Texas A&M has decided it would rather be seventh place in heaven than second or third in hell. The Aggies appear intent on filing for divorce from the Big 12, citing irreconcilable differences and sibling rivalry.
Houston Chronicle:
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M on Monday moved two steps closer toward bolting the Big 12 and joining the Southeastern Conference.
One step took place in Aggieland, the other in Austin.
In College Station, A&M regents unanimously approved A&M president R. Bowen Loftin’s taking any actions necessary concerning “conference alignment.”
In Austin, State Rep. Dan Branch postponed indefinitely a planned hearing for the House Higher Education Committee on conference realignment scheduled at the Capitol for today, citing “no immediate need” for the meeting.
An A&M insider Monday dubbed the action of Branch, whom the insider said had been inundated with phone calls from Aggies, a “good thing” for proponents of A&M’s switching allegiances to the SEC, perhaps as soon as next year.
And just like that, things are falling apart. Again. And this time, not even the Texas Legislature appears able to stop it.
The Associated Press has already joined this round of the “sucks to be Iowa State” dogpile:
It was only a year ago that talk was rampant about four 16-team super conferences basically seizing control of college football — everyone else be damned. …
When it’s all said and done, we’ll have what everyone projected a year ago: A college football world comprised of the very wealthy haves (SEC, ACC, Pac-Something and Big Ten-In-Name-Only) and the begging-on-the-street-corner have-nots (everyone else in Division I).
Sorry, schools such as Baylor and Iowa State, you’ll likely be getting a demotion.
But of course, the AP isn’t the only one (Muskogee Phoenix):
So those Pac-12 suitcases, new logo and all, are packed at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Contingency plans, you know. Kansas and Kansas State may go begging the Big Ten or settle for the Big East, making the acquisition of TCU make some geographic sense. Iowa State? The seemingly unwanted stepchild if you read the blogs. How about the new MAC power Iowa State?
This time around, these are hurting a little more, because they could be as little as one unnamed 14th SEC team away from becoming true.
(Footnote 1: I liked “Big 12 Missile Crisis” as the title for what happened last year, with Nebraska and Texas staring each other down, but this has the potential to be much much bigger, hence the title of this post. A Part II usually has more drama/effects/explosions than the original.)
(Footnote 2: The lead-in to this post comes from SI’s Stewart Mandel, pointing out about where A&M falls in the SEC pecking order.)
