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Just want to point out some bowl game numbers: Friday 12/20 at 3:30 pm on ESPN, Tulane vs Florida, 1.78 million Friday 1/3 at 4:00 pm on ESPN, UNT vs Texas State, 1.7 million Monday 12/23 at 11:00 am on ESPN, UTSA vs Coastal Carolina, 767k Saturday 12/28 at 2:15 pm on ESPN, TCU vs Louisiana Lafayette, 1.22 million Saturday 12/28 at 5:45 pm on ESPN, ECU vs NC State, 886k Tuesday 12/17 at 9:00 pm on ESPN, Memphis vs WVU, 1.2 million Wednesday 12/18 at 9:00 pm on ESPN, Cal vs UNLV, 1.48 million (7pm local for CAL and UNLV) Different dates and times, all on ESPN. If I'm a PAC rep, I'm looking at that Texas State vs UNT game and seeing dollar signs. If I'm UNT and Texas State leadership, I'm pointing it out as well. Close to Tulane vs Florida at essentially the same time slots two Fridays prior, better than several other AAC vs P5 opponents, better than several other Westcoast teams, etc... Texas State vs UNT on a Friday evening that could do 1+ million on a yearly basis in a time zone the rest of the PAC doesn't cover would be great for the conference.

Tulane quarterback TJ Finley has been suspended following his arrest Wednesday in New Orleans on a charge of illegal possession of stolen things worth more than $25,000. Finley, 23, whose name is Tyler Jamal, was booked and released. Tulane said in a statement that the length of the suspension will depend on the outcome of his case. The school cited privacy laws in declining to comment further. University police responded Wednesday to an address where a truck was blocking a driveway. After looking up the license plate, police saw it registered to a vehicle stolen in Atlanta. Finley arrived to move the car and informed the officer that he had bought the truck recently. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/44519772/tulane-qb-tj-finley-suspended-indefinitely-arrest

And, I'll say it again... Playing football in the PAC is on equal, if not slightly better, footing than in the AAC. Playing Gonzaga, St. Mary's, Colorado State, Utah State, San Diego State, Boise State, Oregon State, and Washington State in basketball is WAY more exciting than our current conference schedule. Not even close. Therefore, I already see the PAC as better. If Memphis, Tulane, and USF bolt for the ACC when the ACC is disrupted, there's no question the PAC will be better all around than the AAC. Get ahead of it.

Now is the time to strike up conversations. If TX State legitimately received an invite from the PAC12 with a 50% media share and declined it, it puts North Texas in a great position for negotiation. We have more to offer than TX St, so negotiate a 70% media share to make let the PAC12 schools know they're getting a discount member on the front-end. Include either an incremental increase to 100% over X years, or something more innovative that addresses the "your brand needs to contribute to the success of the conference" perspective by putting media share increases each time we win conference championships in a revenue sport until we reach 100%. 70% of the new PAC media share would likely be more than we're making in the AAC now, and it secures our seat in the most stable, and likely best, G5 conference moving forward.

Joining the PAC NOW guarantees we're finally not late to the party. We obviously were late to the AAC party but this is a chance to leave this before the collapse and join a conference on the rise. It's interesting to say going out West isn't a good idea while simultaneously pointing at a program that went out West and then jumped to a P5. Yes, we'd have to go all in. No matter what we do, we should go all in. My question to you is, where do we have greater potential if we go all in: the conference that looks to be a 4-5 bid basketball conference and just had a team in the 12 team playoffs or the team that's at best a 2 bid basketball conference and who's last CFP team is now in the BIG 12? Seems pretty obvious which conference is on the rise and which one is crashing but I guess that's just me.