The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I predict that the Y will get to kick Texas in the seat of the pants one last time on their way out the door.

OU will want to go ahead and get this last CC under their belt.  They won't be winning 9 of 11 anytime soon after this.  

I wonder how that's done.  What leverage do the exiting schools have to entice the enforcers of the contract not to extract every penny they're owed? 

For the exit penalties, the problem is that the conference is trying to prove liquidated damages.  That's a really squirrely concept and is prone to all sorts of interpretations. So it always gets negotiated down.

And it's going to be even more difficult for the B12 to prove since it is known they're adding 4 new teams. 

And finally, public universities enjoy the benefits of sovereign immunity and really can't be sued.  So they actually have all the power.  Played out to an extreme end, a university like Texas or OU could just leave without any negotiations at all, and then the B12 would have to sue to try and recover some of the damages, and the university could claim sovereign immunity which prevents any kind of legal activity against the university, leaving the B12 with nothing.

In reality it would never come to that, but it does severely limit the upside potential for the conference, in negotiations with a state entity.

For the exit penalties, the problem is that the conference is trying to prove liquidated damages.  That's a really squirrely concept and is prone to all sorts of interpretations. So it always gets negotiated down.

And it's going to be even more difficult for the B12 to prove since it is known they're adding 4 new teams. 

And finally, public universities enjoy the benefits of sovereign immunity and really can't be sued.  So they actually have all the power.  Played out to an extreme end, a university like Texas or OU could just leave without any negotiations at all, and then the B12 would have to sue to try and recover some of the damages, and the university could claim sovereign immunity which prevents any kind of legal activity against the university, leaving the B12 with nothing.

In reality it would never come to that, but it does severely limit the upside potential for the conference, in negotiations with a state entity.

Also in play is precedence.  None of the former members of the Big 12 had to pay the full amount of exit fees, they paid about 40%.

I think those four make sense and the B12 will survive, but with an asterisk a bit like what the Big East was like.

But no real football power on the list.  Still, should garner a decent TV contract.

Yeah, Texas needs to find something before going into the SEC West, it could get very ugly.

I'm guessing Bama/Auburn shift East.

I mean, with Alabama and Auburn going to the East, how scared is Texas supposed to be?  LSU is a trainwreck, a helmet with no teeth.  The Mississippi schools are the Mississippi schools.  Arkansas is known to occasionally put a nice season together, but they've never proven they can sustain anything.  A&M is who is left, and when have the Horns ever been scared of the Aggies? 

I'm not saying Texas doesn't need to do a ton of work, but sans the Alabama schools, the rest of the west is pretty meh.