On Wednesday, Texas’ Director of Athletics Chris Del Conte was featured on The Paul Finebaum Show, where he talked about COVID’s affect on NIL, conference scheduling, and the Red River Rivalry.
With Texas’ move to the SEC becoming official on July 1, Del Conte acknowledged that there were several unforeseen circumstances that played a factor in the decision to move on from the Big 12.
The controversy that COVID caused in all of college sports gave Del Conte the opportunity to evaluate what was best for the school moving forward.
On the show, Del Conte credited the move due to “galvanizing factors” such as NIL opportunities and new television contracts, per Joe Cook. Had COVID never happened, is it possible the wild era of conference realignment we’ve seen in recent years doesn’t happen? Unlikely, but it’s interesting to think as to how things might have been different, or at least delayed.
Cook also mentioned that Del Conte is in favor of a nine-game conference schedule including the neutral site game that they will play against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Texas Football is scheduled to open the 2024 season against Colorado State on Saturday, Aug. 31 before its playing the defending national champions in the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Sep. 7.
Last year, the Longhorns were crowned Big 12 Champions and made the College Football Playoff before losing to Washington. With upcoming matchups against Georgia, Oklahoma, and Kentucky, expectations will remain very high in Austin.
