Every move made by any of the other P5 leagues matters to the future of the ACC. The nearly unanimous assessment of the future TV earnings for each conference is the reason.
Bowlsby certainly was going to take the heat for not keeping OU and Texas, but he should be recognized as having understood that if OU and UT remained opposed to the Big XII expanding back to 12 members that the most likely reason was that one or both were open to leaving and would not sign any new deals until they had made a final decision.
The next Big XII leader could arrange for the Big XII to thrive, or perhaps fail to discern what he needs to and thereby arrange for the Big XII to face another step down.
Bowlsby certainly was going to take the heat for not keeping OU and Texas, but he should be recognized as having understood that if OU and UT remained opposed to the Big XII expanding back to 12 members that the most likely reason was that one or both were open to leaving and would not sign any new deals until they had made a final decision.
The next Big XII leader could arrange for the Big XII to thrive, or perhaps fail to discern what he needs to and thereby arrange for the Big XII to face another step down.
