Texas has hired HillCo to try to stop it, but it's probably too late. I think A&M makes it out this time. It's funny that the Longhorns fans want A&M gone, but the Longhorn big wigs start the smear PR campaign and push legislatures to prevent A&M from going. I guess this just doesn't conform to when Texas wanted to blow up this conference and aggy is overstepping their bounds to do what's best for themselves. It's a failed marriage at this point and A&M and Texas will both land nicely on their feet so it might as well just be over so we can all move on. The cubs are going to be the ones that are crying.
If Texas wanted to blow up the conference, why is it still standing (for now)? And there's no need to smear the Aggies, as usual, they're doing a terrific job of making themselves look like half-wits. I think and hope they're gone. I pray they're gone.
Because Texas wants to do it on their own terms once the TLN is up and running and successful. At that point, Texas would be free to go Indy or start a league with ND. However, if A&M leaves first, then Texas has the full responsibility for making sure Tech and Baylor wind up with a "soft landing". Texas then has to solely deal with the legislature as to why they want to leave our little cousins behind. Whether you will admit it or not on here, there is a lot of anger within the 40 acres Athletic officies about this very fact. Texas says A&M can go, but is sure as hell doing anything in their power to ensure they don't go. Weird times.
I think they are gone, if not this year then next. They cannot get over their inferiority complex so long as they stay in Big XII and so they will leave as soon as they can. The ironic thing is they change being in Texas' shadow for being in Texas' shadow but not getting to play Texas and being a sixth tier team in the SEC.
i (sadly) think they end up staying. but i tend to disagree completely with jtamu. i think with aggy leaving first, powers and co. can put their hands up in the air and say "we tried to save everyone else, but a&m didn't want to" and then do what's best for them. i tried thinking like an aggy yesterday, and the best conspiracy theory i could come up with was that deloss knew ahead of time that the LHN would twist aggy's panties in so much of a bunch that they'd leave, which is exactly what he wanted in the first place.
If the State let's a&m go, it will not require Texas to look after anyone either...you guys are really dense. Texas will state a&m leaving will cause turmoil and we will have to look out for ourself. Please LEAVE, and this board as well.
They are gone if the SEC will take them, but first the SEC has to find a suitable team on the East coast. Fl. State has a hard time competing in the ACC, so they would struggle big time in the SEC. Doesn't make a lot of sense for them unless the money is that much more. You'll be hard pressed to find one aggy left that wants them to stay. What is ironic is that they actually think they control their own destiny. They can go to the SEC ONLY because Texas and OU allow it. Don't they realize Texas and OU could call the SEC tomorrow and say they want to go as long as aggy is left out and then BOOM, aggs are in the WAC. aggs just don't get their place and they'll think I'm just one of those arrogant t-sips instead of one that understand the reality of the haves and have nots.
Agree, but aggy would wind up in Pac16 or other BCS conference due to it's size, alumni base, and population of Texas.
Follow the money. Do the networks want to pay more for the SEC to have A&M or for the SEC to stand pat?
Even in the execution of their own temper-tantrum aggy finds a way to include TEXAS as responsible for any negative outcome. God please let these twisted souls be gone. I am sick of hearing and reading their obsessed hatred and excuse making by blaming every difficulty in their unsuccessful efforts on the LONGHORNS. This is not a recent development, I've listened to similar whining for over 50 years. It never ends. Maybe if they are gone they will be forced to grow a pair for something other than squeezing, but I doubt it.
By Saturday morning, the pieces of the puzzle said to me they will not be invited into the SEC at this time. I'll be shocked if this goes anywhere at all.
Although I really want them to go, I believe they will stay. Like some kind of STD that cannot be cured, it is just not that easy to get rid of the Aggies. They were put on this Earth to do what they do -- embarrass, torment, entertain, etc. One odd aspect of this is how proud Aggies seem to be of leaving. I've gotten text messages to the tune of, "We're gone, baby!" That a group could take such pride in conceding defeat -- its having lost the war to Texas -- is everything you need to know about aggy thought processes.
This has progressed too far. They're gone if only to save face. It's a good move for them and we need to make an equally good move for us. If that means bringing others along, so be it. if not, I could care less where the rest of Big12 ends up...rest assured they feel the same way.
I think they are gone. The only wild card is the 14th team. If the SEC can't find another team, the invite will not come and A&M will have egg on their face. Another aspect that has been pointed out in several articles is the TV networks may be leaning on the SEC to not change the landscape. Plus, Slive has made so much noise about the NCAA that University presidents may be leaning on their ADs to keep the status quo. There is a lot of politics in play after everyone saw the chaos the first round created.
When you read Deloss' comments about, "playing a 100 years, this is hard." It made me laugh. Deloss is playing this thing to the end. Deloss has always been a forward thinker and what maximizes revenues not just for Texas but for the big programs that make it happen. After last year, he wants aggy out of the way so he can do his thing without their crybaby mouths all over it. I vote for "GET LOST"
I think they're gone, but it would be one of the funniest Aggie jokes of all time if the SEC told them they weren't wanted. Like telling your boss and coworkers to eff off because you've landed a better job, then having it fall through.
It's extremely clear the aggy fanbase wants to go to the SEC. It's seems pretty clear that the aggy administration wants to go to the SEC. By all reports the aggy administration contacted the SEC and asked for admittance. The SEC Presidents are meeting in Atlanta noon today to vote on extending a formal offer. As for the Texas legislators, I personally think the politics are overblown. First of all, in the House, Don Branch has painted himself into a corner by praising Texas' self-help LHN to raise money, yet he's going to deny aggy self-help in joining a better conference to raise money? That dog won't hunt. You're not hearing a peep from the Texas Senate. Senate Higher Education Chair - Judith Zaffirini - doesn't seem to care about any of this. All's quiet on the Senate front. You've got an aggy Governor who may be President. Hell, the legislature isn't even is session, and Rick Perry sure isn't talking about calling a special session to "investigate" aggy going to the SEC. While there is a House meeting on Tuesday, called by Branch, aggy will announce tomorrow, it would appear, that it's heading to the SEC. Fait accompli. This is a done deal. And it's goodbye to A and M. Here's the good news about all this. aggy wrecked the B12 in the end, and they will get to go to the SEC. Texas will now have a window, if temporary, to move to a conference where we can fit in -- either the B10 or the PAC10. It's no secret I prefer the B10 for a variety of reasons. But this window will not stay open forever just because aggy got away with it's move. It also looks like there's a strong probability the SEC will raid the B12 for its 14th team, since they don't want to "wreck" another conference (see Sports Illustrated article I linked in my thread on the main page). Can the B12 really rebuild if the B12 is chopped down to 8 teams in the next few days? Without ND, I think not. And ND's not coming to a conference that reeks of decay. Would you? DeLoss Dodds needs to get out of Florence Nightingale mode, he needs to stop trying to save all the other teams in the B12, and he needs to make a move in the best interest of Texas. Perhaps Dodds can save one or two B12 teams, but really that ought not to be the primary focus (even if it will be). Both the B10 and PAC10 have 4 slots left. We need to get serious right now.
If they get invited, they're gone and I don't blame them at all for going. Its been quite a while since I've cared about our "rivalry", so the loss of them is not particularly troubling to me. I'm more concerned about how the SEC stands to gain a foothold in Texas through this deal. As for aggy, it's almost like they're saying "we're going to be mediocre regardless, so we might as well F Texas as much as we can in getting there."
I agree with XOVER I think they are gone. A lot depends on the TV networks. Fox wanted to increase it's presence in college football and the dissolution of the Big XII scuttles those plans. So Fox has a lot of motivation to put financial pressure on A&M and the SEC to not do a deal. Plus, I don't see CBS/ESPN wanting to shell out a lot more money. The TV networks will play a role in this realignment.
The Ags have too much in play to stay. There is no upside for the Ags to remain in the Big 12. The Big 12 promised them cash to stay the first time around. The loss of face to not go SEC would be massive and the deal is probably all but done by both Ags and SEC. The upside for the SEC is not more money, but recruiting inroads in Texas for all the SEC schools.
Oh...the SEC is just gonna love these dolts. I however will not miss them one iota. www.dailymotion.com/video/xawfqj_aggie-tra-la-la_sport
The rest of the country now understands fully that Aggy wants to bolt to the SEC mostly because of their penis envy of Texas. I still think Aggy goes but I have a strong suspicion that some SEC officials are seriously rethinking voting them in.
Agree with Dogbert and XOVER - good points, there. They're gone. This will let a bunch of SEC teams into Texas to recruit - that's the biggest deal for us, I think. But we'll be OK. I'm hoping we go to the B10 with OU. If Tech and oSu could come, that would be cool, not sure how that would shake out, though.
Of course aggy will be gone if they are accepted in the SEC. But it is more than a simple vote by the other schools there. Shiner pointed out the possible (probable?) stumbling block: will the TV networks which just signed new contracts with both the Big XII and the SEC want to pay more money for the SEC with aggy and the team to be named later, and not reduce the payout to the Big XII for having less teams/games available to televise? This is where the pundits should be looking, not at aggy's bruised ego. You can bet the teams of the SEC won't accept less TV money from their contract. Why should they? Is the TV bucket of money bottomless? Will they really shell out more when they just signed giant contracts which may or may not prove profitable? I think this point is significant. For my part, while I would enjoy the high humor of aggy failing once again to cut the cords attaching them to Big Brother, I look forward to seeing them gone. I'm sick of their tired act, there's not much to enjoy as a fan experience playing them, especially in College Station. It really sucks. I can see where the administration would have a different view, as they are all about the bottom line, and don't want anything to happen to the new ginormous TV deals. I fully understand that. But they don't sit there in the stands full of drunk abusive aggy blowhards for four hours, do they?
I think they're gone. And I'm trying to figure out how this is good for anybody - unless Dodds knew they'd leave due to LHN and is laying groundwork for Big 10 or PAC 10. The theories involving UH, SMU, NM, AFA, and/or BYU make me sick. Interesting times, indeed.
Here is what I wish could happen although no chance.. Big 12 South. TEXAS OU Okie St Tech Baylor TCU Houston North Kansas St Kansas Missouri Iowa St Notre Dame BYU Boise St. Name it the "Big 14." Some don't want TCU or Houston in our conference but if we would take out playing teams like Louisiana Lafayette OOC and add Houston in conference then that's much better. Then consider we may still play Aggy as another one of our OOC games then we are in much better shape than before Aggy left. I don't care about TCU or Houston brings bothing to the table for viewership and recruiting. If the Big 12 or Big 14 bring a good product to the field, then everything will work out. Not much of a chance of happening but I can dream.
