According to SI, the rest of the (why do they still call it) Big-12 is a little nervous (running scared) about the new Texas Longhorn network. Rightly so; Texas will get a sizable financial and recruiting advantage, which in addition to the merchandising efforts, was really the reason for establishing such a presence in the first place.
For Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas State, none of this matters. Texas is Willy Wonka, and they are Charlie Bucket. They’re just happy to be there. Kansas is closer to those three than it is to Oklahoma, but it has some juice thanks to its basketball program and probably could snag a Big East invite if things went sideways. Missouri would find a major-conference home, too, thanks to two large media markets within the state’s borders. Meanwhile, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech had a chance to change conferences last year. Texas A&M and Oklahoma were courted by the Pac-10 and the SEC, and a sizable portion of Texas A&M’s fan base remains angry the Aggies didn’t jump to the SEC.
I’m all for it; why not, I’m a native Texan and love to watch the Longhorns as much as possible. Besides, it’s time to put aside the notion that college football is some glorified form of amateur sports. In this respect, I give you Ohio St., Cam “I don’t know nothing about my father shopping me,” USC’s disgraced (former) Heisman winner, and so on and so forth.
This new Longhorns network could be the last crack in the door before holy hell sets forth on the college athletics landscape. Anyone that does not think college football is all about the bottom line is naïve. Of course recruiting the top prospects in Texas and across the country will ultimately contribute to the school’s coffers, and maybe even eventually to the determent of the current fraud known as the BCS.
It will be interesting to see how this develops. I hope the Big-12 attempts to block the Longhorn’s network from finally seeing the light of day. Maybe we can finally get a couple of super conferences; somehow the Big-10, SEC, and PAC-10 dividing up the spoils. Or maybe Texas sees the light of day and goes Independent.
I support the new Longhorn network, not because I am a native Texan, and not because Texas is my 1B (to 1A UGA). Why? Because I see the network as a catalyst. No matter how it plays out, Pandora’s Box is about to be irreparably opened. For better or worse, college football’s landscape is about to change (again), and hopefully the NCAA (rules and infractions IRS like infrastructure) and the BCS comes crumbling down.
