Realignment Winners & Losers & The Texas Trinity

Really great article by Scipio Tex over at Barking Carnival. I don't really have much commentary so this is more of a fanshot post, but I know people don't really scroll down there, so I posted it as a fanpost for discussion. A couple of my favorite excerpts after the jump.

Most crucially, Longhorns, Inc now has smooth sailing to establishing its prized baby – the Longhorn television network, and has assured itself of its full slice of the revenue pie. Now matter where we go now, the new arrangement must accommodate our television rights.

I think this is the biggest deal for the Horns. They expect (hope?) that a Pac-16 or Big-16 deal will still be there in 3-5 years. They also expect that the BEVO-D Longhorn network will be up, running, and flourishing in that time and keeping such a revenue-positive network will be a prerequisite to any new conference affiliation. Those are two huge calculated gambles, and they better pay off in the Horns' favor.

Similarly, the notion that an undefeated Texas will always get picked to play for a MNC with a SOS around 50 is laughable and proof that the Top 10% rules are really churning out dumber graduates from my alma mater. Or that if picked, we’re adequately prepared after playing a slate of stroke victims. You’re the kind of person that likely gets an ego swell from defeating your seven year old niece in arm wrestling.

It's not impossible; Texas already has the brand name cache. See USC. Mack (or Muschamp) will need to step up the non-con schedule with at least one "marquee" game--Ole Miss and Minnesota ain't gonna cut it. See USC vs. Notre Dame. In this regard, OU already has a step up, as they're willing to schedule the Miami's of the world. Draw television eyes, point to a marginal top 25 ranking, without any real danger of consistently losing the non-con's. Step two of scheduling roulette: it will be imperative to schedule a big name during conference championship week (CCW). Our two biggest draws are already locked in to early October and Thanksgiving night. I imagine Bedlam will shift to CCW. That leaves only one suitable option: Texas Tech.

The school had a chance to build academic partnerships, collaborate in research, shake down the Feds for research grants, and establish visiting professorships with academic equals and superiors like Cal, UCLA, Washington, and Stanford. If you’re an engineer, you should be weeping right now. Hard science, the humanities, the arts – they would have all prospered under this arrangement and our academic brand would have grown materially and perceptually.

This has obviously been discussed ad naseum here by minds greater than I, but it's worth pointing out again: if the Texas legislature is not going to look out for the best interests of UT-Austin, you would at least think our university leadership would.

This is supposed to be fun. Seriously. Fun. And interesting. We’ve now lost the two best road venues in the league and the 10 team full conference slate now assures us of frequent visits to some of the most depressing venues in the Corn Belt.

[...]

Explain to me exactly what this current move did for Longhorn fans? Fans. Me? You? Us? Not Longhorns, Inc.

Seriously, as a straight-up fan, this is beyond depressing. The Pac-16 represented the dream scenario--awesome road venues, smokin' hot chicks, an exciting brand of football, and enough winnable games to pave a relatively easy road to the BCS. The ex-Big 12 is like the going to mom's house for Christmas in Podunk, Nowhere. Sure, she cooks good food and everything is familiar. You may even score with your ex-BFFL that lived next door. But it sure ain't sexy or exciting.

Yes, they were trying to date you to meet us. Sorry.

Hah!

We punted. Don’t worry. Its not over. We’ll be discussing this again when we get our ball(s) back.

One can only hope Texas will still be in that power position. It's all on you, Mack and Muschamp. Make it happen.