(08-16-2017 01:16 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 12:38 PM)XLance Wrote:  The dollars have gotten so big that the SEC can't afford to take Oklahoma State but they never would have. The real goal is and always has been is Texas AND Oklahoma

Of course it has been. Oklahoma State entered the discussion as yet another tool, or ploy, by which to corral Texas. Would they take Texas's slot? Would Oklahoma really move without Texas (quite possibly if OSU was taken care of as well)? Would the SEC even need Texas if Oklahoma came on board? While Texas would still add value the acquisition of Oklahoma gives the SEC everything they want in Texas when paired with the Aggies. Would Texas want to head to the Big 10 if Oklahoma and A&M and Arkansas were in the SEC? Possibly not because it would give too much intrinsic support within Texas for a conference that had so many familiar old faces.

So playing the Cowboys card has been, and remains an important part of this strategy. Why? Because an SEC with A&M, Oklahoma, Arkansas, L.S.U., and even O.S.U. would seem far more local an interesting to Texas viewers than Texas would seem if playing Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas in a Western division of the Big 10. (And the PAC is a non issue.)

The real question Xlance is would the SEC have executed that proposed move? I think the answer to that question is yes which is why it is an effective strategy. Why would we not execute a move that gives us Texas without taking Texas and which would cut them off from their natural support base with any decision they made that did not include being part of the SEC, except one?

Their only option in the face of OU / OSU to the SEC is the ACC as a partial where they could play Arkansas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma if they desired without having to join the SEC. This keeps them aloof but accepted within their own state. It pleases their fans and donors. And they don't have to suffer the humiliation of admitting that the SEC got the best of them. And that is why Finebaum and ESPN support the strategy of playing the OSU card. Either way ESPN gets Texas and Texas adds value to their product in both the SEC and ACC. End of story.

Because of today's dollars it's not much of a credible threat unless is has been ESPN's
goal to move Texas to the ACC the entire time.
It would certainly sew up the entire SouthWest by taking only three schools (only two new mouths to feed).
Texas could continue to play Oklahoma and rotate Arkansas and A&M and with a few AAC west games (out of: SMU, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, and Houston), they would have the whole area covered and with exposure up and down the east coast.