Andy & Ari On3 - IT JUST MEANS MORE for Oklahoma and Texas | The SEC Officially Welcomes Sooners and Longhorns

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

The calendar turns a new page and the SEC gains two new members! The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns are officially introduced as the newest members of the Southeastern Conference. To commemorate, we check in on the energy and buzz in both Norman and Austin.(0:00-2:15) Intro, Happy Moving Day(2:16-5:49) Eddie Radosevich and George Stoia III join to discuss Oklahoma(5:50-11:31) History that led to Oklahoma joining the SEC(11:32-22:23) How Oklahoma Fits into the SEC(22:24-30:02) Oklahoma's Rivalries in the SEC(30:03-33:58) Wrapping up with Eddie and George(33:59-42:34) Joe Cook from Inside Texas joins(42:35-51:00) Impact of Texas' win over Alabama in 2023(51:01-53:42) Oklahoma joining Texas in the SEC(53:43-1:07:15) Return of the Texas A&M rivalry(1:07:15-1:09:28) Wrapping up with Joe(1:09:29-1:10:11) ConclusionWant to watch the show instead? Join us LIVE, M-F, at 8 am et! https://www.youtube.com/@On3sportsHost: Andy StaplesGuests: Eddie Radosevich, George Stoia, Joe CookProducer: River Bailey

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. Happy moving day. That's right. It is the day that Oklahoma and Texas officially join the SEC. They're on Central Time, so they joined the SEC about seven hours ago. Congratulations to the Sooners, to the Longhorns. Now you can buy those really expensive SEC belts with all of the logos on them. They're going to have to make more expensive SEC belts with more logos on them because they'll need to have obviously a Texas

and an Oklahoma logo now. But this is such a monumental move. Obviously, it affected what happened everywhere else in college sports. The domino effect from this was pretty spectacular in terms of what happened with the Alliance, the Pac-12. We'll see what happens with the ACC. The Big Ten obviously got bigger. They're even bigger than the SEC now. This move, which leaked at SEC Media Days in 2021, was one that you kind of eventually thought was going to happen. But then those two schools, for a lot of years, always acted like it wasn't really something they wanted to do. But then as time went on, the circumstances changed and they found themselves wanting to be in the SEC. The SEC found itself wanting to take them, which it always would have.

But now they were willing to come. And now the marriage is complete. Oklahoma and Texas began play in the SEC this year. They are now official conference members. So we're going to talk to our friends at Soonerscoop and to Joe Cook from Inside Texas about how this move came to be, what happens next for Oklahoma and Texas, and what they expect to be as SEC members. So Eddie Rudasevich and George Story III from Soonerscoop will join us to talk about Oklahoma. Joe Cook from Inside Texas joining us to talk about the Longhorns. We will go deep on the moves of the Sooners and the Longhorns to the SEC. Here are the boys in Norman. So Oklahoma celebrated its entry into the SEC by making its fans run a race. Yeah, there was a 5K that started at 11.30 p.m. Central Time

on June 30th. If you're straggling in that race, if you're running a little slow, by the time you cross the finish line, Oklahoma was in the SEC. Our friends Eddie Rudasevich and George Stoya not running. Not running at midnight.

No. A little disappointed in you guys, but hey, I understand you got a job to do. We're not big health guys over here. Well, I mean, we're somewhat healthy. Well, we enjoy ourselves. You are healthy. There is nothing that I would have done less than run a 5K on a Sunday night. I don't think it would have mattered

what day it was Andy but yeah we had to opt out of that I will support anybody that wants to be a part of it though exactly if you're that much of a health nut that you feel like running in the middle of the night to celebrate a conference move go for it but let's talk about the move itself because this is something that Oklahoma fans have clearly been very excited about. But I remember a time when it felt like the administration of Oklahoma was not excited about the idea of the SEC, because the SEC wanted Oklahoma, wanted Texas all along. I think going back 30 years, if Oklahoma and Texas had said, hey, we'd like to join the SEC, they would have been welcomed with open arms. But what was it

as they approached the middle of 2021 that finally put them over the edge and said to Oklahoma, okay, this is a move that has to happen? Well, Andy, I would start with, like you mentioned, there was a point in time that the university and the administration did not want to make a move to a conference like the SEC. And that goes back to President David Boren, who was in charge, who really pushed for Oklahoma and Texas to maybe move to the Pac-12 or the Big Ten for academic reasons. Obviously, there's been a change in leadership. President Joe Harris is somebody that i think

obviously sees the benefits of the athletics department and obviously joe castiglione has been in charge now for you know over 25 years and i think that he's also seen the change in college athletics whether it's nil the transfer portal um you know the eventual paying of players in terms of employee status. I think they saw that. They see the future of college football, especially in a way that it's trending towards maybe being a super league at some point. And they said, we have to get in now. And I think also the way the Big 12 was trending, that they knew that the Big 12 was a league that was maybe vulnerable and not as stable, while the SEC and the Big 10 are obviously the most stable leagues in college football and have been for the last decade. I think it made the most sense for

Oklahoma in terms of money and where the program is at. All-time worst take, hand up. I thought OU and the Pac-12 would have been a spectacular marriage. And to come to find out like five years later after that, or I guess more like a decade now, that would have been a awful decision. I would have enjoyed some of the golf courses in Scottsdale, but outside of that. Listen, the road trips would have been spectacular to LA, to Phoenix, to Eugene. It would have been awesome to Seattle. But yeah, it was not managed particularly well.

But yes, let's go back in time because you mentioned David Boren, the former president of Oklahoma. Bill Powers, the former president of Texas. They were the kind of the ones that drove the train on a lot of this stuff. And they were in league before talking to Larry Scott with the then Pac-10 about multiple schools from the big 12,

six of them, in fact, going to join and become the PAC 16. And it really, it was Texas that kind of scuttled that because they wanted to form a Longhorn network. And, and so Oklahoma just sort of, they were ready to go. Like Larry Scott had been on their campus in Norman. And then all of a sudden it was over. Yeah. I mean, David Boren, I remember David Boren really wanted that to happen. It's almost kind of a godsend that it didn't happen. I mean, who knows where they would be right now as not just a school,

but athletic department. Had they done that, that would have been very detrimental to the progress that's been made. Yeah. And it's, it would have also just changed college football landscape like i would think that the pac-12 i guess would have been pac-16 would probably still be a conference sure because if you have the big 12 would have been gone at that point exactly because at that it was the same time period that texas a&m and nebraska had made the move through the big 10 so um you know

or i guess texas a and in missouri going to the sec well no no so texas a and m was going to the pack 16 that's right yes yeah and and missouri wanted to go to the big 10 and and couldn't quite get the traction nebraska was leaving colorado was leaving no matter what they were going to go to the pack 16, Oklahoma state was going along. That's the thing. Bedlam would still exist. Yeah. Unbelievable. The way that everything turned out.

I mean, everybody would have been, I guess, taken care of, but at the end of the day, I think you ask anybody around here, particularly going into next week. I think people like the way that this worked out.

I think it's been very comfortable. And I think that Oklahoma, and we've said this to Andy, like Eddie and I kind of getting to know some of the people in the SEC. I was down at, in Destin for spring meetings, and we went to Nashville last year for media days. It just feels like OU's fan base, the culture, the program, you know, whether it's athletic directors, coaches,

they fit in pretty well with the culture, I think, of the SEC. And I don't know if that's always been the same. And there will be an adjustment period. And like Eddie said, I think fans are excited. I think there's also a bit of nervousness, especially when it comes to... Cautious optimism. Yeah, you know, competing. And again, looking at the schedule.

Until you look at the schedule, it's like, oh boy. But I do think long term, when you look at this, they fit very well in the fabric of the conference. And I think people, for the most part, are super excited about it. And Greg Sankey's talked about it. This is really, in terms of OU and Texas, I think a perfect fit. I go back to that home and home with Tennessee a few years ago. And I think that's probably where if you were an Oklahoma person, you looked at that and go, wow, this would be a nice fit. Because

it felt like, obviously, the programs in the SEC respect what Oklahoma's been over the decades. And for those of us, inside baseball, for those of us who cover all this stuff like we know how much all the ad's in the sec love joe castiglione like he's one of the most respected guys in the business so it's one of those things where if if he would like to be in their club they would like to have him in their club definitely yeah absolutely and i you know i think just uh talking with the administration around here in Norman, I think that there is a relative appreciation for everybody else. I think that like Oklahoma and Alabama, Oklahoma and Georgia, their athletic departments, from my understanding, they talk quite a bit in terms of themselves through the same lens. And I think it's best practices. How do you do this? How do you do this? That, that sort of thing. They've been doing that for years.

And I think to a certain extent, even at the, uh, the university level with, uh, Joe Harris, the president of the university of Oklahoma, I think that he has found himself kind of acclimating himself to the other presidents and everybody else, whether it be at some of these meetings that you were at in Destin or wherever I, they just, I, it feels very comfortable. And that's why like on Monday on Monday, as big as the celebration is going to be in Norman, it kind of feels like this move has already been made for the longest of times. Yeah, because they've been sitting in a lot of these meetings. And again, going down to

Destin, it was made aware to me that Joe Harris, and for those who don't know Joe Harris, he loves to talk. He loves being in front of a mic. He's kind of a comedian a bit. He was a big voice in a lot of those meetings in Destin. He spoke up a lot, talked a lot about changes in his opinion on certain things. So I think that they're fitting really well. You mentioned Joe Castiglione. Obviously, he's somebody that's very well respected, not only in the SEC, but all of

college athletics. And for him, I think that he's the perfect guy to obviously lead Oklahoma into this. And there's been a lot of talk about, when is Joe C going to retire? He's been doing this for so long. I think he's definitely going to see this thing through for several years and wants to make sure that Oklahoma is in the right spot before he steps away. The man has a whole conference full of new breakfast spots. Also, for those who don't know, Joe Castiglione, huge fan of breakfast, huge fan of diners. When they made this move, I texted him a list town by town of the places he needs to eat in the SEC. He's slowly working

his way down the list. So yeah, this part is going to be fun. And so you mentioned a little nervousness among the Oklahoma fan base as they look at the schedule, as they look at what their new conference rivals are going to look like. How do you think they fit in football-wise? I'll let you take this, Eddie. I think from like an off-field uh perspective i think that oklahoma fans feel like they fit in just about as well as anybody and probably even more so than uh you know i don't want to cherry pick some teams but i i think that they they feel like the fervor and the passion uh and you know obviously the uh just log on to twitter if you can get on i'm i'm

currently uh not able to log on but if you can can get past that, just the zaniness of the fan base, I think it matches up with anybody. Certainly, year two was better than year one under Brent Venables. I think that they've taken steps into what they feel like is getting closer and closer to be able to compete with some of the quote-unquote big dogs of the SEC. But they've got a ways to go. I think, obviously, it starts on the offensive line. It starts on the defensive line. It's something that we've talked to you about, Andy, just in terms of what Oklahoma is from an offensive line standpoint going into their first season in the SEC.

But getting a guy like a Dominic Williams from TCU, I think that they feel like they're starting to make those strides. Obviously, the 2024 recruiting class that they brought in with the defensive line is going to be a positive. It's going to probably take a couple years to really get a feel for where that thing is at with the David Stones and Jaden Jacksons of the world. But I think they feel like they're taking the right steps,

and that's why you kind of look at year number three and the year number one in the SEC for Oklahoma. If you were able to get to eight, nine, even ten wins, and all of a sudden you look up and you're getting into a college football playoff, I think it would be a spectacular season so yeah I mean I I think that Oklahoma football obviously the brand just in and of itself is uh something that you know I at least from the Norman perspective I think it should heighten uh you know what the SEC is but at the same time they're gonna have their work cut out for them going into this first season especially with that schedule Andy and I've told you this,

it's about the long-term expectations for the program. Because I understand OU fans want to win a lot next year. And if they win nine games, that's a great year for them when you look at that schedule. And I think that you look at the way that they're recruiting, it's going to take some time to be built because they have recruited at a high level but now you're starting to see some of those guys get in I think that you start looking at the 2025 season 2026 we'll see what that conference schedule looks like I just think it's going to be tough to you know next year if OU goes eight and four there'll be people out there saying well this is the demise of of preventables and and the program's heading in the wrong direction I would view it as that's almost a step in the right direction next year if you get eight or nine wins because

of how tough the schedule is so i think no one is expecting ou to to win a national championship next year it's also one of those things that like and i think that like just college football fans as a whole are going to have to learn especially as we get into this 12 team playoff and some of the bigger conferences winning 11 or 12 games every single season year out. And, you know, obviously the expectations that Oklahoma fans have for the program, they're going to have to change a little bit. It's not saying that they shouldn't have the expectation to play for an SEC championship or get into a playoff or go, you know, compete for the national championship. But I think the days of these undefeated teams just all over the country,

and especially in the SEC or some of these Power Four conferences, that's over to a certain extent. It's just going to be too competitive. Yeah. So I want to go back to when they made the move because Lincoln Riley was the head coach at the time. And he said all the right things about needing to do the transition. And one thing that Oklahoma fans consistently said after Lincoln Riley left and people said it was sour grapes is, oh, he was not necessarily the right person to lead Oklahoma into the SEC.

I think history has vindicated the Oklahoma fans on that statement. I think if you look at how he's worked at USC, that would not have helped. Doing what he's done at USC would not have helped Oklahoma going into the SEC. Doesn't really help USC going into the Big Ten. Brent Venables, on the other hand, comes from Clemson, which was not in the SEC, but always had to deal with Alabama at some point, or the goal was to get to playing Alabama or to play what, you know, the version of Alabama now, which is, is probably Georgia. And they felt like they had to have the roster to do that. And they recruited a roster that could do that, that ended up beating Alabama twice in national title games. That's what I find very interesting is while in the moment, that seemed like such a devastating move when Lincoln Riley left.

I think it probably set them up better when they hired Brent Venables, because I think the roster will be in a better place now and going forward to compete in the SEC. I think that's certainly the case. It might be the best thing that ever happened to Oklahoma football. Revisionist history, obviously. We'll see. We'll see with Brent, because I think there's still some skepticism there. I certainly think that you love the recruiting side of it, the leaps they've made on defense,

and everybody expects him to have a very good defense this year. We'll see if he can still improve in terms of being kind of a CEO, head coach, and game management and all that comes with that. Obviously, he made two big hires this offseason. We'll see how those pan out with Seth Luttrell as the offensive coordinator, Zach Alley coming in as a co-defensive coordinator and kind of taking the reins. But in terms of where this was heading under Lincoln Riley, there was a lot of holes that I think were covered up in terms of roster management or obviously the defensive side of football by great quarterback play, right?

Because they had all these great quarterbacks. Caleb Williams, obviously the last one at Oklahoma that you look back at that 2021 season, that was such a kind of a roller coaster of a year where they're playing a bunch of close games. They lost games that they shouldn't have. And really the only reason they won as many games as they did is because Caleb Williams was so special and that offense was so special.

And you're seeing that kind of at USC now where it kind of covered some things up for them in terms of whether it was recruiting or the defense being a liability. I think as a program and as a team, you're seeing top to bottom. It's just a better, I would say, culture, one, and also, two, roster in terms of how many elite guys they have on both sides of the football. So I think in that sense, definitely, we'll see, though, like I said, if Brent can be... I mean, this is a big year for him. And like I said, eight wins would be good. Nine wins would be great. Ten wins would be sensational. We'll see. I think that the verdict is still out on Brent, but I do think they're in a better spot than they were under Lincoln. The biggest thing for Oklahoma going into this year,

and when you look at the schedule and you realize how many close games you're going to be playing, the one-score games has not been kind to Oklahoma over the first two seasons under Brent Bennebos. Three and seven. They're going to have to be able to find ways to change that because I think you expect, you just kind of know going into this conference, into this schedule particularly, you're going to be in tight ball games late in the third and fourth quarter. And if you're leaning on a freshman quarterback in Jackson Arnold, you're going to have to find ways to win some of these one score games.

Yeah. You know, I think a lot of this discussion of Oklahoma and the sec, we're centering it on this year and this year, like you and I, you guys and I, and I've talked about the offensive line quite a bit. Like if they had last year's offensive line going into this season, we're not having that discussion. I think this just happened to fall on the wrong year for the offensive line moving to the SEC, but I'm not worried about Oklahoma going forward. And you guys mentioned that maybe the jury's not quite in on Venables yet because it's Oklahoma and the standard is very high. But I do think the administration now understands, and I think Venables has a hand to play in that,

exactly what the roster needs to look like, what the infrastructure needs to look like. And whether he's the guy or not, he has to prove on the field. But I think they're aware now of what they need. 100%. And I think that you've seen them make some of those steps. Obviously, it was something that we've talked about. It feels like every time that we go out to a practice and we're allowed to come in for a viewing period it's you come back and you go man that they look different physically and I think that like Des Malone somebody that they were able to bring in from San Diego State in the transfer portal

you think of you know we talked about Dominic Williams there there are multiple guys and obviously the way that they've started to recruit on the defensive side of the football is drastically different from what they were doing under Lincoln Riley so they've been able to shore up that roster I think it's starting to look a little bit more like a quote-unquote what you would expect from an SEC football team but they still got a ways to go and I think that you know I don't think that there's anybody out there that is illusioned that all of a sudden they're going to go and knock around Georgia or go knock around Alabama, which is going to be interesting when they come to Dorman. But at the same time, I think that they have taken those steps. And, you know, certainly the way that this athletic department has been, you know, run under Joe Castiglione, I feel like

they feel like they've been an SEC style type athletic department for the longest of time yeah and they have and they that's the part i think you know a lot of the sec fan bases maybe don't understand about oklahoma because they're looking at texas which is really good right now but has been historically very inconsistent there's only one program in college football that's been more consistent than Oklahoma, and that's Ohio State. Yeah. Yeah. And I think this also goes back to when they made the hire for Brent. Joe Castiglione has talked about it. They wanted somebody that could come in and fit the SEC mold. And I think that Brent does that in terms of the way that he's recruiting. And also you look at the teams that have been successful in the SEC, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, you know, a few years ago, they all had elite defenses. And obviously they have great quarterback play.

And Oklahoma is still continuing to build that in terms of recruiting and the belief in Jackson Arnold. So I do think, you know, Andy, and you've said it, Andy, if Britt isn't the guy, Oklahoma will just do what they've done for the last, you know, 80 years is they'll just go hire the next guy. I mean, other than a period in the nineties, Oklahoma has always been successful. That doesn't mean that we're going to go win a national title in the next few years. I think it's going to be really tough for anybody to win a national title or the SEC championship. But I think that Oklahoma has the track record

of being a blue blood in this sport, and they'll figure it out at some point. So we know Texas will be a huge rival going forward. Obviously, they've always been huge rivals, even when they weren't in the same conference. But unlike Texas, which gets to reunite with texas a&m gets to reunite with arkansas from the old southwest conference days to just hated hated rivals oh yeah not the same thing for oklahoma now missouri was in the big eight with oklahoma but who do you think among

the schools in the sec who becomes a kind of secondary rival for Oklahoma could it be A&M who you know they were with in the big 12 could it be Arkansas who they're a border state but they've never really played very much it's so weird too because they haven't played a whole lot like the OU Arkansas thing at least in my lifetime has never really been that big of a deal uh they certainly haven't played on the football field outside of the cotton bowl in like 2001 2002 so it it is kind of weird and missouri like i know george has tried to uh start a missouri rivalry hey hey the fans have tried to start a missouri rivalry online and they just deny it there is eli drinkwits is trying to because like Missouri being good helps that the problem the old big eight history is Missouri was never good and you add

in uh all of the stuff that happened with Caden Green here about you know six months oh yeah moved up to Columbia they've been locked in uh different recruiting battles here over the last couple years it would be fun I just don't think that, like, especially for anybody of our age or likeness, it doesn't seem like OU Missouri has ever been a thing. Maybe it was. I know, like, back in the Norm Stewart days, him and Billy Tubbs would get into it in the basketball realm of things. But, like, the football side of it,

it really has never been that much of a rivalry. You had those couple years with Chase Daniel sure um you know and they played in the the Big 12 title game um and those sorts of things but yeah I mean a couple of the coaches like Curtis Lofton took a couple shots at Missouri yeah the new general manager for Oklahoma but that was more so because they were playing in those games and I do think the SEC it'll be interesting to see how they do the scheduling going forward because you know if they go to the pod system where you have, you know, the three rotate or the three teams that you play every single year, I would think Missouri might will probably be in

that group for Oklahoma. Obviously, Texas would be I don't know who that third team would be. Maybe Florida was a school that's been mentioned. Arkansas, you know, I could see something between LSU and OU just because... Baton Rouge every other year, the week of Thanksgiving. Would be awesome. Count me in. That sounds amazing to be able to go down there and eat every week or every other year. And you've been to the basketball games between OU and Arkansas. It seems like... Yeah.

But there's no hatred there. So I don't really know. Everybody just yelled at Eric Musselman because he's a little squirrely, whatever. I can't... I'm excited about this schedule because itman because he's a little squirrely, you know, whatever. I can't, I'm excited about this schedule because it feels like there's a subplot to almost every game or it's somewhere that Oklahoma is going. That's new. Like they, they're going to Auburn.

They're going to Ole Miss. They go back to Missouri. They go to LSU, but like Tennessee comes, that's Josh Hypel coming back to Oklahoma, South Carolina, you know Shane Beamer was on the Lincoln Riley staffs and and was working for Oklahoma when he got hired at South Carolina so there's a lot of subplots to all of these games oh by the way they also play Alabama

yeah it's incredible and I think that like George you did a we were talking about it up here at the office one day George ranked the uh SEC conference opponents one through eight outside of like one two you could probably make an argument for eight being three or three being eight I mean I think that like they all are fascinating and like you said Andy I think every game does have like a sub storyline even the Auburn game the week after Oklahoma opens the SEC play. I find that to be one of the more fascinating games. 100%. Jackson Arnold's going to be making his first career true road start at Auburn. Like that's something that has been overlooked a little bit

in terms of the whole grand scheme of Oklahoma moving into the SEC. So, and that's coming off the week, as you said, with Josh Heupel. And I think that even though that bridge had kind of been burned, I think that there's some connections back, or they're trying to mend those fences or the bridge. It's going to be cool to have Josh back in town, I think. Yeah, and I think they'll do some sort of video or something to commemorate him.

At least that's what I've heard, and we'll see how Josh... I mean, Josh has been, I think, really good talking to the media, you know, recently I know in Destin and then last year at media days, he got asked kind of about his return to Norman and, you know, he obviously said he's looking forward to it. So I think that'll be cool. But you look at those games, I think we're going to kind of know what Oklahoma is in really the first, you know, a couple of games in the sec, you look at their non-conference schedule. It's not particularly tough, but then all of a sudden you get Tennessee at home and Auburn on the road.

I think a lot of fans look at it and say, well, if they can start five and oh, and they're in, and a lot of people expect them to, they've got a really good shot at maybe winning, you know, nine games this year.

So, you know, if they drop one of those games or drop a couple of them, and all of a sudden you're going to Dallas against Texas, who I said, I think Texas is their toughest opponent this, this coming season, uh, just because they get Alabama at home. Um, you know, I think that if you, if you're sitting at five and Oh, going into that Texas game, you know, you feel pretty good. If you're going four and one or three and two, uh, you're looking at maybe a really long season. They're three. Yeah, I did a column for years called pivot point games, like where your season could

turn. Like if I had to do it for Oklahoma and for Auburn this season, it would be the Oklahoma Auburn game because both of those teams, if they play as expected, should be four and oh going into that game. Like the Auburn fan base obviously is going to want to welcome Oklahoma to the SEC with a true road environment. But both of those teams have huge rivalry games the next week or their next game where Oklahoma plays Texas, Auburn plays at Georgia.

If Auburn doesn't beat Oklahoma, they're going to have a loss going into a stretch of at Georgia, at Missouri, at Kentucky, which one loss could turn into four real quick if you're not careful. So for both of those teams, like that's a must win game. Yeah, it's huge, Andy. And again, I think it's just we don't really know what to make of Auburn, I think, because, you know, second year under Hugh Freeze and, you know, the quarterback situation there. And, you know, I think they're going to be pretty good defensively and all of that. So that's a huge one. And then you look on the back half, let's say they get through those first five games, maybe they lose to Texas, whatever,

you know, they're there. Let's say they're six and one head into Ole Miss. That stretch right there is the one interesting one to me at Ole Ole Miss, obviously you get Maine at home. That's kind of that throwaway game in the back half of the season. Sounds like you're sleeping on them. You're sleeping on them. I'm sleeping on them. They hung with Mississippi State, or maybe they beat Mississippi State that one year.

I think they beat Mississippi State in 2004. Oh, boy. We don't even want to put that bad juju out there. It already is a little scary. Yeah. The back end. Yeah. At Ole Miss and at Missouri, those two games are the ones that I think could be big swing

games for Oklahoma in terms of winning eight or nine or 10 games. Because I know there's a lot of people high on Ole Miss with all the guys they got in the transfer portal and Jackson Dart back and all that. Same with Missouri. They did really well in the portal. Those are the two teams that I look at and say, okay, those are, those are going to be really close games. And if Oklahoma can, you know, win one of those two games or both of those games, all of a sudden, I think you are talking about Oklahoma potentially being a playoff team at nine and three or 10 and two. Oh yeah. And, and look, if you're a 10 and two SEC team,

you're going to play off and then nine, nine and three is going to be a question. And look, if you're a 10 and 2 SEC team, you're going to the playoff. And then 9 and 3 is going to be a question. And like Oklahoma, it has a hard enough schedule that 9 and 3 may work for them. There's certain programs in the SEC that don't have that hard of a schedule. But there's a couple, their schedule is so hard that 9 and 3 might do the trick. So let's talk about Texas because with Texas, the conversation is a lot about Texas A&M and that piece of it. But a lot of this has happened because of Oklahoma and Texas's willingness to work together. How did that come to be? Well, I think it has to go back to the relationship between Chris DeConte and Joe Casiglione I mean

those are two guys that are very tight and like I said in Destin those two were attached at the hip um for a lot of those meetings and and I think that they've been pretty hand in hand and working together on on making this move and I think that goes back to you know obviously uh Joe C's days at Missouri you know Chris Tolcante was at Rice um was at Rice when Joe C was at OU. So I think they worked together. And then obviously Del Conte at TCU, I think that's when they really became good friends when TCU obviously came over to the Big 12. So I think that that was a huge part of it. Obviously, the two presidents, I think, working together. But I think when you look at this move, Andy, it's the two athletic directors seeing eye to eye and knowing, you know,

Josie and Chris Del Conte both said this, when OU is good, it helps Texas. When Texas is good, it helps OU. And maybe it hurts in recruiting every once in a while because you're going head to head on things, but it raises the bar. It's kind of like Michigan and Ohio State. I think that you look at the way that Michigan winning the national title this last year, I think that's kind of upped Ohio State's urgency, right? In the way that Michigan's been successful. I think that you're seeing that now with Oklahoma and Texas.

And I know Texas had went through that spurt of not being as good, but that spurred them on to obviously make the hires that they have and do the changes that they have. So I think that, again, when one is good, the other one, it typically raises their level. I think that there's a certain level of respect between the two administrations. I certainly don't think you would ever be able to get the two fan bases to agree on that online. But I do think that there is a respect level between the two administrations, whether it be CDC and Joe Castiglione or all the way down, even maybe even Brent Venables and Steve Sarkeesian. I know that they talk quite often. Probably more often than fans would want to admit or even know about. With the collectives and NIL, I know that a lot of these programs, and it's not just OU in Texas. I know OU's talking to people at Ohio State and

Alabama. OU just announced their new collective, All Under One Roof, One Oklahoma. I know that they kind of patterned that after some of the things that they've seen at Texas as well as Alabama. And so they're in constant communication, kind of working together. And especially in today's new era of college football, I think a lot of these coaches talk to each other about the transfer portal and the changes in NIL and all those things. So like Eddie said, I don't know if the fans realize how much they, they enjoy talking to each other,

but, but they definitely do. Yeah, there's definitely a respect factor. I will say, even though the Oklahoma fans and Texas fans don't always get along online, they get along better than Texas and Texas fans. So they got to go down the road.

Especially with the happenings out of the baseball side of things over the last. Exactly. Exactly. And boys, it's been wonderful talking about this. We will actually be talking to Joe Cook from inside Texas about Texas's route road to the SEC and of course we will be mentioning what happened in baseball last week where Texas just poured gasoline on that rekindled rivalry guys I cannot wait to see you at SEC media days gonna be a fun one it's gonna be awesome can't wait thanks Andy thanks Andy as we welcome the two new teams to the sec let's let's travel to austin

joe cook from inside texas joe i i don't know about you i i'm thinking back to 2021 when this all went down and i just remember you know covering realignment over the years like the white whale was always Texas, whether it was them being somewhat in control of the whole PAC 16, all of that, uh, the sec wanting them, the big 10 wanting them and them kind of just still staying with the big 12. And then it finally changed. What, what, how did that change? How did, and then it finally changed. How did that change? How did Texas finally come around? Because the SEC always wanted them, would have taken them at any point in the past 50 years.

But what was it that finally made Texas decide, let's do this? Part of me thinks it had to do with the change in athletic department leadership. DeLoss Dodds, I think, succeeded Daryl Royal as athletic director from that point on. He was the men's athletic director. Texas had two separate athletic departments. But whenever these types of situations came up, it seemed like DeLoss was always looking for a partner.

Sometimes that was other schools, like the PAC-16 you were mentioning. I think it was like Texas Tech, maybe OU and Oklahoma State. Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Colorado would have been the other ones. Sometimes it was television networks. And one of those just expired the other day, the longtime deal with ESPN with the Longhorn Network. There was some tumult in the Texas Athletic Department in the administration as well, with Steve Patterson having a disastrous tenure by every definition, Mike Perrin kind of steadying the ship, and then Texas grasping Chris Del Conte.

I think when they got Del Conte, as opposed to what DeLoss would do with looking for a partner, Del Conte started doing what was best for Texas and just saying, you know what, we got to do what we have to do for our own sake. And luckily they found somebody with Oklahoma and Joe Castiglione, who also thought similar. I know those two have a working relationship as well, a great working relationship. Same with UT President Jay Hartzell and OU President Joe Haroz. And they started looking out for their own self-interest instead of trying to see, okay, how do we make sure our Southwest Conference, our Big 12 brethren are taken care of when over the last two to three realignments, all the other schools are trying to look out for themselves and,

you know, sometimes use Texas, sometimes latch on to Texas, finally Texas. And of course, Oklahoma said under Del Conte and under the rest of the administration, we need to do what's best for us and go somewhere where not only are we wanted, but we're secure in our future in college athletics. Well, and, you knowxas was kind of looking out for itself with the the pac-16 when that you know basically they played them against the big 12 the big 12 offered the better deal where they could start their own network but that didn't really provide the advantage it did provide money i don't everybody lasts the longhorn network but the longhorn network provided a bunch of money.

It did the thing it was supposed to do. But it's interesting, Joe, because you talk about security. And it's strange to think about Texas feeling like it needs security. But if you're Texas and Oklahoma and you're looking at what Indiana gets from the Big Ten and what Ole Miss gets from the SEC or Mississippi State gets from the SEC, it probably does kind of like just make you take a step back. Yeah, exactly. Even, you know, everybody in the Big 12 got those tier one rights, tier two rights, and Texas's tier three rights outpaced everybody with that Longhorn Network. And over the course of, you know, the next decade, it still wasn't going to match up to what you mentioned, Indiana, Ole Miss,

two schools that are in big conferences, but at least as far as athletic departments go, Texas thinks are in a different category. And that's even with a Texas that brings in more revenue than any other athletic department in the country or is top three along with A&M and Ohio State. So they wanted to ensure that, hey, we can keep the big bucks rolling in, but let's kind of set that floor really high as well and make sure that we're not getting outpaced by teams like Ole Miss, like even Mississippi State, like Tennessee, who could then use that money to invest in their staff, invest in facilities. I don't know, maybe in the future now they'll invest in the players directly. Now that that money is available to Texas in a similar way, and they're not having to dip in maybe more into that revenue stream, whether it be donations, licensing, all that, as much as they might have had to if they were in the big 12 uh

and didn't make that move three years ago so we just showed video of chris delcani hugging steve sarkisian and i think that's that's another interesting part of this because one thing i i thought about when this all went down because this broke at sec media days in 2021 so that might sark had not even coached a game at Texas yet. They were still, they were coming off the Tom Herman era, the Charlie Strong era. And, and my first thought when it all went down was, Oh God, Texas might really not like being in the SEC, but how much has changed from a football standpoint for Texas between when they made the decision to enter the league and now as they enter

the league where they may be what like kind of co-favorites with Georgia to win the league one I think Steve Sarkeesian understood how to build a roster and there wasn't immediate effects you know everybody remembers right after that announcement they go to Arkansas and get dog walked by what was Sam Pittman's best team during his tenure. And the jokes rained down as they should have. Texas did not look ready. They look overmatched. They look out physical, out everything. And they go on to a five and seven season. Texas during that time made a lot of use of the portal, but it was just to basically fill in holes and fill in needs. The edge position was neglected

for most of the Tom Herman era by the design of Todd Orlando's defense. There was only one of those guys on the field. Not a lot of edges want to be the one and have to contend with others, so they had to rebuild the roster there. They did get a lot of very fortunate breaks. Mario Cristobal going from Oregon to Miami helped free up Calvin Banks, who's going to be a top 10 pick, and also helped free up Cam Williams, who is probably going to be the starter at right tackle this year. They got some fortunate breaks there. They also recruited all the way through the whistle, even with a 5-7 season, and did a good job of signing a top-ranked 2022 class.

Arch effect. People want to play with Arch Manning. Texas overcame. That kind of helped to, I don't want to say undo, but it really helped paper over a lot of problems that a 5-7 season can have when you have Arch Manning sign up. Another quality season, Bijan Robinson goes to the NFL after that with the Doak Walker Award. More and more guys are getting drafted after nobody was picked, I think in the 2022 draft. And tangible progress turned into another strong recruiting class. And that's how it's been built. It's been high school recruiting. I know people look at the additions of Isaiah Bond and Matthew Golden. And of course, Quinn Ewers, probably the most important transfer portal addition of all. That was one that was needed.

That was one that made a lot of sense after he was fourth string at Ohio State and Texas was still kind of in a quarterback conundrum. That was the biggest one of all. It's led to a lot of these different happenings that have gone on for Texas, but a lot of it is based on that high school recruiting, recruiting in the trenches, recruiting quality offensive line, recruiting defensive linemen, having proof of concept at the defensive line with Tavondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, and getting the roster ready to handle some of the talented teams and the deeper teams that they're going to be facing on a weekly basis, not just in the SEC, but starting in week

two at Michigan. Well, in terms of the SEC, how much did going to Tuscaloosa and winning last year help just create confidence that Texas could go to the SEC and be okay? You know, I think looking back on it and now being postseason, and I know we've been postseason for a while, I know that's definitely playing a factor within that locker room. But I think at the time, what it did was it proved that they could be a national title contender, and they were by making the 14 playoff. There have been so many jokes, a lot of them justified about Texas, and oh, here's the hype train rolling again. Oh, you're going to disappoint, not even make the Big 12 title game while Oklahoma State or

Kansas State or Baylor does and wins it. That could probably prove to Texas that, hey, you can go toe-to-toe with anybody. We can go toe-to-toe with anybody, especially an Alabama team that ends up winning the SEC, ends up being just short, I think, on a last play, a poorly blocked play for Jalen Milrow in the Rose Bowl. That win proved that if they can beat Alabama at Alabama, something Steve Sarkeesian likes to brag about, 50 other teams tried it since ELM and only one has joined the Warhawks. That made it so they thought that whatever happened in Big 12 play was going to be able to be overcome,

whether that was Malik Murphy stepping in for two games, overcoming a pretty rough stretch in the third quarter and being salvaged by Byron Murphy and Baron Sorrell and Tavondre Sweat. Whether that was surviving on the road at Houston in one of the only road games they played against the new Big 12 teams. Whether that was responding after losing to Oklahoma and still fighting through to make it through the rest of the season and earn the top seed in the Big 12

and then beating Oklahoma State once they got to that stage, I think it did a lot more at the time just for the 2023 season. But now you start asking those players about it. They think about the fact that they beat that SEC team, that Nick Saban team, and if they are on this roster again after being on that successful Texas team last year, I'm sure it's deep within that locker room that that confidence is there that they should be competing for national championships again, but obviously it's permeated through the program

as a lot of Texas fans feel pretty confident about this year more so maybe than even last year. So how excited are Texas fans about the idea of going to the SEC? Because that's one of those that, you know, I always felt like the administration, and you just mentioned before, the administration was what was holding that back. I kind of got the sense that the fans would have been cool with it pretty much any time in the last 20 years.

I get that sense too. And now especially that Texas A&M and Arkansas are going to be conference games again, rivalry games again. I'm sure that's something that a lot of Texas fans are really looking forward to. Not 100% because I even know some people who they're not happy that they have to go to Fayetteville in November. And then they're not happy that some of them aren't even happy that they're scarred for the last trip. I understand. Exactly. And some of them are, you know, maybe not all in on wanting to play A&M again. And some of them aren't in on being in the SEC even with those teams. But I think the overwhelming majority are excited because they know that this is

one of two premier conferences as far as quality of play in the sport. They'd argue it's number one. It opens the door to so many different locations that Texas has rarely gone to. I think I did the math, like the average stadium size in the Big 12, I think if you include, for Texas' purpose, the Cotton Bowl instead of Gaylord Family Stadium, it's like 60-something thousand, something like that, high 60s. In the SEC, even if you include Vanderbilt, it's in the 70s

and I think almost in the 80s. So just these new venues they're going to be going to, new coaches, new rivalries, but also the return of being able to play A&M, being able to play Arkansas, still playing Oklahoma, that being a conference game, I think that's what people are really looking forward to. The novelty of seeing teams like Georgia coming to Austin, seeing teams like Kentucky coming to Austin and Florida as well, but also the regular and the tradition of playing Oklahoma, playing Arkansas and playing Texas A&M. Yeah, I believe Texas becomes the fifth 100,000-seat-plus stadium in the SEC. So it is a different world on that front,

but it is a lot of schools that treat football the same way Texas treats football, which it does feel like there's kind of a like-minds thing here. But I'm interested, asas does move into the sec texas kind of used to having the big stick in the big 12 not necessarily on the field but from an administrative standpoint it doesn't feel like that's the way things are going to work in the sec because you can't really boss around georgia alabama auburn LSU. They're kind of in the same boat, it feels like. In my brief experience covering him, it doesn't seem like he can really boss around Greg Sankey either. But I also have a sense that Texas understands that. I mean, even a couple years ago when I was talking to UT President Jay Hartzell about him going and observing,

I think last year's SEC spring meetings, it was observing, watching, listening, learning, seeing how things kind of go. They understand that they are newcomers to this league. Now, they're going to have their preferences, just like any school is going to have preferences. But I think there's an understanding, whether it be at the administration level or the high end of the athletic department with Chris Del Conte, that they aren't that vote in there that carries a massive weight. They are one of 16 votes. So is Oklahoma. So is, not to pick on anybody, but so is any other team in that league. South Carolina, Kentucky. Yeah.

I think they understand the standing that they're in. And I think that's something they're perfectly okay with because like I mentioned, they, they feel like they are secure. They feel like they've placed themselves in a conference and, and among other schools who have their best interests in mind at the current time and are going to do everything they can to establish their own security. Texas want to be in that. I don't think they want to rock that boat. They just want to be able to be able to reap the same benefits as all the other teams will be going forward as a 16 team league.

So before we get to the rivalry, they got rekindled by this move. There's a lot to talk about with that one, but let's talk about the one that continues with this move and that's Oklahoma comes with Texas. How important was it for them to kind of work together and do this together? I think it was critical because I don't know if there's another partner out there for Texas. It helps the league, as Greg Sanky has often talked about, be regionally contiguous. Oklahoma touches Arkansas and Texas. Texas touches Arkansas and Oklahoma and Louisiana.

That helps keep it all in one big clump. You don't have to separate it like going from Tucson to somewhere like Cincinnati. It's all in one area, a couple different time zones, but that's something I think that can be managed. The other thing is that Oklahoma and Texas, in their history, I'm pretty sure there are more contests as a non-conference matchup and as a conference matchup. For a long time still. It'll take a while to outdo that. Right.

It was a big Southwest conference. It was a lot of years. It was always a non-conference game. And oddly enough, I always remember the last non-conference game was a tie, I think, in 1995. And it was just a dismal game. I think it was Schellenberger versus Makovic, so just kind of two weird book notes in history. But these teams have been together since 96 in the same

league. They've competed for Big 12 South championships. They competed against each other in a Big 12 championship in 2018, and they always compete with each other during the second Saturday in October in the Cotton Bowl. The Big 12 is not this long-term solution for us as a conference because, like we mentioned earlier, they're going to keep looking and seeing the disparity in funds. And while the Texas have the Longhorn Network, there were pay-per-view games on Oklahoma, that Army game that we all – That's right. The guy's foot, everyone's watching on his phone. Yeah. So that was a pay-per-view game.

I think they have linked up with ESPN Plus in the past couple of years for Sooner Vision, but they understood that in order to continue to compete at the highest level, and not just – I know football is what drives everything, but both these athletic departments have very proud programs in a number of both revenue and non-revenue sports. You think of softball and gymnastics at Oklahoma. You think of swimming and tennis and golf and volleyball at Texas, in addition to the men's sports. These are programs that like winning, not just on the gridiron, but everywhere.

And I think they understood that the next place for them to all find success, but football-driven success primarily, was in the SEC. And again, you look around, who else was Texas going to go to? Maybe Oklahoma could have tried to bring Bedlam over, but I don't think Greg Sankey's interested in Oklahoma State. I don't think Greg Sankey's interested in TCU or Texas Tech. And I've enjoyed watching Texas play all those schools, but I think Greg Sankey understood that it's brands that help make that league. And the two brands that ended up being available to his league were Texas and Oklahoma,

who found a way to, as they have often, work together and make it happen. And they have been more collaborative well i mean we go back to barry switzer and daryl royal where they maybe weren't so collaborative but they've been very a little bit i mean royal had emily billard teaching the offense and that's what that's true that's what boosted oklahoma to its its heights in the 70s so some collaboration but i think daryl royal uh would would want that one back yeah well but oklahoma and texas have generally gotten along uh in the boardroom and and pretty much everywhere except on the field not the case with texas and texas a&m this rivalry stopped when Texas A&M left for the SEC Texas A&M was furious finding out that Texas was going to be admitted into the SEC and then I it felt to me like that Greg Sankey again and

probably a lot of the other high-powered SEC athletic directors and presidents were like guys this is best for the league, so suck it up. But we saw it again this week. We saw it again this week with Jim Schlossengel leaving Texas A&M for Texas to be the baseball coach a day after Texas A&M played for the national title. This rivalry is nasty. I think there was. So I started my time at Texas in 2012. That was the first year of the Big 12 without A&M and a lot of different schools, but primarily A&M. First year of A&M and the SEC, Johnny Football, Mania, all that stuff. And a good run, a great run even for Texas A&M. But I'm almost 30. There are a lot of people who are my age who are entering whatever year they may be at Texas or A&M

who have not seen this rivalry. That means that there are a lot of older fans who have seen this rivalry. Remember Case McCoy running down the field and remember Colt McCoy getting lit up in back-to-back years and going only two and two against Texas A&M during his time. But, you know, 10 years of all these battles just taking place on the internet and on the recruiting trail, it can dampen it. It definitely can. They would play in other sports, but football is what people care about, especially around Thanksgiving every year in Texas. And for this game to be missing, it was big.

I think people were already very excited to see it come back, but I think what happened this past week definitely ratcheted things up. And not just on the baseball diamond, where Texas is very likely to be interested in a lot of the different Aggie players who have already entered into the transfer portal. But I think it ratchets it up for the entire rivalry. Steve Sarkeesian was speaking at an event in Houston last month, and he was asked, and in kind of classic Texas way, hey, the Aggies are going to be all in on this one.

Are you going to make sure that your team's ready? And he gave a wry smile and said, oh, yeah Aggies are going to be all in on this one. Are you going to make sure that your team's ready? And he gave a wry smile and said, oh, yeah, we're going to be ready. But I think that Texas fans and Texas should expect for whatever is always going to be a tough environment in Kyle Field, maybe the toughest if you're working for EA, especially when the Longhorns come to town, I would expect for it to ratchet up a little bit, not because they view this, not just as a baseball move, but basically a shot across the bow at the entire Aggie athletic department. Again,

three years after kind of fly, not maybe not necessarily fly by night, but three years after Texas was added to the league, really without Texas A&M knowing all that much about it and crying very loudly at SEC media days about Ross Bjork saying, we want to be the only SEC brand in Texas and all that. But having to, like you said, they eventually fell in line. And they didn't want to be that one vote against it and stand out like a sore thumb.

They were wrangled in and part of the unanimous vote for offering. The SEC is a land of unanimous votes, as you'll find out covering the league. They're always unanimous when they're done, rarely unanimous when they're voted upon, if that makes sense. But it's going to be so fascinating to see these teams play again because both of them worked very hard to make sure they weren't going to play each other. Because Charlie Strong would get asked about it. Kevin Sumlin would get asked about it. And for those guys who weren't really there when all that stuff went down like kevin someone started after they they moved to the sec or at least made the decision to move the sec

you know they're like look we didn't have anything to do with this i'd love to play them it'd be great but then the administration's like and now you're getting this game. It is, you mentioned, around Thanksgiving, this is how everybody in Texas grew up. That's when Texas and Texas A&M play. That's the game. How fun is it going to be? That first, now it's going to be Saturday. It won't be Thursday.

But when the Longhorns come out of the tunnel at Kyle Field. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be – I've been lucky enough to go to some great environments. I'm going to be lucky enough to go to the big house here in September, but I'm pretty sure this will be the loudest stadium I'll have ever been to. I think that you're going to be, I mean, if you look at the secondary ticket market, some of these ticket prices are crazy and I know college station and college football go hand in hand and, and, you know, wanting to see these prime

premier night games, but the thousands of dollars, some of these third deck tickets are, uh, is, is something nuts. So I'm really excited for it, not just for the atmosphere, but when the era of the 12-team playoff, and it's not like the cupboard was left completely bare for Mike Elko. They have a quarterback who's got to stay healthy but is talented. They've got still a lot of members of those strong recruiting classes there. Texas is operating and coming in like they feel like they're a favorite to win the league. Like there should,

there could and should be massive implications, not just for the rivalry, but you know, in national college football in that game, which is only going to amp things up more. So I'm, I'm really excited to see that I've, and one other thing,

you know, they, Kyle field was renovated after the Aggies left for the SEC. So in my experience, I think the last time I went was 2009. It looks a lot different than that picture right there. It is bigger and louder now. And I remember the pre-renovation kyle phil which was already a pretty loud stadium and you you know you like in the old press box when they lock arms for the

aggie war him and sway like it would make the press box move now it's all closed in there's nowhere else for that noise to go and it just it just reverberates i I'm excited to go and see it. And I know it's going to be one of the biggest matchups on the college football calendar. And that's going to be part of a great Saturday of college football. I know Chris Del Conte has talked about maybe not wanting that to be on Saturday, wanting it to in years and going forward. And I don't think he got his way this year, wanting it to be on Thanksgiving. But that game to cap off a Saturday that what it's going to include,

you know, Michigan, Ohio state at 11, the two 30 games, something big to struggling. I'm struggling. Iron bowl is coming up. There we go. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing. It is, it is now back in its rightful place on that weekend. Whether it goes to Thanksgiving or not probably has more to do with the NFL than the SEC. They probably just don't want to compete against the NFL. And I kind of get that because they're doing the same thing with the Egg Bowl.

And then they're moving Georgia to, Georgia and Georgia Tech are going to play on Friday night. So we'll see how that all shakes out. But just having that game that weekend, like for someone older like me, that's what's supposed to happen. Like Texas and Texas A&M are supposed to play.

And so it's, I'm so excited to just see it again. It it's, I'm glad it's back because even if you look at what it's replacing, you know, Texas would play usually one of an in-state school, TCU or Texas tech, usually,

right. They got Baylor. I think once for some reason, they made a trip to Lawrence, Kansas in 2018, which hobby airport was really bustling on, on Thanksgiving day that year. But they tried to keep it in as an in-state rival.

I know the SEC put the LSU and A&M game, but if you probably ask LSU fans, it's, you know, it's just a game on a weekend for them. It's not a rivalry game. This puts it on a rivalry weekend because it's a rivalry game, and it brings back so much meaning.

I'm looking forward to seeing what it's going to be like in 2025 as well when Texas gets the Aggies back in Austin, just because it'll be the first time since 2008. Last time Texas was playing A&M in Austin, just because it'll be the first time since 2008. Last time Texas was playing A&M in 2008, I remember watching all the people with the 45-35 banners up and trying to convince voters to make sure to put Texas ahead because they had won head-to-head on the field. They beat Oklahoma. Yeah, exactly.

Art Bryles didn't see that way, and it cost Texas in the polls. So they had to settle for a Fiesta Bowl win, but that's the last time Texas played A&M at home. And so I'm looking forward to that next year, but I'm not going to look past that for what should be an awesome environment in College Station this year. It's interesting because Texas Memorial Stadium, it is a different environment now than it was back then. They've juiced the game day operations, the way they handle things.

And the crowd, I don't know about you, Joe. It feels like they're louder now than they used to be. They act a lot less like a golf crowd than they used to. When it gets up when it gets up it gets up their their median i guess is even for a big stadium um it's not as loud as you think but when when it is time to get going uh that 101,000 102,000 is is really loud and um it is a lot different you know i when was the last time you had been to a game there it's been it's been a while i now they i i did a big story back when i was at si about all the changes they made after chris delcani and drew martin got there and like because it was palpable

you could tell how different it was than some of the like i remember i covered a texas oklahoma state game i want to say in like the early teens and it was a big game in the big 12 but it's just you know for that many people it didn't seem like everybody was that excited but they they changed the way they handle the games and it certainly feels like they've made it everything bigger than it used to be and it and it it comes across it it's been helped by architecture you know getting rid of the the track basically uh yeah the track hadn't been there for a while but a stadium built for a track that bring everything in they've got rid of the jumbo the godzilla tron and made that premium seating that's now more enclosed but like you said chris Del Conte and Drew Martin.

Drew Martin's definitely one who deserves a lot of credit for this. They've made sure to – they understand that when you're going to a Texas football game, you're there if you're a diehard for what's going on on the field. But if you're there maybe once a year, like I know a lot of fans go, you're there for an all-day event. So they try to make it into an all-day event. They try to make it a lot of fun, and they've definitely amped it up. And now, you know, and I'm not trying to disparage these teams,

but like when Kansas would come to town or BYU would come to town, Texas has no real history with Kansas. Yes, I know they beat them a couple times, including once in Austin, but there's no real football history with Kansas. There was zero football history with BYU. Even with a good team, it's tough for fans to want to get up about like, oh, there's this team that we know nothing about. They're just from Utah and from Provo, and we've never played them before. With name brands like even Florida, who we don't know how good Florida is going to be,

and that's independent of their record. But the Florida Gators are coming to town. The Georgia Bulldogs are coming to town. Like that is something that a lot of Texas fans are really looking forward to in the SEC. And they're obviously looking forward to the road trips too. I know there's probably not a whole lot of difference between Ames, Iowa and Auburn, Alabama obviously looking forward to the road trips too. I know there's probably not a whole lot of difference between,

you know, Ames, Iowa and, and Auburn, Alabama, when you kind of look around size and stuff like that. There is in the stadium. There is in the stadium.

There is in the environment. There is in the care. And I think Texas is excited for that novelty factor too, to go and see that and, you know, hop on I-20 or I-10 and go see what the the southeast has to offer in some of these places that they never have gone to or rarely get to go to well and and that's that's the thing like texas at sanford stadium next year texas between the hedges

is going to be so cool that's gonna they're they're gonna be at between the hedges and at the swamp in 2025. That's going to be so much fun. Texas at LSU is going to be a ton of fun. There are just so many different matchups. And then, obviously, they get back going to Fayetteville, having Arkansas come to them. That is a bitterly hatred-filled rivalry. And so that is going to be great, too. Plus, Texas is going to fill some people's stadiums,

even if they don't normally fill. Now, Kentucky fills the stadium anyway. But that's going to be a tough ticket when Texas goes to Lexington. Yeah, and even looking forward to other trips like i've got family from mississippi i've been to startful before that's going to be an interesting day those cowbells are loud cowbells are loud the and i know texas is looking forward to making a return trip to the grove whenever that happens and you know obviously lsu is you know five hour six hours

from where i sit like that's a That's a trip everybody in Southeast Texas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston is able to make with a pretty regular drive and go see one of the best environments in college football. There's so much that people are looking forward to. Obviously, there's a lot to look forward to in other sports as well. Baseball, as we've mentioned. They take it as seriously as Texas does. And so Texas will be around a lot of like-minded people there. Right. And obviously with volleyball, men's and women's basketball, all the different sports, softball, there's a lot of excitement just for the newness and going and seeing and also while they're there seeing what they feel to be elevated competition well we're gonna find out joe thank you so much everybody uh well if you haven't gotten your

tickets for texas georgia your hotel room for texas georg're not going to, uh, the F1 races that weekend too, but this is going to be so much fun. Thank you, Joe. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you so much to Joe Cook from inside Texas to Eddie Radosevich, George Story III, and Kerry Murdoch from Sooner Scoop for all of their insight into one of the biggest moves in the history of college sports. Oklahoma and Texas are in the SEC now. I can start playing football games and that's where it gets really interesting. So get ready Sooners and Longhorns. You are about to truly understand the whole, it just means more thing. We'll talk to you tomorrow.