Why the TCU athletic director felt “remorse” at the Big 12 adding three more schools
Jeremiah Donati was elated at the news that the Big 12 is even more secure with the three additions, but he also realized there are real people involved at the remaining four Pac-12 schools.
People at Stanford. People at Cal. People at Oregon State. People at Washington State.
The TCU athletic director grew up around Washington State’s athletic facilities, where his dad worked as a team physician. Donati also spent time as an intern in the WSU athletic department.
He met his future mentor at Washington State, former TCU and current Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte.
“It is bittersweet because there is a feeling of relief, and remorse,” Donati said in a phone interview. “I speak for my colleagues, including (the Big 12) commissioner: We spent a lot of time reflecting on the ramifications of these actions because they are essentially putting a conference out of business.”
He’s familiar with these feelings. Donati was at TCU when Texas and Oklahoma announced, in 2021, they would leave the Big 12 for the SEC.
There are undeniable feelings of betrayal within this small community when these decisions are made, even if people understand that a fun profession can also be a cruel business.
“The media opportunities aren’t as robust as they once were. In the end, there weren’t enough resources to go around the way they once were,” he said. “For people at Washington State, it is a sad day. I would not have gotten to TCU if it wasn’t for Washington State.”
The future of the Pac-12 is a guess. The future for TCU, and the Big 12, feels more secure than at any point since the end of the Southwest Conference.
That is Donati’s priority.
It should not be lost on anyone at TCU that it was about one year ago when the future of the Big 12 was not great. Texas and Oklahoma were leaving the Big 12, and TCU’s quiet hope was an invitation from ... the Pac-12.
After USC and UCLA announced they would leave the Pac-12 for the Big 10 last July, the Pac-12 explored expansion. The top candidates were TCU and Houston.
That invitation nearly came, and both Houston and TCU would have said yes. The Pac-12 passed on expansion, and badly miscalculated its potential value to ESPN, Fox or any other TV partner.
The decision indirectly led to Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State all announcing they would leave the league.
“For TCU, its history has been defined by conference realignment,” Donati said. “The Southwest Conference, and then all of the conferences we bounced around. Our history has been made by conference uncertainty.”
Independent, 1903 - 1922.
Southwest Conference, 1923 - 1995.
Western Athletic Conference, 1996 - 2000.
Conference USA, 2001 - 2004.
Mountain West Conference, 2005 - 2011.
Big 12, 2011 - pres.
Among the many questions repeatedly raised about the new-look major conference layouts is geography. Some of the distances involved for “conference rivals” all but guarantee members of the softball and basketball teams at these schools will reach Elite Passenger status on select airlines.
TCU’s location in the middle of the U.S. helps, but Central Florida flying to Tucson to play the University of Arizona in a Big 12 volleyball match on a Wednesday night is not excessive, it’s stupid.
“Candidly, it’s not going to be easy,” Donati said. “With the larger leagues, you do have an opportunity to do some regional-based scheduling for the Olympic sports. Some pods. The folks on either coasts will bear the burden of the travel, and we will have to get creative. For us, we can do shorter flights and drive to a lot of places.
“There will be the added expense, no question about that. In the Big 10, there will be a tremendous expense. It’s the trade-off of a big financial gain.”
Exactly how long this will all last, don’t bother guessing.
Seldom now are the contracts too binding. Expect more consolidation. Who knows how the media right’s contracts will look in five years.
Donati doesn’t know.
“These moves position us for our next TV contract, and we are banded together,” he said. “It’s a great group with like-minded institutions. Our hope is the new look Big 12 is around for another 25 years. It just celebrated its 25th anniversary, so another 25 would be great.”
In another 25 years, the Big 12 will either be swallowed by the Big 10, the SEC, no longer exist, or be comprised of 33 schools and their games will be carried by ESPNFOX.
This story was originally published August 6, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
