Welcome to ESPNU ... T. As in ESPN-University of Texas. As in, Notre Dame is no longer the only NCAA school that basically has its own network.
No, ESPN isn't abandoning the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big East and every other league it covers from here to eternity. All those will remain under the largest umbrella in television.
But Texas will now also have its own 24-hour network devoted to Longhorn sports, original series -- "Dallas: Who killed the Cowboys?," perhaps? -- studio shows, historical programming and other academic and cultural events.
It even guarantees its viewers one Texas football game per season and eight men's basketball contests.
Pregame and postgame shows will also be shown, as well as coaches' shows and coverage of lectures, visiting speakers and commencement ceremonies.
And this being Texas, where everything is supposedly bigger, ESPN will reportedly pay the 'Horns $300 million over 20 years for this privilege. Call it burnt orange gold. Texas tea.
(Note to Longhorn fans: Get ready for your local cable provider to package this in some obscure sports tier package that's going to add $9.99 a month to your bill largely for the purpose of watching Lady Longhorns basketball, men's tennis, 3 a.m. re-runs of the Mack Brown Show and a documentary on the proper procedure for cleaning Bevo XIV's stall.)
But we digress. The important thing is that we now know why Texas decided last summer to prop up the Big 12. It had 300 million reasons to stay put, though it insists it began discussing this concept as far back as 2007 and was always open with the rest of the conference about the possibility of this financial bonanza.
What should concern the rest of the BCS world is an 11-word phrase on the end of one sentence in ESPN's Thursday press release.
It read: "... and even high school coverage on an authenticated online/broadband site."
Oh, really? How convenient. The Longhorns decide they can't do without Willie Wideout from Waco, so they tell the coach they'll broadcast his games over the Internet if he can deliver the kid. Or maybe the high school coach approaches the school with the same deal.
Sure, it's a violation ... if it's reported. But either way it's bad precedent for a high-profile athletic power such as Texas -- or Ohio State, Tennessee, Florida, Southern Cal or Notre Dame, for that matter -- to be broadcasting high school athletic events on its website ... or a website run by ESPN that promotes said school.
Otherwise, Texas is more or less keeping up with the Joneses, who are also known as the Southeastern Conference, now that either CBS or ESPN virtually televises every SEC football and men's basketball game.
Certainly that other UT -- as Longhorn fans refer to the University of Tennessee -- might somewhat benefit from such a personal network. But the Vols and the rest of the SEC are already so close -- Kentucky basketball, for instance, already has 21 of its 30 regular-season games on either CBS or an ESPN channel this season -- that any of these schools having its own network seems a bit outrageous, particularly given that they already have their own websites that stream more live sports events every season.
But maybe this is the future. Every school for itself. More than 100 channels devoted to individual major athletic programs, all of them eventually subsidized by La-Z-Boy, Frito-Lay, divorce lawyers and a national chain of carpal tunnel syndrome clinics that specialize in TV remote control injuries.
Isn't overkill great? Way to Hoodwink 'Em, Horns.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273.