Prove that you do then Good "black males" play ball for conservative schools in small towns all the time. I'm not providing stats, if all you're feeding me is hearsay. "Oh gee golly I talked to this kid and that kid". Borderline "cool story bro" material.
How exactly has the Big 10 been a better conference in the last 10 years than the big 12? It's a more storied conference with a better reputation but on the field it is hard to find metrics that make it "better". Texas Tech is happy. They could have been in the championship game if they didn't get blown out by OU. Baylor fought to be included in a possible PAc 10 move. The other teams in the north fought to keep the conference together. Losing Colorado isn't being poached. TAMU and Nebraska are good programs but replacing them with BYU or possibly ND keeps the conference solid.
ND isn't coming. BYU is solid. AGAIN, conference prestige and worth has little to do with if a team like Tech can get into a BCS game. The Big 12 has 3 brand name programs The Big 10 has 7-8 OSU, Tech and KSU can all finish in the top 10 ahead of every team in the Big 10 this year and they still aren't holding a candle to Wisconsin, Iowa or Penn State. Teams that have been largely irrelevant lately, like Michigan and Norte Dame (which you seem to be all excited about joining the Big 12) -- they are considerably more valuable to a conference than... who? Tech? Its Tech you wanted to put out there right? Tech. And besides... Tech is in the boonies, no "black males" would ever go there anyways. Suckers
I never said that they didn't. I said it's harder for a conservative small town school to recruit those kids. The pool will be smaller. In relation to recruiting kids who just have to have the SEC, I think College Station will be a tougher sell than most of the other environments in the SEC. I'm not the only one to question your numbers/memory. So nice copout. And I'm not just feeding you anything. I'm questioning exactly where you are getting your info from, since someone noting that it's harder for a conservative school in a small town to recruit (ie the pool narrows) warrants name calling. I already noted that I do Houston area recruiting for 2 colleges and talk to young black men (and their parents) about their college options all the time (including A&M), including my old HS which is one of A&M main's feeder school for these students. I'm quite confident in stating how the College Station environment narrows the pool for these type of students. I have these discussions with A&M recruiters all the time. What exactly are you basing your opinion on? And even then, no one stated no black kids will not go to A&M....just that the environment narrows the pool.
If Mike Vick were white then chances are A&M would be an easier sell than if he were black. If Salt Lake City had tons of black women than chances are it would be an easier sell to convince a black man to live there than Atlanta. "I can't comprehend" - Ziggy
So what is your argument? That moving to the SEC will only help TAMU in recruiting slightly? That College Station is a dramatically tougher sell than Tuscaloosa and Fayetteville? Or that "black males" don't like the Dixie Chicken or a good education? TAMU, which obviously has no problem recruiting players, including "black males" now moves to the SEC. TAMU is now the only Texas school in the SEC. Is the best academic public school in the SEC. Had the #2 pick in the NFL (happens to be a "black male). And now what should the program expect? To take a hit in recruiting? Those 4 and 5 star "black male" RB's they've been drawing in year-in-and-year-out will just disappear? I guess I just don't follow. I blame the Aggie education.
They were hoping the Pac10 would take them even without Texas/etc, but the Pac10 wasn't interested. That's because none of the other major conferences wanted them, so it was all they could do. Missouri basically begged the Big10 to take them. Very few of the Big12 schools are particularly happy, though their recent payday placates them a bit. It's just that they have no better choices. you can tell the happy schools by looking at the conferences that never seem to have anyone wanting out: Big10, Pac10, SEC.
I already outlined my argument in response to Major's post, for clarification. I haven't claimed any of the baseless garbage that you are posting. If you want to feel free to read what I actually posted and respond to that, go ahead. Or you can continue to rant on about stuff no one said, and look sensitive.
y'all can keep saying this as much as you want, but nd will be in a conference at some point (if these superconferences come to fruition) and only one will let you have an independent tv deal.
This is a really annoying argument to read. Texas A&M, being a conservative former military school in a bleak town in east texas, obviously has a lot of features that are not appealing to urban black youth (yutes) from Texas and beyond, even probably when compared to places like Tuscaloosa (the city's 40% black, btw) even though Alabama is not exactly a bastion of positive race relations. This, combined with the rigidity of the school itself, can reasonably be interepreted as a hindrance in this area. Ergo, Icehouse wins the thread. That said, it's probably not enough to prevent them Texas A&M from selling the 2 dozen or so of youngsters scholarships to play football every February who are willing to do so there in spite of this. Ergo, Ziggy also wins the thread. Now that you have both won, please cease and desist.
You said that A&M is already in the top 10 when it comes to recruiting. On Rivals, they're listed at 8 for the 2011 class. Texas is number 1. Is it going to propel A&M in the top 5 and over Texas seemingly every year due to the move? Maybe but it's highly doubtful. I think 5 star recruits will pick Texas, OU and the numerous "brand-name" programs over A&M.
As it stands now, A&M has six 4 stars recruits committed for the 2012 season. Texas has 2 five star recruits to go along with ELEVEN 4 star recruits. They have numerous players in the top 3-6 at their position. Of course, the phenom Gray is the best RB in the nation. Currently, Baylor sits at #35 for the 2012 class. That's higher than "brand-name" programs like Iowa and Penn State Just sayin..
If the superconferences come to fruition, it's probably done by dissolving the Big12 though - due to geography and instability, they are the conference that everyone can most easily raid. Big10 and SEC can go in a few different directions, but the Pac12 almost certainly raids the Big12 due to geographic reasons. And ND getting to keep its TV deal is great for them, but it doesn't help the rest of the conference very much if half their games are not part of the conference's TV deal. All that does is split the money more ways without bringing as much new money. Adding ND would just cause more members to be ready to bolt the instant the Pac10 or Big10 superconferences come calling. Beyond that, if I'm ND, I'm a team that recruits nationally and plays a national schedule. Why am I voluntarily trading that for games against a bunch of Big12 schools that are mostly in middle of nowhere? I think ND alums would revolt if they were to join the Big12. They aren't in any hurry - they know they can join any conference they want any time they want if and when the superconferences form (similar to Texas). There's no reason to drop their current situation until they need to.
I've heard plenty of my A&M buddies say that this move can help them "compete" with UT. My point has always been that A&M is closer than they have been in a while to legitimately compete for a title. That's in the current conference. They've already pulled in top 10 classes for a couple of years..is a move going to significantly change that and propel them into the top 5 consistently? Only time will tell.
Bottom line - TAMU can already recruit as-is. A move to the SEC, whether it helps or not, definitely shouldn't hurt them unless they become bottom feeders in that conference. Low risk, high reward. TAMU to the SEC wont directly impact UT much, but I do think OU might lose a guy or two here and there.
