re: If Texas were to join the SEC, would A&M be mediocre again?

quote:

---

There is simply no way Texas will go to the SEC now, it's just not feasible. A&M and Arkansas will always block Texas and the SEC would not allow Texas without unanimous consent even though technically the bylaws require a 3/4 vote I believe. The rest of the SEC doesn't care for Texas much either as you don't play well with others. The SEC is a conference where all schools get a say and are respected, Texas simply doesn't fit with that. Texas would want to take over the SEC and run the show and that simply won't ever happen. The numbers also don't make sense. Texas is a huge brand and would help the SEC nationally but that isn't exactly a big problem for the SEC right now. They are already seen as the premier conference that dominates national ratings. Where it doesn't make sense is the SEC expansion has been driven by the SEC Network and adding states to that network in which they can charge "in state" rates. They already have this with A&M and to a lesser extent the hundreds of thousands of SEC grads and fans that live in Texas. The SEC Network is going to be partnered with ESPN and have 2-3 SEC games per week on it and thus it will get picked up by every significant provider in the State without Texas and it will do so for a healthy fee of $1-2 per month. That's the big money. Even if Texas dropped the LHN (which would certainly be a requirement) they don't add the State of Texas as A&M already has done that. Texas is certainly valuable still but it is less valuable to the SEC than any other conference because of this. It's also not going to happen on the Texas side. One of the keys to how A&M left was they got away alone and left Texas with Tech, Baylor, and now TCU. It was a huge tactical error when Texas claimed that the Big 12 would survive so long as they were in it. What you did with that is put the fortunes of those 3 schools on your tit. OU has the same problem with OSU. You can't just leave those schools without taking care of them from a political perspective, especially now what A&M won't make life any easier for you. The SEC certainly isn't going to take Texas along with any of those other schools, they have no reason to. The academic point simply shows how little a lot of Horns have been paying attention. Texas is now one of only 3 AAU schools in the Big 12 and the other 2 (Iowa State and esp KU) are not exactly academic heavyweights. OSU, Tech, and WVU are all absolute turds academically as well. The SEC really only has 2 "bad" schools in the Mississippi schools and they still aren't worse than any of those 3. The SEC also has 4 AAU schools (Vandy, UF, A&M, and Mizzou) as well as 3 other very solid academic schools in UGA, UA, and AU. The rest are primarily decent schools but they are all Flagship schools in their state (USC, UT, LSU, UK, and Arky). The SEC is looking to expand to the East as well if they do expand. They want a Virginia and a NC school. The big prize is UNC but that is a very complex issue as UNC desperately wants to keep the ACC together and likes having their traditional rivals but if the ACC breaks up they will have to decide between the SEC and the Big 1G. The SEC would then go for either UVA or VTech as a backup. Really they are just waiting for the ACC to implode on itself first though. Sorry guys but A&M is the one that checkmated Texas with this move. Texas has to choose amongst several less than desirable options as the playing field is only going to get more slanted in coming years. The money and publicity A&M is getting in the SEC and will continue to get isn't going away and is actually going to explode in coming years. A&M surpassed Texas in size this year and is still growing, even the alumni gap is closing at around 450k for Texas and 370k for A&M. They are taking over Houston and East Texas and have a strong presence all over the rest of the State. They are building ridiculous new football facilities and after next season will break ground on the Kyle renovation which will push capacity over 104k with massive amounts of luxury seating that will be a money machine. The demand for Aggie Football is at an all time high and growing. It's more than Manziel and Sumlin, the recruiting classes are as good as the '80s and early 90's and the publicity of being in the SEC with virtually every game on national TV is a game changer. Talking about the past is really irrelevant, A&M has put some major building blocks in place for the future. If you hate the SEC now just wait a few years if Texas doesn't do something. Soon the SEC will have ESPN even deeper in their pocket with the SEC Network combined with ESPN already owning their Tier 2 rights. That means ESPN will basically become the SEC channel. You can already see it with 7 of 13 Gameday locations at SEC schools this year (only 1 Big 12) and all the original programming such as "SEC Storied" on their channels. The new college playoff has no limits on how many schools can come from one conference so realize the SEC will likely have at least 2 of the 4 in most years and then still have schools at the Sugar (Champions), Orange, and Cotton. All of the SEC schools are investing HUGE amounts of money in their facilities as well to get an even firmer death grip on the best recruits. They have stacked the deck and are going to walk in to the poker game with 3 pocket Aces. Mike Slive is easily the smartest man in College Football. All of that football success is also translating to other areas as well. The SEC schools are already swimming in cash and are about to get much, much richer. The best thing Texas can do is to deal with the reality of the situation and not just expect everything to be ok. You need to fire Dodds yesterday and probably Powers. You need to abandon the LHN and work with the other Big 12 schools to form a network and then you should aggressively go after adding ACC schools that are on the outside looking in of the SEC and Big 1G. Georgia Tech, FSU, Clemson, Pitt, NC State or Duke, perhaps Miami. Then believe it or not with the Big 1G and SEC making a couple of moves of their own there will be one big prize left you can finally get, Notre Dame. Do that and the Big 12 becomes a true national conference that can stand up against the other 3 majors and athletically surpasses the Pac 12 and Big 1G. Stop spending your time worrying about the past and spilled milk. The Pac 12 is a backup option as they would take Texas/OU/OSU/Tech but that leaves you at a permanent disadvantage with A&M. Very few Texas kids would rather go to the Pac 12 over the SEC even if you had 4 schools from this region join. Still, it isn't a terrible option. The other thing Texas really needs to consider is renewing the series with A&M. It is good for both schools and it is good for the State. The argument that A&M somehow would wither and die without Texas has certainly been disproved. A high profile, home and home series with the other Flagship school in Texas sells season tickets for both schools and likely has Gameday there every season (esp because it would likely be early season now instead of Thanksgiving weekend).

---

quote:

---

Geez. A&M reminds me quite a bit of Auburn. Good team, at times great, but are not star level.

---

quote:

---

Geez. A&M reminds me quite a bit of Auburn. Good team, at times great, but are not star level. Mothafrickeeeaaaaass!!!

---