Wow ... Chip Browns latest (that Looch is confirming essentially) is that the SEC approved A&M contingent on waivers being signed by each school to not sue the SEC. Apparently we did have this in the Big Xii withdrawl letter sent to us that was agreed to by all members, but now Baylor is reneging on that agreement. SEC could decide to pass without these waivers. Apparently the other 8 teams all still agree to the original agreement and are not happy with Baylor right now. Dont know what the end game is here, but Baylor cried their way inyo the Big12 over TCU and UH and they are willing to do whatever it takes to stay in a real conference even if it means making themselves look like pathetic losers (as evidenced in the "dont mess with Texas football" campaign last night) At this point, looks like Baylor is all in because they are going to get nowhere near an AQ conference after this. It may actually push A&M to plan B and look for options outside the SEC. From what I understand we are hell bent on getting out no matter what it takes.
82 freakin' pages?? So this is where "everyone" is hanging out during the Longest Off-Season in History.
Well said, Major. Props to Refman as well. You two have had this situation on lockdown since the word go.
agreed. it's absolutely transparent. there were no rumblings about OU at all until we got down to the end game here...then all of a sudden Stoops is making wild comments on how they won't play UT again, followed up with a wink and a "I was just playing cards" comment. i don't think there's any question that there's some cooperation here to make all of this very difficult for A&M.
I thought it was cool for everyone to look out just for themselves, Josh? Right? A&M is just looking out for A&M...UT is just looking out for UT.... That's what BU is doing here....because the amount of media dollars they stand on the brink of losing if the Big XII implodes is huge. My guess is BU won't be the only ones b****ing about that...just that they'll be the loudest. Less than a year ago BU and every other school in the conference was making athletic department budget decisions based on that money they were entitled to under a contract...now they're staring at it all going away with no fault on their part. I doubt very seriously that any school in their position would say, "ehhh..no problem."
Interesting stuff - here is the original letter from the Big12: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&¬e_id=255450431156170&id=118092611546917 Most notable is that it did include a statement of no litigation from its members: We both agreed it is in the best interests of each of our conferences and our member institutions of higher education to waive any and all legal actions by either conference and its members resulting from admission of Texas A&M into the SEC, as long as such admission is confirmed publicly by September 8, 2011. Madmax or other lawyers - does this statement have any kind of binding value? For example, if A&M proceeds on the basis of this, do they have any kind of protection if the Big12 or a member changes its mind? Or is this just an informative but not binding sort of thing?
It's pretty easy to defend my position. What I can't defend is the position you made up and assigned to me because you had no ability to argue any other way. Since I never claimed any current monetary damages, I have no reason to argue that there would be monetary damages. I've already pointed out, multiple items, the harm to A&M and the Big12's interests. Some people are forward thinking enough to see that actual current monetary damages are not the only issue in play. If you're not one of those, that's fine. Don't put that on the rest of us.
I can't wait until this is all over. Stupid that its gotten this far... I always find the hatred towards tech on this board amusing. Tech has one of the best records in BIg 12 play and have one of the longest bowl streaks in the country. Lubbock certainly not a glamour town but theres only a handful of those in college football. Fan support is tremendous they put butts in the seats... With Tech you take the Dallas market and small chunks around Texas. Their bball arena is top notch and football stadium is getting to that level as well... Adding city schools doesnt do alot. Theyre not established programs and teams like UT/ATM have a greater fan presence in Houston than UH. Add those three + Tech to SMU in Dallas.. If it comes down to 16 team 4 conferences. Tech is easily a top 64 program for the past decade. There are alot of factors than just population if not than the SEC would banging on UH's door and not Texas ATM
I don't blame Baylor for reneging, they should do whatever is in their own interests, screw the other programs. DD
Uh, nobody's exactly banging on Texas Tech's door either - the primary reason being is it is a non-flagship school on the plains in Lubbock, TX without a huge tradition of success academically or athletically, without a very powerful alumni base, and with very little national following. This is the same as Houston, except for one is in Houston and one is in Lubbock. Houston hosts Super Bowls. Lubbock hosts Tractor Pulls. I guess you can say it cancels out UH's lackluster faithful...but really there's not much difference there. Texas Tech basically stepped in a pile of awesome by being the only remaining state school in the Big 12 other than Texas so they may get to coattail in with them wherever they end up. Good for them, but for the grace of Vince go you...
I'm probably in the minority, but I love the drama and hope it continues as long as possible. I don't want it to end. Hopefully the chain of events after A&M leaves will be entertaining for quite some time.
Uh, the "position" I "made up" has been argued ad nauseum by Texas A&M partisans on this board. Would you like me to link you to the posts? A second game - the highly anticipated KU UT matchup on LHN - apparently is a literal dealbreaker and an Emperor Palpatine moment. Surely you'd be able to quantify the harm in some fashion instead of vaguely arguing future cataclysms to come. It's pretty plain by now though you're going to go to court with a slippery slope in your back pocket and not much else. Is this the part where I give you snarky advice about the inadvisibility of doing this in real life, Major?
Tech > UH anyday. Academically, they are about the same..Yeah you can argue that UH is "tier 1". Athletically, TTU has better facilities and a better athletic program than UH. I wouldn't say people on this board bash Tech, but they certainly seem to look past their success on the football field. Athletically, you can say what you want but football and basketball are the two money makers, with baseball coming 3rd, and even baseball doesn't bring in that much money. Football has had its success, and aside from OU/UT, Tech easily comes in as 3rd in terms of success in football. I find it funny that all of a sudden people talk about A&Ms athletics when A&M has been mediocre in football for the last decade, with no bowl wins. Either way, Tech got pretty lucky because it was a nobody before the big12. If they can end up in the pac12 or stay in the big xii-2 then they're good, otherwise, they would be just as screwed as Baylor. Regardless, Baylor seems like they're gonna get screwed out of this no matter what, so I don't blame them for this lawsuit crap. Everyone is supposed to look out for themselves. Baylor turned themselves into a contender from a nobody on the football field, and had levels of success in basketball as well..All that will go away if Baylor ends up in a non AQ conference. I don't see what grounds they have for a lawsuit though, but if they have legitimate reason, this can get really ugly. Lawsuits take a ton of time, and if Baylor doesn't drop it, this can easily delay A&M to SEC for a while.
Tech is ahead of schedule in becoming a Tier 1 University. The new projection is 2013. The only thing the university lacks is the endowment, which it is rapidly approaching. Tech is projected and on track to be a flagship university by 2020. You may not be aware of these facts, but I guarantee the right people are well aware of them.
Doesn't appear to be a release of claims against the SEC as the SEC wasn't a party to it. SEC can still take on A&M. But this is a letter about the release; not the release itself. Hard to tell without reading the release. My understanding is each member institution released claims against A&M; that doesn't amount to a release of claims against other parties, though.
Undergrad, yes, about the same, but the top of UH is higher than the top of Tech. The money makers, economy drivers, aka research, is where UH kills Tech. Then there's the obvious point of the surrounding city and the resources that brings in, along with the TV and radio market (UH pulls very well in Houston, on par with A&M and UT, actually). Athletically, facilities are where UH is hurting. Fan support, believe it or not, would be an afterthought in a major conference. You'd see 50K average attendance virtually overnight. UH would immediately start playing games in Reliant (thus closing the facilities gap) and start construction on their new stadium, thus closing the facilities gap. Take this bit of info for example, over the last 10 years, UH's attendance, season ticket base, campus housing and alumni donors, have increased faster than any other D1 school in America. And that's just the beginning of the initiative. Add it all up, and UH makes pretty good sense as a tag-along school for UT.
So Texas A&M and West Virginia look like the 13th and 14th members of the SEC. Who will be the 15th and 16th members? I can only assume it would go to that as the Pac-12 looks to expand and the Big 10 and so on after that. The end of the Big 12 is near as well so what happens to their BCS tie-in? Is the Big East the next BCS conference to go under after other conferences take their picks from that conference or will they stay afloat by picking up some independents or other schools from lesser conferences?
Yes, please do. Show me the posts claiming monetary damages to A&M from the LHN. And since you Yes, that combined with the HS game fiasco and their attempts to coerce Tech into moving their game - because it was there that showed that LHN wasn't simply going to show Tier 3 games that the Big12 didn't pick up, and that ESPN was putting their contract with LHN as a higher priority than the contract with the Big12. Why? The whole point is that it is a sign of how ESPN views this, and how they will treat the Big12. I'm not going to court. I'm making an argument and responding to a condescending jackass who's trying to assign me a position I never stated. As such, I will treat him in the same condescending manner and happily have mature discussions with everyone else. Yes. If you're stupid enough to believe that current monetary damages are the only thing that matters, I'll repeat my advice: don't ever lead an organization. A&M's leadership's job is to look out for the future of their organization. Projecting the future and taking steps to position themselves going forward is not only a part of their job, but the key part of the job. That's exactly what they are doing. Current monetary damages has nothing to do with their position except in your own mind.
