Last year, six of the 10 most-watched college football games in Houston came from the SEC. Alabama’s games against Texas A&M, Florida and LSU all drew higher ratings than Oklahoma-Texas. When SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was asked if he expected several years ago for SEC games to draw more Houston viewers than the Big 12, he bluntly responded, “Yes.”
“Our vision has always been to reach people beyond only our 11 states, and Texas is the SEC,” Sankey said. “Texas A&M did a great job saying Texas is SEC country, and I think you see that reality reflected in those TV ratings. We’ve gone to the Cotton Bowl. We’ve gone to the Texas Bowl in Houston. Our alumni bases in those cities are huge.”
Fox putting the game on FS1 instead of Fox proper doesn’t help the cause at all.
The question is do the decision makers in the Big12 believe they have lost Houston to the SEC?
I feel like they are in denial. They probably feel they own Houston, regardless of all the metrics and facts that say otherwise.
The Big12 leaders have proven to be foolish when it comes to conference realignment.
It is so obvious to everyone else, invite Houston. We would be the best team in the conference and right now are the best chance for the Big12 to get a playoff bid. We all know WVU and Baylor are not getting it done.
Add in the fact that KSU, WVU, ISU, and KU will all be stronger on the field by showing off their program to 3 star Houston players.
I would be really interested to know what the top 10 games have been in Houston so far this year. We’ve had the OU game and 2 nationally televised Thursday night games so far. I would think the rest would probably be SEC games + Clemson v. Louisville. Other than the OU game, do you think any Big 12 games are in the top 10 this year right now?
UT-ND might be up there.
Oh yeah. Forgot about that one.
So have the rest of the Texas fans!
Now would be a great time to tar and feather all the voters who moved Texas from unranked to #11 after that win. Geez!
You nailed it. They have certainly not been above reproach. The whole process has beenridiculous and no one has to take my word for it. There are numerous articles and social medial posts about how the Big 12 has handled this whole process.
I’ve received and retweeted several Tweets on my Twitter account encouraging UH and OU to work to seek admission to the SEC. Together they would be a formidable addition to the conference and would cement the SEC’s position in the entire state of Texas. Moreover, if OU goes out on its own, or in drag with OSU, there is a very high risk of losing their Texas recruiting base. Happened to Arkansas and happened to Nebraska. Arkansas was a perennial national power before departing the SWC and its Texas recruiting base. It’s like they just got swallowed up in the SEC and only now, after 20 or so years are beginning to reemerge. It might be a lesson to OU before they jump ship.