is that the Pacific 10 Conference would be the place that would have the most interest in us.''
Coincidentally, during the NCAA basketball tournaments last month, the Aggie women and men were sent to the far reaches of Pac-10 turf Seattle and Spokane, Wash.
The Aggie women were ousted on a Monday night in Spokane. After the postgame commitments, the loading of equipment, a drive to the airport and a charter flight home, guess what time Byrne pulled into his driveway?
“It was 6:30 in the morning,'' he said. “And we had athletes go to class at 8 o'clock.
“It would be madness sending teams across the United States on a regular basis like that if we're really concerned about what's best for the student-athlete.''
Welcome to a major discussion point for the powers that be as the Big Ten continues talks on remodeling itself, and in turn, potentially reshaping the entire power conference landscape.
“If we walk the walk,'' Byrne said, “it means we are after what's best for our student-athletes and them having a good experience in college.
“It's not a good experience to have a six-hour flight. It's hard enough going to Ames and Boulder. To add another thousand miles to a trip makes no sense to me.''
But will the concerns of athletic directors like Byrne be heard?
The decision-makers in this process are at the president-chancellor level, which adds academic and institutional questions besides those involving athletics.
Byrne said he has provided input to his bosses, and that they have been receptive. And he knows how such deals work. While athletic director at Nebraska, he was heavily involved in the mid-1990s formation of the Big 12 out of the old Big Eight and Southwest Conferences.
“I don't know if our arguments will carry the day,'' Byrne said. “But we are being listened to. I can tell you I think we're in the right place right now.''
The Big 12 is seen as a league that could be cherry-picked if radical realignment occurs. And despite academic concerns, money will matter in these talks.
The “geographic footprint'' of each conference helps determine the money available from athletics, which primarily comes from football and basketball television contracts.
The Big Ten has about 28 percent of the nation's footprint. The Southeastern Conference has about 24 percent. The Big 12 has about 16 percent.
Sources with access to the annual returns for TV contracts told The World-Herald that the Big Ten reaps $260 million, the SEC $240 million and the Big 12 $75 million.
The Big Ten has discussed expanding from its current 11 teams to 12, 14 or 16.
Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne told The World-Herald last month that there's “a fairly good chance the Big Ten makes a move in some way — maybe one team, maybe five.''
Byrne said something that gives him hope for the Big 12 to stay intact is that Harvey Perlman, the chancellor at Nebraska, is chairman of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors.
“He gets it,'' Byrne said. “He understands that our real business is making sure the student-athletes have a good experience. My boss here does, too.
“I can't speak for the others, but those are the two I know best.''
Several Big 12 athletic directors, when asked recently about the latest realignment rumors, echoed the line “things feel different this time,'' meaning that they sense change.
Byrne said the following about Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany:
“Jim Delany is very serious about this, and he's a very smart man. He's going to do everything he can to position the Big Ten to be formidable. They already are, and the Southeastern Conference is as well.
“But we're not chopped liver in the Big 12. I'm happy we're here. We belong in this conference.''
Yet Byrne offered another note of caution.
“The only constant in college athletics,'' said the 39-year veteran of the business, “is change.''
Contact the writer:
444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
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