Abolish the Thanksgiving game

If you're searching for a silver lining in last night's 48-10 debacle against TCU--and bear with me because there are very few--here is one: nobody outside of either team's fan-base probably tuned in to watch it.

The Thanksgiving slate of college football games has become tiresome. In 2012, an NBC rebroadcast of the National Dog Show drew a 6% overnight rating in 56 urban markets, which topped the combined ratings of three college football games being broadcasted at the same time.

Hurry, there's only a few seats remaining at DKR. #sarcasm pic.twitter.com/pB8uURwGaG

— Shawn Clynch (@ShawnC_KVUE) November 28, 2014

With added competition in the market, the NFL intensified its Thanksgiving day package with a night game a few years ago to salvage its 24/7 television network (sound familiar?) and a marquee SEC matchup slated on ESPN, Texas has no reason to host its Thanksgiving game for Fox Sports One viewers.

If we look at last night, the NFL's 49ers-Seahawks game likely trounced all college games in the ratings, followed by Texas A&M-LSU. Bringing up the rear is Texas-TCU--a game with more playoff implications than A&M-LSU, but being televised on a network that college football fans despise.

Consider this, Texas hosts six home games a year. One of those games is played against a directional school or a flyover Mountain West state, one is either Iowa State or Kansas and one is the Thanksgiving game, where a majority of students and fans are spending time at home with family.

That means Texas only has three home games a year where students and fans are at DKR in full force, and I use the term full force as loosely as possible. This season, those games were BYU, Baylor and West Virginia. The Longhorns finished 1-2 in those match-ups and 3-3 at home this season.

The perpetual Thanksgiving game in Austin with TCU and Texas Tech isn't worth it. Those games would be drastically better during the regular weeks of the season. It was fun when it was part of a tradition, but now it seems forced (Texas actually hosts a Hex Rally for TCU and Texas Tech).

Without the added benefit of national exposure when so many eyeballs are tuned into other games, the Thanksgiving game is meaningless. So destroy it. Take it behind the woodshed and end it for good. Or if you're going to force it on Texas fans, replace the opponent with Kansas or Iowa State every year.

It isn't worth the pain we put ourselves through on Thanksgiving, anymore.