Is UT about to start another conference realignment?

[wardly]

Texas could head west without Tech, but could Oklahoma go anywhere without OSU?

[Mo Green]

On 7/1/2021 at 10:31 AM, wardly said:

The fly in the ointment is the Longhorn network. No other conference is going to allow Texas to keep it.

If you remember why NE, CO, Missouri etc. left the conference was that they said that tu wants to be KING. SO, the question should be where, if they left, can they be crowned King?

[Mean Green 93-98]

18 minutes ago, Mo Green said:

If you remember why NE, CO, Missouri etc. left the conference was that they said that tu wants to be KING. SO, the question should be where, if they left, can they be crowned King?

Actually, Colorado thought they were going where Texas was going.  Texas was acting like they were leaving, and no one wanted to be left without a seat when the music stopped.

[MeanGreenWithEnvy]

On 7/1/2021 at 8:33 AM, Jonnyeagle said:

Yes, we need conference brethren. But they need us (and Oklahoma) more than we need them. A package deal of Texas and Oklahoma, just the two, would make every conference in the country snap to attention and light up the phone lines. We are the IT factor. As Reggie Jackson famously said, "We are the straw that stirs the drink." We should not accept, or support, conference members, or prospective members, that have a smaller reach, fewer resources, than we do – simply because it makes sense on the map.

We can do this because we can deliver significant as in massive dollars and lots of TV viewers and plenty of fans who will travel anywhere, given program success and the right conference membership. Much more on this in my overview of the Big 12.

read more:  https://www.burntorangenation.com/2021/6/30/22557783/ut-needs-to-be-part-of-a-stronger-conference

The only sports fan in Texas as delusional as a Longhorn fan is a Dallas Cowboys fan.

[wardly]

On 7/1/2021 at 11:59 AM, Cr1028 said:

I heard a rumor on Austin radio that UT and OU were trying to go to the SEC as a package deal but I have very little faith in that rumor.

Arkansas hasn’t won a conference title since they left the SWC and the Aggies haven’t won one since they left the Big12. The glitz, glamour, and cash of the SEC is enticing but if you want to sniff a conference title, you don’t go to the SEC.

When Arkansas was in the SWC they played one game a year in both Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston. When they moved to the SEC they lost that pipeline. Even if they got all the top players in Arkansas it isn't enough to compete with Bama,Auburn, LSU, and A&M in the SEC Western Division.

[Cooke County Kid]

When Arkansas left the SWC that was the beginning of the end for the SWC. I like Arkansas football and basketball, that made our butt kicking in Fayetteville even sweeter.  Are we scheduled to play them again in the future?  If not I bet we don't play them in football for a while 🙂  

[wardly]

14 hours ago, Cooke County Kid said:

When Arkansas left the SWC that was the beginning of the end for the SWC. I like Arkansas football and basketball, that made our butt kicking in Fayetteville even sweeter.  Are we scheduled to play them again in the future?  If not I bet we don't play them in football for a while 🙂  

If memory serves [I am 78 so sometimes memory doesn't quite serve ] Arkansas left because gate revenues were evenly split between the home and visiting conference games. Their complaint was that SMU got half the gate in Arkansas but didn't bring any fans, and half the gate in Dallas  when there were twice as many Hog fans as Pony. They won the SWC football championship their last 2 years in the conference, played in the Cotton Bowl against Tennessee and UCLA, and made considerably less money than Vanderbilt did coming in last in the SEC. Frank Broyles asked "what's wrong with this picture?" and bolted. 

[MrAlien]

the Big12 need Texas more then Texas needs the Big12.  I think any other conference would love to have Texas, sure the Longhorn network could be an issue, but could probably be worked out.  

[emmitt01]

1 hour ago, MrAlien said:

the Big12 need Texas more then Texas needs the Big12.  I think any other conference would love to have Texas, sure the Longhorn network could be an issue, but could probably be worked out.  

Maybe, but the SEC doesn’t “need” Texas.  They have LEGITIMATE national title contenders each year.  

[El Paso Eagle]

20 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

Maybe, but the SEC doesn’t “need” Texas.  They have LEGITIMATE national title contenders each year.  

Maybe Texas and Notre Dame should form a 2-team conference

[emmitt01]

5 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Maybe Texas and Notre Dame should form a 2-team conference

Not a bad idea.  Then the fans of each could talk about how they’re in the conference title game every year. 😂😂😄

Edited July 5, 2021 by emmitt01

[untjim1995]

I always wonder if the Big XII does fall apart by 2025 when their GOR expires, will Texas go independent in football just to keep the LHN money until 2031 comes around and that disaster of a deal for ESPN ends? For example, lets say Oklahoma and Kansas were to join the Big Ten, as has been rumored often over the years. And let's say the other conferences wouldn't let Texas join over the LHN, which has already proven to be a sticking point before. I could see UT finding a parking spot in the AAC for their other sports and following ND and BYU as an independent.

Doing so would avoid any lawsuits from the other Texas schools, since they can easily still play them, while giving UT time to evaluate what conference would fit them best and would invite them to join (not the SEC). In 2026, for example, they could easily play a schedule like this: ND, BYU, OU, TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech, Ohio State (who is already on their schedule) UTSA (already on the schedule), Texas State (already on the schedule),  NM State, FCS spare, and Army. Nowadays, with independents out there like ND, BYU, Liberty, UConn, UMass, Army, and NM State, you can build a schedule to match up with rivals and other scheduled games. And Texas would get $15 million from LHN thru 2031 to buy time until they decided to join the Pac-12, B1G, or the ACC...

[DentonLurker]

I agree that the SEC doesn't need Texas, but the SEC would take Texas before they could even finish the question, especially if it's a TX-OU combo.

[Tom McKrackin]

[El Paso Eagle]

I would still think if UT made a move they would want to go West. They have a better chance of being one of the top teams. Again, they are probably arrogant enough to think they could go Independent.

[untjim1995]

2 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

I would still think if UT made a move they would want to go West. They have a better chance of being one of the top teams. Again, they are probably arrogant enough to think they could go Independent.

They could easily go independent and not skip a beat in football…it’s set up for them to do this. But they seem content with the Big 12…

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, untjim1995 said:

They could easily go independent and not skip a beat in football…it’s set up for them to do this. But they seem content with the Big 12…

The problem might be finding a conference for their other sports. 

[wardly]

On 7/7/2021 at 11:15 PM, El Paso Eagle said:

The problem might be finding a conference for their other sports. 

The Mountain West or AAC would take their other sports in a heartbeat. In fact, the Big Twelve has let Texas do anything they want, and might let them leave their other sports in the conference. Who knows?

[Jonnyeagle]

1 hour ago, wardly said:

The Mountain West or AAC would take their other sports in a heartbeat. In fact, the Big Twelve has let Texas do anything they want, and might let them leave their other sports in the conference. Who knows?

If Texas and OU were to leave the Big 12 I think the conference would likely implode.  First, the state of Oklahoma will mandate that OSU is allowed to join them.  No idea if that will work but expect heavy pressure.  Secondly expect that KU, Baylor, Tech, TCU, West Virginia, ISU etc all to cry like stuck pigs as they know they are destined for a lessor existence in the future without a Texas/OU  to hang on to.