[College Football] Big Ten, Texas have initial talks

i don't see A&M going to SEC unless UT leaves first. maybe i'm wrong.

if they find a way to keep UT happy, i think the Big XII sticks around.

 

That's just stupid, if true.

Aggies are headed to the SEC as perhaps the 2nd or third choice not because the SEC is pining for A&M but because it opens up Texas TV sets for a future deal. If both big TX schools go west, the SEC has no place to go and has to fight for partial markets in places like DC and Raleigh-Durham if it wants to expand. It's as good as it is going to get in the SEC and Aggies will succumb to the siren song of recruiting irregularities to be competitive and diminish their image and academic standing in the process. The SEC is playing on Aggie insecurities for their own advantage... A&M is essentially Fredo here.

A&M's endowment is about half of the total SEC. They would by far be the biggest research power in the SEC, but it will drag them down more than pull the rest of the SEC up. In the Pac 16, they would be behind Stanford and Texas in endowment, but only a little above Cal and USC. A much better fit unless you're looking at culture and traditions rather than future success. Aggies and Texas should stick together... they could be a major power in both academics and research. UT, Cal, and Stanford are talking about an academic consortium like the CIC. Aggies would be nuts to turn it down.

 

The current situation, with UT wanting all kinds of preferential money, is exactly why Neb left. If UT demands that now, others (maybe not A&M) will leave.

Oklahoma, OK State and Tech are salivating at the Pac 10 idea because (as I understand it) the money will be split evenly. UT will not receive preferential payments.

 

FWIW, as an Aggie, I agree.

If we go to the SEC, I think it will be for all the wrong reasons.

 

It would be nice to see the big12 stay together. It maybe beneficial to add maybe tcu and houston and bump ou and ok state to the north division. They could still have a pac-10 /big 12 tv package deal that includes a certain number of non conference games. Kinda like playing 2 schools from each conference.

 

i agree.

atm is passing up an opportunity that would propel the entire university forward. not just the athletics department.

 

What boggled my mind was the report, I think I read it earlier in this thread, that the A&M administration was pushing the SEC, while the athletic dept. was for the Pac10. You think it'd be the other way around.

 

Agreed - this doesn't stabilize this conference at all. It just seems to push this same problem to 5 years out. The demographics of this don't work for UT in the long-run. The west is where the population growth is. California alone brings in more $$ than all of the non-Texas B12 schools. Even with the 16-team split instead of 10, and even with a BevoNetwork, this still can't work out better financially.

I think the only way UT stays if they get cold feet and don't want to leave A&M, etc. If they are at all forward thinking, they bolt. They wanted to go Pac10 in the early 90's and were stopped by the politics of it. They are lucky to get a 2nd opportunity and should run with it. They may not get a 3rd chance for 20 years.

Every Aggie I know says the same. They think the school is leaning SEC, but they all disagree with it. It definitely seems to be a decision being driven by the athletic department at the expense of the rest of the university.

 

From Billy Liucci via Twitter...

Just received word from two sources that Aggies have NOT turned down Pac-10 and are still weighing P10/SEC option
11 minutes ago via web

 

I'm just wondering with the state of california being a complete mess financialy, how does the pac 10 idea make sense?

 

honestly, it's always like this with UT. they're always the big fish.

i don't see any of the remaining teams pre-emptively leaving because they're scared of what UT might ultimately do...because there's nowhere to go where they're guaranteed a BCS spot, and because they're gonna ride the train as long as they can

.....with the lone exception of A&M....but I don't see A&M being the one to break up the conference rivalry with UT

 

A bunch of states, including some in the SEC are in financial trouble. CA gets all the press because, you know, a bunch of people live there.

 

and i'm telling you every school but Texas and the others guaranteed a spot in the Pac 10 would be fine with 5 more years to get things figured out. apparently it never was all that stable.

Texas is in the catbird seat in the Big XII...if revenues can get close there, I can't imagine them wanting to leave that, aside from the fact their President is a Cal grad.

 

That tweet is fake but the real Dan Bebee told the teams that they'd get a t.v. deal similar to the SEC plus the opportunity to pursue their own network.

 

A&M splitting from Texas for the SEC would be a travesty and a very, very, VERY shortsighted move. particularly if the PAC10/16 is actually considering developing a CIC-like research consortium. this is why Texas is so ahead of the game in all this, especially compared to aggie - while everyone is looking at this from a football perspective, Texas is viewing this as a golden opportunity to expand the UT brand into one of the most lucrative television markets in the world. a move to the PAC10 doesn't just make sense from an athletic perspective, it makes sense across the board.

 

max, u seem to have the pulse on this whole thing and major has been bringing it too,but what is the upside athletically of the pac vs the b12? I mean lets not get itt twisted, its football first,hoops 2nd. They can talk about the student athlete,but thats not what this is about.

 

And what's on the other side of California? That's right, China and the rest of Asia... I think there is a greater possibility for future ventures there with the Pac-16 than in the SEC or Big 10. The future is West, but it's not just the US.

 

Why would China care about US College football

 

It's about football, but it's also very much about research money and grants, which greatly trump athletic revenue and add to your prestige as an institution. Go anywhere in the world and if you have a degree from UT or Cal or Stanford, you'll most likely get the job over the guy from Auburn or Mississippi State... and a lot of A&M fans apparently want to be in the latter group. I just don't get it... the reasons to go with the Pac-16 are overwhelming and will pay off hugely in the long run.

 

You're missing the point... it's not all about football.