Texas A&M to join SEC!

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I've written here before regarding your posts, but they just wreak of hatred for A&M regardless of the issue. That's all well and good, I'm in no way bothered or offended by that, but your hatred has blinded you and prevents you from making sound arguements. A&M appears to be moving on while the opportunity best presents itself, to the best football conference in the country.

While the LHN and its surrounding terms are certainly a factor, it's much bigger than that. The fact you want to make it all about UT and continue post after post to degrade A&M at every turn is quite narrow minded and petty. I don't expect you to wish us well and I realize you need an avenue to vent, but this is not a recruiting matter. It's not a "big/little brother" matter as hard as you will it to be.

It has to do with a University moving on to greener pastures, and entire athletic dept. moving on. Sure, we'll take our lumps early on in football. Naive not to think so despite the fact the program is on the rise. Other programs will compete well right away. This is a long term decision, in the best financial interest of the University. Season ticket sales will increase, donations will increase, and an overall energized fan base that gets to road trip to Oxford, Baton Rouge, Athens, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, etc. won't miss Aimes, Manhatten, Lawrence...

The reason I'm venting is because I have family that attended A&M. I'm extremely saddened to see a school that I care about and have grown up with literally about to cut their own head off of their body. Here is what I posted elsewhere on the matter:

I've read of lot of "good riddance" posts and endless speculation on the impact of Aggie to SEC on the SEC, on the Aggies, on Texas, on the Big12, on recruiting, etc. One thing that I have not read much about is the real motivation of the Aggies to make this move. It strikes me that this is an incredibly emotional, jealous and petty reaction to the LHN. I can understand that behavior from the fans on message boards but to think that the leadership of the University can react this way is surprising. I understand their frustration with our leveraging a recruiting advantages with the HS broadcast but that looks like a non-starter at this point anyway. What do the Aggies get by leaving? They don't get more money, they don't get their own LHN, they don't put their program in a better position to win. All they get is the satisfaction of stomping their foot on the ground and running out the door like babies. It just strikes me as incredibly immature behavior at an institutional level and actually quite surprising.
 

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This is exactly what I was talking about. Expansion brings new schools recruiting into new territories, including your own. Like it or not, they're going to steal one or two of those 4 and 5 star players that would have given your team more depth and talent. And eventually those other teams will get stronger, and the big kid on the block starts becoming more cyclical, with more teams getting a chance to win the conference. I think the super conference idea will bring much more conference parity to college football. Which is a good thing in my opinion.
Its the reason a guy like Stoops is so in favor of going west to PAC12. He can still recruit the hell out to Texas, but he also can go into California even more to compete with the like of USC/UCLA etc for some of the talent in that state. You can have your cake and eat it too. I wish the Aggies success. I just wish we could have lured them to to the PAC12.
 

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Each of you guys don't realize how far down the road The University of Texas is with Notre Dame. All of you laughed at me over a year ago when I told you that UT would be making upwards of $20 Mill+ a year with their own network. Remember that?

The University of Texas and Notre Dame WILL BE IN A CONFERENCE TOGETHER. And one more thing; Florida is extremely unhappy with all of the cheating going on the SEC. The word Super Conference means exactly what it sounds like; A Super Conference.
 

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Larry Scott will extend an olive branch to Texas and forgive them, their K with ESPN can be renegotiated, PAC 16 should happen OU OSU UT and TTech in the eastern division with Utah CU ASU and U of A ... done all is forgiven, one super-conference set ... gl

Ummmmmmmmmmmm, no.
 

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How would you welcome the thought of OK going into the SEC? Never heard your stance on that speculation.
I don't have anything against OU going to the SEC. I just happen to like the idea of going to the Pac-12 a bit better. I think OU could do good recruiting new areas like California. And personally for me, I also have relatives and friends who live out in California. And I could take a nice little vacation out there every year to watch a game. I just wonder if we join the Pac-12, what Bob Stoops would think about playing his brother every year. I remember them both saying one time that they would never schedule a game against each other's schools.
 

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Actually the Aggies will get more money from the SEC. Both ESPN and CBS will gladly renegotiate the TV contracts with them. In addition, the money that ESPN will be taking from the Big12-3(or more) will go into the SEC pockets. Tough spot for the Big12-3(or more) because their contract with ESPN is up for renewal next year and no way they come close to what ESPN or Fox paid them, especially with A&M gone and the potential for OU and OSU to be gone as well. In addition, with what ESPN is paying Texas, are they really going to shell out even more money for a lesser product?
 

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I don't have anything against OU going to the SEC. I just happen to like the idea of going to the Pac-12 a bit better. I think OU could do good recruiting new areas like California. And personally for me, I also have relatives and friends who live out in California. And I could take a nice little vacation out there every year to watch a game. I just wonder if we join the Pac-12, what Bob Stoops would think about playing his brother every year. I remember them both saying one time that they would never schedule a game against each other's schools.


Bob won't have to worry about that, Mike doesn't have the job security his brother does and could on the outside looking in by the time all this goes down.
 

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Actually the Aggies will get more money from the SEC. Both ESPN and CBS will gladly renegotiate the TV contracts with them. In addition, the money that ESPN will be taking from the Big12-3(or more) will go into the SEC pockets. Tough spot for the Big12-3(or more) because their contract with ESPN is up for renewal next year and no way they come close to what ESPN or Fox paid them, especially with A&M gone and the potential for OU and OSU to be gone as well. In addition, with what ESPN is paying Texas, are they really going to shell out even more money for a lesser product?

Did you take into account all of the money that A&M will have to pony up if they leave the Big XII, a la:

Texas A&M made a 10-year pledge to hold the Big 12 Conference together when ABC/ESPN vowed a year ago to keep paying the Big 12 as if it was still a 12-member league with a championship game. A&M might be liable for breach of contract after signing a 13-year, $1.17 billion TV contract with Fox Sports for the Big 12’s second-tier rights to football in April.

The Aggies are having their lawyers look at everything, including the exit fees A&M would have to pay to leave the Big 12.

Under the current bylaws, Texas A&M would be required to relinquish 80 percent of revenues over a two-year period if the Aggies left with only a year’s notice.
 

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Bob won't have to worry about that, Mike doesn't have the job security his brother does and could on the outside looking in by the time all this goes down.
True...I wouldn't mind Mike coming back to OU to join his brother. It would be like the good old days. Plus Mike knows the Pac-12 recruiting grounds pretty good by now.
 

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Here's the latest and greatest:

August 22 appears to be D-Day for the 10-member Big 12 as we know it.

Three sources close to the situation said Texas A&M’s regents board will meet on August 22 to deliberate and likely vote on an application to join the Southeastern Conference as early as 2012.

Texas A&M System spokesman Jason Cook denied reports that A&M has already agreed to join the SEC.

“There’s no agreement in principle, nothing,” Cook told Orangebloods.com.

Two sources said the SEC presidents could be gathered this weekend in an emergency meeting to address the possible addition of Texas A&M.

The sources said the Aggies’ nine-member regents board is leaning toward leaving the Big 12 and are being fueled by a lack of confidence in the current configuration of the league - i.e. the relationship between Texas and ESPN (the Longhorn Network) and how it could negatively impact the rest of the members.

There’s growing concern in the Big 12 that A&M is already well down the road toward joining the SEC.

According to multiple sources close to the situation, Aggies’ president Bowen Loftin met with SEC officials prior to an Aug. 1 meeting among Big 12 athletic directors in Dallas to discuss how to co-exist with Texas and its Longhorn Network (LHN).

Loftin apparently aired A&M’s grievances against LHN to SEC officials during the meeting. Cook said he wasn’t aware of any such meeting.
“I think this is pretty far along,” one administrator at a Big 12 school said of A&M’s courtship with the SEC.

One of A&M’s concerns - LHN airing high school games - was eliminated on Thursday when the NCAA ruled no high school games would be allowed to be shown on school or conference networks.

But it didn’t appear the NCAA’s ruling would have much bearing on A&M’s momentum toward the SEC, sources said.

The question is if anything can slow the apparent momentum. Sources across the Big 12 said lawmakers were being contacted in hopes of reaching Texas A&M officials to fully consider preserving all the history and tradition between Texas A&M and the Texas schools in the Big 12.

The SEC has been eerily quiet about all the speculation surrounding Texas A&M. But sources said SEC commissioner Mike Slive and Texas A&M president Bowen Loftin have formed a relationship since Slive visited College Station last June during the Big 12 Missile Crisis.

Loftin was impressed by Slive when it appeared half the Big 12 was headed to the Pac-10, and Slive made a pitch to Texas A&M to head east - not west.

The two have spoken intermittently since then, sources said. Bowen’s most recent visit with Slive apparently happened on SEC turf two weeks ago, according to sources.

Upon learning of Loftin’s alleged meeting with SEC officials before huddling with Big 12 ADs on Aug. 1, one official at a Big 12 school questioned the Aggies and their Code of Honor, which states, “An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.”

The source said Texas A&M made a 10-year pledge to hold the Big 12 Conference together when ABC/ESPN vowed a year ago to keep paying the Big 12 as if it was still a 12-member league with a championship game. The source also questioned if A&M might be liable for breach of contract after signing a 13-year, $1.17 billion TV contract with Fox Sports for the Big 12’s second-tier rights to football in April.

An A&M source told Orangebloods.com the Aggies are having their lawyers look at everything, including the exit fees A&M would have to pay to leave the Big 12.

Under the current bylaws, Texas A&M would be required to relinquish 80 percent of revenues over a two-year period if the Aggies left with only a year’s notice.

Nebraska and Colorado were able to pay substantially less than that by settling with the Big 12.

Sources said Thursday the SEC would be interested in adding Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech in addition to Texas A&M to form a 16-team super conference. Florida State has also been mentioned as a possible target of the SEC, according to Big 12 sources.

Two officials at separate Big 12 schools said Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would stay in the Big 12 as long as the other schools were willing to stay together. A third official in the Big 12 said the remaining nine schools were “solid.”

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said Wednesday it would be Texas’ goal to hold the Big 12 together. But if there wasn’t sentiment for that he said Texas and a school like Notre Dame should look at starting their own conference. Dodds has said he is against Texas going independent.

A high-ranking official at a Big 12 school said the Pac-12 could re-enter the picture if Texas A&M leaves for the SEC. The official said Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has indicated he would love to set up regional networks in Oklahoma and Texas to accommodate Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, as well as Texas and Texas Tech.

Scott didn’t respond to an e-mail Thursday night.

Such a plan by Scott would require a complete re-working of the 20-year, $300 million Longhorn Network contract between Texas and ESPN, which is obviously a massive undertaking that would require Texas to give a little in terms of revenue sharing.

Stay tuned.
 

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Did you take into account all of the money that A&M will have to pony up if they leave the Big XII, a la:

Texas A&M made a 10-year pledge to hold the Big 12 Conference together when ABC/ESPN vowed a year ago to keep paying the Big 12 as if it was still a 12-member league with a championship game. A&M might be liable for breach of contract after signing a 13-year, $1.17 billion TV contract with Fox Sports for the Big 12’s second-tier rights to football in April.

The Aggies are having their lawyers look at everything, including the exit fees A&M would have to pay to leave the Big 12.

Under the current bylaws, Texas A&M would be required to relinquish 80 percent of revenues over a two-year period if the Aggies left with only a year’s notice.
JB there are boosters behind their move the the SEC. Kicking in for the fees wont be a big deal. In addition, if there is not a conference around to collect the fees, then what. Both colorado and nebraska settled and i cant see the conference trying to hold Ags feet to the fire. They'll agree to a settlement or perhaps some rich Ag booster will sue the Big12 for breach of their contract last summer by selling out the rest of the conference by allowing UT and ESPN to partner under the premise of keeping the conference together. Face it, ESPN backing UT on TLN was they payoff UT got for not bolting the conference last summer. Beebe was in on it, but I doubt the other conference ADs and Presidents knew about the backdoor deal.
 

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Here's the latest and greatest:

August 22 appears to be D-Day for the 10-member Big 12 as we know it.

Three sources close to the situation said Texas A&M’s regents board will meet on August 22 to deliberate and likely vote on an application to join the Southeastern Conference as early as 2012.

Texas A&M System spokesman Jason Cook denied reports that A&M has already agreed to join the SEC.

“There’s no agreement in principle, nothing,” Cook told Orangebloods.com.

Two sources said the SEC presidents could be gathered this weekend in an emergency meeting to address the possible addition of Texas A&M.

The sources said the Aggies’ nine-member regents board is leaning toward leaving the Big 12 and are being fueled by a lack of confidence in the current configuration of the league - i.e. the relationship between Texas and ESPN (the Longhorn Network) and how it could negatively impact the rest of the members.

There’s growing concern in the Big 12 that A&M is already well down the road toward joining the SEC.

According to multiple sources close to the situation, Aggies’ president Bowen Loftin met with SEC officials prior to an Aug. 1 meeting among Big 12 athletic directors in Dallas to discuss how to co-exist with Texas and its Longhorn Network (LHN).

Loftin apparently aired A&M’s grievances against LHN to SEC officials during the meeting. Cook said he wasn’t aware of any such meeting.
“I think this is pretty far along,” one administrator at a Big 12 school said of A&M’s courtship with the SEC.

One of A&M’s concerns - LHN airing high school games - was eliminated on Thursday when the NCAA ruled no high school games would be allowed to be shown on school or conference networks.

But it didn’t appear the NCAA’s ruling would have much bearing on A&M’s momentum toward the SEC, sources said.

The question is if anything can slow the apparent momentum. Sources across the Big 12 said lawmakers were being contacted in hopes of reaching Texas A&M officials to fully consider preserving all the history and tradition between Texas A&M and the Texas schools in the Big 12.

The SEC has been eerily quiet about all the speculation surrounding Texas A&M. But sources said SEC commissioner Mike Slive and Texas A&M president Bowen Loftin have formed a relationship since Slive visited College Station last June during the Big 12 Missile Crisis.

Loftin was impressed by Slive when it appeared half the Big 12 was headed to the Pac-10, and Slive made a pitch to Texas A&M to head east - not west.

The two have spoken intermittently since then, sources said. Bowen’s most recent visit with Slive apparently happened on SEC turf two weeks ago, according to sources.

Upon learning of Loftin’s alleged meeting with SEC officials before huddling with Big 12 ADs on Aug. 1, one official at a Big 12 school questioned the Aggies and their Code of Honor, which states, “An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.”

The source said Texas A&M made a 10-year pledge to hold the Big 12 Conference together when ABC/ESPN vowed a year ago to keep paying the Big 12 as if it was still a 12-member league with a championship game. The source also questioned if A&M might be liable for breach of contract after signing a 13-year, $1.17 billion TV contract with Fox Sports for the Big 12’s second-tier rights to football in April.

An A&M source told Orangebloods.com the Aggies are having their lawyers look at everything, including the exit fees A&M would have to pay to leave the Big 12.

Under the current bylaws, Texas A&M would be required to relinquish 80 percent of revenues over a two-year period if the Aggies left with only a year’s notice.

Nebraska and Colorado were able to pay substantially less than that by settling with the Big 12.

Sources said Thursday the SEC would be interested in adding Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech in addition to Texas A&M to form a 16-team super conference. Florida State has also been mentioned as a possible target of the SEC, according to Big 12 sources.

Two officials at separate Big 12 schools said Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would stay in the Big 12 as long as the other schools were willing to stay together. A third official in the Big 12 said the remaining nine schools were “solid.”

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said Wednesday it would be Texas’ goal to hold the Big 12 together. But if there wasn’t sentiment for that he said Texas and a school like Notre Dame should look at starting their own conference. Dodds has said he is against Texas going independent.

A high-ranking official at a Big 12 school said the Pac-12 could re-enter the picture if Texas A&M leaves for the SEC. The official said Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has indicated he would love to set up regional networks in Oklahoma and Texas to accommodate Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, as well as Texas and Texas Tech.

Scott didn’t respond to an e-mail Thursday night.

Such a plan by Scott would require a complete re-working of the 20-year, $300 million Longhorn Network contract between Texas and ESPN, which is obviously a massive undertaking that would require Texas to give a little in terms of revenue sharing.

Stay tuned.
Orangebloods. I wonder how they are received trying to get info from Aggies?
 

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I dont think Houston or Memphis will get invites from the Big 12.

TCU, MIGHT, given the current instability and the desire for a credible team to add to the conference, but Baylor has always pitched a fit about TCU and imagine that stance might not change.

If the Big 12 were to add teams, their best bets would be Louisville or Air Force. It doesnt make sense for either of them to bolt for an unstable conference right now, especially Louisville.

Texas claims they do not want independence, but i just dont believe them.

I would not count out the Big 10
 

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This is just stupid on A&Ms part... Do they really think they will do well in the SEC when they can't even win the Big XII? Just because their rival Texas has a sweet deal with their own network doesn't mean A&M should commit suicide. Sure, they will get more money, but they will have a hard time competing in a stronger SEC conference.
 

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It comes down to this. Does A&M want to join the SEC or not? The TLN is dead, or should be. The TLN would be absolutely worthless now that they are restricted to televising one non-con football game a year, and cannot televise High School games. So the TLN is NOT the question. What IS the question is the money situation, just like it was in the past.

Texas is stupid if they really think that Notre Dame is going to give their "Independent" status just to join a conference with them. That is not going to happen. For Texas to join any other conference, they are going to have to give, and give big, as far as revenues are concerned. The Pac 12 would give them the best deal, because Texas, along with T-Tech, would get their own "Regional" Sports network, just like OU and Oklahoma State would get. That is better than nothing, which is what Texas has now, with their TLN network. The Big 10 would not do that. We will know in 10 days, one way or the other.
 

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Hey not to worry about superconferences breaking up the rivalries. Last year I remember a superconference discussion on some board somewhere that was pretty intelligent and I'll relate what I believe I remember correctly from it. Just an idea but it was the best of them all IMHO.

I have already seen a model of a superconference season for this format and it's nice. There would be 4 subdivisions, say north south east and west with each subdivision consisting of 4 teams. The conference season is 9 weeks with everyone playing 3 teams from its own subdivision and 2 teams from the other 3 on a rotational basis. The traditional 3-game OOC schedule would remain unchanged allowing for various rivalry games to continue. I heard in this discussion cutting that back to 2 OOC games, one cupcake and one BCS opponent from an AQ conference which was just presented as an alternative but that went nowhere.

At season's end there is a 2-game playoff between the divisional winners say for example north vs south, east vs west to determine the participants in a CCG or conference final. So in essence the 16-team format could extend the season one more game beyond the CCG for the 2 finalists in the conference. Now if we can just get the rest of the country to follow this model, we can even wind up with a playoff.

The whole nut would take a total of just 1 additional post season game (plus minor bowl game possibly) for 75% of the schools. 2 extra games for one eighth (2 ) schools and then onto whatever bowl game the runner up CCG losing team can get.

And then one or two more games for the 4 BCS semi-finalists (superconference champions) worked into the 4 BCS bowls which would wind up being the semi final games in a national playoff. Naturally with 4 super conferences, that would fit the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Rose Bowls very nicely.

I forget the exact details how the indeeendents would be worked into the formula but a minimum BCS rank was involved like qualifying if they make the top 8 which would allow them to participate in a superconference playoff by drawing straws or some such deal.
 

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Any formula that adds an extra game to the schedule would have major problems with the NCAA. I do like the idea though. In the Pac 12, you would have the Oregons and Washington's, the Northern and Southern California teams, The Arizona teams with Utah and Colorado, and the four newbies, possibly the two Oklahoma's and perhaps Texas and T-Tech. Playing a 9 conference game schedule would be perfect, as the non divisional teams would play each other two years out of four, on a rotating basis. The playoffs could also rotate. Division 1 vs 2, and 3 vs 4 one year. Division 1 vs 3, and 2 vs 4 the second year, etc...
 

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