For A&M, I thought the smart play was to join the SEC if the invitation was there. Aggies are tired of being treated like UT's little brother and the only way to escape that shadow was to forge their own destiny apart from UT. This was their best chance to do that.
For the "Little 5" that would have been left behind, staying in a watered-down conference was their only way to stay relevant. Missouri was the first to preen themselves for the Big 10 and then got left at the altar in favor of Nebraska. How pathetic do they look?
As for Texas, it's definitely a rich-get-richer scenario, especially if their own network gains traction (Oklahoma seems prepared to try the same thing). Which makes me think the Big Whatever may be in the strongest position someday to attract Notre Dame since the precedent of a school with its own network having already been set. That would be a game-changer.
Want another odd name to make an even dozen? BYU. The new conference could stand for religious tolerance having a Baptist school, a Catholic school and a Mormon school sharing revenue. Due to their religious affiliations, both ND and BYU have a much larger fan base than they do an alumni base. Then, if you want a "super conference" of 16, why not add the three service academies and one more school? That would make for a lot of intriguing rivalries with national (and international) fan bases that could easily be sold as a national contract to one of the major networks (NBC, perhaps?)
All just speculation on my part but if the Big Whatever (btw, drop the "Big" thing and become the Heartland Conference or the American Legend Conference) could do that, it would be able to flourish and not just survive.
But, yeah, the remaining schools owe a big thank you to A&M for holding the conference together because, if they'd joined the SEC, I think the other nine collapse and the bigger dogs join the Pac-10.
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