Texas A&M

[Hey Guy]

Horrible fanbase. Thoughts?

[eagle eye]

The Aggie fans I know are loyal to a fault and have been even before Johnny Football-mania. You're just trying to stir the pot aren't you?

[Big T]

Best fan base in the NCAA when it comes to football.

[Hey Guy]

:)
The Aggie fans I know are loyal to a fault and have been even before Johnny Football-mania. You're just trying to stir the pot aren't you?

[\m/]

Best fan base in the NCAA when it comes to football.

If best means cult like brainwashed, insecure and full of little brother syndrome then yes, they are the best by far.

[eagle eye]

Okay, typical of UT fans who are smug, self satisfied and borderline conceited \m/'s reply was what I expected when Hey Guy started this post. It's the same attitude that contributed to the Longhorn TV Network to the exclusion of the rest of the Big 12 and led to the defection of teams like Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado and TAMU. They pulled up stakes and left the Big 12 for greener pastures. What the Longhorns should have done was help develop a deal that benefits the entire conference say like the SEC. I'm not big SEC fan but there is no denying that when they do something it's for the good of all. You a Star Trek fan? Remember the famous line by Mr Spock, "...the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Texas ignored that sentiment completely and despite being sort of irrelevant for 30 years from a National Championship standpoint once they became relevant again they pretty much said F**k the rest of the conference we're cutting ourselves a deal. I don't care about the UT/TAMU rivalry all that much. I have family that went to TAMU but not much else to root about for either team. I'm from Oklahoma so I don't like either really. That said, if my "big brother" was a narcissistic, self centered, selfish prick I wouldn't like him much. The first guy since Darrell Royal to exhibit any class and respect for others got run out of town on a rail and Mack Brown deserved better. I'm not saying RC Slocum was treated much better but Slocum didn't win a National Championship, Texas first since 1971, and played for another. He brought the Longhorn program back to respectability and the Texas alumni showed him the door without so much as a how-do-you-do. So, if you want to slam TAMU fans make sure your own back yard is clean.

[\m/]

Okay, typical of UT fans who are smug, self satisfied and borderline conceited \m/'s reply was what I expected when Hey Guy started this post. It's the same attitude that contributed to the Longhorn TV Network to the exclusion of the rest of the Big 12 and led to the defection of teams like Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado and TAMU. They pulled up stakes and left the Big 12 for greener pastures. What the Longhorns should have done was help develop a deal that benefits the entire conference say like the SEC. I'm not big SEC fan but there is no denying that when they do something it's for the good of all. You a Star Trek fan? Remember the famous line by Mr Spock, "...the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Texas ignored that sentiment completely and despite being sort of irrelevant for 30 years from a National Championship standpoint once they became relevant again they pretty much said F**k the rest of the conference we're cutting ourselves a deal. I don't care about the UT/TAMU rivalry all that much. I have family that went to TAMU but not much else to root about for either team. I'm from Oklahoma so I don't like either really. That said, if my "big brother" was a narcissistic, self centered, selfish prick I wouldn't like him much. The first guy since Darrell Royal to exhibit any class and respect for others got run out of town on a rail and Mack Brown deserved better. I'm not saying RC Slocum was treated much better but Slocum didn't win a National Championship, Texas first since 1971, and played for another. He brought the Longhorn program back to respectability and the Texas alumni showed him the door without so much as a how-do-you-do. So, if you want to slam TAMU fans make sure your own back yard is clean.


Eagle what did I say that wasnt true? I'm sure you've been around college station or interwebs and read stuff from aggies for decades so sorry if that came across as arrogant. and dont be fooled, Texas A&M didnt leave the B12 because of the LHN, it may have been the excuse they used via the media but they were leaving regardless of that.

[eagle eye]

Eagle what did I say that wasnt true? I'm sure you've been around college station or interwebs and read stuff from aggies for decades so sorry if that came across as arrogant. and dont be fooled, Texas A&M didnt leave the B12 because of the LHN, it may have been the excuse they used via the media but they were leaving regardless of that.

The LHN was the catalyst. TV money is serious money and when the short-sighted Horns developed the deal it was UT first and the other 11 schools could fight over the dregs. Nebraska left for the Big 10 for money, pure and simple. People talk about the SEC Network like it's the second coming of cable TV but the Big 10 Network has been around a long time and with the upper Midwest ties to teams like Iowa and Minnesota it wasn't too big of a stretch to just jump the Big 12 ship. Also, at the time, the Big 10 was a little higher on the scale for academic prestige but make no mistake, it was about money and TV money was the biggest cow in the pasture.
You're going to tell me that Missouri and TAMU left for other than money? You know as well as I do nothing happens in this world if the money isn't right. The SEC has had a phenomenal run of success in BCS bowl games and they dominated the 2000's for National Championships led by Alabama. Money M-dog and the dearth of it began with the LHN. Texas me-first attitude showed zero foresight because of the emergence of Baylor, the continued success of Oklahoma, Okie State and Texas Tech who enjoyed some success for a while. In 2011 the Big Twelve signed a deal with FoxSportsSouthwest to televise every Big 12 game. They could have gotten a deal similar to the SEC but I'm fully convinced the LHN make the bulk of the conference schools ripe for a deal that benefitted the whole conference. I saw data that showed Texas was far and away paying out substantially more money per player than anyone else in the conference. Why? The Longhorn Network.

Info provided by USA Today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Today), individual institutions and the United States Department of Education (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education).

2012 Conference Rank
2012 National Rank
Institution
2012 Total Revenue from Athletics[51] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_12_Conference#cite_note-NCAA_FINANCES-51)
2012 Total Expenses on Athletics[51] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_12_Conference#cite_note-NCAA_FINANCES-51)
2011 Average Spending per student-athlete (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_athlete)[52] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_12_Conference#cite_note-Spending_database-52)


1
1
University of Texas at Austin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_at_Austin)
$163,295,115
$138,269,710
$248,951


2
9
University of Oklahoma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oklahoma)
$106,456,616
$96,250,328
$163,259


3
22
Oklahoma State University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_State_University)
$87,270,598
$96,782,619
$133,341


4
28
West Virginia University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia_University)
$80,064,869
$92,968,960
$108,643


5
38
University of Kansas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Kansas)
$70,228,913
$78,973,441
$127,656


6
40
Texas Tech University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Tech_University)
$67,928,350
$60,346,836
$103,021


7
43
Kansas State University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_State_University)
$63,271,615
$50,994,785
$97,180


8
50
Iowa State University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_State_University)
$55,151,017
$55,113,720
$99,528




Baylor University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_University)
Not reported
(private university)
Not reported
Not reported




Texas Christian University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Christian_University)
Not reported
(private university)
Not reported
Not reported


M-dog, as for what you said not being true? None of it. TAMU alum and fans are no more insufferable than UT alumni and fans. Their "cult-like" brainwashed fan base? Please, tell me you're not serious. As for insecure, I know a lot of alums including two nephews and insecure is not what I would classify these people. It's the same way Okie State plays second fiddle to Oklahoma. You just have to acknowledge who the bell cow is go about your business. It certainly doesn't mean you can't strive to push No 1--not just in sports but all things. And the little brother syndrome thing is equally ridiculous and doesn't deserve comment.

[Hey Guy]

Hey guy. You can't really believe all of the stuff you just typed, can you guy? Aggy gonna aggy I guess. I feel sorry for ya, guy. Come on.

[GO_HORNS_GO]

Eagle, there was no exclusion of the Big XII on a tv network. The Big XII conference shot it down because Nebraska, OU, and A&M all stated that they wanted to start their own independent network and retain their 3rd tier rights. Kansas was another school that did not want to sign over their 3rd tier rights too. Then, Texas AD, Deloss Dodds approached A&M and your AD twice and twice your AD turned down a joint network between Texas and A&M. So there was to "F**k the rest of the conference, we're cutting ourselves a deal", it was the deal was presented to you, twice, and the conference once, and everyone of you turned it down. Do a little research. This has been documented numerous times and CONFIRMED by your former Athletic Director.

As for A&M jumping to the SEC, that had nothing to do with Texas or the LHN. That has been an excuse given by Aggies to cover up the fact that A&M flat out said they were committed to the Big XII while they were secretly in talks with the SEC. This has all come out in stories by your former AD. I don't know how old you are, but when the old SWC folded, A&M was already in talks with the SEC and Texas was in talks with the PAC 10 (Stanford blocked Texas) and the Big 10. When word got out to the politicians of Texas, especially the Baylor and Tech alumns, Texas and A&M were forced to come back and merge with Tech and Baylor into the old Big 8. A&M fans and alumns have wanted to be in the SEC for years. The $$$EC recruiting fits more to the liking of the old Ags that remember the "glory days" from Jackie Sherrill and RC Slocum.

As for Nebraska jumping to the Big 10, Nebraska has never been happy with the shift of power from them to Texas and OU. This goes back to partial qualifiers, a Big XII championship game, which they did not want, and the league HC being moved to Dallas along with the championship game.

Colorado has wanted in the PAC 10 for years too. No surprise this happened and Missouri was whoring itself out to anyone who would take them. But hey, let's just blame big, bad Texas instead of actually taking the time to do some research.

[\m/]

Eagle, there was no exclusion of the Big XII on a tv network. The Big XII conference shot it down because Nebraska, OU, and A&M all stated that they wanted to start their own independent network and retain their 3rd tier rights. Kansas was another school that did not want to sign over their 3rd tier rights too. Then, Texas AD, Deloss Dodds approached A&M and your AD twice and twice your AD turned down a joint network between Texas and A&M. So there was to "F**k the rest of the conference, we're cutting ourselves a deal", it was the deal was presented to you, twice, and the conference once, and everyone of you turned it down. Do a little research. This has been documented numerous times and CONFIRMED by your former Athletic Director.

As for A&M jumping to the SEC, that had nothing to do with Texas or the LHN. That has been an excuse given by Aggies to cover up the fact that A&M flat out said they were committed to the Big XII while they were secretly in talks with the SEC. This has all come out in stories by your former AD. I don't know how old you are, but when the old SWC folded, A&M was already in talks with the SEC and Texas was in talks with the PAC 10 (Stanford blocked Texas) and the Big 10. When word got out to the politicians of Texas, especially the Baylor and Tech alumns, Texas and A&M were forced to come back and merge with Tech and Baylor into the old Big 8. A&M fans and alumns have wanted to be in the SEC for years. The $$$EC recruiting fits more to the liking of the old Ags that remember the "glory days" from Jackie Sherrill and RC Slocum.

As for Nebraska jumping to the Big 10, Nebraska has never been happy with the shift of power from them to Texas and OU. This goes back to partial qualifiers, a Big XII championship game, which they did not want, and the league HC being moved to Dallas along with the championship game.

Colorado has wanted in the PAC 10 for years too. No surprise this happened and Missouri was whoring itself out to anyone who would take them. But hey, let's just blame big, bad Texas instead of actually taking the time to do some research.

^^^^^ arrogant ass Longhorn fan poster ^^^^^

[GO_HORNS_GO]

^^^^^ arrogant ass Longhorn fan poster ^^^^^

Nope. Just tired of Aggie ignorance to the truth. For a school that likes to throw their honor code in others faces, they sure don't live by it. "An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do."

By not telling the whole truth or part of the truth, they are lying to themselves and others. The cheat part cracks me up too given the fact that Aggie joined the SEC and still talk about the "glory days" of Sherrill and Slocum. Maybe they can add some more fictitious titles to their stadium wall or try to claim that they invented the 12th Man or that Patton said "Give me an army of West Point graduates, I’ll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I’ll win a war!” - Mike Province, founder and president of The Patton Society calls this an urban legend and states it did not happen, but Aggies still keep claiming this to be fact, even though none have produced one piece of evidence showing that Patton said this.

I guess when Aggies get called out on their hypocrisy, they take it as arrogance when the rest of the world takes it as just being called out for being a hypocrite.

[LUSportsFan]

Eagle, there was no exclusion of the Big XII on a tv network. The Big XII conference shot it down because Nebraska, OU, and A&M all stated that they wanted to start their own independent network and retain their 3rd tier rights. Kansas was another school that did not want to sign over their 3rd tier rights too. Then, Texas AD, Deloss Dodds approached A&M and your AD twice and twice your AD turned down a joint network between Texas and A&M. So there was to "F**k the rest of the conference, we're cutting ourselves a deal", it was the deal was presented to you, twice, and the conference once, and everyone of you turned it down. Do a little research. This has been documented numerous times and CONFIRMED by your former Athletic Director.

As for A&M jumping to the SEC, that had nothing to do with Texas or the LHN. That has been an excuse given by Aggies to cover up the fact that A&M flat out said they were committed to the Big XII while they were secretly in talks with the SEC. This has all come out in stories by your former AD. I don't know how old you are, but when the old SWC folded, A&M was already in talks with the SEC and Texas was in talks with the PAC 10 (Stanford blocked Texas) and the Big 10. When word got out to the politicians of Texas, especially the Baylor and Tech alumns, Texas and A&M were forced to come back and merge with Tech and Baylor into the old Big 8. A&M fans and alumns have wanted to be in the SEC for years. The $$$EC recruiting fits more to the liking of the old Ags that remember the "glory days" from Jackie Sherrill and RC Slocum.

As for Nebraska jumping to the Big 10, Nebraska has never been happy with the shift of power from them to Texas and OU. This goes back to partial qualifiers, a Big XII championship game, which they did not want, and the league HC being moved to Dallas along with the championship game.

Colorado has wanted in the PAC 10 for years too. No surprise this happened and Missouri was whoring itself out to anyone who would take them. But hey, let's just blame big, bad Texas instead of actually taking the time to do some research.

Putting on my third generation Aggie hat now...

Pretty good summary of the way things went down. I think Byrne may have miscalculated the worth of what ultimately led to the LHN...might have been named something else if it had not turned out that the 'Horns were going it alone.

I suspect some of the issues might have been after the network was set up with some of the programming ESPN was trying to carry. The planned programming could have turned into a recruiting magnet for Texas. Whether it was a planned move on Texas's part or not, just that perception put Texas against the rest of the conference. Once it came to a head, Deloss Dodds didn't help, but I can't say that Bill Byrne was any better. Even with as much success as both former AD's had over the years, it might be a good thing going forward that neither are in the job.

Another point of contention was upon leaving the Big12. Both schools reminded me of two hard heads taking a hard position with both refusing to find middle ground. I don't think either program was without blame.

Going forward, I think A&M is probably very happy in the SEC. As Go_Horns_Go pointed out, they had been in contact with the SEC at various times since the 90's. I recall reading something that there was talk of A&M following Arkansas to the SEC in 1991. Just looked it up. Based on the linked article, it looks like there may have been some discussions between Texas, Texas A&M, and Arkansas about leaving the SWC as early as 1987-1988.


"I knew there were going to be changes," he said. "We had to protect our status, our reputation."

With his president's blessings, Broyles said he discussed his plans with Texas and A&M, which both showed "great interest," then initiated talks with the SEC in 1987 or '88.

Only Texas and A&M didn't follow his lead. Broyles was told that political pressures kept both from leaving without Baylor, which seems likely.



The article is interesting and fits in with some of my feelings about the Big12. The Big12 South was a good fit. Although I enjoyed playing some of the north schools, there were some programs in the Big12 that didn't/don't fit. For A&M, I think the SEC is a better cultural fit. I was sad when Arkansas left the SWC, but they did what they felt was in their best interest. I think A&M ultimately did the same thing and would not be surprised if Texas made some move in the future.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/columnists/kevin-sherrington/20100610-Sherrington-Frank-Broyles-not-surprised-9212.ece

[\m/]

Nope. Just tired of Aggie ignorance to the truth. For a school that likes to throw their honor code in others faces, they sure don't live by it. "An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do."

By not telling the whole truth or part of the truth, they are lying to themselves and others. The cheat part cracks me up too given the fact that Aggie joined the SEC and still talk about the "glory days" of Sherrill and Slocum. Maybe they can add some more fictitious titles to their stadium wall or try to claim that they invented the 12th Man or that Patton said "Give me an army of West Point graduates, I’ll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I’ll win a war!” - Mike Province, founder and president of The Patton Society calls this an urban legend and states it did not happen, but Aggies still keep claiming this to be fact, even though none have produced one piece of evidence showing that Patton said this.

I guess when Aggies get called out on their hypocrisy, they take it as arrogance when the rest of the world takes it as just being called out for being a hypocrite.


I hope you sensed the sarcasm in my post GoHorns.

[GO_HORNS_GO]

I hope you sensed the sarcasm in my post GoHorns.

I caught it, but I wasn't sure if others would so I posted my response.

[GO_HORNS_GO]

Putting on my third generation Aggie hat now...

Pretty good summary of the way things went down. I think Byrne may have miscalculated the worth of what ultimately led to the LHN...might have been named something else if it had not turned out that the 'Horns were going it alone.

I suspect some of the issues might have been after the network was set up with some of the programming ESPN was trying to carry. The planned programming could have turned into a recruiting magnet for Texas. Whether it was a planned move on Texas's part or not, just that perception put Texas against the rest of the conference. Once it came to a head, Deloss Dodds didn't help, but I can't say that Bill Byrne was any better. Even with as much success as both former AD's had over the years, it might be a good thing going forward that neither are in the job.

Another point of contention was upon leaving the Big12. Both schools reminded me of two hard heads taking a hard position with both refusing to find middle ground. I don't think either program was without blame.

Going forward, I think A&M is probably very happy in the SEC. As Go_Horns_Go pointed out, they had been in contact with the SEC at various times since the 90's. I recall reading something that there was talk of A&M following Arkansas to the SEC in 1991. Just looked it up. Based on the linked article, it looks like there may have been some discussions between Texas, Texas A&M, and Arkansas about leaving the SWC as early as 1987-1988.



The article is interesting and fits in with some of my feelings about the Big12. The Big12 South was a good fit. Although I enjoyed playing some of the north schools, there were some programs in the Big12 that didn't/don't fit. For A&M, I think the SEC is a better cultural fit. I was sad when Arkansas left the SWC, but they did what they felt was in their best interest. I think A&M ultimately did the same thing and would not be surprised if Texas made some move in the future.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/columnists/kevin-sherrington/20100610-Sherrington-Frank-Broyles-not-surprised-9212.ece

I have to say, I am impressed with what you posted. Not the typical Aggie response when it comes to the discussion of Texas A&M leaving.

In regards to the LHN, I am not sure if an official name had been chosen, but I had heard Lone Star Network would have been the name if both Texas and A&M would have gone in together. ESPN came in after A&M had rejected Dodds and the LHN came about. A&M had already been in talks with the SEC before the LHN was announced. A&M the first time ended up coming back to the Big XII when CU bolted to the Pac 10 and NU went to the Big 10. From accounts that have come out from Bryne and Loftin afterwards, A&M never quit their discussions with the SEC. A&M fans, tried to blame the LHN carrying high school football games, but the NCAA had already ruled that ESPN and Texas could not do that and that ruling came out before A&M officially announced they were leaving the conference for the SEC.

I really don't fault A&M for going to the SEC. It was a ballsy move and so far, has paid off huge. What I didn't like was the misinformation blitz that came out of Aggies all over the state. Since we all now know that A&M's intentions were to bolt to the SEC from the beginning of the whole conference realignment movement, it would have been better for them to just state they were looking to leave instead of telling us, the Big XII, that they were 100% committed to the conference. This is where some of my comments about the Aggie honor code and their hypocrisy are coming from in my post.

One thing I agree on is the PAC 10 was not a good fit for A&M. Hell, its really not a good fit for any Big XII school except for Colorado, who already bolted. The travel and time differences would really hurt the schools in the central time zone. In all honesty, the SEC or ACC would be the best fit for the Big XII schools. A&M and Missouri already figured this out and moved. Now the rest of the conference is stuck, because of the Grant of Rights, for some time now. Once that is done, I look for the Big XII to get gobbled up. Personally, I would like to see Texas/OU/Tech/OSU move to the SEC. Brings back old rivalries with A&M and Arkansas that made for some great football over the years. It also rekindles some of the newer rivalries between A&M and OU/OSU/TECH.

SEC West = Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Arkansas, OU, OSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, LSU
SEC East = Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Missouri

Because of 18 teams, you may have to split off into pods. If you wanted to get down to 16 teams, I would suggest booting Texas Tech and Vanderbilt. Tech, because they are one of the last schools to join a major conference out of the group and distance, and Vanderbilt because they keep making noise about dropping their D1 programs and having their sports be intramural.

Or just do 2 four team pods and 2 five team pods in order to keep all those teams involved.

Or find 2 other teams and make it 4 five team pods. In a 5 team pod, play each team in your pod and one team out of the other 3. That gives you 7 conference games. Keep two additional game for cross pod annual rivalry games and you are at 9 conference games with three OOC games to chose. (You can use a variation of this for the other pod examples listed above).

The money and the games would be amazing.

[Mike]

I caught it, but I wasn't sure if others would so I posted my response.

hey! Thanks for joining GHG. I appreciate ya.

[LUSportsFan]

I have to say, I am impressed with what you posted. Not the typical Aggie response when it comes to the discussion of Texas A&M leaving.

In regards to the LHN, I am not sure if an official name had been chosen, but I had heard Lone Star Network would have been the name if both Texas and A&M would have gone in together. ESPN came in after A&M had rejected Dodds and the LHN came about. A&M had already been in talks with the SEC before the LHN was announced. A&M the first time ended up coming back to the Big XII when CU bolted to the Pac 10 and NU went to the Big 10. From accounts that have come out from Bryne and Loftin afterwards, A&M never quit their discussions with the SEC. A&M fans, tried to blame the LHN carrying high school football games, but the NCAA had already ruled that ESPN and Texas could not do that and that ruling came out before A&M officially announced they were leaving the conference for the SEC.

I really don't fault A&M for going to the SEC. It was a ballsy move and so far, has paid off huge. What I didn't like was the misinformation blitz that came out of Aggies all over the state. Since we all now know that A&M's intentions were to bolt to the SEC from the beginning of the whole conference realignment movement, it would have been better for them to just state they were looking to leave instead of telling us, the Big XII, that they were 100% committed to the conference. This is where some of my comments about the Aggie honor code and their hypocrisy are coming from in my post.

One thing I agree on is the PAC 10 was not a good fit for A&M. Hell, its really not a good fit for any Big XII school except for Colorado, who already bolted. The travel and time differences would really hurt the schools in the central time zone. In all honesty, the SEC or ACC would be the best fit for the Big XII schools. A&M and Missouri already figured this out and moved. Now the rest of the conference is stuck, because of the Grant of Rights, for some time now. Once that is done, I look for the Big XII to get gobbled up. Personally, I would like to see Texas/OU/Tech/OSU move to the SEC. Brings back old rivalries with A&M and Arkansas that made for some great football over the years. It also rekindles some of the newer rivalries between A&M and OU/OSU/TECH.

SEC West = Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Arkansas, OU, OSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, LSU
SEC East = Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Missouri

Because of 18 teams, you may have to split off into pods. If you wanted to get down to 16 teams, I would suggest booting Texas Tech and Vanderbilt. Tech, because they are one of the last schools to join a major conference out of the group and distance, and Vanderbilt because they keep making noise about dropping their D1 programs and having their sports be intramural.

Or just do 2 four team pods and 2 five team pods in order to keep all those teams involved.

Or find 2 other teams and make it 4 five team pods. In a 5 team pod, play each team in your pod and one team out of the other 3. That gives you 7 conference games. Keep two additional game for cross pod annual rivalry games and you are at 9 conference games with three OOC games to chose. (You can use a variation of this for the other pod examples listed above).

The money and the games would be amazing.

That would REALLY be my dream P5 conference.

When A&M was talking with the SEC the last time, I always hoped that Texas, OU, and OSU would be included in the deal. It would have kept the Red River Shootout, Bedlam, and the Thanksgiving Day games intact. It would have renewed the Texas / Arkansas rivalry. (I'm old enough to remember the "Game of the Century". Back then it was #1 vs #2 back and forth.) For A&M, renewing old rivalries was one of the pluses. The Aggies got back the games with LSU (had played each other 50 times before the SEC). The game with Arkansas turned into a conference game (Have played Arkansas 70 times.) Of course, the big minus was losing the game with the school 90 miles to the west. A plus was the potential of building other rivalries with new conference mates in the future. While I think Missouri made a move that was good for them, I would have preferred the four universities from the Big 12 South.

A little off subject, it wouldn't put back another big rivalry loss, Oklahoma/Nebraska, but that had already been killed with the Big 12 scheduling. One thing I like about the SEC is having a designated rival in the other division. Something like that would have kept the OU/NU rivalry alive.

The bad thing about realignment is how it impacts the universities in the old conference. I hated to see the SWC go and would hate to see the Big 12 fold. Looking at the Big 12, one way to reload if all those listed left might be by bringing in Houston, TCU (already back) and maybe SMU and Rice. Might not work though since they may be happy where they are. Even if the conference did fold in such a scenario, I think the remaining Texas schools upped their game from the SWC years that they would be okay and would not have much problem landing somewhere. I'm not so sure about one or two of the remaining old Big 12 North teams.

[eagle eye]

Go_Horns_Go, please reread the post you ripped me about. I plainly stated I'm not a fan of either UT or TAMU. My interest stems from family that attended TAMU and a little of the fact PN-G's Dustin Long was an Aggie--for a while. (I think RC Slocum screwed the hell out of Long BTW.) Like I said before I still believe the LHN was the straw that broke the camel's back for the first Big 12 defectors. I find it very interesting that when the Big 12 signed a nice deal with FoxSports that nobody was excluded and that's as it should have been. I find it a little beyond coincidence that not long after the LHN was announced that Colorado left for the Pac-10. Not only that but Oklahoma and Okie State were very public about possible plans to go to the Pac-12 as well. The whole conference was falling apart. Could be I miss the old days when regional conferences meant something. I grew up following the Big 8 and rooting for the Sooners and the Red River Rivalry was a big part of the Sooners season. I also admired the SWC because it was all Texas schools and Arkansas. Business is talked about all the time. People think out loud all the time. But no moves were made until............... enough. Just to be clear I'm not the Aggie fan or a Longhorn fan but either the conference leadership just plain sucked or Texas saw an opportunity and they took it. Probably a combination of the two. The Fox deal seems to have galvanized the conference a little bit but the days of a Super Conference system with maybe 3 huge conferences that either form their own NCAA-like coalition or strong arm the NCAA to get what they want don't seem so far off. I rue the day. The purity of college sports is gone. In the words of Cyndi Lauper, "Money Changes Everything". With the explosion of TV Bowl money that filtered down the line to weekly games on TV and the big bucks flying around, at least for the big boys, to equate the word amateur to college sports is a joke. I find it funny that Hey Guy started this just to see what stuck to the wall. Good job, HG!

[eagle eye]

This thread is a little old but I saw an article in the Houston Chronicle yesterday about a new book by Missouri school chancellor R Bowen Lofton who was the President of Texas A&M from 2009 to 2013. In the book he describes the turmoil of his tenure from the possible realignment of the Big 12, to the process of moving to the SEC and interactions with other Big 12 programs like Baylor and Texas.

One section of the article backs up what I had been saying in earlier posts and that the Longhorn Network, announced by UT and ESPN in January of 2011 was the straw that broke the camel's back for TAMU in regard to their continued membership in the Big 12. You also get a glimpse of then Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe's willingness to do anything for UT whether or not is was good for the rest of the conference or not.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/aggies/article/Loftin-s-book-has-inside-tale-of-A-M-s-move-to-SEC-5696871.php