Univ. of Texas men's AD Steve Patterson yesterday "added some clarity" to former football coach Mack Brown's recent trip to Dubai, hinting that UT "will play games in the Middle Eastern emirate -- just not football games," according to Dennis Dodd of CBSSPORTS.com. Patterson at the Big 12's spring meetings said of the United Arab Emirates, "It's also the country that paid Tiger Woods $2 million and skip the Phoenix Open each year. What does that mean with what we might do with a golf team? Duke went over there and played basketball a few years ago.” Dodd noted new UT men's basketball coach Shaka Smart "will take the Longhorns to China to play Washington in November." Patterson said that the trip "will not be a one off." He added UT is “still having conversations” about playing a football game in Mexico City. Patterson: "If the entry path happens to be sports, great. It's a de-politicized path that people can rally around." Dodd wrote by the "looks of things, Patterson is just beginning to flex his muscle at an inherited title at Texas -- becoming one of college athletics' most powerful persons" (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/6).
