The Rest of College Football

[entropy]

Tech's reply.

http://amarillo.com/blog-post/jon-mark-beilue/2011-08-08/tech-says-no-longhorn-network

Tech chancellor Kent Hance nixed any deal, reportedly saying, "I don't want a Tech fan to have to give one dime to the

Longhorn Network." President Guy Bailey and athletic director Kirby Hocutt agreed with Hance's stance.

ESPN now is reportedly pursuing Oklahoma State for that game.

Here's the unseemly side of all of this, and shows how much power ESPN can have when it jumps in bed with a powerful institution like Texas: It can give the sports network real leverage with other schools in the name of profit and Bevo.

While ESPN tried to make it attractive for Tech to play on the Longhorns personal network, what's to keep ESPN from playing hard ball with, say, Missouri or Baylor? You don't play on the LHN? Fine, then we won't be televising certain games you wanted down the road

[Dr. Strangelove]

ESPN poured money into the Big12 to keep it alive and prevent the other conferences from gaining too much leverage over ESPN. Then they poured money into a not-so-bright idea thinking Longhorn sports were a goldmine. From their perspective they are gonna have to do want they need to do to recover their money.

[Hannibal]

This is starting to make me think of the saying "Bears make money, bulls make money, pigs get slaughtered".

[Hannibal]

Would it be an NCAA violation of some kind for the Longhorn network to broadcast a HS game of a player the Horns were pursuing but who had not yet committed?

Probably not. Case in point -- Alabama outright paid Orlando Dr. Phillips last year to upgrade their facilities, and they had two 5* guys playing there who eventually committed to Alabama.

[Jamie H]

So if the Big 12 disintigrates, where does Texas end up? Pac-16? Independent? At this point there is no way the Big Ten would touch them with this whole Longhorn network thing, since the BTN is now one of the major driving forces of revenue for the conference.

[entropy]

I think independent unless the LHN changes

[entropy]

Then again, Texas politics will have the final say. And this may end up being nothing more than chest thumping.

[entropy]

Lmao...

http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2011/8/9/2352756/big-12-future-rumors-texas-a-m

[entropy]

The NCAA could soon allow individual conferences to decide for themselves whether they want to pay athletes more and award them longer scholarship terms.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6848439/ncaa-presidents-discuss-scholarship-terms-retreat

[entropy]

After five suspensions, South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia thought it was finally time to leave. Then came the flood of support from teammates, convincing him to stay despite his tattered reputation

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/6841885/south-carolina-stephen-garcia-considered-transfer-5th-suspension

[WM Wolverine]

I can't see the Big 12 surviving. One school running the conference isn't good for a stable relationship. Any school that has an offer from one of the big 3 (B10, Pac & SEC) should jump.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Texas is in a very tough position. The B10 is not going to take them AND the LHN. Texas isn't going to give this up. I don't see them going to the P10 or the P10 wanting anything to do with them.

At this point, when (not if) the B12 folds, Texas is going to become an independent. They may try to coble together the B12 but that's their back up plan. Right now, ESPN (for their own selfish reasons) has got their backs. Ultimately, I think the BCS goes away and the remaining super conferences make provisions in the play-off system that develops for ND and Texas. No clue on timing but it could happen in an off season if the right power brokers (broadcasters and conference commissioners) agree on a scheme to get something like this up and running.

[WM Wolverine]

Texas is in a position of strength and they are using it to their advantage. They are leveraging themselves to be in a position of strength for if and when the 'seismic' shifts happen.

[Hannibal]

I can't see the conference surviving anymore either. I could see it surviving with drastically unequal revenue sharing, because the other programs would benefit from riding Oklahoma and Texas's coattails. But if they get strongarmed by Texas into putting their games on the Longhorn network, I really think that would be it.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Governor Perry getting in on the rumor mill

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/texas-aggies/20110810-rick-perry-on-am-to-sec-rumors-conversations-are-being-had_.ece