(09-12-2017 01:24 PM)XLance Wrote:  

(09-12-2017 12:02 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(09-12-2017 10:21 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(09-12-2017 10:09 AM)BePcr07 Wrote:  I was just being silly.

Texas' non-football sports, IMO, will end up in either a Frankenstein version of the XII/SWC or PAC. The PAC desperately needs high-value content and may do whatever it takes to get 6 Texas football games per season and Texas' non-football sports. The SEC and B1G don't need to offer a sweetheart deal to Texas. They would probably take Texas as a full member immediately should Texas come knocking on their door, but they won't give them a Notre Dame deal.

Quite honestly your suggestion isn't completely outside of the realm of possibilities considering this is the Longhorns we are talking about. TBH, there might not even BE a great chase for Texas, just FOX/ESPN negotiating the end of the B12. Where the Longhorns go might be inconsequential when measured against the monetary windfall of getting down to a P4 and expanded CFP.

The "Big Blow" was struck when A&M came to the SEC. All of the sudden the networks had a plan to get into Texas without having to have Texas. L.S.U. and A&M carry Houston. A&M with Arkansas and one of Oklahoma and T.C.U. carry DFW. So ESPN lassoed Texas with the LHN because they are the easiest way to gain the whole market, but they also have been picking off the larger Texas markets with those other schools so that if Texas ever proves to be wholly unreliable to deal with the market is theirs anyway.

IMO this is why there is going to be a helluva war between FOX and ESPN over Oklahoma. Tech brings a portion of the state that the others only partly deliver, but it is a small portion of the state's total population.

With Oklahoma the SEC doesn't need Texas to carry the majority of the state. This is the only reason that OSU is in the conversation.

What's more is that if the SEC has Arkansas, L.S.U., Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State to go along with A&M where the hell is Texas going to go in order to please their fan base and hang onto their traditional rivalries? They may choose the PAC or B1G but they will be all alone, without their traditional foes, playing schools their fans have no history with.

If the SEC lands OU whether alone or with OSU, then Texas has to go to an ESPN held conference to avoid scheduling difficulties and to preserve rivalries. This is why Texas has caved occasionally to Boren and the Sooners. They know they have to keep OU close in order to have a full range of choices. Their biggest roadblock is OSU's political ties with OU. The B1G can't and won't take the Pokes. That's our advantage. And if Texas wanted to move with another Texas school to the Big 10 then there isn't one the Big 10 would accept. Texas Tech is way out of bounds for the academics in the Big 10 and that leaves the PAC where their revenues would take a big dive.

So the reason ESPN slow played this after "the deal" of 2010 fell through is that they don't have to do anything spectacular to land the Horns. And all they might have to do to land OU is to find a home for OSU as well. Do that and Texas comes along quietly and with no leverage.

This is a good example of why some continue to push for conferences bigger than 16. The SEC knows that at 16 the best that they could hope for is either Texas and Texas Tech or Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. There is no political solution that would allow the SEC to grab Texas and Oklahoma without "little brothers".
Texahoma would come with a price . The B1G owns content from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech and I would speculate that Missouri is the price of release. That would leave the SEC with 17 and only redundant market choices (that ESPN won't pay for), that means one in the east has to go......get out the sauteed olive oil and finishing cheese.
But in the end the acquisition of both Texas and Oklahoma could easily justify the expense...sorry Cocky, it's just business.

The B1G doesn't own any content from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. FOX owns a 50% stake in the T1 & T2 and they own OU's T3. All of those expire by 2025.

And X, there is nothing legally, contractually, or hypothetically that would keep the SEC from moving to 18 or any other number.