Did BYU sign an agreement last night?

[snoscythe]

Fox actually prefers Memphis/Cincy/UConn over BYU. Fox has plenty of NCAA football product in the West, but doesn't have a lot of market penetration in the East.

[Mars]

Fox actually prefers Memphis/Cincy/UConn over BYU. Fox has plenty of NCAA football product in the West, but doesn't have a lot of market penetration in the East.

Yeah, you're probably right. Fox has the PAC-12 and the Big 12, which only gives them WVU in the East right now. And ESPN would like Colorado State or Boise State, because BYU is all they've got in the West. But they can go suck an egg.

[Hookem]

I don't doubt that 4 teams will eventually be added, but as of right now I've been told it was 2. Perhaps, it was said that those two were in and the other 2 are still being decided? I really didn't dig much.

InsideTexas.com reported this afternoon that someone close to UT Chancellor, Admiral McCraven, has said that he thinks its UH and BYU. That goes along with what I heard as well.

One other thing that InsideTexas alluded to that I've heard for a long time as well, was that BYU and Texas developed a strong business relationship back when Texas was looking to start its own network, before ESPN offered Texas the LHN. Texas apparently views BYU as a potential ally if the conference ever expanded based on the way both schools operate their academics and sports.

As far as UH. I've thought about this a lot, and here's what I'm thinking. I was told initially that support by Texas for UH was a facade. That Texas really doesn't want UH in the conference, but in order to get the satellite campus they'd be willing to lobby for them with the risk of it backfiring and UH gets in. Based on that, I still believe that Texas, including McCraven, could be saying one thing about Houston, but under the table is doing another. Even though it looks like they could be in, I wouldn't be surprised if somehow UH didn't make it in, and despite what some are stating publicly, I don't think it would bother Texas much, as long as it gets the satellite campus.

That said, no matter how you look at it, BYU seems to have OU and Texas firmly in its corner, which is huge.

InsideTexas is also reporting however, that Texas could also looking for an out of the conference. I haven't heard this from anyone personally, but it wouldn't surprise either.

[YNot]

Fox actually prefers Memphis/Cincy/UConn over BYU. Fox has plenty of NCAA football product in the West, but doesn't have a lot of market penetration in the East.

Yeah, you're probably right. Fox has the PAC-12 and the Big 12, which only gives them WVU in the East right now. And ESPN would like Colorado State or Boise State, because BYU is all they've got in the West. But they can go suck an egg.

FOX is paying a boatload of money starting in 2017 for some of the best college football brands in the Eastern time zone in Ohio St., Michigan, Michigan St., and Penn St. Plus, FOX gets some other schools that can at least supply a 12pm ET kickoff - Rutgers, Maryland and the Indiana schools...

On top of that, the PAC 12 recently announced that they will decrease the number of games that kickoff in the late West Coast time slot.

So, my hunch is that FOX wouldn't mind grabbing one other Eastern time zone school for the Big 12 to give it some flexibility with WVU and B1G inventory for the 12pm ET timeslot (ie, Cincinnati); but, FOX is also likely looking for the candidate that can get the best TV ratings with their Big 12 and OOC schedules. What other candidate than BYU already has a P5 rivalry game and multiple quality OOC matchups already scheduled? None.

And, the fact that BYU could also occasionally help to fill in some of the late West Coast games vacated by the PAC doesn't hurt one bit.

[scott715]

Hookem, where would UT go if they left? Any thoughts or word on their endplay?

[Hookem]

Hookem, where would UT go if they left? Any thoughts or word on their endplay?

Not sure. It's all speculation. I have heard though that the SEC would be bottom of the list however. Not a good cultural fit for a number of reasons.

[scott715]

I heard that UT hates SEC so they would not go there. Big10 seems the most logical.

[Hookem]

I heard that UT hates SEC so they would not go there. Big10 seems the most logical.

Yep.

[Mars]

Hookem, where would UT go if they left? Any thoughts or word on their endplay?

Not sure. It's all speculation. I have heard though that the SEC would be bottom of the list however. Not a good cultural fit for a number of reasons.

2026:
Oklahoma/Oklahoma State to the SEC.
Texas/Texas Tech to the PAC-14.
Kansas to the Big Ten.

Maybe.

[stuckinbig10country]

Oddly, I've seen 2 WVU people say that WVU is actually against UC...recruiting reasons.