LHN and conference realignment. Sorry, guys...

...but it's not just football.

Powers is president of The University of Texas at Austin - not UT Athletics.
Dodds and Plonsky are athletics directors - not football directors.

Not overlooking the part football plays, and the contribution it makes, but football can't be and should not be the sole determinant in the conference realignment discussion. Basketball, baseball,swimming, golf, tennis, volleyball, track, etc. - all deserve consideration in this process, and deserve a conference in which all have a chance to be the best by besting some quality competition.

At least the 'discussions' here seem to accept that academic accomplishment and reputation will have a part, which is great. IMHO we will see academic considerations play a larger part in all otherwise non-academic matters as time goes on.

, and let the chips fall where they may.

 

Which is why the Pac-16 makes the most sense. It gives the best combination of:

- regional partners, most importantly, OU

- traditional football conference (unlike the ACC)

- strong in all sports (in fact arguably the best across the board)

- academically strong


So why is it not considered right now? Because of the Longhorn Network.

Don't insult our intelligence. This is all about money and nothing else.

 

The Pac-10 would be my last alternative. As it would be for many recruits. No parent who works for a living wants to watch their kids play games that go into tomorrow.

That's why they've come out publicly and stated that time zones are one of their primary concerns.

ANYTHING BUT THE PAC-12. Isn't it interesting that the biggest people AGAINST the LHN are also the biggest proponents of the PAC-12?

 

Agree with borna horn.

And, while there are reasons to prefer the Big 10 or other options to the Pac 16, I don;t see timezones as a big deal. The teams in our bracket/pod will be mostly/completely in our time zone. We will play only 2-3 games in the Mountian or Pacific time zones each season, and there is no reason why one of our demands can't be that those games will be played before 7:30 CST. The Pasc 10 currently has some 9:00 pm CST games because there is no reason not to -- they can dominate that time slot and generate lots of ratings, and for their fans those are 7:00 pm games. If one of our conditions is that road games for Texas/OU based teams have to be played before 7:30 pm CST, I'm sure that is easy to work out.

And yes, people who favor the Pac 10 or Big 10 -- which have made clear that the LHN is a problem -- have concerns about the LHN. I'd love Dodds to figure out a way to jkeep it, but not if it means accepting a lesser conference.

 

the big10,or big east is cold, but.....

 

We should go to Conference USA. We've competed in rowing there for a number of years, so it would be a great fit.

 

Why do people care so much about late games? It's not like when we played Hawaii in 1995 with the 11:30 p.m. CDT start time.

 

Next stop the WAC or the twilight zone.

 

let s see didnt we play at 6 pm saturday....hmmmm is there a law against 6 pm pacific std time at the rose bowl or corvallis ...uhhh thats 8 pm cst isnt that prime time...I will trade that any time for an 11 am time which I think is a travesty to the culture and spirit of college football...and consider tailgating and driving from all parts of the state to see the games..etc...

 

I'm sorry, but late games suck.

The Pac12 games are shown when everyone is asleep.

I get the idea that we will play some regional teams, and I like the Pac12.

I just think the B1G brings more to the table in matchups and academics.

 

Screw that, Mountain West is my vote. They have great sunsets out there, a lot more cows and pastures than the Pac 12 does, and we can play Boise St. every year for the right to maybe kinda sorta get in to BCS title game..some years.

 

We are playing UCLA this Saturday. I believe they are in the Pacific time zone. If you are watching the game after midnight it will be the longest game in history. Probably 50 overtimes.
I am not aware of a rule that requires Pac 12 conference games to be played at night.

 

Time zone angle is ridiculous. If football is on, I'll watch it even if it's Hawaii and/or Pac X football starting at 11pm. I usually have no emotional ties to either team. So what would stop me from watching Texas during a late game on the West Coast?

My understanding is we only would have one game a year in the PST zone. I am sure parents would have no problem seeing their son play in a late game and wouldn't be an issue.

 

Its not just football guys. ITs baseball and basketball, too.

Its not just our games... its your conference games, too.

If we go pac-16 and aggy goes SEC, we'll lose a TON of recruits to them over the time zone issue alone. We'll still do well recruiting, but it IS an issue to the kids and their parents even if its not an issue to you.

Look at your tv guide. A PAc-12 game comes on at 9:45 on ESPN this saturday.

Last I checked over half the Pac-12 is 2 time zones away. Only the Arizona's and Colorado are one time zone away.

Do you guys have stuff in writing that guarantees we'll never play USC on a night game? Ya'll know that our Bball game against Stanford won't be played at 11pm EST?

Give me some of your inside information.. Cuz right now its all conjecture.

 

...first of all people,isnt it tv and its revenues driving all this realignment...well dont you think the suits have figured out they are going to get more eyeballs with an early pst start and in fact they could have a double header Texas ucla then usc stanford for those in cst still worked up from the first game//

 

....after all why do we play 11 am games now ...soooo they can back it up with a 230 game...

 

Alamo...

With all due respect, have you ever watched an nba playoff basketball game?

Its the Lakers against the spurs or mavs.

When does it start? Most of the time at 9:30 CST.

For the very reason you mentioned... to squeeze in as many games as possible. They leave the PST games as 9 to 10pm games. So they can claim a triple header. 2:30, 6 and 9:30 games.

So you tell me, game A is Texas vs Oregon state. Game B is Clemson vs Georgia Tech. game C is A&M versus Georgia.

You have 3 slots. Guess which one Texas gets stuck in. THE LATEST ONE.

This happens all the time. Particularly in basketball. Big Monday's on ESPN 6pm games are the ACC or big ten. 8pm games were Big 12. 10pm games were pac-10.

As much as you'd like to WISH it weren't so. If there is a slate of games and Texas is the only one played at the west coast, guess which of all the games gets bumped to 10pm? They sure as heck won't move an ACC or Big 10 game to that late spot.

 

Hell, it might help recruiting. If we go to the PAC, then the working parent will in all probability be off work when the game kicks off. Just sayin.....

 

we can not even dictate game times NOW. What makes you think we could in the Pac. The Networks will tell us when to play.

 

Research money matters more than all of athletics combined, access to research money that comes with affiliations will play a role in this and much larger than what will make for "interesting" football matchups.

 

Are there really many fans who would have a problem staying up till midnight or even 1 am on a Saturday night? That's not what I would call "late".

 

The primary (only) driver will be The LHN.

I thought I read somewhere though that if they move to the Pac (pick a number), UT wants to be in a South type division (and not an East-West configuration) so they could play in LA for recruiting purposes....

 

Missouri played Arizona State -- a school that would be in Texas' division -- just last Friday, and that game ended at 1:06 a.m., Austin time. The PAC is, in fact, the Midnight League. Time zones are an issue -- we witnessed that just last weekend.

But I wish that were what the debate was about: The Midnight League (PAC) vs. the Tundra League (B1G). The Cheating League (SEC) vs the Basketball League (ACC).

But it's not.

ESPN is the driver of Texas' thinking. ESPN is consuming our administration with visions of sugar plums, the student-athlete be damned. That is a problem.

If Texas really nixes the B1G or the PAC to go to the wholly-owned ESPN League (ACC), then that will be a damn shame. If we wind up in the ACC because that's the best move for Texas for the next 100 years, then fine. But we shouldn't go there because ESPN forces us to go there. And it looks like that's exactly how this is playing out.

I do hope we can disconnect from Mephistopheles before it's too late. Screw our heads back on like most every other university in the land. Conference is like family, not like ExxonMobil. Or ESPN.

 

Agree with XOVER x100 on Mephistopheles issue. We should choose the best conference for our (entire) school for the next 100 years based on the merits, not based on what Espn bullies us into or on some shiny new network.

As for the ASU v. Missou game, if we insist that those games be played before 7:00 pm CST as a price of admission, I'm sure the Pac 10 will be cool with that. Its not a big deal. And, incidentally, I watched the second half of that game cause nothing else was on and it was awesome, so maybe the schedulers knew what they were doing on that one!

 

OrangeChipper. I think you forgot that if Texas goes to Pac12, then there will be at least 3 other schools from the Big 12 accompanying. (or maybe you didn't forget and are deliberately making an invalid point).

 

It's official. We've raised a nation full of wimps. When someone complains about staying up past midnight 2x a year then I'd hate to see what you do if you ever bring a baby or new puppy into the house. And it's a Saturday night to boot. The Rangers play in an entire league full of west teams and they play 81 games away. And yes I don't tend to watch those games, but if they played 2 of 12 on the west coast I damn sure would. We're talking 2 friggin times a year. And if you want to watch other teams and you are too tired, DVR the game. Let's go to the best overall conference and quit whining over time zones. This is 2012.