I don't think we were over hyped last year. I don't know how we'll do but I do know that I like what little I've seen of Gilbert so much more than Watson. UT only has 1 scholarship spot left now that Devin Duvernay is coming aboard. This assumes both Fowler and Southall clear their academic hurdles and it looks like they will. It's possible UT brings in Devin's brother Donovan if/when he is released from his LOI. That would leave OL Patrick Hudson (who was a big target for UT before he signed his LOI with Baylor) on the outside looking in. How exactly could Texas go after more than 1 other player? I don't think Strong could kick any existing player off the team for no cause.
I think there are a few more realistic scenarios in which we could see the end of LHN. Two of which (realignment and conference network) have already been voted on just a quarter of the way in. Nothing came of it obviously but think one will come with the other and maybe inevitable at this point. Whether it happens next year or 10 years from now remains to be seen but another playoff snub could accelerate things pretty quickly IMO. Another scenario is the length of the contract itself. At some point, the deal becomes outdated and something more lucrative will come along. I think the PAC 12 got their newest deal right in only signing a 6 year deal and ability to get a bigger one before the other P5 contracts expire. At that point, a higher market price will likely be set. Btw, I am by no means saying that UT would walk away from the guaranteed money.
I think that number that you heard did not include Fowler or Southall since they were suppose to have enrolled already but were delayed because of academic reasons. http://texas.247sports.com/Bolt/Duvernay-might-not-be-the-last-addition-to-Texas-2016-class-45935815
Realignment will not kill the longhorn network because conference networks are dead. All of the big 12 spokespeople (including Boren) said that their future is not a conference network. It's dead. I don't think you will ever see anything more lucrative for UT than that contract because it's already out of date. The Pac 12 is a disaster and it risks bringing down the pac 12 with it. UT isn't at risk with any financial issues with the Longhorn network since it's ESPN's problem whereas the pac 12 owns and manages the pac 12 network. That's the reason why I think Texas to the Pac 12 is dead and it's more likely the pac 12 is integrated into the Big 12 with more opportunities for 3rd tier contracts and likely more advanced digital distribution outlets that will be explored in the next few years. The big 12 has accidentally found itself with the least about of dead weight. The only reason the Big 10 got that deal is because Fox Sports is just a division of the much bigger and richer Fox Broadcasting company and ESPN had no choice but to match that offer. It's like when Vince McMahon offered Bret Heart that massive deal to keep him in the WWF in order to help his bleeding company but realized that he couldn't sustain it in the long run. ESPN will be purchased and integrated into and managed by Disney as it crashes into the ground. It's possible they let ABC manage it but the trend is Disney bringing in products directly into their operation. They already own %80 of ESPN anyway. That'll give ESPN a bigger opportunity to expand what they are doing without having to worry about bankruptcy. They'll have a bigger capital fallback.
I believe 247sports is incorrect. If I have the numbers correct, UT had 81 scholarship players, and now they have 82 with Duvernay, 83 and 84 with Southall and Fowler. There's one spot left for Hudson or Cobb, and it is likely one or two of the wide receivers near the bottom of the depth chart will transfer.
I forgot to add in Donovan Duvernay as someone who we will be taking. That's 85 scholarships. I still think we will get transfers if Hudson is in play
Yes it's dead, for now. To say conference networks are dead forever is the same when Boren was saying we needed one to survive. Boren has been talking in absolutes and has looked pretty dumb in doing so. I honestly won't be surprised if this is get revisited sooner rather than later. Whether something comes of it remains to be seen, but don't think we've heard the end conference networks. And realignment works both ways. Another Big 12 playoff snub could shake things up real quick. The good thing for the Big 12 is now they know how NOT to implement a conference network (if there is ever one). Also, I'm not talking about a more lucrative contract replacing LHN. UT would collect every dollar owed to them by the LHN on top of any other revenue. This was actually touched upon by Perrin... "I'm not ever going to say something's never going to come about. But it would take a lot. ... It's my thought if there was any move, it would have to keep us whole. " If this is true, it sounds like ESPN will eventually be back on its feet with the ability to implement new things (i.e. networks) if it chooses to. It does not make sense for either side right now, ESPN does not have the capital and the Big 12 is making hella cash right now. But things can really change in the drop of a hat. The Big 12 has seen this more anyone. Also want to note that I don't believe LHN is any immediate danger. But entire CFB landscape has changed a quarter of the way in and with 15 years left, I'm sure there will be much more.
Those are the exact numbers they 247. As I said, they are assuming that Duvernay's brother will come here as well but that isn't known for sure. They are dead in the sense that we know them. You'll see them move to digital platforms. My money is you'll see Netflix buy streaming rights Amazon Prime or maybe Youtube Red. There are a number of digital streaming apps that are already up and running. That's where the future cash is. Digital distribution is so much looser because the entire idea is that you are only watching what you want to watch as oppose to being under contract to bundle a lot of programs together which is the cable model. OU easily made the playoffs last year without any threat of dropping out. I believe it was more of an issue of Baylor being snubbed the year before because of their awful non-conf schedule as oppose to the quality of the big 12. I think TCU would have made it if they would have beaten Baylor. It didn't help that the big 12 called them "co champions" Also, expansion isn't the problem if they don't make it again. It's not having the +1 game to their schedule which they are going to do some way or another in 2 years. Expansion would not help that. Adding other teams just takes away wins from your existing teams. It doesn't mean you are adding two teams in the top 25. That was my earlier point. The big 12 got lucky that they didn't tie themselves into a bad cable contract and they can learn from the failures elsewhere.
I got an email from Texas Athletics saying I have the option to purchase 4 extra seats for the Notre Dame game on July 5th. As soon as I get seat info I'll post it here and in the BBS classifieds. They seats will probably be in the upper deck and I'll probably ask somewhere in the middle between face value and the average Stubhub price in that section per ticket if anyone is interested in 2 or 4 tickets.
I might as well put this here Baylor has let the main 5 remaining players out. They're free to move on.
Depends on who you're adding. A BU drop off hurts the conference and maybe more significantly than we may think. Does OU get in without a threat of dropping if you take away the win over an undefeated #6 BU team? We'll never know but the quality of the conference takes a hit if BU drops like many expect them to. I'm not saying it will happen or that it was or will be reason if it does but something to consider IMO. Agree about Boren which is why I'm surprised you quoted him with regards to the a conference network. But it does seem the decision was unanimous. But that quote was from Perrin on putting the LHN on the table. He does mention all of the non-monetary benefits of LHN but an interesting comment nonetheless.
Expanding doesn't help that unless UH,BYU or anyone can put together a few good consecutive seasons. I still highly doubt that happens when they have a +1 championship game unless Baylor is kicked out of the conference. The only times I ever quote Boren is to show how much of a dunce he is. I've also posted quotes from Kansas St, Texas and other AD/Presidents saying the same thing. He's such a boob. I feel like Hudson is the most likely to switch over. He visited UT a week before NSD but you never know.
I'm not sure yet how much my actual cost will be I need to call my ticket rep and talk prices etc. I'm in Houston.
Thats assuming those schools will be the only expansion candidates down the line. I'm not saying or predicting any of this will happen but just some scenarios that could affect LHN outside of ESPN going bottoms up.
oh down the line? Then yes. I believe Clemson and Florida St are going to be easy pickups in the next go around unless the ACC figures out how to make a solid modern digital TV rights deal. Jeff Howe from 247 about newly released Baylor recruits: Apparently Erick Fowler still has question marks. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thinkin bout all the decisions I Made ��</p>— Hovaa Gang⛽️ (@erick_fowler) <a href="https://twitter.com/erick_fowler/status/746016563480846336">June 23, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Also:
Apparently Kam will be visiting UT next Friday once all the paperwork is finalized. Him and Hudson would be huge. Everything was looking good for Fowler apparently so wondering what this is all about.
