The Horns were never going to play the Sun Devils, Del Conte said. A previously scheduled 2024 matchup was replaced with a game against Louisiana-Monroe, which Texas stomped 51-3. ASU had to cancel a matchup with the Warhawks to make that happen, and Texas agreed to play ASU nearly a decade later, at the time, giving the Horns nearly a decade before they could decided on whether to play the game at all.
“We actually canceled that game six or seven months ago,” Del Conte said on the “On Second Thought” podcast. “It just hit the newspaper now, but it was a mutually agreed upon thing.”
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And what of a matchup of blue bloods with Notre Dame, a series that’s scheduled for 2028 and 2029? It is seemingly contingent on if the playoff is expanded. Last month, university presidents and athletic directors could not come to an agreement on how many teams should be added so the bracket will remain at 12 for the 2026 season.
Del Conte has always been a proponent of expansion but will keep those Notre Dame cards close to his vest in the meantime.
“Are we at 12 teams or are we at 16?” he sad. “There’s been floated out ideas of 24 teams. I will tell you that the most critical thing for us to do for the value of our TV partners in college is always the regular season. The regular-season economics are so critical to our enterprise.”
Here’s what we do know. The Longhorns are printing money and the football team is a cash cow but a national championship is still the goal. If the playoff stays at 12 teams, expect the Notre Dame series to go away because the risk of an early-season loss is too great because it could hurt the loser’s chance of getting in the field.
The SEC is all about 16 but the Big Ten was pushing for 24. One would think they could have reached some sort of compromise but it didn’t happen after the January deadline to announce expansion passed.
Now, if it ends up at 16 teams or more, there is more incentive to schedule more blue bloods because it’s well worth the risk knowing your team can still get in at 9-3.
CDC is playing chess even if some of the leaders helping govern the sport have yet to put away the checker board.