Sports
November 28, 2023
Can Mike Elko Bring Stability to Texas A&M Football?
Few programs can recruit or raise money as well as the Aggies. This week, A&M hired Elko to coach the team to its championship potential.
College Football
Sports
November 21, 2023
So Long, Longhorn Network
The Longhorn Network will go off the air next July. But the University of Texas’s pursuit of its own channel changed college sports forever.
Sports
November 14, 2023
What Else Could Texas A&M Afford With Jimbo Fisher’s Buyout Money?
The $77 million the university will pay Jimbo Fisher to not coach football could fund 1,666 full-tuition scholarships—or buy 17 billion Goldfish crackers.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Sports
November 13, 2023
Texas A&M Had to Fire Jimbo Fisher, Even With a $77 Million Buyout
At a program that covets football greatness—and whose donors will pay almost anything to attain it—firing Jimbo Fisher was an easy call.
Sports
November 1, 2023
“No Fun League” to Houston Cougars: Drop the Oilers Uniforms
The University of Houston football team wore “Luv Ya Blue” in its season opener, and NFL lawyers want to make sure it never happens again.
Sports
September 22, 2023
The TCU-SMU Football Rivalry Is Ending. Why Aren’t More Fans Upset?
The schools will play their last “Iron Skillet” game in 2025, but despite a century of history, the rivalry is ending with a whimper.
Sports
September 11, 2023
All Aboard the Texas Longhorns Bandwagon
With a win over Alabama and quarterback Quinn Ewers playing like the five-star talent he was recruited to be, UT is riding high.
Sports
September 5, 2023
How Texas’s NIL Law Drives Top High School Athletes Out of State
High school athletes are free to monetize their name, image, and likeness rights in thirty states. Texas ain’t one of ’em.
Sports
August 30, 2023
What the Texas Big 12 Football Coaches’ Favorite Musicians Tell Us About Them
Sark bangs Tupac, the Baylor and TCU coaches pump themselves up with Dave Matthews Band, and guess who loves Post Malone?
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Sports
August 15, 2023
Texas Ranked Above TCU? Of Course—It’s the Preseason
Though this year, the Longhorns have so much talent and experience that their number-eleven ranking feels appropriate (unless you’re in Fort Worth).
Sports
August 11, 2023
What Did We Learn From the Johnny Manziel Netflix Documentary?
As the NFL (and CFL, and AAF) washout prepares a College Station comeback, a new film tells Johnny Football's story.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Sports
August 8, 2023
How the Big 12 Survived the Conference-Realignment Feeding Frenzy
It was kill or be killed between the Big 12 and the Pac-12. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark struck first, and the rest is history.
Sports
July 19, 2023
Welcome to the Best Time of Year to Have Faith in UT and Texas A&M Football!
Glossy recruiting classes, promising quarterbacks, unmatched spending power—enjoy it now before they start underachieving.
Sports
June 6, 2023
Nick Saban Doesn’t Need to Fear the Longhorns’ and Aggies’ Money
The Alabama football coach warned that wealthy programs could dominate through NIL spending. But money can't buy what UT and A&M need most.
Sports
March 1, 2023
Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12?
They can and they will. NCAA conference realignment is making bizarre matchups like SMU versus Oregon the norm.
Sports
February 16, 2023
The Big 12 Doomsday Clock Is Ticking
The announcement of an official date for Texas and Oklahoma’s move to the SEC signaled the end of Texas college football as we know it.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Texas Football’s Greatest Rivalry Will Return—But at What Cost?
With the Texas Longhorns set to join the Southeastern Conference no later than in 2025, UT will play Texas A&M for the first time in more than a decade.
Sports
January 6, 2023
Please, Pretty Please: Everyone Keep Underestimating TCU
The 13–1 Horned Frogs will be no match for Georgia’s talent and size in the national championship game. Just like they were against Michigan.
Sports
December 29, 2022
Managing the Transfer Portal Was Key to TCU Football’s Dream Season
First-year head coach Sonny Dykes put as much effort into retaining TCU’s existing talent as he did recruiting new players.
Sports
December 20, 2022
Farewell to Bijan Robinson, the Best Running Back in College Football
The Texas Longhorns’ NFL-bound All-American deserves to be remembered alongside past greats like Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, and Cedric Benson.
Sports
December 16, 2022
In San Antonio, the Geriatric College Quarterback Reigns Supreme
Has any QB had a better season than seventh-year Incarnate Word star Lindsey Scott Jr.? Sixth-year UTSA star Frank Harris might have a case.
Sports
December 14, 2022
Mike Leach, the Madman Who Revolutionized Football
The author of ‘The Perfect Pass’ and ‘Empire of the Summer Moon’ reflects on Mike Leach’s coaching legacy.
Sports
December 13, 2022
There Will Never Be Another Mike Leach
The former Texas Tech football coach, revered for his offensive mind and beloved for his one-of-a-kind character, died Monday.
Sports
December 2, 2022
Heart Surgery, Foot Injuries, a Demotion to Backup—Max Duggan Overcame Them All
Undefeated TCU wouldn’t be playing for a Big 12 championship and a national semifinal berth without gritty senior quarterback Max Duggan.
Sports
November 16, 2022
Most Sports Figures Were “Paranoid Assholes” to This Writer. Mike Leach was “Fabulous.”
Author S. C. Gwynne calls his 2009 profile of the pirate-obsessed former Texas Tech coach part of the “golden era” of his journalism career.
Sports
November 15, 2022
Did Texas Blow Its Chance at TCU Coach Sonny Dykes in 2020?
After the Horned Frogs beat UT Saturday, reports that the Longhorns passed on Dykes for Steve Sarkisian left Texas fans wondering, “What if?”
Sports
November 2, 2022
Aggies Never Lose, But Will Jimbo Fisher Run Out of Time?
Texas A&M is riding its worst losing streak since 2005, and the only thing protecting Jimbo Fisher’s job is his huge guaranteed contract.
Sports
October 10, 2022
Is Quinn Ewers Texas’s Best Big-Game Quarterback Since Vince Young?
In his return from injury, Quinn Ewers and his burnt-orange mullet led UT to a 49–0 blowout win over the Oklahoma Sooners.
Sports
October 5, 2022
Sonny Dykes Has TCU Football Back in the Mix for a Big 12 Title
With a high-powered offense and a 4–0 start, why can’t the Horned Frogs bag their first conference title since 2014?
Sports
September 29, 2022
Joey McGuire Is Riding High in His First Season at Texas Tech
The Red Raiders coach said he received hundreds of congratulatory text messages after beating Texas, and he's just getting started.
Sports
September 20, 2022
Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M Staved Off Disaster—but for How Long?
The Aggies saved their season by beating Miami, but after the team’s dreadful start, every game will feel like a referendum on its coach.
Sports
September 12, 2022
Texas Shouldn’t Feel Too Satisfied Over Its Near-Upset of Alabama
A one-point loss to the top team in the country is a promising sign for the Longhorns, but they can still improve on Saturday’s performance.
Sports
September 1, 2022
Can Houston Football Figure Out a Way to Fill Seats?
The Cougars are nationally ranked and receive millions in university support—so why does UH consistently play in a half-empty home stadium?
Books
August 29, 2022
The ‘Moby Dick’ of Texas Football Novels Is Hard-hitting as Ever
West Texans didn’t much appreciate Don DeLillo’s ‘End Zone’ at the time, but it elevated the lexicon of football to high art.
Sports
August 16, 2022
For Once, the College Football Hype Train Misses Texas
While the Longhorns were left out of the preseason Top 25 for the first time since 2016, it’s time for number six Texas A&M to put up or shut up.
Sports
August 4, 2022
How to Decode College Football’s Summer of Greed? Look to Impish Booster Buddy Garrity of ‘Friday Night Lights.’
The beloved TV character, full of flaws and moral compromises, reminds us that big-time football has always been about excess.
Sports
July 7, 2022
NCAA Conference Realignment Got You Down? Blame Texas.
How UT sparked the chain reaction that killed traditional rivalries and created a college sports landscape dominated by super conferences.
Sports
June 24, 2022
Arch Manning Might Be Good Enough to Save Texas Football From Itself
No team does less with more quite like the Longhorns do, but even UT shouldn’t be able to spoil the next great Manning quarterback.
Sports
May 19, 2022
Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban Are Bickering Over Who Cheats Most
The Texas A&M football coach denied Saban’s claim that the Aggies “bought” all their players and called the accusation “despicable.”
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Sports
April 22, 2022
SMU Turned Eric Dickerson’s Gold Trans Am Into a Recruiting Image
Long a symbol of SMU football’s 1980s rule-breaking, the flashy car has become an edgy marketing strategy, and Dickerson loves it.
Sports
April 19, 2022
Will the Longhorns “Chase Money” in 2022, or Will They Chase Wins?
Amid an otherwise stellar off-season for UT football, a team leader’s public criticism has raised familiar questions about the program.
Sports
February 10, 2022
Joe Burrow’s Clutch Legend Was Born in Texas
Before leading the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl, the former LSU quarterback arrived on the national scene by icing the Longhorns in 2019.
Sports
February 8, 2022
The Passion of Eric Dickerson
With his ex-team in the Super Bowl and a new memoir on bookshelves, the Hall of Fame running back from Sealy, Texas, is back in the limelight.
Sports
January 25, 2022
Why Does UT’s $34 Million Head Coach Need a “Special Assistant”?
Ex-TCU coach Gary Patterson's move to Austin is a script only the deep-pocketed and dysfunctional Longhorns could write.
Sports
January 8, 2022
How Frisco Turned Itself Into Sports City USA
The Dallas exurb has built its tourism program around bringing big-time sporting events, like Saturday's FCS title game, to North Texas.
Sports
December 29, 2021
COVID Gave Texas A&M a Reason to Skip a Bowl the Aggies Didn’t Want to Play
Don't overlook the role of injuries, NFL draft opt-outs, and players leaving via transfer in the decision to withdraw from the Gator Bowl.
Sports
December 21, 2021
A Guide to All Sixteen Texas Bowl Games
From Baylor’s top-ten matchup in the Sugar Bowl to Texas Tech’s reunion with Mike Leach, here’s what college football fans need to know.
Sports
December 17, 2021
The “Other” Baylor Gears Up for a Shot at the National Championship
Head coach Pete Fredenburg runs the most dominant college football program in Texas at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Sports
December 15, 2021
Can Quinn Ewers Haul UT Football Out of the Gutter?
The quarterback transfer, originally from Southlake, has the talent, pedigree, and mullet to make the next few years special for Longhorn fans.
Sports
December 13, 2021
Dave Campbell Made Texas Football the Juggernaut It Is Today
The legendary sports journalist and founder of the indispensable magazine that bore his name died last week at the age of 96.