Auburn buddy sent me this (Texas A&M/Texas)...

[dawgstudent]

Just heard a live interview with Chip Brown of orangebloods.com.

Summation:

-He's hearing that it's more and more likely that aTm will be making the jump, and very soon. aTm is fed up w/ Texas and is disillusioned with ESPN's behavior throughout the Longhorn Network development. They asked him to put a % on it, and he said definitely greater than 50%.

-Said Texas was very pissed, and still is, about aTm's filibuster of the Big 12 dissolution and potential jumps of several member institutions to the PAC-12, and that has affected their dealings w/ aTm since.

-Said Texas has threatened to never play aTm again, in any sport, and only tv contractual obligations may save the rivalry at this point, should they leave for the SEC.

-Says the Longhorn Network seemed like a good idea in theory, but ESPN has done major damage by trying to strong-arm some other Big 12 schools into having games vs. Texas exclusively televised on the Longhorn network. Named Texas Tech specifically. Said other schools have also been very vocal about their displeasure with the situation.

-Said ESPN didn't help themselves by having the Longhorn network seated with the national media at Big 12 media days, rather than with the regional reporters.

-Denied:
-that this is all a grand scheme to eventually have Texas go independent with their own ESPN-based t.v. deal.
-that Texas is waiting for someone else (aTm) to pull the trigger to start a domino effect and to avoid "having the blood on their hands" of Big 12 collapse and creating an even worse PR situation for Texas than this has already become.
(I personally call b.s. on this; seems like this is precisely Texas' strategy)

--Said the date he keeps hearing to watch out for is Monday. August 22nd, which, coincidentally, is the date the NCAA will rule on the propriety of allowing the Longhorn Network to televise high school games. Said he's been hearing that is the date the aTm Board of Regents will vote on whether to leave, and that all signs indicate that they are already strongly leaning that way.

-Also said, and this is another one I'm not so sure about, that he's heard there is a "wink-wink" agreement already between the aTm regents and the SEC, and that should aTm vote to make the change and "apply" for SEC membership, the "application" will be immediately approved.

-When asked about imbalance of the SEC divisions and how it may get balanced out, he said the SEC would likely have 13 teams for one year, then add another to the East to make it 14. Hearing that the SEC intends to stop expansion there, and has no intention of ever going to 16. Said he's heard Clemson, Va. Tech, and FSU, with FSU being the name popping up the most in recent days.

 

[tcprdr321]

That sounds like Texas -- always playing public relations politics in one way or another. What's interesting is that Chip Brown also reports for the ESPN radio station in Austin.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

-Said Texas was very pissed, and still is, about aTm's filibuster of the Big 12 dissolution and potential jumps of several member institutions to the PAC-12, and that has affected their dealings w/ aTm since.

This is the part that the sips seem to always leave out when talking down about aTm and boasting about how almighty and powerful UT is. Texas wanted to go to the PacX and aTm wanted the B12 to stay together. Going to the SEC, at that point, was only aTm's backup plan/17 you to Texas. aTm won.

Now that the PacX seems fairly set, and the Longhorn Network airing Texas high school games seems falling into place, aTm is laying its dick down once more. Seems that unless the whole Longhorn Network thing shrinks down to the point of irrelevance (no TX high school games, no exclusive airing of games such as UT/aTm) aTm is going to bolt for the SEC, the last thing Texas wants. This should help to crumble the B12* and send UT either to the B10* or some sort of strange pseudo-independent group.

tl;dr: Either way, Texas is getting what it wants: more power. One way they step on the rest of the B12* to get it, and the other way, the B12* explodes.

Furthermore, aTm fans are 17ing weird, whiny, and have a massively inflated opinion of how good they are. They'll fit in the SEC perfectly.

 

[cb6228]

wonder which side of the fence Gene Stallings sits on as he is on the aTm BoR.

 

[MrHooch]

--Said the date he keeps hearing to watch out for is Monday. August 22nd, which, coincidentally, is the date the NCAA will rule on the propriety of allowing the Longhorn Network to televise high school games. Said he's been hearing that is the date the aTm Board of Regents will vote on whether to leave, and that all signs indicate that they are already strongly leaning that way.

NCAA apparently already ruled on this today...

http://dennis-dodd.blogs....s/entry/6270202/31261826

 

[tcprdr321]

WONDERFUL!!!! Glad the NCAA got something right for a change. Now about that playoff......

 

[catvet]

and it is about so much more than the televising of high school on the LHN. This is about one school dictating how things are going to be to all the other conference teams. Texas had no intentions of going to the PAC 12 because they couldn't start their on network there and still be a member. Nebraska was the first to get enough and leave and A&M will be next. I do feel for Iowa State, Baylor and teams like that who will have to scramble to find a conference.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

ND has a national appeal that Texas can not develop.
Hope they do go independent.

Anyway, that is my totally biased opinion.

</p>

 

[missouridawg]

is going to want to play Texas on the Longhorn Network? I'll answer my own question. No one who isn't tripling their athletic budget with the game, like a directional LA would.

They're going to have a hellatious time filling out a decent 12 team schedule.

 

[AssEndDawg]

they are idiots. It works for Notre Dame because it is <span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">THE</span> Catholic University for sports in the United States. They have a built-in nationwide following. There is absolutely no reason for anyone outside of Texas to give a **** about UTexas. With what is happening in the Big 12 right now I wouldn't be surprised if the "former" Big 12 teams refuse to play them. It will be interesting to see how their schedule pans out. If we go to 9 conference games there is no friggin' way anyone in the SEC is going to play them (except aTm since I assume the Texas state legislature will force the rivalry to stay alive).

I think UTexas will do ok for a while but I don't see them liking being an independent for long.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

Of little interest, I attended the ND, OM game, in Jackson. I was amazed at how many supported ND at that game.
The Catholic tie seemed pretty great. Army, Navy, and Air Force also can have great disperse followings, but not many others.(they just can't field the teams)
Just the way it seems to me.

Also BYU might do ok as an independent, but they don't seem to be trying to control everything like Texas.