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statsman

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  1. Agree with all this. Texas’ interests will be in the minority of any mass vote, though. UT needs to form bonds with the very few other schools in a similar situation (likes sports success, has large resources)- ND, tOSU, Michigan, (ugh) Oregon, UGA, USC, (sorry, but true) TAMU, maybe Florida, PSU and others, to prepare to split off if needed.
  2. Looking at Phil Steele’s roster comparison from 2024 preseason… Ratings of (2025) draft eligible (3rd or later year) players: QB: Ewers (6 in nation), Arnold (too young) RB: OU’s Sawchick (11, he just portaled out, I think), Sam Franklin (68, I have no idea who this is), No Texas player listed, Blue was drafted. WR: Bond (11, UDFA), Burks (12, coming back), Anderson (15, portaled), Boldin (49, UDFA), Farouq (52, portaled), no Golden listed (1st round) TE: Helm (25, drafted), Sharp (48, portaled) Center: Majors (25, UDFA), Hickman (33, returning?) G: Banks (1, huge fuck up by Steele, some NfL guy must have told him Banks projected as guard, drafted 1st round), Conner (36 drafted), Campbell (38, returning), no Sooners T: sexton (68, returning), no Cam Williams (drafted) DE: Burke (11, passed by Simmons), Sorrell(23, drafted), Downs (43, UDFA) DT: Collins (19, drafted), Broughton (27, drafted), Damonic Williams (33, bad draft grade and returned), Lole (53, GA) OLB: T. Moore (5, returning), Stutsman (7, drafted), Lewis (21, returning), Finley (43, portaled) ILB: Gbenda (65) CB: Barron (17, 1st round), G. Williams (34, returning?) FS: Bowman (3, drafted), Taaffe (23, AA, return) SS: Mukuba (15, drafted) You see a trend- Texas players typically either outperformed the expectations or were supplanted. Sooners…not so much. Unit Rankings for preseason 2024- QB: Texas (1), OU (43) RB: Texas (10), OU (21) Receivers: Oklahoma (6!), Texas (19) OL: Texas (2), OU (47) DL: Texas (18), OU (21) LB: OU (2), Texas (4) DB: OU (2), Texas (16) Again, Texas units mostly met or exceeded expectations, OU not so much. Texas seems to be better at scouting and coaching players and positions.
  3. From 2000-2023, the Sooners held onto a belief that there was just something in the water in Austin that made football players soft and stupid, and that OU was just faster, smarter and toughler. Last year, they started to grudgingly admit that Texas was better (but not by as much as it looked! Texas had an easy schedule, and Littrell was retarded!) They have taken steps to get better this year. They see that Texas’ 2023 starting lineup is now almost fully gone to the NFL. They are believing again. Texas needs to spank them again. It’s the only way. I’m pretty sure that their schedule, from the Texas game on, will wear their one deep lineup down. They host Auburn early, in their first SEC game. Jackson Arnold will probably be the Auburn QB. I suspect that their three games Venables has circles are Michigan in week 2, Auburn and Texas. If he loses to Auburn (QBed by Arnold) and Texas, Venables might not finish the season.
  4. As far as player and unit comps- OU is biased, we’re biased (or, at least, I am biased), but Phil Steele will have both player and unit unbiased rankings to check.
  5. More roster reviews: This serves to show how so many fans just tune out on other teams, once their team has played them. They don’t think DJ Campbell is that impressive (despite his temptation to enter the draft). They didn’t watch Goosby play late in the season, in relief, so he doesn’t exist, to them. They don’t seem to remember Lefau, despite his large role in the RRS gameplan. They would have been thrilled to sign Brad Spence in the portal or Tyanthony Smith out of HS, but they didn’t, so they don’t really exist.
  6. I was looking at the FSU Warchant board. You have to wade through a lot of constant talk about their standing offers to join the SEC and B1G (once they free themselves from the ACC), and oh- which one should they choose?- but, once clear, I saw their comments about Marvin Jones, Jr. portaling to the starting DE at OU. They aren’t upset. They don’t miss him. They don’t wish him well. They think he half-assed it for them last year.
  7. This is awesome, from the SoonerScoop mailbag this week: I get it- their portal QB and RB have produced. Yes, DT is a worry for Texas. But, it is clear they have not paid attention to Colin Simmons, even after he ran down Hawkins in the RRS last year. Also, the four position groups he has rated better than Texas are the four that they probably have the most NIL committed to. Got to keep the fans interested.
  8. Thanks. I appreciate that LHF and TexasOne have different structures, and purposes. My concern was with the one commingled funding source- donors. The Big Cigars (all of whom probably have suites) are the ones the school calls upon for special funding- new facilities, fleeing a crappy conference, firing a coach and signing a five star WR. My concern was that, as a fan, I don’t want that big donor to say he is tapped out from paying for a new swim center weight room, and can’t help with the roster. You’ve satisfied my curiosity that this shit is managed, and that was all I needed.
  9. Of course they can. The right strategy, of course, is to start using the detached body parts of the first men to die as crude tools and weapons, in order to defeat the gorilla.
  10. The only part I care about is alignment in dunning contributors. I don’t want Big Cigars being worked for big donations to pay for a new tennis center, and then called by TexasOne to help cover portal needs. There needs to be coordination and prioritization
  11. Burks is a good example of how programs should be careful in the portal and NIL era. OU invested an amount that mattered to them, to sign him. When he got injured, and was unavailable, they hurt. Then, they had to recommit this spring, lest this talent get away and they have to spend more to replace it. Contrast that with Isaiah Neyor, a speedy WR portal transfer Texas brought in for 2022. He got injured before the season. It hurt not having him out there across from Worthy, drawing coverage or exploiting the attention Worthy got. But, that’s football. No one felt cheated. And, when the off season came, and Neyor rehabbed, Texas went out and signed AD Mitchell, who beat out Neyor. Texas wasn’t counting on Neyor for anything more than to compete. Neyor moved on to Nebraska for 2024. Texas signed three more WRs from the portal for that year. it’s supposed to be investing, not gambling. You don’t spend any money that you can’t lose, or the game is too rich for you.
  12. The WSJ had an article about elderly scams. You know the one where they use your family members’ public social media to learn that a teen is in Mexico? And then they have someone call the grandparents, claiming to be the kid and needing a few thousand $$? Evidently AI is making the voices more realistic. The article suggested having a code word for kids to say to let family know it’s really them.
  13. Aah, so this Deathstar is fully operational. Now we see that Bevo, not Nandi, is the bull god that is the faithful mount of Shiva, the destroyer. Or, maybe Moloch.
  14. That is fantastic! I didn’t know that- is that a new development?
  15. This is a terrific topic, as this (financial means) is one of the key pillars of the program. Bellmont has decades of experience in raising funds from football boosters (the other big extra revenue source is marketing t shirts and other stuff to rank and file fans). These donations funded other athletic programs, facilities and occasional coach contract buyouts (to avoid taking on too much debt). Bellmont fund raisers (there is a dedicated professional group assigned to this function) have not asked donors to fund player pay. In the past, other programs would have informal cooperation between a coach staff and boosters to fund disallowed player pay, typically five to low six figures, often in cash. Texas didn’t do that. Current disconnect- does anyone disagree that TexasOne needs should be a higher priority than Bellmont-LHF needs? I don’t know that TexasOne should roll into Bellmont, or vice versa, but I do think coordination between the two is needed, especially as the competition with other well funded programs increases. Are we moving in that direction?
  16. Don’t forget FSU! Nole Nation, baby! The Sooners don’t get it. Texas is a lot bigger than Oklahoma. A lot more people want to watch Texas, than OU. A lot more people want to hate watch Texas, than want to hate watch OU. I do suspect that there is some big donor OU money on the sidelines right now, waiting for the Venables regime to end. They’re thinking that there is no point in throwing good money after bad.
  17. Straight into my veins. I love this so much. The masses of college football will rise up, shouting, “This is wrong! We need the Sooners!”
  18. I know Tech will spend to win a bidding war, but is their full roster really funded to that level? Also- don’t the Ags have an expensive roster (I know they have to pay Himbo and their 2022 recruit glass is to the wind; I thought they still had a rich donor base to mobilize, even if in idiotic manner)?
  19. RIP. I saw her open for Lloyd Cole, back in the day.
  20. OU thought they led for the WR, Miles, out of Duncanville. He committed to SMU and the Sooners are questioning everything… I have to admit- they’re smarter than Aggies. Liucci would just tell them that they had an even better prospect lined up, one who “get” A&M, and the goobers would all be happy.
  21. For all the tradition, I can only think of a few Longhorns with raw athletic dominance akin to men playing against boys- Nobis, Campbell, Ricky Williams. Maybe Derrick Johnson? On this team, I think Collin Simmons is in that category. Is Anthony Hill? These are the good times.
  22. Caveat: I, “statsman”, do not know shit about fuck on this topic- I have seen rumblings that a delay in the “House settlement” would cause chaos in college football. Observation- in the last couple of transfer portals, teams have retained key players better than before. Hypothesis: Have P4 teams all assumed that they will be allowed to budget $15M for football next year, out of AD revenue, which represents a big increase for about 80% of the schools in P4? Allowing them to retain and recruit. Would a delay in the “House settlement” require them to make up budget shortfalls from donors, causing extreme stress in program support? Or, in such an event, would AD’s just go ahead and write the checks to players anyway, and worry later about any consequences?
  23. Thx- on my phone I couldn’t tell that it was picked
  24. OU did well on defense in 2023 with three deep DL JAGs, on short rotations, instructed to give it their all on every play, because they would be rotated out quickly. That’s our floor, next year. If a couple of guys can play, we’ll be good.
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