Oh, What Could Have Been

With the crisis over, recovery from Expansion Fever begins. A process which, most likely, will never be complete. Just as we learned during the War, when brother goes against brother, things got ugly right quick, and not even a hundred and fifty years after reunification has healing finished.

Interestingly, it’s not the Big 12’s stepdaughters kicking up holy hell and threatening their AD. It would make perfect sense for Kansas, say, who will be making less than the Texas schools and bearing a larger brunt of buyout fees from its former siblings to be upset. No, their pleased as punch their big college days aren’t over.

Rather, it’s beauty queen runner up A&M fans raising the ruckus. Though all the ink has been spilled over Texas, but, contrary to popular belief, Texas can’t save any conference single handedly. Boise State’s former association with the WAC reveals the fallacy behind that idea. Texas needs A&M like a bride needs her maid of honor.

However, A&M is just about over always being the bridesmaid, never the bride. They’ve got a sense of history, spirit, and tradition more akin to the competitive spirit of the SEC than the money-grubbing of the Big 12. Let’s face it- what true college program wouldn’t want to be a part of the best conference in the nation? Schools like Texas, who balk at equitable financial distributions. I used to hate the Aggies so much I wouldn’t even speak of them (and trust me, I love talking about things I hate). But by eschewing the Big 12’s royal treatment to strive for the glory of playing down-in-the-dirt, honest competition, they’ve claimed a spot in my favorite teams. In retrospect, it was kind of cruel to let them think they’d be joining us, just to have that collapse at the twelfth hour.

When I first heard that the pleading emails to jump ship were upsetting A&M’s athletic director so much he called one particularly vicious correspondent with an offer to fight, I was appalled. But then, we’ve got coaches threatening to beat up reporters, so maybe the Aggies would be an even better SEC fit than anyone at first realized.

Sorry, Aggies, it’s not going to work out for you this go round. We’re not adding teams willy-nilly, so who could we get at this time to counterbalance you? But when the inevitable happens, and the IA scene melds into a giant Eur-Asia, I will welcome y’all with open arms.