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Bowlsby Cuts It Loose in Talking Texas and Oklahoma Ditching the Big 12

October 21, 2021
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STILLWATER – A week ago I had Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby on my radio show and he was pretty open and honest about his feelings with regard to the two schools that caused all the uproar this summer as the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma surprised Bowlsby, the Big 12 office, and many of the league’s members with their rapid departure from the Big 12 for the long term future and quick adoption into the Southeastern Conference for the future. I asked Bowlsby if he was going to be in Austin for the showdown between Oklahoma State and Texas.

“I will not be in Austin, but I wish Oklahoma State the best and I will be watching what happens,” Bowlsby answered. “I will be in Waco because future Big 12 member BYU will be there and that will be a good chance for me to spend time with their President, athletic director, and the leaders at Baylor.”

Big 12 Conference
Bwolsby at Football Media Days.

Bowlsby’s eyes are on the future and not the past as he rallied late in the summer to add not only BYU, but current No. 2-ranked Cincinnati, Central Florida, and Houston to the Big 12. This week at Big 12 Conference Basketball Media Days, Bowlsby talked to various reporters and some interesting stories have come out of it like the one in The Austin American Statesman from Texas beat writer Brian Davis and there is a column out from longtime college football and Big 12 observer Dennis Dodd.

Davis in asking Bowlsby if he was still mad at Texas and Oklahoma for leaving the conference and the secretive way they did it, used the term pissed off. Bowlsby didn’t back away from the phrase that could be considered a little less than professional in college athletic administrative conversations.

“Being, to use your term pissed off about it, I can’t allow myself that,” Bowlsby said. “I have to get over the sense of personal betrayal and do what’s necessary for our eight continuing members. And that’s what we did.”

Bowlsby found a better and more sharply probing phrase than pissed off with the term “personal betrayal”. According to reports from other Big 12 schools, Texas President Jay Hartzell and OU President Joe Harroz Jr. have only been present for one Big 12 virtual meeting since the announcement that they were leaving. They refused to answer roll call in that one meeting. They haven’t been back since. Bowlsby has repeatedly said he expects the Longhorns and the Sooners to stick around, if not at the meetings, in the conference until June 30, 2025.

Bowlsby is no longer being sketchy about his feelings.

“We’re going to have to find ways to get along,” Bowlsby told the Austin newspaper. “We have to work together, and we will. But I would say trust is at a relative low.”

Bowlsby like he told Pokes Report and Triple Play Sports Radio last week said he had no idea why Texas and Oklahoma left. They’ve never offered to share.

“To this day, they’ve given us no answers to that question,” he said. “Either one. I’ve asked repeatedly, and they never made us aware of any concerns in advance. When we’ve asked the question since then, we’ve gotten no response.”

Then Bowlsby got really good and honest and cut loose on Texas, who many have felt was the ringleader on the move.

“They’re thinking they’re going to recruit better and they’re going to get more money,” Bowlsby said in Kansas City. “Anybody that thinks Texas’ football problems have been a result of league affiliation are completely delusional.”

That says it all. Talking to some Texas media and even a few employees in the Longhorns athletic department last week, and the general feeling is Texas and Oklahoma will be gone before the next school year in 2022-23. That would violate the contracts and while there is talk that the new members coming into the Big 12 will do the same and relieve Texas and Oklahoma, I don’t expect Bob Bowlsby sees it that way.

Discussion from...

Bowlsby Cuts It Loose in Talking Texas and Oklahoma Ditching the Big 12

4,850 Views | 18 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by CaliforniaCowboy
TUSKAPOKE
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Too little....too late from Bowlsby. Bowlsby can be pizzed off and upset but he got snookered because he bent the knee to the Shorthorns and Sewerners. Bowlsby has scrambled to try and preserve something called his salary, his rep, and the B12 and maybe he did it with the addition of four teams. Trusting him to continue to lead the B12 is foolish. Trusting him with OSU's football/athletics future is also foolish and I feel good that will not happen. The Shorthorns/Sewerners will get what they deserve in the SEC meat grinder. Bowlsby should get what he deserves and that is retirement or becoming Sankey's restroom attendant.
NJAggie
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Yes Bowlsby was deferential to ou & ut, but the other 8 schools were and supported his being that way. That was always one of the problems. In 2016 when ou was pushing for expansion, what did UT do, well it got ISU & KU to push a BS line that expanding would cause ou to leave and that would cause ut to leave so he got schools to vote against their better interest in some belief that that was preserving the conference. Just this summer UT got the schools to ban the horns down sign.

One of the big problems the Big XII had is the Commissioner was always a figure head administrator and the Texas AD ran the league with the assistance of the ou AD. Well now Bowlsby can actually lead like the other commissioners.

So far he's taken well to his new office. He got the 4 best options in expansion, and he is aggressively seeking the next opportunities for the league. The league will have the best basketball and the third best football of the leagues so we've going to be right where we are. That's a good thing, and OSU in football now has an improved chance to win conference championships and make the playoffs. If we accomplish that we will see better recruiting and better results.
TUSKAPOKE
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Bowlsby had opportunities to expand and solidify the conference when the PAC 12 was faltering and did not make a move. Bowlsby was at the table with Sankey designing the new payoff system and did not recognize that he was being taken to the cleaners. Bowlsby did not move to push the Shorthorn Network to become the B12 Network and got stuck with a poor streaming option that does not include the Shorthorns or Sewerners. Bowlsby has showed no vision, did not lead because he knuckled under to the blue bloods who were getting more than their share of $$$$, and did not get the other eight teams any leverage to deal with the current situation other than a TV contract that will end soon. Will the BIG 12 survive with the new additions? I predict that conference realignment is just in a new phase and that there will eventually just be a Power 4 with 16 teams each. Bowlsby has just bought some time. The fun really begins when the two blue bloods leave after this season and the negotiations begin for the new TV rights and the PAC 12 expands east. Following Bowlsby anymore is a fool's game. Fool me once, shame on you....fool me twice, shame on me. Football will decide the outcome because the other sports are secondary.
NJAggie
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Well you're accusing him of things that were not in his control. UT was never letting anyone in on their toy network. So the streaming deal, which is not a poor deal and provides money to all the schools involved, got us a national platform to stream our T3 sports which we all desperately needed.

If the guy from the SEC was able to lie to his face that's really on him and not Bowlsby.

There is not much expansion coming. No one is pushing for or moving towards a 4x16. The PAC schools have no desire to leave that conference or add anyone. There is no one that can add to the value of the B1G or SEC, and the ACC at max will take ND & 1 more.

So I'd say getting ready to spend some time in this new Big XII is probably a good idea. Maybe if we continue on an upward trajectory and become a regular conference champ and playoff contender, if the academics and research grows we'd be considered by the B1G or PAC, but for now we're in the Big XII.

Which isn't a bad place to be. The league will be clearly the #3 football league, and #1 basketball league.
CaliforniaCowboy
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Bowlsby need to be cut

at a minimum, he'd better make sure that the goons and horns get very unfavorable conference schedules the next few years.

TUSKAPOKE
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Bowlsby failed in practically all aspects of leadership, that was in his control, including dealings with the blue bloods, the LH Network, pizz poor streaming platform, and playing checkers with Sankey when Sankey was playing chess. Conference realignment is just beginning and this mess is not anywhere near over. Trusting him to lead much of anything is poor judgement. He was not respected by the leadership of the blue bloods because he is weak. If you want to lead his fan club, please do. The guy needs to be gone. OSU leadership must keep all options open and be ready to do what is best for the long term including invitations to the SEC or PAC 12+. Those options exclude Bowlsby including staying in the "New" BIG 12 only if he is dumped. Basketball, wrestling, baseball, etc. have nothing to do with any of this because this is BIG TIME FOOTBALL = $$$$$$$$$$$$.
Prattvillepoke
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TulsaPoke you have this right. It is time for conference leadership (Bowlsby and any of his office disciples) to go! Letting two schools control you and the conference then secretly leave after catering to them is unforgivable.
PrattvillePoke
NJAggie
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You can't blame the employee for doing what the employer told him to do. Had he tried to ride herd on OU/UT then he'd have been fired, with all 8 remaining members signing off on it.

You can't judge him based on what happened before August, because his position, and his employers demands changed then. He did exactly what his employers wanted up to August, and since then given the authority to operate for the first time he has done well since then.
TUSKAPOKE
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I blame him for weak leadership from the start including kowtowing to the Shorthorns because they would go independent and take their failed network. Look what happened. They left anyway and took the Sewerners with them while taking more than their fair share of the $$$$. I want their money to get out of here and then see if better offers come along minus Bowlsby.

He did not know what was even going on in his own house that he is paid to lead. His weak leadership led to the two blue bloods leaving anyway. Did he attempt to do the politics necessary to get nine of the teams to corner the Shorthorns? I did not see it. The BIG 8 + 4 now is still weak and the realignment game has not ended. He failed. He was paid to lead and keep the league solvent and he got outplayed, caught short and left with handful of excrement.

We can continue to argue this all you want. You can continue to be the Prez of the Bob Bowlsby fan club and follow him all you want but his track record speaks for itself. Weak leadership that left the BIG 12 hanging and not one aggressive move in all the years other than the fiasco several years ago about adding teams.

GO POKES!!! BEAT THE CYCLOPS!!! DUMP BOWLSBY!!!

BOWLSBY SALARY $2 - $2.5 MILLION/YR......
CaliforniaCowboy
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NJAggie said:

You can't blame the employee for doing what the employer told him to do. Had he tried to ride herd on OU/UT then he'd have been fired, with all 8 remaining members signing off on it.

You can't judge him based on what happened before August, because his position, and his employers demands changed then. He did exactly what his employers wanted up to August, and since then given the authority to operate for the first time he has done well since then.
IMO, he was so much more than "an employee".... he was supposed to be the leader, not some "do as you're told, lackey".

He didn't have the nads to stand up for the good of all because he didn't want to lose his freaking FOUR MILLION dollar job. (or he was just to dumb to know what was good for all).... I'm going with BOTH. He didn't know what he was doing (and still doesn't), AND didn't want to rock the gravy train.

When you are he "leader" and there is a colossal failure like this to the model that you shepherded in, then he needs to buck up and resign.

He knew the people he was dealing with, heck we all knew.

Feckless should not be your only leadership trait.

Ostateman
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Totally agree. Bowlsby was asleep at the wheel and is now in "Save My Own Arse" mode.
The damage is done and the Big 12 owes it to the conference for new leadership at the top. Someone who is proactive, not reactive (as in way too late).
I know there are rules, but do we really want to follow them now?
Ostateman
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Feckless -- I like it.

I'm putting that on my resume.
I know there are rules, but do we really want to follow them now?
CaliforniaCowboy
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Ostateman said:

Feckless -- I like it.

I'm putting that on my resume.
I don't blame you, lots of people try and fluff up their resumes' to try to make themselves look better.
Ostateman
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Why hasn't Bowlsby been fired already?!

He is a reactive leader, not a proactive leader and he has caved to Texas and ou before now with diasterous results because of it.

Now he's fighting! For his job, he's fighting!
He has no backbone when we needed backbone. He's a poser and must be replaced by someone that is a visionary -- not a missionary.
I know there are rules, but do we really want to follow them now?
NJAggie
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He hasn't been fired because he was acting as instructed before August, and since then he's made all the right moves. You may wish he'd stood up to ou & ut, but he was there to placate them and keep them in the league.

Our perception of what we'd have liked him to be is not really part of the President's consideration in keeping Bowlsby. And it wasn't just ou & ut with Presidents that wanted to play sports exec. When Boren and Bowlsby tried to do expansion, it wound up being a s**t show. But, not because they tried, but because most of the rest didn't take it seriously. UT was just wanting to keep the chaos going (which is their only seeming goal and will continue). ISU & KU tried to stop expansion because they felt adding teams would chase ou/ut out (even though OU wanted the expansion & UT wasn't going anywhere with out their little buddy), piled on with demands for a GoR extension beyond the TV contract or no expansion. Sadly some other bought that bs and we wound up not adding BYU & Cincy and stabalizing things.

So a whole lot of people probably should have been fired over the fiasco, but guess what none of them were so no need to kill the progress since August by firing Bowlsby. He's finally free to be a commissioner and not an office manager, and he seems to be taking to it.
CaliforniaCowboy
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NJAggie said:

He hasn't been fired because he was acting as instructed before August, and since then he's made all the right moves. You may wish he'd stood up to ou & ut, but he was there to placate them and keep them in the league.

Our perception of what we'd have liked him to be is not really part of the President's consideration in keeping Bowlsby. And it wasn't just ou & ut with Presidents that wanted to play sports exec. When Boren and Bowlsby tried to do expansion, it wound up being a s**t show. But, not because they tried, but because most of the rest didn't take it seriously. UT was just wanting to keep the chaos going (which is their only seeming goal and will continue). ISU & KU tried to stop expansion because they felt adding teams would chase ou/ut out (even though OU wanted the expansion & UT wasn't going anywhere with out their little buddy), piled on with demands for a GoR extension beyond the TV contract or no expansion. Sadly some other bought that bs and we wound up not adding BYU & Cincy and stabalizing things.

So a whole lot of people probably should have been fired over the fiasco, but guess what none of them were so no need to kill the progress since August by firing Bowlsby. He's finally free to be a commissioner and not an office manager, and he seems to be taking to it.
lipstick on a pig. He could have done anything else - he didn't. He was even meeting with these clowns (OU/UT) right up until they bailed on us, and he claimed, "I didn't know"... they betrayed me.

the guy is totally freaking clueless... especially at $4 mil/year. The guy is not worth $4 /hr
Gopokes78
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It was my understanding, that previously when the Big 12 office advertised they were looking for members, schools applied(some of the same coming) and Boren said "nope, we don't want any of them". I can't substantiate this, but sounds plausible.
CaliforniaCowboy
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Gopokes78 said:

It was my understanding, that previously when the Big 12 office advertised they were looking for members, schools applied(some of the same coming) and Boren said "nope, we don't want any of them". I can't substantiate this, but sounds plausible.
even if true.... Bowlsby did not rally the other schools, did not insist that the goons and horns come in line and form a real conference.. did not resign because they did not. He is the problem
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