My thoughts on SECession

A year ago when there was a chance of A&M leaving the Big Xii (note: I didn't miss the capital II), I was pretty pumped up. Nebraska and Colorado had bailed out for greener pastures, and the Aggies had a shot at joining arguably the best conference in college football. Now, I have no say in those sorts of events, and the cooler heads of College Station didn't listen to my pleas. Our friends in Austin had saved the conference by working out a new TV deal that would work out well for us (and the boys in Norman), and so the Ags would agree to keep old things the same. I shrugged, let things play out on the field, and outside of an ill-timed interception in Stillwater and laying an egg against Missouri, my alma mater didn't disappoint.

A year later things are different. Hours after "saving the conference," our friends in Austin announced their intention to start their own TV network - not a conference network, their own. They would (hopefully) broadcast their beloved Longhorns to the masses (hurray women's track & field!). The TV deal for the rest of the Big Xii was only good on paper. Should the Aggies feel a stood up at the altar? Sure. So should everyone else in the Big Xii. If our friends in Austin helped start a conference-wide network, they would have been able to take their fair share (and more), legitimately claim that they "saved the conference," bring in a couple of good teams to replace NU and CU, and be heroes. It didn't go down that way.

"But Aggies, you're just being little brats." Ultimately yes, the straw that broke the camel's back was the Longhorn Network. Austin officially has their hooks in the biggest sports network in the country, and ESPN's coverage of Texas' rivals will be akin to the state-controlled journalism in Soviet Russia. Anyone who believes otherwise probably also believes there was no conspiracy with the Kennedy assassination.

Texas A&M University's decision to leave the Big Xii for another conference (presumably the SEC) is a good one, but not just because of the LHN. This is a divorce from 117 years in coming. The Aggies have had enough of "but I'll change." In spite of what anyone says, the Big Xii just isn't as strong without NU and CU. The credibility of the conference lies solely with an OU team that A&M pounded last year and a Texas team whose recent mediocrity should make ESPN question the existence of their god. Old Army no longer wants to deal with Tech's incessant whining about respect (in spite of US News' academic ranking which is just north of mentally retarded), Baylor's insistence that their semi-dominance in women's basketball is reason for them to be in an a BCS automatic qualifying conference, and pretty much anyone from the state of Kansas.

Kidding aside, having the stability of the SEC means a lot to Aggies who believe in "things the way they were." Old rivalries will be rekindled (Arkansas and LSU), new rivalries formed with the school who likes to share coaches (Bama), and new gnats to swat (Vanderbilt, MSU, and Kentucky). I won't miss the annual Texas game if for no other reason than it is typically close enough that I have a hard time keeping down my turkey dinner. I won't miss the arrogant bastard in Bob Stoops or pounding my fist because we just can't win in Stillwater. For the first few years at least, seeing TAMU and Auburn on the ticker is going to look like a pretty badass non-conference game.

So it's a change of scenery. The Aggies get to be a part of something bigger. They get out from under Big Brother's shadow and finally get to be their own man - accountable only for themselves without being compared to him. It's a good feeling.