Kirk Herbstreit on what SEC expansion means for college sports
Kirk Herbstreit joined The Paul Finebaum Show to talk about Texas and Oklahoma’s move to the SEC. At first, Herbstreit’s thoughts went straight to the Big 12, as he wondered what’s left of the conference.
“Number one, my thoughts right away go to what is left of the Big 12,” said Herbstreit on The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday. You imagine in the Big Ten, if you took Ohio State and Michigan out of it, what would be left of the Big Ten? You know, if you took Alabama and Auburn type of teams out of the SEC, what’s left of the SEC? I mean it’s hard to lose the programs that really are your identity.”
Subsequently, by losing Texas and Oklahoma, the Big 12 is losing their biggest programs. Unfortunately, that also means losing an overwhelming share of their appeal to television networks and viewers alike.
In an article written by Stewart Mandel of The Athletic, the importance of Texas and Oklahoma to the conference’s television appeal was highlighted. Mandel reports that two sports television consultants estimate to The Athletic that Texas and Oklahoma were solely responsible for about half of the Big 12’s value in their deals signed with ESPN and Fox in 2013.
Will the Big 12 cease to exist?
With a gut punch taking place both competition and revenue-wise, Kirk Herbstreit wondered whether the Big 12 would cease to exist.
“And so I think my first thought is, is the Big 12 gonna survive?” wondered Herbstreit, on The Paul Finebaum Show. “Where are they going to go? Are they going to become a Group of Five type of conference? Are others within the Big 12 gonna leave? Where are we going in a year from now? What are these presidents thinking behind closed doors and who are they getting calls from and what’s happening? Because things are happening. We know that. So, that’s one thought.”
Therefore, as the SEC adds two premier programs, Herbstreit hypothesized that we could be seeing the dawn of four super conferences. So, the SEC may have started a trend, and it would be foolish for other conferences to take a backseat and watch the transformation from the sidelines.
“The next thought is are we headed to potentially four super conferences. Is the Pac-12 going to get a bunch more teams? Is the Big Ten . . . ACC going to try to gather some teams? Are we headed down that path?” Herbstreit questioned.
“The first few dominoes falling…”
Finally, Herbstreit harkened back to his love for the traditions in college football. Unfortunately, he sees them slipping away due to greed following this move.
“And at the end of the day, I’m a traditionalist,” said Herbstreit. “I’ve always loved certain regions. I love the pride that each of these regions take within their style of football . . . when these teams meet in bowl games and they get together and the SEC wants to show the Big Ten what’s up, and the Big Ten wants to show the SEC. I love that about this sport, and I hope we don’t lose that.”
“It kind of feels like this is the beginning, the first few dominoes falling towards that. But again, we’re all just left to speculate. I mean none of us know anything right now, and we’re all just kind of left to wonder where we’re headed with the future,” Herbsreit said.
Alas, he left no doubt as to what he believes is the main culprit in the traditions fading. Kirk Herbstreit left The Paul Finebaum Show with one final point on his thoughts regarding Texas and Oklahoma’s move to the SEC.
“Clearly, money has never driven college athletics more than it is in 2021,” said Herbstreit.
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