The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

just a few Backporchers can have the same affect on the Big Ten board

they're not even complaining about it too much anymore

I am respectful and stay off the B1G threads about who's the 8th-best interior d-lineman from 1982 and such.  

It would shock the hell out of me.  Texas stands to have all three of its traditional rivals back on the schedule regularly.  Why would the Horns go elsewhere?

This sounds like wishful aggie thinking.

Maybe just fanciful thinking on my part.  I think both teams would be better served being in different conferences.  

What are the 3 rivals?  OU, A&M, and Ark?  Is Ark still really a traditional rival?  Afterall, it's been 30+ years since Ark left the SWC, and I'd like to see what most younger fans think about them being a rival.  

I really like what Jimbo said at the SEC meetings about being permanent rivals with LSU and Texas and Miss State.  I have no desire to rehash the Big 12 and get in a pod or alignment with Texas, OU, and Missouri.  There has even been talk that LSU will remain the last game of the season, possibly making Texas an early rival game.  I'm not opposed.  

Money won’t ever be an issue for Texas. I’m not sure that the money the athletic dept receives is even as important now that NIL is here. 

I’m not clear, are you referring to the B1G as dying and land locked?  Clearly the SEC is tops, but the B1G has a bright future. 

Because if you’re referring to the Big 12 as dying I’m puzzled why Texas chose to stay for 10 plus years when it was evident it was dying over ten years ago. Texas always could have went to the SEC, obviously A&M couldn’t block it then and can’t stop it now. Maybe in a world where Texas did not tank for a decade the Big 12 would have been in better shape but even then would the Big 12 survive as this hodgepodge of a conference. 

The funny thing is that by most accounts CU is looking to get back in, and so may UofA and ASU. it will really be a hodgepodge then with Cincinnati, WV, Tcu, UH. 

At the time of our Big 12 departure A&M was in the midst of some very lean years, not unlike what UT is experiencing now. We had been changing coaches, had some close but no cigar type seasons, and generally speaking we were adrift. OU and Texas both had dominated the Big 12, playing in multiple BCS championship games, winning the conference 9/10 years, and generally speaking just kicking mostly everybody’s butt.

When it first came up in 2009 or 2010 that A&M was considering leaving it was laughed about by a lot of Texas boosters including DeLoss Dodds. There is even a quote about us not having any media market from him except for “ a sliver of East Texas”. In or about this same time Texas Explored going to the PAC. It was reported that they let A&M know that they would take care of us poor Aggies.

When A&M decided to leave, it did so on our own grounds and our own strength. I think most Texas people were shocked that we did not need them or any other help to get into the SEC. Mud was slung, from us and to us. The press loved it. Still loves it. It’s the nature of public breakups. 

I think we were ahead of the game, and being in the sec has tremendously benefitted our program. It’s almost kind of weird that it’s almost a given that A&M would have won the Big 12 in 2012 if we had stayed. And we came damn close to winning the SECW that year as well. But  we have mostly been a strong, if not great SEC program, much more so than our Big 12 days.

I'll add that I think it's been good for both schools and fan bases to have a cooling off period over the past decade, as well.  No matter how it happened, even if no words had been spoken at all by the TAMU administration on the way out, there were going to be hard feelings. 

I've always been in favor of playing the game annually again, because the regional rivalries are what I value most about college football.  But I understand that the war of words left a lot of open wounds, and those no doubt needed time to heal.

I'll be glad to play A&M annually in the SEC and I hope it works out that way.  It's good for the state of Texas and it's good for college football, IMO.