Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby recently warned that if the conference didn’t make changes, its schools could end up with far less money than their Big Ten and SEC counterparts.
Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy warns Longhorn Network could move Texas to ... the SEC?
Could Texas leave the Big 12?
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy insinuated that Texas could leave the Big 12, leaving a doomsday scenario for the Big 12. From CBS Sports:
“If Texas doesn’t [fold LHN] in X number of years, they’re going to be in the Pac-12 or SEC,” Gundy said. “If that’s what they want, keep riding this horse. If you don’t want that, you better make some changes or it’s going to happen whether you like it or not.”
One potential money maker is a conference network, but due to Texas’ Longhorn Network, a conference-wide network doesn’t look like a possibility. So, Gundy has an idea: get rid of the Longhorn Network, which he calls “a failure.”
“If we don’t eliminate the Longhorn Network and create our own network, they’re going to continue to have issues with this league,” Gundy said as the Cowboys returned from spring break to continue spring practice.
He continued: “You don’t have a Big 12 Network; you have a network within the league that people consider a failure.”
Gundy is half-right about his criticism of the Longhorn Network. ESPN has reportedly lost a lot of money off of it, but Texas is doing just fine and doesn’t have much of an incentive to shut down the network.
However, Gundy isn’t the first Big 12 leader to call for Texas to abandon its network in favor of a conference-wide network. Oklahoma president David Boren called for a conference network, in addition to expansion and a conference championship game. Gundy prefers neither of the latter two.
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