Danny West of HawgSports said on Halftime on Tuesday afternoon he’s sees as many positives for Hogs with league expanding.
Texas, Oklahoma officially apply for membership in SEC
Texas and Oklahoma just lobbed the ball into the SEC’s side of the court and it’s hard to imagine they won’t add those two schools to the league.
When you look at it, there’s not really a better option out there in the main game of having the most money.
If the Longhorns and Sooners can work together on this, anybody can. In competition and fan bases, those two hate each other as much as any other rivalry in the country.
And they don’t need the SEC to be in the biggest and baddest group in college athletics. The Big Ten and ACC now would snap up either one probably by acclimation.
Commissioner Greg Sankey is still playing politics. He released a statement about the formal application Tuesday morning:
“The University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas, two esteemed academic institutions with storied athletics programs, today submitted formal requests for invitations to become members of the Southeastern Conference in 2025.
“While the SEC has not proactively sought new members, we will pursue significant change when there is a clear consensus among our members that such actions will further enrich the experiences of our student-athletes and lead to greater academic and athletic achievement across our campuses. The Presidents and Chancellors of the SEC, in their capacity as the conference’s Chief Executive Officers, will consider these requests in the near future. Per the Bylaws of the SEC, a vote of at least three-fourths of the SEC’s 14 members is required to extend an invitation for membership.”
Uh, Greg, be a little honest here. The only reason he hasn’t jumped on a plane headed to Norman and Austin is because he hasn’t gotten whoever does the talking with ESPN to give him the final number.
Honestly, any enrichment by the athletes will be a fortunate residual. They aren’t going to ESPN or CBS for a pay cut if it will raise the overall grade point by a full point across the league.
Texas and OU are playing a dicey game. The notification to the Big 12 was, simply, they will not be renewing the television deals in 2025. Don’t expect them to be anywhere near what’s going to be left of that league by then.
You can expect to start hearing how much just the now very realistic threat of those two schools leaving the Big 12 is going to affect their broadcast deals but educated guesses are saying it will be nowhere near what’s needed to remain a Power 5 league.
Don’t pay attention to the standard disclaimer in every story about the $80 million exit fee. Ability to pay is not an issue because both UT and OU have folks who can cover that and never blink. They will play a waiting game, though.
Now it’s down to who blinks first. The vote by the SEC will go through.
That vote will probably be 14-0.
And it probably won’t be stopping at 16 teams for long.
Halftime Pod Presented by Eastside Liquor: Norsworthy, West
Texas and OU apply to SEC; Benny Homers Off Keuchel; Get Off My Lawn; Favorite Scotch and much more!
Guests- Brett Norsworthy & Danny West
‘Horns will have to play well with everybody else in SEC, says Norsworthy
Texas won’t be able to always get their way like they have in other leagues, says Brett Norsworthy of Sports56.
Catalon, Morgan on watch list for Bronko Nagurski Trophy
Defensive back Jalen Catalon and linebacker Grant Morgan checked in on the preseason watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.
The Arkansas stars are two of 90 standouts from 61 FBS schools in the running for the award given to the best defensive player in college football.
Catalon, who has already earned preseason All-SEC, Bednarik Award watch list and Jim Thorpe Award watch list recognition, logged 99 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, three interceptions, four pass breakups, one fumble recovery and two forced fumbles as a redshirt freshman last year.
His 9.9 tackles per game tied for the FBS freshmen lead and was fourth among all SEC defenders.
Catalon grabbed FWAA Freshman All-American and All-SEC First Team (AP) honors last season, becoming the first SEC freshman since Tennessee’s Eric Berry in 2007 to post at least 86 tackles and three interceptions.
Against Tennessee, he recorded 12 tackles and tallied an interception and pass breakup, claiming SEC Defensive Player and Jim Thorpe Award Player of the Week recognition.
Morgan, meanwhile, is a candidate for the Bednarik Award and Butkus Award as well as a Preseason All-SEC selection headed into the 2021 campaign.
The linebacker was one of the best players in all of college football last year, producing one of the greatest seasons in Arkansas history.
The Greenwood, Ark., product, who was named a Walter Camp and AFCA Second Team All-American at the year’s end, posted an SEC-leading 111 total tackles, including 7.5 for loss, with 2.0 sacks. The linebacker finished tied for the nation’s lead in tackles per game (12.3) while intercepting one pass, breaking up five and registering one quarterback hurry.
Originally a walk-on, Morgan joined Martrell Spaight (2014) as the only two Razorback defenders to garner both AP and Coaches All-SEC recognition in the last 10 seasons.
The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the 2021 Bronko Nagurski Trophy before the winner is chosen and honored at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet presented by LendingTree on Dec. 6 at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included is included in this story.
Maisel thinks addition of ‘Horns, Sooners, changes things for everybody
Ivan Maisel of On3.com said on The Morning Rush that things will be different for Texas, OU, in SEC.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Clay’s take on TX/OU
Tye & Tommy on updated OU/TX news, Clay comes back from vacation plus #NationalChickenFingerDay!
Texas won’t get special treatment in SEC says Aggies’ beat writer
Travis Brown of MyAggieNation said on Ruscin & Zach the Longhorns and Sooners won’t get more money, sweeter deal.
Halftime Pod Presented by Eastside Liquor: O’Gara, Carroll
Horns and Sooners Leaving B12; What Does It Mean for Hogs? 3 Up, 3 Down and much more!
Guests- Connor O’Gara & Jason Carroll
Is Sankey becoming most powerful person in college sports?
Saturday Down South’s Connor O’Gara thinks SEC commissioner Greg Sankey may be holding cards in college athletics now.
Morgan, Pool named to watch list for Butkus Award for this season
Both of Arkansas’ returning starters at linebacker, redshirt senior Grant Morgan and senior Bumper Pool, have been named to the Butkus Award Watch List.
Morgan, a candidate for the 2021 Bednarik Award and Preseason All-SEC selection, was one of the best players in all of college football last year, producing one of the greatest seasons in Arkansas history.
He was named a Walter Camp and AFCA Second Team All-American at the year’s end, posted an SEC-leading 111 total tackles, including 7.5 for loss, with 2.0 sacks.
The linebacker finished tied for the nation’s lead in tackles per game (12.3) while intercepting one pass, breaking up five and registering one quarterback hurry.
Originally a walk-on, Morgan joined Martrell Spaight (2014) as the only two Razorback defenders to garner both AP and Coaches All-SEC recognition in the last 10 seasons.
Pool grabbed All-SEC Second Team recognition last year from the coaches and was a Lott IMPACT Trophy Semifinalist.
The Lucas, Texas native played in nine games a year ago and finished second on the team recording 101 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and five passes broken up. Averaging 11.2 tackles per game, Pool placed second in the SEC and ninth in FBS.
In the win at Mississippi State, he registered a career-high 20 tackles, the most by any Razorback since Jerry Franklin (20) in 2010. Pool earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week and Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for the performance.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
