February 9th, 2023 at 9:20 PM ^
Anyone wanna go?
February 10th, 2023 at 12:10 AM ^
uh …. yeah
February 9th, 2023 at 9:21 PM ^
Fox execs playing chess with OU and Texas…gotta love it lol
February 9th, 2023 at 9:28 PM ^
Makes sense. This is a business move and Fox is losing the two biggest names in a conference for which it has broadcast rights. So it loses a lot of value if they leave early. By flipping the games, they get rights to a huuuuge early regular season game through its B1G package, which helps recoup some value.
Jogging stuff around like this is good business practice.
"Texas is back" vs, uh, maybe, I'd like to hope, the defending national champs.
I'm actually not that sanguine about this particular game because I think our roster will be heavily depleted in 2024, but that's because our roster is peaking in 2023.
February 9th, 2023 at 9:34 PM ^
Yeah, it feels like we're going to need to hit the portal hard if we want to avoid a rebuilding year in 2024...
February 9th, 2023 at 9:58 PM ^
Eh. I think JJ returns. ‘24 class will have Caleb, Maye, Penix, Ewers…all potential top 15 picks.
Michigan will have Clemons, Loveland, Walker, Morris. At this point I expect UM to have a strong OL on an annual basis as Moore does a fabulous job of developing talent. The question is at Rb. Will Stokes and Cobana develop? Will a frosh lead them?
Defense will have Will Johnson, Hill, Graham, Moore, Sabb, Berry, Etta, Haussmann, Rolder, etc.
Plus, whatever the portal brings in.
I don’t know if Michigan will be a top five team, but they should be solid contenders for the conference. That said, much remains unknown a year out.
February 9th, 2023 at 10:15 PM ^
I agree with everything here except Ewers being in the 2024 NFL draft class.
Arch Manning will be starting at QB by week 4 and Ewers will be transferring to like South Carolina or Arkansas at this time next year.
February 10th, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^
Or JJ goes pro and Ewers transfers here
February 9th, 2023 at 10:41 PM ^
I don't understand how this helps Fox. They were always going to have the rights to the game played in Ann Arbor. If Texas stayed in the Big 12 until 2025, then Fox would have the rights to the game in Austin too, but now that game will belong to ESPN because Texas will be in the SEC when it's played.
February 9th, 2023 at 11:17 PM ^
The return game is in 2027
February 10th, 2023 at 2:18 AM ^
But that's exactly my point. The TV rights for a nonconference game belong to the conference of the home team (and obviously are then sold to the networks).
So Fox, by virtue of their deal with the Big Ten, should have the TV rights for the game that's played in Ann Arbor, regardless of whether that game is played in 2024 or 2027.**
Fox is also the primary holder of the Big 12 TV rights, so they would have the rights for the game in Austin if it's played before Texas leaves for the SEC. If the game in Austin is played after Texas leaves, then ESPN will have the rights.
By switching the dates of the series and allowing Texas to leave early, they have guaranteed that the Austin game will not belong on them. If no deal had been struck (meaning Texas didn't leave until 2025 and the Austin game stayed 2024), then Fox would have had the rights to both the game in Ann Arbor and the game in Austin.
**I suppose it's possible the Ann Arbor game could go to CBS or NBC, depending on how the new deal's game-assignment process works. But if that's the case, it should have made Fox even more interested in having the Austin game.
February 10th, 2023 at 3:20 AM ^
1. With the SEC likely going to 9 conference games, a bunch of SEC, Texas and Oklahoma nonconference games are going to be cancelled. There is no guarantee the '27 game in AA ever would have been played without this deal. In fact, Texas could also screw Fox by cancelling the '24 Austin game too if they really wanted to play hardball. Fox could have lost both games.
2. Michigan also has a two game series against Oklahoma scheduled for 2025 and 2026. Don't be surprised if we hear there is also some sort of agreement those games will not be cancelled as part of the SEC's move to 9 conference games,
February 11th, 2023 at 8:28 PM ^
Doubt the SEC goes to 9 conference games.
February 9th, 2023 at 9:22 PM ^
Also seeing it here:
From the middle of my ESPN link:
A key part of the deal to let the two schools out early was a game flip of a non-conference matchup between Michigan and Texas, sources told ESPN. Texas will now visit Michigan in 2024 in Ann Arbor and Michigan will return the game in Austin in 2027, according to sources. That game had been scheduled to play out the opposite way. The flip was a key driver in Fox agreeing to the deal, per sources.
I was all set to post a thread on it when I saw your OP first.
February 9th, 2023 at 9:26 PM ^
Cool. Look forward to it
February 9th, 2023 at 9:30 PM ^
Okay, cool, hook 'em.
February 9th, 2023 at 9:34 PM ^
Any idea what time the game starts, I haven’t seen it posted anywhere
Texas better be prepared for The Tunnel
February 9th, 2023 at 9:36 PM ^
Will be interesting. UM will be in a presumed rebuilding year in ‘24. Texas should have a very good team but who the hell trusts sark coaching a team? Will be interesting how everything unfolds.
February 9th, 2023 at 9:49 PM ^
It will be interesting to see what state Texas is in. 23 is going to be a year of qb controversy and every B12 team taking one last shot at them. I don't have a lot of faith that Sark is going to guide them through that very well.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:08 AM ^
Presumably, Texas will still be in the state of Texas.
February 10th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^
Bet me to it.
February 10th, 2023 at 3:29 PM ^
I'm honestly surprised someone didn't make the joke in the 11 hours it was there before I posted.
February 9th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
Maybe him and MSC can grab a few during halftime.
February 10th, 2023 at 9:54 AM ^
Yeah, I'm not sure Sark makes it to that game.
February 9th, 2023 at 9:39 PM ^
Hopefully JJ is still in Ann Arbor and grooming Jadyn Davis to take over in 2025
February 9th, 2023 at 9:44 PM ^
Just in case anyone is questioning their memory and sanity, when this serious was first announced (in 2014, by AD Dave Brandon and Head Coach Brady Hoke), the schedule was supposed to be Ann Arbor 24, Austin 27. At some point in 2019, the venues swapped. This adjustment is changing it back to the original schedule.
Now the big non-con games are home vs Texas in 2024, OU 2026 (both years with @OSU like this year) and away @OU 2025, @UT 2027 (@Washington 2028) barring future changes.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:54 AM ^
If I remember correctly. When it was scheduled the MSU and Ohio State games were Home and Away. They changed the Texas game once those games switched to home games.
February 10th, 2023 at 12:21 PM ^
You remember incorrectly. The MSU game became away in even years, same as OSU, with the new B1G divisions in 2014, announced in 2013. The Texas series was announced in 2014, so the 2024 schedule would have been Texas home, MSU/OSU away.
The Texas change happened for the first time in 2019, a year before the 2020 schedule swapped MSU to home in even years. See the complaints in the below thread around the 2024 schedule including away games at Texas, MSU and OSU.
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/michigan-vs-texas-2024-and-2027-tweak
February 10th, 2023 at 1:52 PM ^
Thank you
February 9th, 2023 at 9:46 PM ^
Booo! I was planning on going to the game in Austin.
February 9th, 2023 at 9:46 PM ^
Dang, now the 2024 game is 1,333 miles further away!!!!
the whole family was planning on going to the 2024 game here.
sigh
February 10th, 2023 at 7:57 AM ^
Look on the bright side - you have three more years to save up for the game in 2027!
See, there's always something to look forward to! Glad I could help...
February 9th, 2023 at 9:51 PM ^
So maybe we will get a 24 home schedule with Texas, USC, Penn State, and MSU. That would be a nice make up for the ass home schedule that is 2023.
February 9th, 2023 at 10:11 PM ^
That isn’t happening. If UM plays SC in “24 it will be replacement for MSU or PSU.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:58 AM ^
Could also replace Nebraska or Wisconsin, which would make it a home game.
February 9th, 2023 at 10:18 PM ^
We may soon find out ---according to reports I read recently, one of the top agenda items in the upcoming B1G commissioners meeting is the 2024 schedule, which is needing a rewrite because of the addition of UCLA and USC.
And though this might very well change, we were originally scheduled for 5 conference home games in 2024, plus we already had Fresno St (Aug 31) and Arkansas St (Sept 21) scheduled to visit Ann Arbor. Shifting the Texas game to Ann Arbor in 2024 likely means 8 home games.
February 10th, 2023 at 3:32 AM ^
I have no problem with this.
February 9th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
Texas might be breaking in another head coach if Sark has another year in 2023 like his first two.
February 9th, 2023 at 10:06 PM ^
Imagine if the B1G could also poach Washington & Oregon, the Pac 12 would be just abysmal!!! Even worse than the ACC and Big 12, which would take some doing.
February 10th, 2023 at 12:09 AM ^
I feel like if that happened Stanford and Notre Dame would round out the 20.
Notre Dame seeing 2 of its 3 rivals according to them in the B1G would force their hand.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:00 AM ^
Fuck Notre Dame.
Let them languish in the requirement of going undefeated to get a good seed in the new 12-team format because of the weak-ass state of the ACC.
February 9th, 2023 at 10:12 PM ^
Not sure how to feel...I was looking forward to getting out to Austin next year, but I definitely can't complain about a home game.
February 9th, 2023 at 10:21 PM ^
Ditto, wanted to go to Texas
February 9th, 2023 at 10:31 PM ^
Pretty disappointed with this, had recruited a bunch of people for a trip down there and was pretty excited about it. Wish they'd just flipped the TV rights to the game instead of the site. We haven't had a marquee out of conference road game (except against Notre Dame) in forever
February 9th, 2023 at 11:25 PM ^
Well, we have Texas, Oklahoma, and Washington in the next five years. Of course, Oklahoma wasn’t exactly “marquee” this year…
February 9th, 2023 at 10:57 PM ^
Now let's rejigger the schedule so we play them in November... see how they like 40 degrees and raining.
Not gonna happen, I know... but it would be fun.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:11 AM ^
28 and snow is much nicer. Just ask any Buckeye fan.
February 9th, 2023 at 11:15 PM ^
Finally, Michigan gets a home game against an SEC opponent. All we had to do was schedule the game before they joined the SEC.
last two home games vs the SEC: 2006 and 1969, both vs. Vanderbilt.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:12 AM ^
Vandy is the class of the SEC. … academically…