Comments on: Conference realignment: Texas A&M posturing

By: jeff willis

jeff willis — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:02:28 +0000

Personally, I like the idea of Texas A & M joining the SEC.Oklahoma too, to that matter. Without question, it will be a tougher league, followed by more rapid fans. Why Texas has not proposed a four-team merger(UT, A & M, OU and Missouri) to the SEC is a little surprising. It may come down to competition. It may have to do with control. But, with or without Texas, I love a 14 team SEC, with A & M and OU or even a 16 team SEC with the likes of Missouri and Florida State joining the Aggies and Sooners. Any way you want to cut it, the SEC is still going to be the “kingpin” football conference. Taking up the SEC’s offer might be marginally risking for Texas A & M. But the benefits far outweigh the risks.

By: Randall

Randall — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:30:58 +0000

It might be better for A&M to go with the rest to the Pac-10. Or it might not. But I don’t think A&M is posturing. I think that there is a debate within the Aggie power structure. The opportunity to escape from Texas’ shadow, and to join the strongest and richest conference are big selling points for going to the SEC.

By: warren applegate

warren applegate — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:36:35 +0000

The research on the drivetime to the various schools in the SEc and PAC-10 is interesting. However, I’m not planning to drive to any of those schools, except maybe AZ where I’d spend a week with friends. I lived in AZ for 30 years before moving back to OK in 2008. It is pretty easy to fly around in PAC-10 country unless you want to go to Pullman, Washington, which I never plan on doing.

Phoenix is a major hub for USA Airways and Southwest
Denver is a major hub for several airlines.
LAX and several other airports make it easy to fly into.
SF is a major hub.
Portland and Seattle are major cities with good airline service.
Tucson, Austin, and OKC have decent if not good airline service.

Now compare the SEC

Fayetteville, AR, Tuscaloosa and Auburn, AL, Knoxville, TN, Athens, Georgia, Lexington, KY, South Carolina, aren’t really near a hub.

Gainesville, FL, and Baton Rouge are near hubs.

So if you want to go to a football game in the SEC chances are you will have do drive a considerable distance if you are coming from out of state. While in the PAC-10 you probably don’t have to drive more than 30 miles in most cases.

So when it comes to road games I’d much prefer the PAC-16.

I graduated from Army flight school in Alabama in 1967, I’ve only been back in the deep south once since then to Charlotte, NC on business. I realized then it had been 40 years since I’d been in the deep south, and frankly hadn’t missed it one bit.

By: RRJ22

RRJ22 — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:08:12 +0000

do the math……compare the number of tv sets in Texas to the number in OK.That is why OU will follow Texas where ever they go.It is the right thing for OU to do. Oklahoma is a small population state,period.Stop thinking this is about competition or rep of a conference or the rep of the sports teams or about rivalries or the cultures,as it is only about the money and the size of the tv markets.

By: Theron Sapp

Theron Sapp — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:12:33 +0000

Bob, the Pac10 is not going to admit BYU. It’s a conservative religious school (much like Baylor, in fact). Conservative, religious people are not welcome in the Pac10. If you don’t believe me, you can look up the comments of Cal’s chancellor. If they don’t get A&M, the Pac15 might have to take Utah. Utah is also too conservative, but for purposes of the big TV contract they need 16, so they’ll hold their noses and do it if they have to. Or maybe they’ll take pity on Kansas. But no BYU.

By: Theron Sapp

Theron Sapp — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:05:11 +0000

And while we’re on the subject it mystifies me why Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are letting Texas call the shots. If DeLoss Dodds says boo, the folks in Norman and Stillwater pee in their pants. It’s humiliating to see them grovel. Actually I can understand why the Oke State is willing to settle for crumbs. But Oklahoma??? You can bet that if UT joins up with the Pac10 it will be because they will call the shots in that league just as they always did in the Big I + XI Other Guys Who Know Who’s Really in Charge. If you have a chance to join a league where everyone is treated pretty much equally (like the Big 10, SEC, etc), why would you not do it and get some self-respect back? OU’s old rival Nebraska saw a chance to do that and moved decisively to make that happen. Why hasn’t OU learned the same lesson?

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:48:05 +0000

You know what…I believe that if Texas A & M feels strongly enough that they should be a part of the SEC then sobeit! No great loss for the other four schools being courted by the PAC 10. In fact bringing in BYU is a far greater prize than A & M. A & M won’t even make a dent in Texas recruiting! In fact one could almost say the A & M is so stupid that they offered themselves the “Death Penalty”. Look what happened to SMU!

By: Theron Sapp

Theron Sapp — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:43:31 +0000

Texas A&M’s best option is the SEC. In the first place, they’ll make more money. The SEC already has a guaranteed payout of more than $17 million from ESPN/CBS, and that would be re-negotiated upward with the addition of the Texas market. Plus SEC teams retain the rights to set up their own sports networks, and they keep one TV game per year as pay-per-view. This is netting schools like Florida and Georgia and extra $10 million a year. Big 10 teams don’t retain these rights–they belong to the Big Ten, and the proposed Pac 16 network would operate in the same way.

Millions more would be saved by not paying for minor sports teams to travel to faraway places like Pullman–and expensive places like LA and the Bay Area. Altogether, A&M would expect to net upwards of $30 million a year without breaking a sweat. Any Pac16 revenue is strictly speculative. A&M athletics has big money problems right now. In fact, money woes are at the root of many of their recent problems. Join the SEC and these problems evaporate immediately.

The point above about SEC teams traveling well is a good one. Kyle Field holds about 80,000 now. With proven draws like Alabama, Arkansas, and LSU, you could easily expand to an SEC-sized 100,000 or so.

And as far as recruiting is concerned, A&M should be better off, not worse. The Aggies can tell recruits that they’ll be playing on ESPN and CBS during the day or at prime time, not 10 pm or midnight on the Pac16 channel. And they can play in the toughest and most exciting league in the country and stay close enough that Mama and Daddy can get to most of the games. Not to mention their girlfriends. As far as the SEC invading Texas is concerned, what is stopping them anyway? You can bet that if they can pull a top recruit out of Texas or Timbuktu, they’ll do it if they can.

And then there’s the best reason of all to pick the SEC: stability. The Pac16 is going to be a group of culturally disparate and geographically distant schools put together for one reason and one reason only: to get as many TV bucks as possible. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. And following Texas? Is it not abundantly clear that UT will do whatever it thinks will give it the most control and the largest amount of cash? It might very well be the case that in a few years Texas will shop itself around again and leave A&M and the rest to fend for themselves. Maybe they’ll put together their own network and go independent like Notre Dame. If you ask me, I think that’s definitely something they’re considering and as soon as they think it’s to their interest to do it, they will. Why should Texas A&M accept the fact that they have to do what their bitterest rival decides? If they’re ever going to move out of Texas’s shadow, now is the time.

And while I’m on the subject, all of the above applies–in spades–to OU. If Castiglione and Boren have any brains, they’ll be working out a deal with Mike Slive right now. Or maybe the problem is they’ve already tried and the SEC won’t take them.

Of course there is one reason to move to the Pac16: if you’re afraid of the competition in the SEC.

By: RRJ22

RRJ22 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:17:40 +0000

It would do the gaggies some good to interface with Cal so they could expand their very closed minds and narrow views of society and see there is diversity of opinions, which is healthy. Also,if you knew anything about Stanford,you would realize it is a moderatly conservative highly rated business school and definitely not at all like Cal.

By: JW

JW — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:48:40 +0000

Look at all the SEC teams already. The majority of all their stars are already from Texas. If Texas A&M goes to the SEC they will be able to recruit those kids who want to go to the superior confrence and get more exposure to stay at home and go there.

Also you say its going to ruin A&M’s chance of ever getting good at football again. If they follow UT they will never have a chance to get good at football again. If they follow UT they won’t have anything different to offer these kids than UT will and any athlete looking for the exposure to get to the next level will choose UT everytime.

SEC is a much more viable offer. You really think people like Bill Byrne and Gene Stallings are going to be able to sit in the same room with people from Stanford and Cal Berkley? The liberal longhorns will love it there, but not the Aggies wouldn’t last long. If they go to the PAC 10 they’ll be out of there in five years.