The Texas Longhorns will continue to play on Thanksgiving, according to Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas, but the conference is working with television partners to come up with an opponent. So once again, the conference is working around Texas?
We won’t get started with that conversation right now. The morning after TCU’s addition to the Big 12 was formally announced in Fort Worth, the conference held a media conference call with Neinas and TCU AD Chris Del Conte, who continued to show his enthusiasm for his program finally joining the Big 12 after a long time floating from conference to conference.
Some of the information we learned this morning just confirmed earlier reports and beliefs. TCU will be a full Big 12 member effective July 1, 2012 and there will be a phase in process to allow TCU to gain a hold of the conference revenue sharing and they will not have voting rights until they are officially aligned with the Big 12. It is assumed that the Horned Frogs will more or less take the schedule of Texas A&M, although there are a few things to sort through before we can just swap the teams on the calendars.
TCU originally had a home game against Oklahoma on the schedule for a non-conference match-up in September. Del Conte said that they will wait to see how the new conference schedule will shape up and if they need to make adjustments to comply with the conference schedule then they certainly would go along with it, but he is hopeful that they can manage to keep the game as a September match-up if possible, although that looks to be unlikely at this point. TCU has three non-conference games scheduled with Grambling State, Virginia and Southern Methodist and it might not be likely that the Sooners will be available for either of TCU’s open dates. The conference may try to make sure TCU still gets a home game against Oklahoma though.
The two big announcements ot come out of the conference call though came from Neinas. Neither are real earth-shaking developments, but Neinas once again shared some thoughts on Missouri, who continues to evaluate their position in the realignment process going on around the country. Neinas suggested that he does not need to know for sure what Missouri will do until the end of the academic year and he is planning on Missouri being a part of the 2012 season regardless because even if they do leave the Big 12 they would have to wait until 2013 to make the change official. Neinas also noted that he did not believe Missouri would be better off in terms of television revenue going to the SEC than they would be in the Big 12, scoffing at the reports that suggest Missouri would gain an extra $12 million in revenue in the SEC through television contracts.
“We might have a few cards to play too,” Neinas said at one point.
We’ll see.
Neinas said that the plan is to have a 10-team league in 2012, regardless of Missouri’s decision, and there is a plan to explore a 12-team conference if the right candidates can be determined. As far as TCU was concerned, the Horned Frogs were a unanimous number one choice to replace Texas A&M, and he suggested that the reaction from Missouri about adding TCU was positive.
The other hot button issue from some on the media call was what would happen to the Thanksgiving tradition of having Texas play. The initial assumption was that TCU would be the new turkey-day opponent but nobody on the call would confirm that. Neinas even suggested that it would not be likely. Del Conte said he was just happy to be playing Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech and he didn’t necessarily care when those games were played. Neinas did say that having Texas play on Thanksgiving is still in the works and that he is working with conference members and television partners to figure out who Texas’ opponent will be.
Will it still be Texas A&M? Or should we start getting used to the idea of seeing Texas and Texas Tech or Bayor as we settle from filling our stomachs with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and more?
Follow Kevin McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB.
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