If the Texas A&M hate for Texas couldn't get any worse....that may have changed today. After losing in the College World Series final vs. Tennessee, the Longhorns take their coach.



COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - The day after Texas A&M finished runner up at the College World Series, head coach Jim Schlossnagle is leaving to become Texas’ next head baseball coach according to multiple reports.

Schlossnagle worked with now Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte when they were both at TCU.
The Longhorns announced their firing of head baseball coach David Pierce Monday morning, just hours before Texas A&M and Tennessee squared off in a winner-take-all matchup for the College World Series title.

Speculation then emerged regarding both Jim Schlossnagle and the Volunteers’ head coach Tony Vitello.

Jim Schlossnagle is accepting the Texas baseball head coaching job

The day after Texas A&M finished runner up the College World Series head coach Jim Schlossnagle is leaving to become Texas’ next head baseball coach according to multiple reports.

www.kbtx.com

No visitors. I’m told there aren’t many spots left in the 2025 class at the high school level.

I don't know who this guy is but has some interesting tweets:
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Bdnewton must be vacay-ing this week. Hopefully somewhere with a lot of surf, salt, sand and Tequila.

Gotta keep the posts going for Michael Gonzalez day! Really developed into a great, versatile OL for us!

Dunks returning very soon!

In honor of bdnewton, today is day 69! Over at cardchronicle, it’s OC Brian Brohm Day!

Back to the NCAA tournament in 2025!

Two things: baseball only generates $215K? I mean, that's not nothing, but hardly much at all in the grand scheme. Ditch the ticket sales. Also, $3M for construction/renovation of Patterson. I think this was a re-approval, but it's on the agenda again. Let's get it done. I couldn't agree more about improving the overall aesthetics of the stadium.

Which schools have reached out since the contact period started?

“LSU, VCU’s Ryan Odom, George Washington’s Coach Caputo, Providence’s Kim English, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, North Carolina, Louisville’s Pat Kelsey, NC State’s Kevin Keatts, Georgetown, Ohio State, Penn State, Villanova’s Kyle Neptune, Kansas, Texas A&M, Virginia.”

What are your thoughts on Pat Kelsey and Louisville?

“I feel like it’s a great look, he gives the University of Louisville a new face like a fresh start, and Pat Kelsey seems like an amazing coach. I haven’t been around him yet but I’ve spoken to him on the phone and he sounds like he has a good soul and pure intentions. Great coach, a winner, and coaches hard, looking forward to building a relationship with him.”

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This article covers highlights of the just released Ohio State Athletics budget. There is a link to a similar article for Michigan at the end of the Ohio State article.

There are some pictures of Louisville athletes on the WBB's facebook page visiting the Just For Kids Hospital. Harris is wearing a boot on her left foot. Anybody here know what her injury is?

To this day next year!

Only 136 days until PK’s Cards tip off!

Here’s my take on last month’s ULAA balance statement. It arrived with the budget that I posted on here. LINK

Assets

Liquidity is the most critical issue we’re facing as the cash drain continues. Cash reported on the last quarterly (March 31) had a negative balance, and it declined an additional $1.2 million the last two months from -$4.9 million to -$6.1 million. Current assets including cash declined from $5.8 million in March to $0.9 million in May. The Republic Bank credit line balance held at $9 million. Subtracting the credit line, NET current assets are now -$8.1 million.

Here are comparable values for May 31 in each of the last three years. 2021 was the year impacted by Covid and when the line of credit was set up…

2020: Total assets = $269 million; net current assets = +$18.8 million
2021: Total assets = $258 million; net current assets = +$1.2 million
2022: Total assets = $248 million; net current assets = -$8.1 million

U of L is systematically experiencing a decline of around $10 million annually in the financial scale of its athletic department. From 2004 until 2017, we increased in size by $15 million annually. Continuing from where we were in 2017, total assets would have been approaching $400 million today. Most of the decline has been cash and liquid/current items. This is because our revenues do not consistently meet expenses.

Net Position

U of L’s net position (NP) or its value after you subtract liabilities has declined to $93 million, down from $99 million last May. NP was $156 million as recently as September 2019. Per the Republic Bank loan covenants, the original credit line was advanced with the provision that NP was >$90 million.

Not sure whether that’s a call provision or not, but U of L is teetering on the edge of a potential issue with Republic. For sure, our status to borrow further is in question.

Where are we headed?

You fix a cash burn problem by raising revenue and/or cutting expenses. Not since Owsley Frazier has U of L had a big donor who helped them meet operating expenses.

Cash burn has existed most of the last five years. The current folks in charge are probably trying to bring in more money. It just hasn’t happened. And after five years, it’s unlikely to be within their capabilities. They’ve been unwilling to simply cut operating expenses which are budgeted to be UP another $7 million in 2023. They evidently don’t want the mantra of downsizing athletics (which will happen anyway.)

U of L still has a large base of fixed assets. A typical operation would look to sell or liquidate fixed assets to meet critical cash needs. I’m not sure U of L has that option beyond selling a golf course or a parking lot somewhere.

Unfortunately, the pace of decline is too great and the financial hole too deep to reasonably expect Josh Heird to make an impact soon. This would be hard for anyone to pull off, much less a new guy in that position. We’re down around $15 million in current assets since Heird took the interim job, which is comparable to the declines in 2020 and 2021 for the same time period. There’s been no improvement.

Ahhh ... if only we were rich too. SMU's record $100 million raised in 1 week was just the beginning. They added $59 million .... I have no idea how this will translate to the playing field or court. But this is a nice foundation, and impressively just scratching the surface of what they could do.

I hope they CRUSH their out-of-conference slates. Their conference slate seems do-able. They play BC, Cal, Pitt, and Florida State at home. On the road they play us, Duke, Stanford and Virginia.




SMU Athletics Celebrates Record-Breaking Fundraising Year Heading Into The ACC

Jun 18

Story Links
DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU Athletics Department is thrilled to announce a historic milestone in its fundraising efforts, raising a record-breaking $159 million during the 2023-2024 fiscal year. This unprecedented achievement underscores the unwavering support and commitment of the SMU community, alumni, and supporters towards advancing the university's athletic programs.

This landmark fundraising year was punctuated by an unprecedented $100 million donated in just seven days following the September 1 announcement that SMU would be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) on July 1, 2024. These transformative gifts came from the newly formed First Week Society, a collection of 30 individuals whose generosity launched a $125 million campaign to support the department's transition to the ACC.

Additionally, fundraising success was highlighted by a record number of principal and major gifts, as well as a record number of Mustang Club members.

Fundraising success was punctuated by:
A record 4 eight-figure gifts
A record 35 seven-figure gifts
A record 82 six-figure gifts
Capital Support: A substantial portion of the funds will be dedicated to the Weber End Zone Complex, SMU's 192,500 square foot football operations center and club space set to open for the 2024 football season
ACC Competitiveness Campaign: Following the First Week Society's $100 million, SMU launched a $25 million campaign with 100% of the proceeds benefitting the department's transition to the ACC.
A record 4,831 Mustang Club members

Happy Saturday.
Stay cool today. It will be a hot one.

On the Basketball Forum, I posted a couple threads on recent finances. These are regular updates, and here are the links for anyone interested...

May 31 Financial Results
2023 Budget

I'm moving much of this info and perhaps the discussions that ensue to the free side of the pay wall for a couple reasons. One is that people who aren't Rivals subscribers ask me about reading it. On the free side, they can.

The other reason is that too many paying subscribers here complain about the topic and my posting on it. So now you don't have to read it here. If you're curious, @Ty Spalding didn't ask me to do this.

When I post a new financial thread, I'll also post a notice here for people who don't normally stray from the premium forum. And I'll still post here mostly on non-financial stuff...

the ncaa approved recommendation that 25% of teams within a sport be eligible for post season. going to have to do this across any sport that can generate money to help schools pay the few billion to past athlete for NIL losses.


The NCAA has presented a plan to Division I conference commissioners that would expand the men's and women's basketball tournaments by four or eight teams alongside an option to leave each field at 68 teams, a source confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.

The proposals were outlined to the commissioners this week by NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt and NCAA vice president for women's basketball Lynn Holzman, the source said. Under the proposal, expansion of the 68-team field included both four- and eight-team models. The NCAA would keep its 64-team bracket but would add play-in games involving the Nos. 10 through 12 seeds. If the men's tournament expands, it is expected the women's tourney would as well. Yahoo Sports first reported on the proposals.

There are many in college basketball who have said they believe the 68-team fields and three weekends of play are ideal, but pressure has grown to add teams and games to one of the most popular sports events on the U.S. calendar. Last year, the NCAA Division I board of directors approved recommendations that included allowing one-quarter of teams in larger sports to compete in championship events; in that scenario, the March Madness tournaments could expand to nearly 90 teams.

Sources told ESPN during this year's tournaments that ongoing discussions about expanding March Madness would result in no more than 80 teams for the men's event.

The NCAA is in the midst of an eight-year extension of its TV deal for the men's tournament worth $8.8 billion that runs through 2032. That would not be expected to change if a handful of teams are added.

More games would provide a small boost through ticket sales and merchandise, but the pool of money the NCAA uses to pay out conferences and member schools would essentially stay the same. What could change, however, is how that money would be divided up if the tournament broadens.

Expansion would also mean the men's tournament would have to find an additional site besides Dayton for its First Four games. The Ohio city already has games on Tuesday and Wednesday and wouldn't be able to host additional play-in games ahead of the tournament's traditional Thursday first round. Women's play-in games are at the same campus sites as the first two rounds of the tournament.

Expansion is largely backed by larger conferences, and smaller leagues do not want to lose the automatic bids that come with a conference tournament championship or face the prospect of always being slotted for the play-in games.

The earliest the NCAA tournament could expand would be the 2025-26 season, the source said. The NCAA basketball oversight committee meets next week, and the tournament selection committee has a meeting next month.


The men's tournament last expanded in 2011 when it went from 65 to 68 teams. The women's tournament went from 64 to 68 teams in 2022.

The women's tournament is coming off its most successful year ever that included a record audience of 18.7 million for the title game win by South Carolina over Iowa, the highest for a basketball broadcast of any kind in five years. It outdrew the men's championship game -- when UConn claimed its second consecutive title with a win over Purdue -- by nearly 3 million viewers. The women's tournament also had record attendance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

According to them the Big 12 has indicated they would be interested in Louisville and Miami if or when the ACC implodes. Wonder where they got the info? They also stated the obvious, it would be a good fit. Timing is interesting

ACC network is replaying last season's Miami - Louisville game.

Set your DVR's.