Sports

Big 12 AD claims Longhorn Network actually saved the conference

Texas Longhorns On SI · Jul 22, 2026 22:00 · 3 min read

Big 12 AD Claims Longhorn Network Actually Saved The Conference — Texas Longhorns helmet on the field before a game against the Rice Owls at Reliant Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Longhorn Network was huge for the Texas Longhorns and also for the other Big 12 programs.

To say that the Longhorn Network was polarizing among college football fans, especially those of other Big 12 programs, would be an understatement.

Launched in 2011, the Texas Longhorns gained a one-of-a-kind monopoly in the college football landscape, with the Longhorn Network serving as a 24/7 channel strictly for University of Texas athletics.

Although no longer in production after Texas' move to the SEC, the Longhorn Network undoubtedly stirred up the emotions of plenty of athletic directors, coaches, and fans of other Big 12 programs over the decade of the channel's existence. However, one Big 12 athletic director who saw the Longhorn Network's entire lifespan has a different view.

Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard Tells His Viewpoint of the Longhorn Network

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard speaks to the crowd during the introduction of the university’s 34th head football coach, Jimmy Rogers. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

On an appearance on The Smoak Show, Iowa State Cyclones Athletic Director Jamie Pollard talked about his experience with the Longhorn Network as someone working in the Big 12 and how instrumental the channel was for other Big 12 programs and keeping the conference intact.

"Iowa State fans owe so much to DeLoss Dodds and the Longhorn Network, and they don't even realize it," Pollard said. "Because the Longhorn Network, everyone thinks it was the demise of the Big 12, but the Longhorn Network actually kept the Big 12 together. Had ESPN not given Texas the Longhorn Network, Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State were all leaving to go to the Pac-12."

If modern conference realignment has been unprecedented, the potential move that was on the table for the Longhorns in 2010 was much bigger than the changes in today's college football.

The then Pac-10 was making a push for a super conference called the Pac-16, which, as Pollard stated, would've seen Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, along with Colorado, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech join the likes of USC, UCLA, and Oregon.

However, one of the biggest reasons for the move not taking place was Texas being keen on creating the Longhorn Network, which would be up and running in 2011. And through disputes with Texas leadership and Pac-10 leadership, talks fell through, and the Longhorns opted to remain in the Big 12, which in turn helped the other smaller programs in the conference.

"In the end, DeLoss blocked it because he got the deal with the Longhorn Network," Pollard said. "And at that moment he decided we'll share revenues equally...Iowa State, Baylor, and Oklahoma State all got better from that moment on because suddenly we got money that we didn't have before, and DeLoss Dodds and the Longhorn Network deserve credit for that."

And while many people around the Big 12 during that time and maybe even today think the Longhorn Network ruined that version of the Big 12. Someone who worked as the Athletic Director of a Big 12 program saw the Longhorn Network as a benefit to every program in the conference, sometimes to Texas' own detriment.

"You only got money from TV when you got on TV, and if you weren't good, you didn't get money. You couldn't catch up, and when we started sharing revenue, ironically that hurt Texas," Pollard said. "Texas, I don't think, won another championship in football or basketball after that. And all of a sudden Baylor got good, Oklahoma State, Iowa State got good, and our facilities, everything that we gained was because we got a bigger piece of the Big 12 revenue."

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