A&M is unhappy. Everyone knows that, but why?
It's simple- They're tired of being bullied by Texas (And OU to a lesser extent).
To put it in a way that's easy to understand, Texas basically said "Do what I say or I'm taking my toys and going home" when everyone was trying to get the Big 12 to stay together last year.
They did what Texas said, and now Texas fans have a $300 million dollar "Longhorn Network" to watch.
You can understand why Texas A&M would be a little upset, correct? Wrong.
Texas and Texas A&M are both public institutions, which means their profit and revenues and all things financial are regulated by the state.
In common terms: If they make a lot of money with the Longhorn Network, the state government can cut a piece of their government income pie out and relocate it to the Texas A&M bank account.
So why is A&M so mad, if this is purely a money issue then it's fine?
They've argued that it is an unfair recruiting tool, but it was recently announced that Texas could not show high school games.
There's nothing left after that. Texas A&M has basically gone rogue status.
What the Aggies are trying to do is break away from their big brother in Austin and form their own path, and the only way they see that happening is by leaving Texas' conference and going to their own.
Seems like a good idea on paper, but the Aggies are forgetting one fact- You've gotten your butt handed to you just about every year since 1996 (The creation of the Big 12).
"Well, it's hard to win the conference with Texas and OU in your division." You won the conference in 1998, and that's it. Yes, it's tough to play both of those schools, but it isn't impossible. Why can Mizzou always seem to pull off the OU upset? Why did you not take advantage of Texas' down year last year and win the division?
And if they say "Well, if we got out we'd do better." Wrong again. Look at your bowl record since 1996. There is a great win over TCU in 2001, but other than that? NINE losses.
Four of those nine losses are at the hands of SEC teams (Mississippi State, Tennessee, Georgia, and LSU), and the latter three were complete routs. Even in the regular season, A&M hasn't defeated an SEC team since 1995, the year before the Big 12 was created.
The other five losses came at the hands of known power house teams such as UCLA, Penn State (2), Ohio State, and Cal. Those teams are just as good as the teams in the SEC today, and you want to go up against that every year? The total score from all five of those games are 189-64.
All in all, I've changed my way of thinking on this situation. A&M will fall into the great abyss of College Football if they leave the Big 12. It doesn't matter what they do in the next two years if they end up joining, because those years will be losing. I love Texas A&M, but it's gonna be hard to watch.
And for all of you who are saying "Why doesn't Texas just join the SEC too, if they're the best then they should play in the best conference!"
Nonsense. Why would Texas leave? They're a school that can stand on their own. They have the whole Big 12 Conference in the palm of their hand. If the Big 12 falls apart, they're one of very few teams in the nation that could go independent and STILL compile one of the hardest schedules in the nation, simply by their prestige alone.
Yes, Texas is very good at football, and all sports for that matter, but they don't need to leave. They're the premiere team in their conference, and consistently go to top bowls just about every year.
Which reminds me what my grandpa always says: "Don't fix it if it ain't broken."
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