We didn't suggest the SEC was skittish. We said any school that talks to the SEC gets threatened with lawsuits. It's 2 for 2 so far. That was all that was said.

John

We've reported since last week that Missouri will be in the SEC East.

John

ESPN and the like have been criticizing the SEC and any party that may want into the SEC because 1) they don't want to pony up extra cash for an expanded SEC or 2) put together a new SEC Network.

You have all these other conference parties making it difficult on the SEC because the SEC is already the best product. They don't want to fall further behind.

Another aspect to remember here is that the BIg 12 went to 9 conference games this year. If they only have 9 teams next year(including TCU) then they can play an 8 game round robin schedule. I don' see why anyone is worried about having too few quality games. Texas has already said they have all of their OOC games wrapped up until 2018 so that's the "reason" they can't play A&M. If they REALLY need another OOC game then A&M is available. It's the same thing with Kansas. They are the ones that don't want to play Mizzou anymore so there's another OOC game guaranteed without having to shuffle the schedule.

This is all a big game. All a backhanded way of screwing Mizzou in any immature way they can…..

I think the source of the lawyering-up is not the SEC's skitterishness, but the un-clarity of the Big 12 bylaws.

The ACC took Syracuse and Pittsburgh like one pimp taking prostitutes from another, with no fear of legal problems because they had a pretty good idea of the legal framework. $5M, wait 27 months, and the school is out of the Big East. Maybe you can negotiate the 27 months, maybe not.

Take a school from Conference USA, and the procedure is also clear. School pays $7M or so in exit fees, 12 months notice, and, welcome to the Big East, Central Florid.

The Big 12 bylaws are an unclear mess. THAT's when you call in the high priced lawyers.

Why, exactly, should the Big East give a hoot about Missouri getting to the SEC or the Big 12 deal getting voided? It's not like the Big 12 gives a hoot about the Big East football conference existing.

I'm not saying either party is wrong here. I'm saying that the Big East holding their schools hostage may be what they have to do to survive.

Because legally, West Virginia is tied to the Big East for two more years. I think the resolution will be that Missouri plays 2012 in the Big 12 and pays little to no exit fee. Nebraska paid $9M and Colorado paid $7M with roughly one year's notice, A&M is looking at a settlement along those lines with around 10 months notice.

ESPN stands to make/lose money based on renegotiated contracts with the SEC and ACC. They also have to work with changes to the B12 and (LHN). The total value of those contracts pale in comparision to the demise of the Big East which was going to die anyway.

Err, let's try again. "Having Notre Dame in the bowl lineup will compensate for the loss of Nebraska, Colorado, A&M who were attractive teams for bowls. Having ND in the mix will help the Big 12's next round of bowl negotiations." Excited yet, Big 12 fans?

Ok, how about the Notre Dame-Big 12 series of six games a year? Maybe that's the big advantage for the Big 12? Maybe Texas just wants to keep Notre Dame away from the ACC or Big 10? An annual or semi-annual game against Notre Dame isn't a bad thing, and Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl every four years would create some excitement, even at the expense of a Big 12 school.

The bowl arrangement is a very nice pickup for Notre Dame. Big 12 has the Cotton Bowl, Alamo Bowl, plus better Brand X bowls than the Big East. The Pinstripe Bowl in New York gets the Big 12 #7, Big East #4, to remind everyone of how the food chain works. (It's rather fair, as by this week's ranking the Big East winner (BCS bowl) would be the #6 pick from the Big 12, with a trip to Houston for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.)

Would ESPN encourage Texas to hold-up Mizzou's exit because of the potential demise of ESPN. The Big East commissioner appears to be lawsuit-oriented and after the BC AD's comment about ESPN's advisory role I can see some attorney connecting the demise to the Pitt Syracuse defection causing uncertainty and forcing members such as WVa. to leave. Any thoughts?

now these WVU fans can find some other website to flood with moronic posts about how great their program is

good riddance mountaineers

Big East needs to let WVU walk (as well as Pitt and Syracuse), so then Mizzou can go to the SEC without fearing litigation from voiding the Big 12 TV deals.

Ummm … why not just swap West Virginia on the schedule for Missouri? You know, like they are already doing with TCU? Cut A&M, paste TCU. Cut Mizzou, paste WVU. End of story. That is, unless you are trying to extort as much cash from Mizzou as possible. Keep in mind: Texas and Oklahoma tried to leave last year without paying any exit fees at all (and Mizzou would have been one of the teams left behind with no exit fee compensation and likely no major conference affiliation) and had it not been for first Baylor and then A&M (who was never consulted with the Pac-16 deal, only threatened with severe repercussions if they didn't go along) they would have gotten away with it.

Anybody still think that staying in the Big 12 is in Mizzou's best interests? Oh yeah, and where are all the "West Virginia is JUST DYING to join the SEC, they're a great cultural fit, their hearts are set on it, and they would join the SEC TOMORROW if Slive would quit being so concerned with AAU status and MONEY and give them a chance?" Well guys, the SEC was only ONE of THREE conferences that Oliver Luck has tried to wedge his program into the past month – the ACC, the SEC and now the Big 12 – and had he not already known in advance that the Big 10 would say no and didn't bother wasting his time or the university letterhead, it would have been FOUR. WVU's interest in the SEC was the same reason as Mizzou's … SOLELY BECAUSE THEIR OWN CONFERENCE WAS GOING AWAY. And no, the SEC was never WVU's first choice. The ACC was, hands down. (It is funny … all of WVU's longtime conference mates and rivals from the Big East and Metro conferences went to the ACC, turned their backs on the Mountaineers, and didn't look back. Just like Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are going to do in 6 years when they go to the Pac-12.) So PLEASE people, stop it with the "WVU loves the SEC" stuff, because it was never true.

Like A&M, it should be between $26 and $30 million, but those numbers are almost always negotiated down.

John