SI.com: Baylor trying to preserve athletic future
September 8th, 2011
04:57 PM ET

SI.com: Baylor trying to preserve athletic future

Hey, "Don't Mess With Texas Football." That message, posted on Baylor's website, comes amid Texas A&M's efforts to leave the Big 12  join the Southeastern Conference and Oklahoma's flirtation with the idea of leaving the Big 12  to join the Pac-12. As SI.com's George Schroeder explains, Baylor is concerned that the Big 12 will break up, leaving Baylor out in the cold.

Baylor, which has threatened to sue Texas A&M if it jumps to the SEC, argues on its website that the Big 12 should be preserved because it is a bastion of Texas football and tradition. Four of the conference's 10 members - Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M - are in the Lone Star state.

But don't be confused, Schroeder writes. Baylor also is acting in its own self-interest:

 "If Baylor really cares about Texas football, why not get the old band back together? Call Texas and Texas A&M. Add Houston, Rice and SMU," writes Schroeder, referring to some of the schools. "Convince TCU that the newly formed Big Tex Conference (Lone Star is taken) - no, let's call it the Southwest Conference - makes more sense than the Big East. Heck, why not add UTEP and North Texas? No, it doesn't really make much sense, and there's about, oh, zero chance it happens.

"Maybe Baylor succeeds in holding the Big 12 together - against the members' will - for just a little longer. Probably not. In the bigger picture, any campaign by any entity to hold off superconferences seems doomed to fail. 'Some things,' Oklahoma President David Boren told The Oklahoman, 'are trends beyond the control of any one university.' But Baylor's goal isn't to prevent the inevitable; it's to catch the ride."

Up tonight:

New Orleans Saints vs. Green Bay Packers (8:30 p.m. ET) - In a battle of the last two Super Bowl champions, the NFL regular season kicks off with the Saints and Packers at Green Bay's Lambeau Field.

By The Numbers

36 - Number of games the University of Miami's Jacory Harris has appeared in during his first three seasons with the team. On Wednesday, Miami's coach announced that Harris, who was suspended during Monday's loss to Maryland, would be the Hurricanes' starting quarterback when they face Ohio State on September 17.

22 - Number of wins that Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander earned this season. He notched his 10th straight victory in a 8-6 win over the Cleveland Indians Wednesday.

5 - Approximate number of hours that NBA players and owners met in New York on Wednesday to try to resolve the league's lockout.

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Filed under: College football • Sports
soundoff (12 Responses)
  1. gung hoe

    Let go baylor best advice start a new league SAINTS 25 GREENBAY CHUMPHEADS 10

    September 8, 2011 at 5:23 pm | Report abuse |
    • The more you know ...

      I'm sure that Baylor ... because it's a religious school and all ... isn't being even remotely hypocritical about this whole "Don't Mess with Texas Football" campaign.

      I'm sure that Ken Starrr has set up a grass-roots campaign to bring Houston, TCU, Rice and SMU into the Big 12 and award them millions of dollars in compensation for the revenue and prestige those four Texas universities lost when they were left out of the Big 12.

      I seem to recall Houston being a regular Top 25 football team and a contender for national championships in basketball before being relegated to Conference USA, for instance. I'm sure the folks at Baylor, feel, like I do, that it's time to try to make that up to them.

      I'm sure that Starr's volunteers are working the phones, email and social media now on behalf of those four schools, because that's what Jesus would do if he had played high school football in Texas.

      I bet they're also working tirelessly to bring UTEP, North Texas and UTSA into the Big 12 as well. I'd even bet that the fine folks at Baylor have nothing less than the goal of bringing every Div. 1 eligible football program in the state of Texas into the Big 12, because after all, this is all about Texas football and not about money.

      Yeah. Right.

      September 8, 2011 at 6:34 pm | Report abuse |
  2. banasy©

    @gung hoe:

    I will most definitely agree about Greenbay, although you're going to disagree about what I'm going to say next:
    DA BEARS

    September 8, 2011 at 5:33 pm | Report abuse |
  3. jazz

    testing

    September 8, 2011 at 5:38 pm | Report abuse |
  4. jazz

    testing now pls

    September 8, 2011 at 5:39 pm | Report abuse |
  5. the prophet

    Sports is not in peoples mind when our Government impoverished us to even buy food and drinks to entertain any f... kin games fascists

    September 8, 2011 at 6:44 pm | Report abuse |
  6. bill

    The Big 12 is toast, the University of Texas destroyed every conference they belonged to, yes this is UT's doings because they're the ones who insisted on Baylor joining the party instead of Arkansas as it should've been. Texas is also the one who ran Colorado and Nebraska off with their tv contract, and soon Texas A&M will be gone for the same reason with OU, Missouri and Ok St. following right behind them. What the Big 8 should've done was add Arkansas(before they joined the SEC of course), BYU, Texas A&M and either TCU or Texas Tech and left Texas and Baylor out. If that had happened the Big 12 would be a much stronger Conference today.

    September 8, 2011 at 7:03 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Joshua

    I love american football, newzeland has the best team in the game.
    osha 10

    September 8, 2011 at 7:10 pm | Report abuse |
  8. THE ONE AND ONLY DRAKOREX1

    @JAZZZZZZ WHAT DID YOU MEAN ABOUT DEATHS DOOR ? I DONT REMEBER STEPPING ON YOUR TOES SORRY IF I DID !!PLEASE CLEAR THIS UP FOR ME IF YOU WILL????

    September 8, 2011 at 8:37 pm | Report abuse |
  9. THE ONE AND ONLY DRAKOREX1

    JAZZZZZZ WHAT DID YOU MEAN ABOUT DEATHS DOOR I DIDNT UNDER STAND SORRY IF I SAID SOME THING, PLEASE EXPLAIN..?

    September 8, 2011 at 8:57 pm | Report abuse |
  10. tigerpirate

    “Don’t Mess with Texas Football". Really, Baylor – what a bunch of hypocrites! When the SWC broke up you left your Texas neighbors for the Big 12. Why didn't you threaten to sue last year when CU and Nebraska left? The Big 12 needs to disband...the comissioner is a joke...and keeping schools hostage is ridiculous. The distrust is beyond repair. UT's arrogance and greed sinks a second conference.

    September 9, 2011 at 11:11 am | Report abuse |
  11. bill

    @tigerpirate; well said, UT has definitely been the bane of every conference they've joined. Hopefully they'll go to the Pac 12 and we won't here anymore about them around the midwest. The SEC and Big 1O rule in college football. Of course I'm not taking Oklahoma into account because they may very well end up in the Big 10.

    September 9, 2011 at 7:30 pm | Report abuse |
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