People have total amnesia about conference realignment. A&M to the SEC was a marriage of convenience but one that made sense for both parties.

OU, even with their trophies and legacy, had only marginal appeal to various conference decision makers around the country. It is is a crappy plan B academic institution which made it problematic for conferences like the Pac 12 or Big 10 that at least try to balance academics with athletics. They have very little national draw and basically are a parasite for the North Texas market. TV sets, which all that anyone cared about at the time, were not something the school could deliver. People also forget that Stoops was on a backslide at the time. The Sooners finished 4th in the Big 12 that year behind K-State, Baylor, and OSU.

Texas had national draw and academic appeal in spades but they recoiled in horror at the thought of hitching up with the various SEC Schools. They thought it would dilute their academic rep and prevent them from fully monetizing their brand. They were and still are not team players and would have been crappy partners from the get go.

A&M was an easier fit. Despite its less impressive win/loss record it was a superior economic machine to pretty much every SEC school and lifted the academic profile of the conference. We escaped the sinking ship that was the Big 12 and the SEC advanced their overall profile.