UT and OU Reaching Out to Join SEC

Ask Baylor.

 

More like ask the TV executives.

They're gonna dictate to the Big 12 who they want to join their league (or otherwise).

 

UT will be playing for third place, right?
They haven't beat OU and they are not going to beat Bama.
How does that play to the fan base?

 

Historically it is about time for Alabama to follow off for a decade or so. No school stays on top forever.

 

Not aimed at you but funny seeing people all of a sudden concerned about UT’s record and their fans. If we are absolutely doomed, why all the riffraff and opposition?

 

This is all about money
Obviously OU plus Texas viewers = SEC can negotiate massive increase in TV deals with CBS, ESPN
All the teams get richer

 

Lol

 

UT sucks and they still swing a huge D. They'll be fine. Sark wont win there. But someone will. Eventually.

 

It was a joke. Ann Richards is unfortunately dead.

Right? See: FSU, USC, OU, UT, Bama, OhSt, PennSt, UCLA, Tenn, Mich, ND, Clemson, Miami, etc....

It happens, CFB is very cyclical at the top, some cycles are longer than others.

You know what school that's mostly coming from here, and it's not Ziggy's.

 

Nebraska is another good example. They were the best team for a looong time there for a while.

 

Turn on captions

 

It's just a tiny blurb but it's the first real, official, public thing issued since the rumor mill started churning at warp speed Thursday night.

So, it's real now. The questions now are...

1) How long do OU/UT end up staying

2) Who of the remaining 8 will be invited elsewhere

3) Who do the remaining 8 (or fewer) schools invite to backfill

 

Oh, I know. But there are some rather naive/stubborn TTU, BU, and TCU fans who think they are going to get to be kingmakers in all this.

If the TV bois want Houston, Houston they shall have. Same goes for any other prospective member.

 

Right, nothing could've officially happened up until this point. As far as timing, don't think it'll be beyond this season. Dragging it out won't be good for any of the parties. If needed, think they are ready to pay their way out and UT/ESPN would negotiate a "buyout" for LHN to help make it work. But believe they are banking on your 2) and the Big 12 disbanding.

 

I don't think UT/OU particularly care what happens to the Big 12, disband or not, it doesn't change their plans. The buyout is going to end up being chump change to them.

The ball goes into the court of the B1G/ACC/PAC now. The buffet is open. We're about to find out if any of the remaining 8 are viewed as valuable (or even investment worthy) properties.

In the meantime, the Big 12, as tenuous as its situation may be, does need to put its expansion plan (did it even have one? lol) into action.

 

I believe they can only even buy their way out of 2 years and that costs $70MM for each school. So if the B12 holds firm, they can at least lock OU/TX in through 2023, I believe. The idea of the media rights lock was to prevent teams from bolting, so I imagine the language in there is pretty solid on that front. Anything can be bought out, of course, but the price would be pretty obscene I imagine. I agree they are counting on everyone else bolting ASAP, but I suspect we're still in the B12 through next season at minimum, since it would take time to disband even if most schools found a home.

 

I don't think any of this is chump change. Just a year ago, the athletic department was furloughing a huge chunk of their staff and asking everyone to take paycuts just to keep things solid. Then they paid a buyout for Herman (got lucky on Shaka). Getting out of this deal would dwarf the Herman buyout - and the SEC right now is paying less than B12+LHN the next few years, so Texas would be taking a revenue cut to leave anyway (OU would gain since they don't have an LHN). And that's not even including any costs to buy out LHN (not sure where money flows there since ESPN owns LHN but also probably wants Texas to move).

 

Yeah, I don't see any way anything changes for this upcoming season. Seems like a logistical nightmare for everyone.