For the first time I can remember1 OSU won’t have a prime time Big Monday game.
The schedule came out today and is as follows:
Jan. 14 — Baylor at Kansas, 9 p.m.
Jan. 21 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) — Oklahoma State at Baylor, 5:30 p.m. and Texas at Oklahoma, 9:30 p.m.
Jan. 28 — Kansas at West Virginia, 9 p.m.
Feb. 4 — Texas at West Virginia, 9 p.m.
Feb. 11 — Kansas State at Kansas, 9 p.m.
Feb. 18 — West Virginia at Kansas State, 9 p.m.
Feb. 25 — Kansas at Iowa State, 9 p.m.
March 4 — Baylor at Texas, 9 p.m.
Yay, we get to be the everybody’s-still-at-work precursor to a football rivalry played on a basketball court!
Last year, with a (hopefully) much worse team, OSU had two, one against OU2 and one against KU.
I understand West Virginia getting three games (Big East market!) and Kansas getting four (duh). I’m not sure I understand Baylor getting three and OSU and OU combining for two. And poor TCU and Texas Tech…
There’s a lot to like about the squad coming back for OSU, and from a marketing standpoint, it’s tough to beat (well, it used to be tough to beat) GIA on a Monday night with two stars like Nash and (hopefully?) Smart.
I understand why ESPN did it, I just hope it proves to be a dumb move.
“I’m not sure I understand Baylor getting three and OSU and OU combining for two.”
I’m not sure I understand what you don’t understand.
Baylor had 12 conference wins and 30 total wins last season. OSU and OU combined for 12 conference and 30 total. Also, in the 6 games vs. the Big 12′s top teams (BU, KU, Mizzou), OSU lost by an average of 18 points per game.
OSU has a better chance at being more exciting this year than last, but you can’t expect ESPN to speculate on that - especially considering the downward spiral (performance wise) that we’ve seen during the Ford era.
Baylor doesn’t have a huge following and definately doesn’t have an exciting history, but their recent success (and, thanks to Acy – their very exciting style of play) has definately earned them some TV time.
Its bad business to award big TV time to college programs who have a great overall history, but very little recent success. Ask NBC.
I guess I just meant in terms of market size/fan base. Performance-wise, yes, agreed. Though I do wonder which of the three will finish with a better record this year…
Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold up. Market size and fan base? Our fan base has been pitiful the last 5 years. Why would ESPN want to come to Stillwater to televise a game where the arena isn’t even half full?
Living alumni:
Baylor – 120,000
OSU – 240,000
OU – 290,000
Numbers game.
I understand that, but there are a lot of other schools with more alumni than OSU that have crappy basketball programs that are hardly ever on national TV.
It really all comes down to success. After Butler made the championship game, it seemed like every one of their non conference games was on TV.
We’re lucky to get one. But let’s be honest, this isn’t a Big Monday game. Big Monday games don’t start at 4:30. They start at 8. We just happen to be playing on espn on a Monday.