I thought the same thing as you and then I realized (or gave the benefit of the doubt) that Buck was bashing ESPN putting out an article saying nothing new.
it's nowhere near that cut and dried, josh. not sure what your experience is with tortious interference claims, but i've dealt with them pretty extensively as they relate to companies courting away key employees of other companies who have signed a covenant not to compete and a couple of times relating to large construction deals. it is a fact issue for a jury...which carries tons of risk and huge costs of litigation. i do not know where you get the idea that what was described is not tortious interference. courting certainly implies overtures and inducements. if there's a hint of an offer to take the place of the deal A&M is already committed to, that's evidence of tortious interference.
That would seem to be a done deal. David Boren wouldn't have made his blunt remarks if A&M going to the SEC weren't a foregone conclusion.
This is our home schedule the next 3 years - anything to change this is an enormous plus. This is after 0 preseason ranked opponents last year and 1 this year (OSU): 2012: Wyoming New Mexico Iowa St Baylor Missouri 2013: New Mexico St. Ole Miss Okie St. Kansas Texas Tech Kansas St 2014: North Texas BYU Iowa St Baylor Missouri
RMJ doesn't know what he's talking about and clearly has no idea on the complexities of a contract of this nature. He's obviously looking at it from a lay mans perspective.
Pac12 certainly doesn't - Tech tried to go last year without Texas and it didn't go anywhere. But Tech probably comes as a condition of Texas going anywhere, so the Pac12 would take them if it meant getting Texas.
The odd thing is that Baylor is way better than Tech when looking at all sports. Tech has a bigger football stadium... not sure if that matters? I'm not sure how much I buy into the Pac 12's aversion to Baylor for their religious affiliation.
Here. We. Go. http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1260448 Legislators and statewide office holders have swung into high-pressure mode to get Texas president Bill Powers and athletic director DeLoss Dodds to slow down any decision that might involve the Longhorns joining the Pac-12, multiple sources said Sunday. With reports surfacing that Oklahoma is all but ready to commit to the Pac-12, Texas lawmakers are so concerned about the Longhorns possibly following suit that a full-court press is being made to slow things down by elected officials and corporate CEOs with influence, sources said. "We don't want any hasty decision being made that hasn't been well thought out," one lawmaker told Orangebloods.com on Sunday. Sources said the reason lawmakers are hot is that they received assurances from the Big 12, including Powers, that the Big 12 would survive without Texas A&M. And because of those assurances, lawmakers did not take an aggressive stand against Texas A&M withdrawing from the Big 12. But that may be changing. Sources said members of the Legislature are or will be reaching out to Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin to tell him the Aggies may no longer have the blessing of lawmakers to leave the Big 12, especially if it looks like the Big 12 will collapse. According to sources close to Texas A&M, there is expected to be more movement involving the Aggies and the Southeastern Conference Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. Sources say statewide office holders such as lieutenant governor David Dewhurst and Texas House Speaker Joe Straus haven't been active on realignment up to this point but now are getting involved. A source in the Big 12 says there is also an increasing likelihood of litigation against the Southeastern Conference as well as the Pac-12 if the Big 12 comes apart. In other words, it's about to get messy. Orangebloods.com reported Friday night that Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe held an emergency conference call Friday afternoon with Big 12 presidents - excluding OU's David Boren, UT's Bill Powers and A&M's Bowen Loftin. The purpose of the call, sources said, was to get the rest of the Big 12 to "work on Texas" and keep the Longhorns in the league. It's Beebe's belief that Oklahoma wouldn't be accepted into the Pac-12 without Texas, sources said. But sources have told Orangebloods.com Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott would take OU and Oklahoma State with or without Texas. The question then becomes would OU go to the Pac-12 without Texas? There is wide belief among those involved in this situation that OU needs the Texas rivalry and the ability to keep playing games in the state of Texas for recruiting purposes so much that it would forego the Pac-12 if Texas decided to stay in the Big 12. But reports out of Oklahoma the past two days have said OU is totally focused on the Pac-12 and may be ready to commit. A source close to Texas told Orangebloods.com Friday night that Texas is "leaning" toward the Pac-12 if Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech would make such a move. That source said Sunday the percentages of Texas joining OU, OSU and Texas Tech in a move to the Pac-12 "are increasing. But a lot can change in seven or eight days." Those things that could influence Texas' thought process are the pressure from lawmakers to hold the Big 12 together; ESPN's influence on the situation as the Tier 1 rights holder in the Big 12 and as the owner/operator of the Longhorn Network; and perhaps the appeal of another conference, the Texas source said. A Texas source and an industry source say the Longhorn Network can be reworked to accommodate the Pac-12 and is not an obstacle for Texas to join that league. But sources say Texas has not indicated to ESPN that it plans to change conferences. Legislative sources say Texas is telling them if Oklahoma leaves for the Pac-12, the Big 12 is dead and the Longhorns' best option would be to go with OU, OSU and Tech to join the Pac-12. Those legislative forces, however, are telling Texas to tell Oklahoma to slow down. The pressure is mounting everywhere in this latest round of college realignment. Stay tuned.
It's going to be funny if the legislature somehow forces A&M to stay, and then OU/OSU leave, and we end up with a SWC again when SMU, UH, TCU, and Rice are the only schools willing to replace all the ones that left. This would be the third time in 15 years that the legislature stopped Texas from joining the Pac10/12/14 if that happened.
After what their offense looked like on Thursday, that's probably a good idea! No idea what that defense will be like, but if they hadn't stopped trying to score for a quarter, they easily go for 60 - they'll have some entertaining games this year.
Wake me up when someone other than chimp brown or someone with ties to Bayor says there is a real issue
I think you're probably right, but I don't think it's as certain as it was 2 months ago - but there's only so many times you can pursue another conference and then say no. They did it last year, and if they do it again this year, the third time might not be as much on their own terms. I think if A&M is forced to stay in the Big12, no one can view that as a positive in the sense of stability - they are still going to want out, and we'll have had two years of holding this all together with a bandaid. As Pickens said, the Big12 probably won't be around in 5 years, and if so, it might just be time to go ahead and make the jump. We know Stoops is very close to the OU AD & Prez, and we know he was disappointed even with the current Big12 and preferred the Pac12. So this may finally be them pushing ahead and undoing "a mistake", as A&M is trying to do. All that said, I don't think A&M will be a member of the Big12 anyway. They've gone too far down this path at this point - it would be a PR nightmare for them to stay.
brilliant. that article isn't good news for UT. the idea that Chip only reports good news for Texas is ridiculous. far better than billy liucci, who when asked on ESPN what program A&M most closely resembled, he said, "Florida." yeah, right, billy.
