The Agony That Will Belong to the Aggies

Before I start this rant, let us establish a few statements first.

1. Every movement by a college to another conference in the last couple years is entirely motivated by football. This is because every Division I school that has a football team receives more revenue from said football team than any other sport.

2. Just because a school is moving to another conference, doesn't mean that school is any more or less important than it was before said move.

3. There are only about ten or so schools who really matter when it comes to football. I would say some of those are (in no particular order)Texas, Notre Dame, USC, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida, and Michigan. (You may or may not agree with this entirely, but a part of it is true. Don't get hung up on this point too much.)

I set these points up so I can bash Texas A & M.



Let me throw some numbers around for you. The football Aggies won the Big XII once (1998). So maybe the reason they're leaving the conference is because they had trouble winning it? Badup ching.

Furthermore, the last time A&M won a 'national title' (quotes used because they were defined differently back in the day) was 1939. Since 2000, the Aggies have a record of 72-63 (.533), including a 1-6 record in bowl games. Their sole bowl victory in the last 11 years was against TCU in 2001 (before they were today's TCU) in the galleryfurniture.com Bowl. Prestigious, I must say.

Why, you might ask, am I saying all this? Because I find it almost laughable that the Aggies deem themselves so important to leave the Big XII, a conference they were probably the 5th or 6th best team in regularly. And do it in such an arrogant, self-serving fashion that insults the Big XII and college athletics in general.

The only reason the SEC is possibly pondering extending you an invite is because they want to increase their market size into the land of Texas, and they weren't going to be able to acquire Texas because they have strict by-laws against the newly created Texas television network. Therefore, they decided begrudgingly to take on Texas' bastard child (or red headed cousin, whichever metaphor you prefer), Texas A&M, in order to expand.

The schools of the SEC will vote the Aggies in with much enthusiasm because now Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Arkansas will have a school they can beat up on year in and year out and the already loaded schools of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama will thoroughly enjoy pillaging the recruiting circuit in Texas now that they have a Texas school within their conference.

Really A&M fans? You think your recruiting will improve because of this move? First off, Texas will still kill you on in-state recruiting because they have their own TV network and will never be threatened by a collapse of the Big XII. Second, kids want to go to schools that have actually be relevant on the football landscape in the last half century, like Florida, Alabama, Georiga, and Auburn. You, contrary to the popular beliefs in College Station, have not been relevant. Sure you won the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame in 1987, but that was before any of the kids you will be recruiting in the next few years have been born.

The move lacks foresight, common sense, and dignity. The only reason you are in the news is because of the way you handled this debacle, your lack of discretion, and your complete idiocy in thinking you can hang with the big boys of the SEC.

I hope you enjoy getting your ass kicked yearly and continuing to fall way short of conference titles, just as you did in the Big XII.

But at least then you had a small ray of hope at winning one.