In an era of college athletics when big-money television contracts drive the bus, the revised Big 12 Conference will project both new and old school values — new-school television money, and old-school scheduling and championships.

It could be the best of both worlds for the Big 12’s 10 remaining schools.

Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe staved off a takeover by the Pac-10 when he secured assurances of big money in future contracts from the league’s television partners.

Baylor averaged more than 7,000 fans for basketball games last year. And under the new schedule, national powerhouse Kansas will play in Waco every year.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald, file

Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M are each looking at a payday of more than $20 million annually beginning in 2012, while Baylor and the other schools are facing a $14 million to $17 million share.

To coaches, players and fans, the most visible difference in the new 10-team Big 12 will be in the scheduling.

With more conference games, each team and its local economy should benefit competitively and financially.

Nebraska is headed to the Big Ten in the fall of 2011-12, and Colorado could potentially be gone to the Pac-10 the same season.

That means Big 12 football teams could begin a nine-game conference schedule as early as 2011, after playing their usual eight-game conference schedule this fall.

Because North and South divisions will be eliminated, a championship game won’t be needed.

Big 12 men’s and women’s basketball teams will play an 18-game schedule in a home-and-away format. The current format features a 16-game schedule in which teams face their division rivals at home and away, and play the other division schools once per season.

“What I like most about the new Big 12 schedules is that you’ll establish a true champion,” Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said. “You play a round-robin format in football and basketball, and that’s the fairest thing to do.

“In basketball, you’ll get to see every Big 12 team at home every year. It’s good from a revenue standpoint to play teams within your region instead of going across the country to play.”

In the new Big 12 football format, teams are expected to play five conference home games and four away games in alternating years. Instead of playing four nonconference games, teams will play three.

Strong league

While losing traditional powerhouse Nebraska is a blow, the Big 12 should still be one of the strongest leagues in the country.

“The Big 12 will put a great product on the field,” Baylor football coach Art Briles said. “Top to bottom, I don’t think you could name a league with 10 better teams.”

The Big 12 featured the top-ranked men’s and women’s basketball leagues in the country last season, each placing seven teams in the NCAA tournament. The Baylor and Oklahoma women reached the Final Four, and the Baylor and Kansas State men made the Elite Eight.

The Baylor University basketball team poses before a game against the University of Kansas in 2009. Baylor officials said they are excited that the university’s basketball team will play Kansas every year in Waco.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald, file

With Nebraska and Colorado out of the picture, Big 12 men’s basketball will be stronger than ever. In addition to the 18-game home-and-away schedule, the league will continue to hold its postseason tournament.

“You’re keeping the best conference in America together, and the rivalries and traditions that go with it,” Baylor men’s basketball coach Scott Drew said. “You’ll have 10 great teams in this conference, and it will make the rivalries grow even more. I love the 18-game format because you’ll have a true champion.”

For the Baylor men’s basketball team, it will be a huge attraction for national power Kansas to play in Waco every year instead of every other year.

“We’ll get to see Kansas every year, and we’ll have people hanging from the rafters,” Baylor economist Tom Kelly said. “I don’t think there’s any question that seeing those teams every year will create rivalries and increase attendance.”

With such great basketball success, the Ferrell Center was a hotbed of activity last season, as the Baylor men averaged 7,457 in home attendance and the women averaged 7,209.

“It seems to me the community is supporting Baylor in every area, including athletics, as much as it ever has,” Waco City Manager Larry Groth said. “But there is always room for improvement. In a town our size, there should not be a Baylor football game that is not a sellout. The same goes for basketball, baseball and softball. It’s easy for the community to get involved in those things.”

Attendance hurdles

But the biggest obstacle continues to be drawing more people to football games at 50,000-seat Floyd Casey Stadium. Baylor ranked last in the Big 12 last year with an average home attendance of 36,306 fans, a slight increase from 34,124 two years ago.

In two home games last season, Texas and Nebraska fans appeared to outnumber Baylor’s fans.

Winning is key

While Baylor and city leaders will continue to look for new ways to market the football program, they said the only sure way to boost attendance is winning. The Bears haven’t had a winning season since the Big 12 formed in 1996.

“A lot of the marketing is in place,” said Steve Smith, senior vice president for sports and special events at the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. “Once winning takes place, everything will fall into place. Winning is the No. 1 driving force for attendance.”

Baylor fans showed how passionate and supportive they could be during the men’s and women’s successful runs through the NCAA basketball tournaments.

That was best illustrated at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, when most of the 45,000 fans for the Baylor-Duke Elite Eight game wore Bears colors.

“You saw so many Baylor fans wearing their green and gold and tailgating,” Smith said. “You could see the pride of the fans. It just showed what winning will do, so the basis is there.”

After hearing Monday that the Big 12 was sticking together, Briles emphasized that his program has to do the most with its second chance.

The Bears have gone 4-8 in Briles’ first two seasons, but the prospects should improve with quarterback Robert Griffin returning from last year’s knee injury.

“It’s like we’ve been given new life,” Briles said. “Now, we’ve got to take advantage of this saving chance. This has been eye-opening, and we’d better be proactive and do our best every day. We’ve got to understand the opportunity that has been given us, and take full advantage of it.”

Sterling Sherrill, the president of the Waco Hotel/Motel Association, said a revived Big 12 with more conference games sounds like a godsend. The tourism industry has suffered the past two years with a poor economy.

“We’re just trying to survive and desperately need anything we can to build up tourism and bring people to Waco,” Sherrill said. “With more conference teams coming to town, what could have been a disaster might be a better scenario than what was in place.

“But we need Baylor alumni around the state to catch fire and spend some nights with us. Right now, we’re depending on alumni from opposing teams to put heads in beds.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

757-5716

mcopeland@wacotrib.com

757-5736

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