The Rest of College Football

[entropy]

Isn't ESPN obligated to fulfill the contract?

I thought they had some buyout or escape clauses.

[Hannibal]

ESPN overpaid for it badly without a concrete plan to fill it with quality programming and buy-in from Texas's quality opponents.

[entropy]

overpaying would bug me, but what ESPN did was fund Texas' huge ambitions. I rarely watch espn as a result.

[Wild Hoss]

I think ESPN looked at this as flier project...basically researching the concept. They committed a lot of money, but its over as excessively long contract term so its pennies in any given fiscal year for their budget. As ent mentioned, they surely have out clauses as well.

Someday down the road, when everybody has al-a-carte television programming, these kinds of projects will work on various scales. Thanks to this enterprise- even if its fails in the near future- ESPN will have a leg up on FOX, CBS, NBC and everybody else when it comes selling the expertise needed for schools to get their own network up and running.

The immediate gain was in that selling Texas on this also kept the Big 12 alive as a viable entity, albeit the Frankenstein?s monster that it now is. If they hadn?t UT and OU would be in the PAC right now, earning money for FOX via the PAC Network and further widening FOX?s beachhead into college football. ESPN is already aware of the bidding war it has coming against FOX in 2016 when the Big Ten contract comes due...the stakes will be high.

[Hannibal]

a la carte programming is still a long, long ways away for most sports fans. There are massive barriers to this, and it's debateable whether economies of scale will even favor it.

Even with a la carte programming, I can't imagine ESPN ever getting enough money out of enough viewers to pay for one school's programming when literally everything worth watching for 99.9% of the country already falls under the umbrella of another contract. That's why it was absolutely ridiculous to expect one team to carry an entire network at that cost. The only way that the LHN will ever work financially is if Texas goes independent and they don't mind playing a ridiculously easy schedule against shit programs that will accept being on that network.

I don't see how this keeps the Big 12 intact. It was a big catalyst for the teams that left and it only accentuates the disparity in a conference that is already coming apart at the seams because of it.

[entropy]

Major Drug Bust Hits TCU Campus
Untold number of TCU students arrested..

A drug bust on and around the Texas Christian University campus in Fort Worth has led to the arrest of an untold number of current students.

In a letter to students, TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said an investigation by the Fort Worth Police Department into drugs being sold by students led to the arrests.

Exactly how many students have been arrested is not yet known.

Boschini said that the school has never experienced a magnitude of student arrests such as this and that those students who are involved were immediately separated from the school and subject to expulsion.

A news conference will be held to further discuss the arrests at 9:30 a.m. and will be streamed in the video player above. NBC 5 will have more information on the story at that time.

Below is the statement from Boschini.

Dear Campus Community,

Early today the Fort Worth Police Department and TCU Campus Police concluded an investigation into drug selling on and around campus that unfortunately led to the arrest of many current TCU students.

While this news is certainly shocking and disappointing, it is important to remember that TCU has clear expectations for its students: that they behave in an ethical manner, abide by campus policies and adhere to state and federal law. These students are charged with acting in a manner that is incompatible with TCU values and against the law. That is simply unacceptable and such reported behavior is not tolerated at this University.

We have a responsibility to ensure that our campus environment is free of such behavior. Today's actions highlight that responsibility. The students involved were immediately separated from TCU and criminally trespassed from campus. Further, according to University policy, students arrested and found in violation of distributing drugs are subject to immediate expulsion from TCU.

TCU has never before experienced a magnitude of student arrests such as this. In fact, Campus Police records show only five student arrests related to drug law violations in recent years. I have asked our vice chancellor for student affairs, Dr. Kathy Cavins-Tull, to examine whether any new programs or procedures need to be implemented to curtail this type of behavior in the future. The Fort Worth Police Department also has offered to help in these efforts.

Today's events have forever changed the lives of the involved students, and we hope they will find a healthy way to move forward. Also, the next couple of weeks will be tough for the TCU family. There is no doubt that it will hurt to see our name associated with this type of behavior. But we must not allow this moment to define us. We must remember that we are overwhelmingly a community of dedicated students, faculty and staff and focused on changing the world through our collective work and commitment to leadership.

Sincerely,

Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr.



NBC 5 will have more on this story throughout the day. Check back and refresh this page for the latest update.

NBC 5's Scott Gordon contributed to this report.

[entropy]

UPDATE: The names of the football players have been released. Senior linebacker Tanner Brock, senior defensive tackle D.J. Yendrey, offensive tackle Ty Horn, and senior safety Devin Johnson were among the 17 students arrested Wednesday morning.

All four players have reportedly been dismissed from the team.

Brock was the Horned Frogs leading tackler in 2010 before his 2011 campaign was cut short due to a season-ending injury. Yendrey was an MWC All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2010 and 2011, while Johnson was expected to start for the Horned Frogs defense in the upcoming season.

http://eye-on-collegefootball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/24156338/34848232

[Tony G]

Well now they can enter the draft

[entropy]

The old SWC will rise again...




82 players reportedly failed a Feb 1 drug test

FORT WORTH -- Nineteen TCU students, including two starting football players, sold illegal and prescription drugs at the Sigmi Chi house, a Hooters restaurant, a Kroger parking lot and a 7-11 near campus, among other Fort Worth sites, affidavits released Wednesday show.
One of those arrested, Katherine Ann Petrie, 20, sold marijuana to an undercover officer from a house on ritzy Bellaire Drive South with her Lexus SUV parked out front, the documents say.
Four football players were among those arrested, accused of selling marijuana to other students and football players.
The players are linebacker Tanner Brock; defensive lineman D.J. Yendry; offensive tackle Tyler Horn; and cornerback Devin Johnson, according to documents released Wednesday morning.
The documents also say that TCU football coach Gary Patterson sprung a surprise drug test on the football team on Feb. 1, National Signing Day, and that Brock later told an undercover officer that there "would be about 60 people being screwed" as a result of the test.
Brock, the team's leading tackler during the Frogs' 13-0 Rose Bowl season, was injured in 2011.
Sources told the Star-Telegram that Patterson ordered the drug test after a prize recruit told him that he would not attend TCU because of drug use by players.
TCU has not released results of any drug tests, but Johnson told an undercover officer that 82 players failed, the documents say.
The affidavits do not indicate that Patterson knew about the six-month investigation that led to the arrests early Wednesday, including three on campus.
In his statement Wednesday morning, the coach indicated that he did not.
"As I heard the news this morning, I was first shocked, then hurt, and now I am mad," Patterson said.
Fort Worth police said the investigation, which began after tips from parents and students, is ongoing and that more students could be arrested.
"All of those arrested are drug dealers," TCU Police Chief Steven McGee said at a morning news conference. Officers from Fort Worth and the TCU department worked on the investigation.
Arrest warrant affidavits released Wednesday accuse Brock, Yendry and Horn of selling hydroponic marijuana from a house in the 3400 block of Brady Avenue in Fort Worth.
"There are days people want to be a head football coach, but today is not one of those days," Patterson said in his statement.
The news casts a pall on an uplifting period in TCU athletics. The Frogs just missed playing in their third straight BCS bowl after the 2011 season, and will start play in the Big 12 this year.
On Tuesday night, hours before the arrests were announced, the basketball team upset 11th-ranked UNLV.
Patterson has led the Frogs since 2000.
Last year, TCU was lauded in a "Sports Illustrated" article as the only top 25 team in the nation in 2010 with no players on its roster with criminal records.
And, according to the article, TCU and Oklahoma were the only two schools in the top 25 that performs criminal background checks on their recruits.
Some of the students arrested Wednesday members of fraternities, but police said there was no indication that the fraternities themselves were involved.
Some of the alleged deals went down in a drug-free zone, which increases the penalty group to the next higher level, according to state laws. For example, if someone were convicted of selling drugs and it was normally a state jail felony, with a maximum punishment of up to two years in prison, the sentence could be bumped to a third-degree felony, with a punishment range between two and 10 years in prison, according to the Texas Penal Code.
Chancellor Victor Boschini Jr. said he notified students and faculty of the arrests and the university's reaction in an email Wednesday morning. The initial feedback about TCU's response was positive, he said.
One student, senior Lacey Taylor, said Wednesday that she wasn't surprised by the arrests.
"TCU is a great school, but every morning we get emails about alcohol consumption, assaults," she said. "A lot of the kids here come from wealthy backgrounds and they get bored.
"Now, that they made some of these arrests in the dorms, that is surprising. The RA's (resident assistants) are pretty good about keeping that stuff out."
The drugs being sold, including in hand-to-hand transactions to undercover officers, included marijuana, cocaine, acid, ecstasy and prescription drugs, McGee said.
Also arrested were Austin Williams Carpenter, Bud Pollard Dillard, Cynthia Jaqueline Zambrano, Earl Patrick Burke, Eduardo Hernandez, Hunter Wallace McLaughlin, Jonathan Blake Jones, Matthew Iarossi Davis, Michael Gragg King, Peter Signavong, Richard Clay Putney, Scott Lee Anderson, Tayler Davis Cowdin and William Davis Jennings.
"Today's events have changed the life of everybody at TCU," Boschini said.
Earlier Wednesday, Boschini announced the arrests on TCU's website.
"Many current TCU students" were arrested early Wednesday in a drug sweep around campus, he wrote.
"TCU has never before experienced a magnitude of student arrests such as this," he said.
He said that the students were immediately "separated from TCU" and that they face immediate expulsion if they are found guilty.
Boschini wrote: "While this news is certainly shocking and disappointing, it is important to remember that TCU has clear expectations for its students: that they behave in an ethical manner, abide by campus policies and adhere to state and federal law.
"These students are charged with acting in a manner that is incompatible with TCU values and against the law. That is simply unacceptable and such reported behavior is not tolerated at this University."

[Wild Hoss]

a la carte programming is still a long, long ways away for most sports fans. There are massive barriers to this, and it's debateable whether economies of scale will even favor it.

Even with a la carte programming, I can't imagine ESPN ever getting enough money out of enough viewers to pay for one school's programming when literally everything worth watching for 99.9% of the country already falls under the umbrella of another contract. That's why it was absolutely ridiculous to expect one team to carry an entire network at that cost. The only way that the LHN will ever work financially is if Texas goes independent and they don't mind playing a ridiculously easy schedule against shit programs that will accept being on that network.

I don't see how this keeps the Big 12 intact. It was a big catalyst for the teams that left and it only accentuates the disparity in a conference that is already coming apart at the seams because of it.

There are formidable barriers to al-a-carte programming, but they are withering. We?ve come a long ways just in the past decade, and the NFL Network is leading the charge in the sports world. Its not going to be for everyone (The odds of an Iowa State Network are low) but there are potential innovations out there we haven?t even thought of yet. The Big Network paradigm, with all its control and restrictions, is breaking down in the face of technology.

As for the LHN and the Big 12, that issue is essentially tabled. As I said before, that deal killed the South Division/PAC merger so in the short-term its already kept the Big 12 alive. Not without casualties, but the league in its current form is better for ESPN than having none at all...especially with its best parts having run off to leagues where ESPN?s main competitor is smoozing its way in the door.

If you talk to Big 12 fans- and I do, every day- they are actually quite pleased with the league right now. Most every school is cashing in on the re-distributed TV money to go on infrastructure improvement binges; Kansas State is dropping $75 million into their stadium, Baylor and Iowa State are also breaking ground on projects. The LHN, and Texas in general, has been reeled in. UT is every bit as dependant on the league as the league is on Texas at this point; both are leveraged to the chin against the other, and both sides know it. Its not a great league, and its certainly a cobbled-together shadow of what it might have been, but its still standing with two heavyweights to lead the card. With no CCG in the mix the league has a better chance of landing two teams in the BCS each year, and the path to the NC game is more clear for Texas and OU.

Frankly, I want it to succeed well enough to keep standing, otherwise Texas might be knocking on the Big Ten?s door again.

[entropy]

If it doesn't succeed, I see Texas coming to the BIG, unless Texas politics keep them tied to TT and Baylor OR Texas doesn't agree to equal revenue sharing


I would be worried about Texas joining because culturally, they don't fit. They view fair differently than we view it. I also see them creation allies and making power plays. They did this in the big12 and SWC, so they'll do it in the future. Texas has a mindset that it is better to break down my opponents ability to compete than raise my own level of competition. Biased view, I know, but that is how I see it. They will constantly need to win something to feed their ego. And I am not talking on the field or on the court....

[JRB]

I've said it before, I'll say it again-- I do not want Texas in the Big Ten. We already have enough cultural and competitive mismatches in the new college football landscape(e.g., the entire Big East). The Big Ten doesn't need that particular headache.

[WM Wolverine]

Texas is a gold mine for the B10 thanks to the BTN and would be a huge coup for whatever conference that gets them. I think the size of their headache is reduced when you don't allow them to join with all their friends like the Pac 12 was hoping to do with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M & Baylor...

It could get real interesting watching the fall-out from when the B10, Big XII sign their next TV deals. B10 is in line to get a hefty raise in excess of the Pac 12, Big XII probably will get something similar to the Pac 12. What might be interesting will be if the ACC schools (Clemson, FSU, etc.) think about jumping elsewhere when they see their competition sign media deals nearly twice what they signed a year ago.

[entropy]

rumors, and maybe optimistic rumors, around Lincoln is the belief that when the new contract is signed and as the BTN continues to grow, the revenue sharing $$$'s for each BIG school will reach $40M per year.

[paul daugherity]

I always thought the problem (or headache) with Texas was that it would not share revenue with other conference members. I thought this was a big reason for Nebraska's desire to leave the Big 12. I could be completely wrong though. Ent, can you help me out with this?