Possible ESPN reaction to B12 Woes
If UT-Austin is at risk of being lost to the PAC or BIG, I wonder how creative ESPN can be in arranging a better landing spot for the Horns. ESPN has invested heavily in the SEC and ACC...so it has leverage in asking these conferences to be flexible. ESPN’s goals are to dominate the Texas TV market, while further promoting the SEC and ACC.
An ESPN friendly solution: Convince UT-Austin, OU and two tag-alongs (likely TTU plus KU) to join an SEC/ACC merger that will create geographically friendly divisions for alpha schools. A 32 school super conference with 4 tighter regional groups.
Proposed groupings for football:
West: UT-Austin, OU, TAMU, TTU, Ark, Mizzou, KU and Vandy
South: Ala, LSU, Aub, Tenn, Ole Miss, MSU, UK and Louisville
Atlantic: UF, UGA, FSU, Clemson, USC, GT, NC State and WFU
Coastal: Miami, UNC, Duke, UVA, VT, Pitt, Syracuse and BC
Horns would be joining the academic group of the SEC. Five AAU schools in their section of the SEC...would make it more palatable to follow the Aggies lead.
The Atlantic group is the key...Florida, Georgia and South Carolina schools would bring their rivalries within the division.
The TV revenue split has some form of keep-what-you-kill...so that Coastal schools invest more in football.
For sports other than football, two switches to create more regionality: 1) LSU and Vandy, and 2) Miami and NC State. In addition, Notre Dame is in the Coastal for Olympic sports.
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