At that time, the most powerful man in the state of Texas was Bob Bullock, the Lieutenant Governor and longtime Texas Democrat who held degrees from both Baylor and Texas Tech.

Ann Richards, the Governor, was a Baylor graduate, and the head of the Texas House was a Texas Tech graduate.

Think about it this way: George W. Bush was basically anointed Governor by Bullock because he was sick and tired of Ann Richards' bullshite. As soon as Bullock, a Democrat, turned against her, she was finished.

When Bullock had to retire before the 1998 election (and died shortly thereafter) that opened the door for a fairly vicious contest for Lieutenant Governor between former A&M roommates and classmates Rick Perry (R) and John Sharp (D).

The former is about to end his third and final term as governor and the latter is the chancellor of the A&M system.

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Posted by texashorn

Member since May 2008

13122 posts

Posted on 9/6/13 at 5:05 pm to CGSC Lobotomy

The UT president at the time, William Cunningham, disputes that Richards and Bullock put pressure on anyone.

I'll take his viewpoint over people commenting on here who were teenagers (or younger) at the time of the Big 12's formation.

Q&A: Former UT System Chancellor William Cunningham talks money, power and politics

quote:
There has been great mystery about why Baylor and Texas Tech were selected to join Texas A&M and UT in the creation of the Big 12. Speculation was that Gov. Ann Richards and Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock forced their selection, but you say that was not true. What did happen?

I never heard from Richards on this subject. She may have talked with some of our regents or officials at other universities, but she never contacted me, and no one ever told me that Richards was interested in the Big 12.

Bullock did convene a meeting to discuss realignment with officials from UT and A&M. Bullock’s major concern was that A&M might be moving to the SEC and thereby would diminish the new Big 12. I made it very clear that UT favored A&M, Baylor and Tech joining the Big 12, along with UT. I supported these schools joining the Big 12 because they had a record of good attendance at athletic events and were of high academic quality.

There is no question in my mind that Baylor was admitted to the Big 12 based on its own qualifications, not on political intervention. With regard to this issue, Bullock was as light-handed with me as I had ever seen him, and when Bullock really wanted something to happen, he was anything but light-handed.

You also write that UT first was asked to join the SEC back in 1989. You decided that UT wouldn’t depart the SWC without Texas A&M leaving with you. You say that you and the then-A&M president realized your schools “were joined at the hip.” Do the schools see it that way now?

UT and A&M have gone their separate ways with regard to athletics. However, they still collaborate on numerous academic and research endeavors, share a common mission within higher education, are both of vital importance to the state of Texas, and have many additional interests in common.