Some quick updates
by Jim Buzzerd
I don’t know about everyone else, but the presumed breakup of the Big 12 Conference has occupied my thought process nonstop for several weeks. Fans of the West Virginia University athletic program should indeed be concerned. With Oklahoma and Texas no longer members of the Big 12 it will only be a short time before the annual $37 million per team payout drops significantly. Power Five status will likely fade away as well. Should WVU try to make a go of it with the remaining eight teams of the Big 12, those two factors will leave WVU in the precarious position of being a far away member of a dying conference.
We can hope a better scenario will emerge, but nothing out there that would lead one to believe there is further expansion on the doorstep. I’m sure WVU is diligently working behind the scenes to keep the Mountaineers at the big boy table, but any info on that front is being kept a closely guarded secret.
Of course, WVU isn’t the only school being left scrambling. The rest of the Big 12 teams are pretty good brands in their own right, but not significant enough to move the needle far enough to successfully negotiate a sufficient media deal to keep the status quo.
That’s why Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State have been linked to Pac 12 consideration. Kansas has been linked to the Big 10 in some media Tweets. I haven’t heard where Kansas State and Iowa State are looking for their salvation.
The hand wringing will continue for a while, I suppose, but I’m left to wonder what exactly the SEC and ESPN (allegedly) are trying to accomplish by adding Texas and Oklahoma. The SEC already has the lion’s share of the media money. OU and Texas are as needy as Bill Gates. Yes, they will become wealthier in the SEC, but at what cost?
Why would the SEC and ESPN (allegedly) want to damage college football? The SEC already has a strangled hold on college football and if you see them start pitching to Clemson and Ohio State, you’ll know they are trying to kill off the sport as we’ve known it.
I don’t know if the following is considered good news, but details of Mountaineer guard Miles McBride’s NBA rookie contract with the Knicks have leaked. McBride signed a 3 year- $4,324,872 contract with the New York Knicks, including $2,488,776 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $1,441,624. In 2021-22, McBride will earn a base salary of $925,258, while carrying a cap hit of $925,258 and a dead cap value of $925,258.
Hard to knock his decision to leave WVU early at this juncture. Now he must figure out how to keep some of the cash for himself and away from the tax collectors. For those so inclined, you can watch McBride play for the Knicks summer league team through August 17. Most games are televised on one of the ESPN channels and NBA TV.
