Except for football and some basketball, UT has the right to broadcast all home B12 games in every sport on LHN. Without a conference, UT has to negotiate with EVERY potential opponent in EVERY sport to convince them to allow LHN to broadcast a game. How does LHN do that? By paying the opposing school a hefty fee. Which is better? Paying nothing or paying a fee? And don't get me started on the difficulty UT would have scheduling schools from conferences that have their own networks. Stop overthinking this. Without conference membership to provide content, the LHN is worthless to UT and ESPN. UT has never desired independence and never will.