- June 13th, 2010, 6:32 pm
#310018
OK, the past 48 hours have been dizzying down here in Texas. But as the dust begins to settle it is looking more & more like all of the movement may already be over.
A&M has told the Pac-10 to go fly a kite and is focused on either joining the SEC (which apparently now is a real possibility) or sticking with a revamped 10-team Big XII. The Big XII commish has finally gotten off his duff and pitched a deal to keep the 10 remaining members of the beleaguered league (I just love pairing those words) together. Five schools are desperately behind this initiative for obvious reasons: Kansas, K-State, Mizzou, Iowa State and Baylor ... the so called "Other Five". UT, Tech, OU & OSU are supposedly set to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to Pac-10 on Tuesday. But since the Ags have decided the SEC looks like a better play for them it has opened the door for all of the schools to reconsider their positions.
Reportedly under the last ditch proposal to save the Big XII, commish Beebe is suggested the ten remaining schools stick together and since the league is up for TV contract negotiations next summer Beebe says he would guarantee each of the 10 remaining members the $17M per institution that SEC schools are getting under their new longterm contract. On top of that, they would allow member schools to start their own television networks. The last point is a huge deal to UT which stands to make and additional $3-4M each year off such venture. It likely also would benefit Texas A&M in a big way and Oklahoma to a lesser extent. The rest of the schools probably wouldn't make enough money off such a deal to make it worth their while. It should be noted that yours truly would be all over any TV startup at either school.
If the remaining Big XII schools decide to stick together, the SEC would likely stop their expansion thoughts. The Pac-10 would have to add Utah to set up a travelling partner for Colorado (who they probably wouldn't have offered if they knew they wouldn't be getting the prized Texas schools in the deal). The Big Ten would stand firm for the time being to wait out Notre Dame. This would essentially give the Big East, ACC & Mountain West another year to get their acts together before the drama resumes next summer.
Now if the Aggies do bolt to the SEC, all bets are off and it gets real interesting. Allegedly the SEC has enough votes from the A&M Regents but there remains STRONG resistance from some in College Station to throw away a century of rivalry with UT in order to move into a league where they are likely to get pounded harder than they do where they are now. Some in College Station are delusional in believing they could maintain their traditional rivalries with Texas schools even though they would essentially be throwing all of their partners under the bus in their quest for greed. Ask the University of Houston what happens to schools that mess with the big boys. UH hasn't been able to schedule UT or A&M in any sport and it has killed their athletic revenue. And look how things have worked out for Arkansas since they jumped ship. They went from a national championship contender every year in the SWC to an also-ran in the SEC. By opening up the Lone Star State's fertile recruiting grounds to the SEC, there remains a very real possibility that all Texas schools could be pulled back to the pack just so A&M could feel like they showed the boys in Austin who is boss.
For those who do not know, Texas Governor Rick Perry was an Aggie yell leader (have PastorZack explain these milkmen to you because I can't) back in the day and is in the midst of a campaign to stay in office with a November election. Rick has no interest in having this go down on his watch so there might be some political implications. There is a Wednesday hearing by legislators in Austin but with schools likely decided by Tuesday, it may be too late.
In essence, if you are a fan of the Big East and/or ACC you should be hoping the Aggies pass on their SEC invitation. Because if they bolt, craziness will follow. And frankly, it is looking more and more like this could happen.
- By ECC29
- By flameshaw