Sam Acho explains why the 12 team playoff may be delayed following invitations from the SEC to Oklahoma and Texas. (0:54).[Editor's Note: Friday's announcement that Texas and Oklahoma planned to leave the conference was an important reminder that college football is not about the past. The ESPN reporters Heather Dinich and Mark Schlabach, along with Dave Wilson, explain how this decision arose from the creation of Big 12 and why it reached its breaking point.The Big 12 conference's athletic directors held the same weekly call as they have since the outbreak of the pandemic. All 10 schools took part, as did Bob Bowlsby, the commissioner.Multiple sources claim that Oklahoma's athletic director Joe Castiglione, who is now preparing to join the SEC, offered to serve on a review committee for the Big 12's women’s basketball championship. The Houston Chronicle reported the next day that Oklahoma and Texas were planning to leave the conference. Castiglione may not have known that college sports' best kept secret was about to explode. However, there is now evidence that he knew and was part of the team that was keeping it.The source stated, "Think about how dishonest that commitment was." This is how terrible this stings.The drama that unfolded in the Big 12 over the imminent departure of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC was all too familiar for a league in the middle of repeating its history.It's actually how the Big 12 started.Texas-sized battleIt was December 22, 1994. The league hadn't played its first game in nearly two years, and had not yet hired a commissioner. As the Pac-10 attempted to seize Texas and Colorado, sharks were already circling. Administrators and coaches reacted with anger, shock and a sense of broken trust.Martin C. Jischke, president of Iowa State, stated that they hoped they would see the wisdom in fulfilling the promise made by all.The Longhorns and Buffaloes decided to stay put. Texas was clear about their desire for a new conference.DeLoss Dodds was Texas' then athletic director in 1994. "We just don't want to do that." "We have a commitment to Big 12. It's an ethical decision and the right thing to make.Dodds was proud to be a part of the Big 12, and he retired in Texas in 2013, after 32 years as its leader. Donnie Duncan, Dodds' friend and former Oklahoma counterpart, was his guest at his farewell press conference.He said that Donnie and he "almost took the Big Eight Conference and the Southwest Conference when he was AD at Oklahoma" that day.The rivals have now teamed up once again to take down the conference they co-founded.It may be surprising that the timing of the move was chosen given the fact that Texas and Oklahoma have their TV money until 2025. The Big 12 has been plagued by instability for the past ten years, but it is clear that this can be viewed in retrospect. It all began with Texas' 2010 flirtation with Pac-10. This almost led to a mass exodus and distrust of the league.Lawrence Phillips and Nebraska defeated Michigan State to win the 1995 national championship. They were then part of the Big 12 in the following year. The Cornhuskers escaped to the Big Ten in 2011. Jonathan Daniel/AllsportColorado was in the Pac-10 for 15 years. After winning consecutive national championships in 1995 and 1994, Nebraska moved to the Big 12 in 1996. In 2011, it split again, struggling to find its feet in the Big Ten. Texas A&M and Missouri finally found an escape hatch to their dream destination, The SEC in 2012.This was in many ways a continuation and reaffirmation of the old grudges that surrounded the SWC teams.After 81 seasons in Texas-centric conferences, Texas A&M and Texas Tech were frustrated at being outweighed by smaller rivals with smaller budgets, smaller stadiums, and smaller ambitions. Baylor and Texas Tech joined them in the new conference, where they were assisted by powerful politicians.Ann Richards, Texas' governor at that time, was a Baylor graduate. Lt. Governor Lt. Governor. Bob Bullock received degrees from Texas Tech and Baylor. According to Jim Henderson and Dave McNeely, Bullock called Texas A&M presidents in his office in 1994. He told them that they were taking Tech and Baylor. You can join privately, or I'll cut off your money. But you won't receive a nickel of state money.Four Texas schools decided to leave a league that was known for infighting between teams. This led to Texas' pride and proximity spilling onto the field, and into a costly competition among boosters that created a culture of finger-pointing. Their Big Eight partners believed they had brought this attitude with them from day one and didn't like it.In 2016, Bill Byrne, former Nebraska athletic director, stated to the Houston Chronicle that there was a feeling in the Big Eight that a rising sea lifts all boats. We worked hard to ensure everyone succeeds, and that was the culture at the Big Eight. People were more willing to help each other than take advantage of one another. This changed when we entered the Big 12. It was "Man the lifeboats." "You're on your feet."Multiple sources within the Big 12 agree they were shocked by the news that Texas wanted to leave. One source said they believed the Houston Chronicle report because Bowlsby and other conference presidents had led the league through the pandemic.Texas now has a new power structure after decades of Dodds influence. Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed Kevin Eltife as the chair of the UT system board of regents in 2018. Del Conte was a graduate from TCU in 2017. Greg Abbott was elected the 2018 chair of the UT system's board of regents. Jay Hartzell was named the new Texas president by Eltife last year. All three men spoke of a new alignment and shared vision for Longhorns.Eltife stated that "we will not take a second place to anyone" during Thursday's alumni event held in his honor in Tyler, Texas. "And if something is in the university's best interests, we will do everything we can to pursue it.Steve Hatchell was the first commissioner of the league. He stated that these competing agendas existed before the league began. The Big 12 schools were unable to agree on whether they should expand the Big Eight or create a new league. Split votes were used to decide the logo, trophy and staff of the league.Hatchell stated last year that everything was seven votes to five. It wasn't always the exact seven or five. Eagles fly individually.The league office moved from Kansas City, Texas to Dallas. This caused problems for programs in Texas. They were also annoyed by the state of Texas programs. The one in Austin was the most popular.Byrne, who left Nebraska to become the athletic director at A&M later told the Chronicle that "as long as Texas got all it wanted, things were steady." "But, when an institution -- and i was at two -- said it shouldn’t be Texas’ way or the highway there was resistance."From the beginning, the revenue distribution of Big 12 was not equal. After Nebraska and Colorado left the Big 12, the 10-team Big 12 adopted a more equitable revenue sharing agreement in 2011. To keep them in the league, Baylor, Kansas State and Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa State offered their share of the $30 million buyout revenue that Colorado and Nebraska paid to the league to Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M."Those five institutions were not being pursued as aggressively were looking at a very hard future with significantly lower revenue," Dan Beebe, who was the Big 12 commissioner between 2007 and 2011, announced in 2010.The one thing that was not up for sharing? The $30 million, 20-year deal with Texas' new Longhorn Network.Dodds stated that "That's never in play, and that's certainly not in play" at the time.Texas was the first state to allow schools to sell third-tier TV rights. The Big 12 was the only major conference. Oklahoma joined forces with a regional network in order to create the Sooner Sports Network. Each league school was given the opportunity to sell their rights, but they couldn't get the same price as the Longhorns and the Longhorns. In the 2019 season, eight other schools pooled their third-tier rights with ESPN+ and paid $40 million per year. The league remained the only Power 5 conference to not have its own network. This is the core of our current situation. These same problems, smaller schools being subsidized by larger schools, still plague the SWC today.Dodds never shied away from talking about the Longhorns' contributions to the league or the market. He spoke to Texas A&M's McCombs School in Texas to update them on college sports negotiations. This was during another round of turmoil in the league, as Texas A&M sought to move to SEC.
