Numerous people have thrown together their own winner and loser lists in the aftermath of expansion-palooza 2010. Chip Brown put together his list with a decidedly Texas feel to it (No, I'm not linking it). Joe Schad tucked his tail back between his legs, returned to the four-letter, and also put together his list. After reading them and deciding they were all terrible, I'm following the trend and putting together mine.
Winners:
Texas/Oklahoma/Texas A&M: No matter what happened, Texas was going to win. Odds are, Oklahoma was also going to come home a winner too. Texas A&M, against all odds, inserted itself into the top three of the conference this week by playing a game of chicken with the SEC and Pac-10. When the dust settled, these three ended up with more money and fleeced the rest of the conference out of their buyouts. They did it the slimy way, but they're still winners.
Larry Scott and the Pac-10: So Scott swung for the fences and ended up lining one off the wall. It's better than taking a big hack and fouling one off his cup. Scott played the game as well as he could and almost won it. In the end, he didn't cave and still came out with an expanded conference. The Pac-10 now sits in a good position to negotiate its next TV deal and will still be here when the Big 12 falls flat its face.
USC: Can anyone tell me what happened to USC last week? No, you can't. The media cycle spit them out immediately and moved on to that other story.
Colorado and Nebraska: Both Colorado and Nebraska took the first train out of the Big 12 and were smarter for it. In the long run, they're both in better spots. Neither school has to deal with being in the forgotten Big 12 North division, and both schools have more competent conference commissioners (say it 10 times fast....do it) than they did a week ago. Congratulations on going from the insane asylum to the penthouse, CU and NU.
Utah: Welcome to the big leagues Utah. Even though we all knew it was coming to this, the survival of the Big 12 means Utah gets called up. They will instantly receive more TV revenues and will actually have a real shot at a BCS bid, playing in an AQ conference. Larry Scott probably didn't even get the words out of his mouth before Utah had the paperwork signed....in blood.
Washington State: Any kind of expansion and jump in revenue helps the Cougs. If the Big 12 can have a TV deal like the one that was promised (I don't buy it), then the Pac-10 should be able to clean up next year. Add a conference championship game worth between $10-15 million and we're talking about good money. The addition of the Texas schools would've brought revenue to new heights, but even the modest addition of Utah and Colorado helps WSU. Mo' money, less problems.
Losers:
The rest of the Big 12: Texas Tech and Oklahoma State got the shortest end of the stick. They not only will be second class citizens to the aforementioned big 3, but were railroaded into a deal that was bad for them. While the forgotten 5 should be happy to be in a conference, they're still losers. The revenue gap they conceded nearly ensures that they'll be in the back seat for the rest of the Big 12's life.
Dan Beebe: Go ahead, champion Beebe as a savior. He's not. Beebe was exposed for the incompetent leader he was throughout this ordeal. The fact that Beebe himself admitted it took a heck of a lot of outside influence to get the teams to stay shows how much control he has over his own conference. It's DeLoss Dodds and Texas' world, Dan, you're just living in it.
The Mountain West Conference: The MWC nearly had an automatic qualifier bid and a host of Big 12 schools fall into its lap. Instead, they lost Utah and gained Boise State. In Boise State, they added a high class academic institution with a well rounded athletic department. Wait, no they didn't. The MWC picked up a football team that's been very good lately and plays on blue turf. Wait til you see the rest of their athletic department. The MWC also loses Utah, one of its more valued members. I'm chalking this up as a net loss.
USC: You're still screwed, even if people did forget you were screwed while this was going on.
I'm still upset the bell ringer won't be a part of the Pac-10.