VideoEagle

Some great names in there that deserve to be in our Hall of Fame.

Wow, that's going to get interesting! Running a PR campaign against someone you're trying to settle a lawsuit with doesn't seem very smart to me. Then again, I've read both Wazzu and OSU have been using the funds they got from the departing Pac teams as their personal piggy bank and thus don't have sufficient funds to offer members coming from the MWC help leaving.

Yes, the public does remember the old PAC. But they don't care enough about the new PAC to watch the games or the media value would be higher. If the public doesn't care enough to watch when it's on TV, they certainly aren't going to spend money on tickets to attend games. People our age remember a lot of old companies and logos. There is no way to monetize just remembering - people have to care enough to actually do something. People don't care enough about the old Pac, or the old WAC, or the old Southwest Conference, or the Southern Conference, no matter how storied their history was.

Maybe. I don't know anymore. Back in July 2022, the Pac started negotiating a new media contract and got a reported offer from ESPN of $30 million per year per team. The Pac wanted $50 million and ESPN walked away. In August 2023, they had a reported offer that was almost all streaming and IF all the subscriber incentives were met, it would have earned $20 million a year per team. The Pac again said no. The weekend before the deadline for Texas State to be able to afford to leave the Sun Belt, the Pac announces a deal with CBS but will not release the financial details. Since it is at least somewhat better than what Texas State was getting in the Sun Belt, they jump at paying $5 million to exit the Belt. But apparently, the jump was not enough to make it worth Texas State moving if they waited till after July 1. Yes, the Pac still has some brand value. But in every negotiation for the past three years, it has been less. I think ESPN, CBS, et al have a good handle on exactly what that value is. If it's more than the other non Power conferences, it certainly isn't much!

The PAC-8(9) is the newest version of the Southern Conference. The SoCon isn't much today, but its founding members were Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, NC State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Washington and Lee.

Interesting article on how the Texas 13 are adapting to the House settlement. Points out a number of football players currently getting $50k a month will get pay cuts next year. I like the comment from TCU AD Buddie that you can pick your lawsuit. You distribute money based on Title IX and get sued by you football players or distribute based the House settlement and get a Title IX suit. The article refers to NT and the AAC as being “just outside” of the P4. Several Jared quotes in there. Well worth the read. https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/smu-mustangs/2025/07/01/how-texas-schools-are-handling-the-house-settlement-preparing-to-pay-players-directly/

Congratulations to Texas State on becoming the eighth member of what is now the Pac-8. It is a step up in competition from the Sun Belt and will be a challenge for the Bobcats, but not an insurmountable one. Congratulations to the PAC for finding a school willing to join one day before the deadline to have eight football members. Based on news reports, they tried to get most of the schools in the Group of 5 to join and finally found one. And, congratulations to the PAC for securing a new media deal after four or five years of trying to get anyone to carry their games.

Has any other college moved their basketball program an hour away from their campus? I can’t find one, at least none that are currently doing it. As for the point of the thread and Vito’s article wondering if UNT wasted money on facilities in the era of NIT, check out today’s SportsDay in the DMN. SMU, whom we likely all agree is no slouch in the NIL department, is planning to upgrade Ford and some other facilities to keep up in the battle for recruiting and fan dollars. If they need to with what they are spending on NIL, I think our upgrades were not a waste. By the way, if you read Vito’s article, he’s just asking the question and not saying it was a mistake. God knows it’s hard to come up with fresh story ideas this time of year related to UNT athletics that will get a reaction and engagement!

Maybe. Remember the guy running the search and selection for replacing teams in the AAC was Turner from SMU. If you remember, we were the first school he mentioned. He cited our multiple facility upgrades, increased student fees, and Adminstration commitment as us earning our way in. He also said after the evaluation we were one of the top schools for candidacy. I don't buy the "there is no increase from a 1/2 share over time" idea. We were not the only school that had press coverage suggesting an increasing share. If its not true, then I don't see how it could have stayed hidden for very long as there were just too many people involved in the negotiations. Someone would have leaked the information by now and folks from the six schools would have raised hell.

Jared's not wrong - if the numbers were significantly better, the Pac X would already have the additional team they need. If they were going to be significantly better you don't need to know the exact number but would already have a solid idea of the minimum. Instead, the numbers are going to be somewhat better so it's much more of a judgment call based on exactly what they come in at.

I agree with Jordan Case, we must be competitive in our NIL to get kids to come. That doesn't mean we don't also need a top staff and good facilities. We are not likely to be able to fund our NIL at the P4 levels, but we can compete at the Group levels and having top facilities and staff will make a difference verse similar NIL payments with marginal facilities. As for building a new basketball facility in Frisco? I'm very skeptical that moving 35 to 45 minutes further away is going to increase our attendance. A 90 minute round trip during the week is just not something most folks are going to go for, especially since they resisted going 10 to 15 minutes each way!

Both the Pac X and the Mountain West will take any current FBS school willing to join. As far as "which conference is ahead," that appears to vary based on who won what game the week before. You can't make conference change decisions on that or you'd be making an annual conference change! Random posters on Reddit don't necessarily have inside information as has been shown by what's been posted so far. The actual dollar expenses for joining a western conference will be significantly higher so are administration should have hard data before making a decision. I don't want them to be stupid like SDSU was in announcing a move and then having to very publically pull it back! The Pac is not going to be a "P" conference and we shouldn't be acting like it is.

I was in Kerr Fall 1976 thru Spring 1978. And Bruce over that summer. 6th floor of the West tower with a window that faced North. Many good times! I remember a football pep rally on the East tower side that included Fritz von Eric telling Hayden and the team they should use "the Claw". One of his sons was on the team at the time. Back then, the dorm emptied during basketball games as almost EVERYONE walk to the game.

Ross is a good guy who wanted to finish the season with his team before taking a roughly $2.5 million raise. His players certainly appreciated it if some of our "fans" didn't!

Everything I read suggests this guy is both a tireless and successful recruiter. In the Age of Annual Rebuild, that is vital. This guy sounds like a very good fit.