When Texas announced it was moving to the SEC for the start of the 2024/2025 season, the scoffs from many SEC fans were heard loud and clear. And yet, now as we wind down the athletic season, it’s Texas that has the last laugh.
“I know a lot of people, Chris, that are frankly quite irritated that that’s happening,” Paul Finebaum half-jokingly said to Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte on his SEC Network show Tuesday. “We heard about Texas coming in and then you play for the SEC championship, you get within a moment of the national championship, you're winning the Director’s Cup. I mean, why does Texas always have to be like this? Why couldn't you go through initiation, orientation and maybe take your time before you were dominating?”
It definitely sticks in the craw of many SEC fans (especially those centered around College Station, TX) that the University of Texas has made an immediate splash in the SEC. But what should really scare those fans is that for the first time, maybe ever, Texas isn’t having to go it alone.
For years, Texas led the way in the college football world while the likes of Chuck Neinas, Bob Bowlsby, Dan Beebe et. al, followed along. Texas was the Jones’, but they were being led by the Billy Bob’s of the college football universe.
As realignment and other issues popped up, the Big 12 was consistently reactionary and losing power programs to the SEC and Big Ten. It was an unsustainable solution.
Now, with the move to the SEC, UT finally has a conference commissioner that is capable of standing up to the others and leading the way.
“We don't apologize here,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said while talking about the success his league has had this year. “I'm proud we have 13 teams, I wish it was 14 in baseball (College World Series). I'm proud of what we did in men's basketball (14 teams in the NCAA tournament). I'm proud that we have, I think it's five of eight, is it five of eight in softball? I actually think that can make other people better too.”
The “other people,” in this case, are the conference commissioners of some of the other leagues who have been critical of the SEC (and Big Ten) for pushing to get four guaranteed slots should the College Football Playoff (CFP) expand to 16 teams.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark and ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips have tried to position themselves as looking out “for the good of the game,” hinting that the SEC and Big Ten were being selfish.
After the CFP decided to switch to a straight seeding model this week as opposed to the top four conference champions getting the top four seeds, both Phillips and Yormark put out statements noting that they voted for the change, even though it could mean their conference champs would be lower seeds (as would have happened last year).
“Today’s decision was done in the best interest of the sport,” Phillips said in his message last week. “It may not always benefit the ACC, but it was the right decision and that’s a responsibility I take very seriously.”
“Today’s decision might not be the best thing for the Big 12, but it was the best thing for college football,” Yormark said in a statement. “I hope what’s best for college football continues to be the priority in any discussions moving forward.”
The sniping from the Big 12 and ACC did not go unnoticed by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
“I don’t need lectures from others about the good of the game and coordinating press releases about the good of the game,” Sankey said during the SEC Spring meetings this week. “You can issue your press statements, but I’m actually looking for ideas to move us forward.”
Sankey pointed out that the expansion of the CFP has benefited the other leagues more than the SEC, saying that had the CFP stayed at four teams, his conference would have had half of the slots available. Going to 12 allowed other leagues to have more representation.
And Sankey added that with the possible expansion to 16 playoff teams, he’s open to ideas other than the four guaranteed spots for the SEC and Big Ten.
“When I go back to the college football playoff, I'm open to ideas. There's just not a lot of incoming. My phone's not ringing off the hook,” said Sankey. “So we'll continue to be thoughtful. We'll continue to try to provide perspective information to our members and help them guide the decision. And ultimately, I recognize I'm the one who ends up typically in front of the podium, explaining not just myself, but ourselves. So … good luck to me.”
Yormark held court at the Big 12 spring meetings today and says he actually has his own ideas of what he would like to see in a 16 team playoff.
Expanding the CFP to 16 teams is just one of the issues still to play out in college sports.
Amidst all of the conference commissioner back-and-forth was this little nugget that kind of flew under the radar.
“I have people in my room asking ‘why are we still in the NCAA?’,” Sankey said.
The fact that some leaders in the SEC are questioning whether they should remain in the NCAA is no small thing. Such a question would have been unthinkable five or ten years ago.
But everything that has changed in the college football world in that time period has been pushing us closer and closer to the elite programs breaking away from the NCAA to govern themselves.
Sankey did acknowledge some steps are already being made towards that process.
“In this current iteration, the Southeastern Conference has asked for more authority and autonomy for the four conferences,” Sankey said.
For now, it seems the only thing holding the NCAA together is that it operates the national championships in every sport other than FBS college football.
“We'd like to come together for championships,” Sankey said. “We think that's a critical, important, broad part of college sports.”
If – or when – the NCAA falls apart, it’s going to be the conferences taking the lead. And while Sankey was including the ACC and Big 12 in the self-governing autonomy request, that could easily change as well.
And if there is more change coming, who would you rather have leading the way on Texas’ behalf, Greg Sankey or Brett Yormark?
Yeah … I thought you would say that.
Because for the first time, the Jones’ are a lot like the Jefferson’s, they’ve moved up to the east side and are in a deluxe apartment in the sky.
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Speaking of television show theme songs, the song for “Out of this World” has been stuck in my head for days. I have NO idea why.
TWEETS OF INTEREST:
Chris Del Conte was doing the Lord’s work, keeping Texas fans from having to endure Ohio State fans after a day of drinking.
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SEC commentator Cole Cubelic ranked the top five defensive lines in the SEC. Texas came in at number two.
Number one? OU … and he says it’s not even close.
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The SEC is just reminding everyone that it deserves however many playoff spots it gets.
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Texas softball got off to a BIG start in the Women’s College World Series. The 3-1 win over Florida has put the Horns in a great position in the CWS.
More importantly, starting pitcher Teagan Kavan looked like her old self. Kavan pitched seven innings, giving up two hits, two walks, one strikeout and no runs.
If UT can get that kind of performance out of Kavan, then it has a legitimate shot to win it all.
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Mike White has proven time and time again that he is an elite coach. He just knows how to get his teams up for the big moments.
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Winning in game one was huge ... but now Texas has to face OU in the next round.
The Sooners were down 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but you know OU's not going down like that ... they pulled off three runs in the bottom frame to pull out the 4-3 win.
OU has not been the same truly elite level they have been in winning the world series the last three years, but this event is still being played in Oklahoma City and OU is tough to beat in what is basically their home field.
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Texas’ win in softball guarantees they will deliver a minimum of their expected value in the race for the Director’s Cup.
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The Texas Longhorns baseball team kicks off its postseason run in just a few hours from now.
Much like the softball team, the UT baseball team will only go as far as their pitching takes them.
Ruger Riojas has not been the same since he battled the flu towards the end of the season. Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle told @ZachattheDisch that he hoped the time off during the SEC tournament gave Riojas enough time to get stronger and get back to his form.
If Riojas is pitching like he did for most of the season, then Texas should be able to roll through the regional and the super regional to make it another return trip to Omaha.
If Riojas and the pitching is not up to snuff, they MAY still make it to Omaha but that’s far from guaranteed.
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With Texas baseball preparing to get started in the Austin regional, this is as good a time as any to remind everyone that A&M is nowhere to be seen.
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If Mississippi State is able to pull this off, then it won’t take them long for the Bulldogs to return to prominence in college baseball.
SEC baseball is so damn tough.
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I’m not a gamer but if I was, I would be PUMPED about the EA Sports game.
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But damn EA Sports! Why do you have to do him like that?
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