Congrats
- Thread starter BattleshipTexas
- Start date
First acknowledge it is a hard job. You are in the middle of the SEC, recruiting against machines like Bama, Georgia, Tenn, etc. all around. Plus some non-SEC teams like Clemson, FSU and Miami taking stars. So the coach has to win with lower 4-star players and underrated 3-stars, seasoned with an occasional SC 5-star who wants to play at the flagship state school in his state. (Clowney, Burch). But it can be done.
It has been quiet lately. The other Big 12 teams are a bit greedy, but ESPN holds all the money if they want their Big 12 TV deal to be a good one. If I had to bet, it would be 2024. That lowers the buyout to one year and ESPN can front some money to help OU.
I'd heard in late August that the Big 12 was entering contract extension negotiations with ESPN & Fox early. But it was confirmed by Pete Thamel. Why is this noteworthy for Texas fans? Because ESPN wants Texas & OU in the SEC sooner rather than later, and the Big 12 wants a higher value TV contract than the Pac-12, in order to incentivize Pac-12 teams to join the Big 12.
Maybe nothing comes of it. But if Texas & OU are going to join the SEC before 2025, this is where that negotiation begins, b/c ESPN has the power to incentivize the Big 12 to release Texas & OU early. And thanks to the Big Ten's poaching of USC & UCLA, the Big 12 has a rare shot to actually poach from another conference for a change. But, that cannot & will not happen w/o ESPN's financial backing.
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They have a lot of talent, but did you see what their coach ran as the last play against Alabama? Their qb is not very good.
I can understand the angst of their fanbase over that play. It was very poorly conceived with almost zero hope of success. Also, thanks for your thoughtful answer to my query. I hope there will be overt movement toward earlier entry soon. Meantime, OU is in trouble on the field. Incredible.
By the way, no one in this thread has congratulated Texas on destroying Oklahoma! And King Ward, you are correct. OU is in serious trouble. They have been consistently excellent for 20 years. Holy cow the wheels fell off. And I don’t feel bad about it at all. Unless they change course quickly, the SEC is going to eat them alive.
There are still some very good teams in the Big 12 - at least offensively. Whether they can continue to warrant Power Five status over the long term with their only two legacy programs leaving remains to be seen. I tend do doubt it - long term.
I think you could make a better case for the Pac-10 losing that status, once USC and UCLA are gone. They have some really weak teams. Even the worst Big 12 teams like Iowa state and Texas Tech are dangerous. Oregon can't carry the conference by itself.