UT and OU Reaching Out to Join SEC

SEC to NCAA:

 

I've read for a few years now that OU is perpetually angry with FOX and their 11 AM kick off times. It is strange that a perennial playoff team is always playing before noon.

 

Agree with all of this. It's interesting that the first time around, UT was a hell no to the SEC for cultural fit reasons and really wanted the Pac12 for that reason - both academically and in terms of value system (liberal vs conservative). It seems maybe all that is gone out the window in the pursuit of money. The modern UT doesn't seem to fit at all in the SEC, but the older "deep south" donors probably love it.

 

UT is a bit of an odd-ball in the SEC, but even with the bougie liberal overtones, they still have a throughline of hardcore redneckery in their fanbase/blood. Culture aside, in terms of "being a gigantic titan of college athletics and wanting to stay that way forever" the SEC is the absolute best fit.

The hard to swallow truth for the PAC, for all of its glory, is that they will forever be a 2nd tier conference because of simple geography and the numbers game (eyeballs) that goes along with it.

There's a reason the PAC is desperate to get into the central timezone. The only way for them to grow (new viewers, more viewers) is to move East.

I am really, really anxious to see what happens downstream of this. It feels like the other conferences are going to have to respond.

 

I'm grateful that UT, apparently, will not look to join the Pac-12. The late kickoff times would kill me. I remember the game a few years ago in Berkeley, after we'd beaten Notre Dame and Charlie Strong was ranked, when we went to Cal and lost. The game ended around 1 am central and was an all around miserable time.

 

A super conference would make fantasy college football a lot easier.

 

Delete

 

That's the truth. The PAC is a trap. If you're in it, basically 75% of the population forgets you exist right out of the gate.

 

Also different people running UT now.

 

I'm not sure this part is true - the Pac12 is irrelevant because they suck. But when USC and Oregon were good, they got plenty of attention. The biggest future population growth is the southwest, and California produces a ton of football talent, so there should be plenty of potential there. They really need to change their TV contracts to not have football games at 9pm CST/EST but that should be possible. And a powerhouse needs to emerge like USC was in the early 2000's.

 

They suck, but they also have a huge uphill battle for national attention, even when times are good.

Nearly 50% of Americans live in the Eastern timezone. Over 30% live in the Central timezone.

The eyeballs are all East of the Rockies, and the majority of the fastest growing areas are in the Sunbelt.

It's just a numbers game. Your mindshare ceiling is completely kneecapped in the PAC.

 

This!

The pac-12 use to be big time with not only US and Oregon but also UCLA and Stanford.

 

Hell, Washington and Oregon have both made the playoffs since they started. Looking at the other conferences, here's how many teams other than Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Notre Dame (yes, an independent, but they went as an ACC team last year) have made it:

• SEC: 2 (Georgia and LSU)
• ACC: 1 (Florida State)
• B1G: 1 (Michigan State)
• Big 12: 0

Of those, only Georgia and LSU have made the natty and only LSU won it.

I guess my point is that if the Pac 12 is irrelevant in the Playoff era, the Big 12 has been worse than irrelevant. Only Oklahoma has ever made it to the semifinals and they've never made it to the natty (which Oregon managed to do in 2015).

I don't know what point I'm trying to make. It's been a dark decade to be a Texas fan, but nobody else in the Big 12 has managed to put up much of a nationally-relevant fight against OU either.

 

But the eyeballs are on TV - the location of the game is irrelevant if they can get their games at normal waking hours. Alabama isn't popular because they are on the east coast or because tons of people live near Alabama or whatnot. Most of the the people watching would never step foot in Alabama. They are popular to watch because they are good.

Pac12 need to stop playing 9pm games and get all their teams on TV at normal hours - then people will start following them. It's not even hot on the west coast, so there's no reason to be playing at 7pm local time. The Lakers and Dodgers are examples of the west coast not being an issue if you're good - and that's despite them playing lots of weekday games that have to be at those stupid 9pm timeslots.

 

That's the problem, they often can't (or won't, but I assume it's can't).

 

the claim is there is an unwritten "veto power" over schools coming from your own state

 

It's not going to matter when they see how much more ESPN will pay each school to approve the transfer. School presidents won't have a real choice.