The state of Texas produces ~350 signees per year. Let's examine the current Rivals Texas Top 90 -- the top quartile of Texas talent:

29 uncommitted. Of the 61 committed:

SEC = 20 commits
Big 12 = 24 commits
Other P5 = 9 commits
American (Houston & SMU) = 8 commits

Pretty remarkable job by the SEC given that they have one Texas school and the Big 12 has four.

I can tell you from experience that one of the reasons Texas wanted out of the SWC was because of the exodus of talent out of state. Back in the late 1980s, Miami, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio St and Notre Dame recruited Texas very successfully. The conditions of the late 1980s are starting to repeat themselves, this time with the SEC playing invader.

UT will not sit idly by in a conference that takes a back seat in Texas recruiting to another league.

I would say ESPN has more to do with the exodus of talent than Texas A&M does. Texas A&M is having considerable success in state but they were a rather mediocre team in the big 12 in their latter years in the conference. Their success coincidentally coincided with their joining of the SEC but their success was mostly with players recruited when The Aggies were still in the big 12.

Texas should worry more about the public perception being thrust upon the big 12, mostly by ESPN, than by The Aggies being in The SEC.

(08-29-2015 08:59 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  The state of Texas produces ~350 signees per year. Let's examine the current Rivals Texas Top 90 -- the top quartile of Texas talent:

29 uncommitted. Of the 61 committed:

SEC = 20 commits
Big 12 = 24 commits
Other P5 = 9 commits
American (Houston & SMU) = 8 commits

Pretty remarkable job by the SEC given that they have one Texas school and the Big 12 has four.

I can tell you from experience that one of the reasons Texas wanted out of the SWC was because of the exodus of talent out of state. Back in the late 1980s, Miami, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio St and Notre Dame recruited Texas very successfully. The conditions of the late 1980s are starting to repeat themselves, this time with the SEC playing invader.

UT will not sit idly by in a conference that takes a back seat in Texas recruiting to another league.

#1 We'll see come signing day. Texas and OU have committed very, very few. They seem to be waiting. And players flip.
#2 Why 90? That's an odd number.
#3 Have a link you can share?

Despite all the talk, the SEC hasn't made inroads yet. Comparing the 2007 and 2008 Chronicle top 100 (which I had kept track of) with the 2014 Rivals top 100 showed no real change except that the Big 10 was doing worse and the Pac 12 was doing better. The recruiting based on 2014 conference memberships:
2014-2008-2007
Big 12 51-44-54
SEC 23-24-25
Pac 12 11-9-4
Big 10 4-13-8
Other 11-10-9

And of those going to the SEC, A&M and LSU had 18/23, 19/24 and 17/25. So the rest of the SEC has declined from 8 to 5.

(08-29-2015 08:59 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  The state of Texas produces ~350 signees per year. Let's examine the current Rivals Texas Top 90 -- the top quartile of Texas talent:

29 uncommitted. Of the 61 committed:

SEC = 20 commits
Big 12 = 24 commits
Other P5 = 9 commits
American (Houston & SMU) = 8 commits

Pretty remarkable job by the SEC given that they have one Texas school and the Big 12 has four.

I can tell you from experience that one of the reasons Texas wanted out of the SWC was because of the exodus of talent out of state. Back in the late 1980s, Miami, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio St and Notre Dame recruited Texas very successfully. The conditions of the late 1980s are starting to repeat themselves, this time with the SEC playing invader.

UT will not sit idly by in a conference that takes a back seat in Texas recruiting to another league.

There's a difference between the SEC and those who invaded before. Texas is now an SEC state. The Big 10 isn't there, Miami and Florida State are now in the ACC. If a Texas kid wants to play major college ball his choices are now essentially 2, the Big 12 or the SEC and both have roots in Texas. It's never going to be the same for the Longhorns who now face the most difficult choice of their existence. Do we join another conference and if so do we join one that is essentially foreign to our culture and without most of our major rivals and surrender the old rivals we once played to the Aggies, or do we join the SEC and make Texas a state just for Texas schools again. Face it. If the Horns did join the SEC the Horns and Aggies essentially keep all the best talent at home. L.S.U. has always gotten a few so nothing changes and the status quo remains. If Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC then Texas gets the Aggies, Sooners, Razorbacks, Bayou Tigers, and Missouri Tigers back. If they join the PAC or Big 10 then they open up the state of Texas to even more hungry programs.

"If" the SEC wants them (and they probably would take them for the brand and AAU) can the Horns swallow their pride and join, or do they screw themselves further by blowing the state of Texas recruiting wide open? So ego vs self interest will be an interesting internal conflict to watch in Austin!

(08-29-2015 09:55 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  Texas should worry more about the public perception being thrust upon the big 12, mostly by ESPN, than by The Aggies being in The SEC.

This.

Despite what some B12 fans might think, the SEC is not their real problem.

(08-29-2015 10:32 PM)JRsec Wrote:  There's a difference between the SEC and those who invaded before. Texas is now an SEC state. The Big 10 isn't there, Miami and Florida State are now in the ACC. If a Texas kid wants to play major college ball his choices are now essentially 2, the Big 12 or the SEC and both have roots in Texas. It's never going to be the same for the Longhorns who now face the most difficult choice of their existence. Do we join another conference and if so do we join one that is essentially foreign to our culture and without most of our major rivals and surrender the old rivals we once played to the Aggies, or do we join the SEC and make Texas a state just for Texas schools again. Face it. If the Horns did join the SEC the Horns and Aggies essentially keep all the best talent at home. L.S.U. has always gotten a few so nothing changes and the status quo remains. If Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC then Texas gets the Aggies, Sooners, Razorbacks, Bayou Tigers, and Missouri Tigers back. If they join the PAC or Big 10 then they open up the state of Texas to even more hungry programs.

"If" the SEC wants them (and they probably would take them for the brand and AAU) can the Horns swallow their pride and join, or do they screw themselves further by blowing the state of Texas recruiting wide open? So ego vs self interest will be an interesting internal conflict to watch in Austin!

Texas would essentially be "following" A&M to the SEC, for whatever that's worth to their ego (if anything). If they go to the Pac at least they would be blazing an entirely different path and they open up even further their own pipeline in California...

They would have to give up the Longhorn Network as well to join the SEC (there's no way the SEC members would tolerate that).

Funny how the Big 12 should have been at the top of the list with 24 but you moved it down to second.

So Would the big 12 adding Houston suddenly help lock down Texas recruiting for the conference?

(08-29-2015 11:00 PM)Okielite Wrote:  Funny how the Big 12 should have been at the top of the list with 24 but you moved it down to second.

So Would the big 12 adding Houston suddenly help lock down Texas recruiting for the conference?

It wouldn't it'd only make it more competitive.

(08-29-2015 11:00 PM)chidave Wrote:  They would have to give up the Longhorn Network as well to join the SEC (there's no way the SEC members would tolerate that).

Well that depends. The LHN could get rolled over into an SEC West Station and ESPN could pay them out at a negotiated rate.

(08-29-2015 08:59 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  The state of Texas produces ~350 signees per year. Let's examine the current Rivals Texas Top 90 -- the top quartile of Texas talent:

29 uncommitted. Of the 61 committed:

SEC = 20 commits
Big 12 = 24 commits
Other P5 = 9 commits
American (Houston & SMU) = 8 commits

Pretty remarkable job by the SEC given that they have one Texas school and the Big 12 has four.

I can tell you from experience that one of the reasons Texas wanted out of the SWC was because of the exodus of talent out of state. Back in the late 1980s, Miami, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio St and Notre Dame recruited Texas very successfully. The conditions of the late 1980s are starting to repeat themselves, this time with the SEC playing invader.

UT will not sit idly by in a conference that takes a back seat in Texas recruiting to another league.

I haven't looked lately but I believe Coach CS still has very good ties to the incredible amount of talent in Florida also to pick from which makes Texas a very dangerous program going forward !

Wouldn't a better breakdown be:

Texas
A&M
Baylor/TCU/Texas Tech
Rest of B12
Rest of SEC
Houston/SMU
Rest of P5

What a dumb thread. Look at it based on individual schools, not conferences. Conference realignment obsession has caused a lot of weak minded thinking on these boards. It's always been about the individual schools. If any recruit chooses a school based on the conference and not the quality of the school itself, then that recruit is not worth having in the first place. You guys realize that the vast majority of college FB recruits think they have a shot at the NFL, right? Only a minority of them are going to college on a scholarship to get access to the degree. Maybe the marginal players think that way, but the kids in the top 100 of any recruiting list? They dream of the NFL. Therefore, they pick the school that they feel will best help them on that path. Did any of you think for a moment that Texas may be losing its grasp on its own state because it hasn't done d!ck for the past 5 to 6 years compared to its peers in the Big12?

(08-29-2015 10:32 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  

(08-29-2015 09:55 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  Texas should worry more about the public perception being thrust upon the big 12, mostly by ESPN, than by The Aggies being in The SEC.

This.

Despite what some B12 fans might think, the SEC is not their real problem.

As a fan of a former Big East school who watched that conference get destroyed by ESPN-orchestrated ACC expansion, I definitely see a problem for the Big 12.

If the future really does involve one of either the ACC or B12 going away to end up with four P5 conferences, "deserve" is going to have nothing to do with who survives, when ESPN's advantageous contract with the ACC gives them a vested interest in the ACC being around when the smoke clears.

(08-31-2015 05:53 AM)PGEMF Wrote:  Wouldn't a better breakdown be:

Texas
A&M
Baylor/TCU/Texas Tech
Rest of B12
Rest of SEC
Houston/SMU
Rest of P5

Similar breakout based on current alignments:
2014 2008 2007
B12 51 44 54
B10 4 13 8
SEC 23 24 25
ACC 1 3 2
P10 11 9 4
BE
other 1
other TX 2 3 4

neighbors 0 2 1 (Tulsa, La Tech)
ND 3 1 0
BYU 0 0 1
undecided 4 1 1 (these probably didn't qualify)
100 100 100

Big 12 was:
Texas 15-17-22
Baylor 8-5-5
Tech 6-2-6
TCU 6-1-4
OU 5-9-6
OSU 8-6-8
KS 2-1-1
KSU 1-1-2
ISU 0-2-0

Others of note:
A&M 13-15-12
LSU 5-4-5
Ark 1-0-3
NE 0-4-4
CU 0-1-0
MU 0-1-2
UH 0-0-1
SMU 2-0-0
Rice 0-2-0
TX JCs 0-0-3

(08-31-2015 05:38 AM)CardFan1 Wrote:  

(08-29-2015 08:59 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  The state of Texas produces ~350 signees per year. Let's examine the current Rivals Texas Top 90 -- the top quartile of Texas talent:

29 uncommitted. Of the 61 committed:

SEC = 20 commits
Big 12 = 24 commits
Other P5 = 9 commits
American (Houston & SMU) = 8 commits

Pretty remarkable job by the SEC given that they have one Texas school and the Big 12 has four.

I can tell you from experience that one of the reasons Texas wanted out of the SWC was because of the exodus of talent out of state. Back in the late 1980s, Miami, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio St and Notre Dame recruited Texas very successfully. The conditions of the late 1980s are starting to repeat themselves, this time with the SEC playing invader.

UT will not sit idly by in a conference that takes a back seat in Texas recruiting to another league.

I haven't looked lately but I believe Coach CS still has very good ties to the incredible amount of talent in Florida also to pick from which makes Texas a very dangerous program going forward !

He hasn't been able to retain many of the guys he recruits out of there. At least when he was at Louisville, they had an opportunity to travel to Florida to play.