LITTLE ROCK — Once Texas A&M gets by Baylor’s envy and threats of legal action, the Aggies will become part of the SEC and then the real scramble begins.
It will be a race for survival, expansion and E$PN.
The starter of this marathon has always been the University of Texas, and while it would be more enjoyable to drink a liter of lemon juice laced with battery acid than to admit this, the Longhorns are the single most powerful college athletic factory in America.
They have more options than Warren Buffett at a silent auction.
Getting their arch rival Texas A&M to let go of the Big 12 Conference — which has been dysfunctional since Nebraska and Colorado hit the exit on an all-out sprint — gives the Longhorns the freedom to move whenever and wherever.
They could jump to the Pacific-12 with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, making that the first Super 16 conference that Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott has been talking about.
Or with their own Longhorn Network, which cable companies are reluctant to offer at this point, they could go independent in football and move to any conference for all other sports.
Texas can do just about anything it wants because it is the 800-pound gorilla, and it has quietly crushed the Big 12. What happens now nationally is anyone’s guess.
No way the SEC stops at 13 schools.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive could make it work, but 14 or 16 teams is going to be the most logical choice, and that’s why there are strong whispers that Missouri and West Virginia love the SEC. That would leave him only one school short of the socalled Super 16.
Forget Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Sooners will most likely announce today they are headed to the Pac-12, and with T. Boone Pickens breathing down their necks, they’ll take the Cowboys with them.
The Sooners want no part of the SEC. They like winning too much.
No doubt Slive, and all the commissioners who feel they are going to be one of the surviving super conferences, are looking at televisions — as in how many can you offer to E$PN when you renegotiate the conference’s television package.
That’s why he might be hesitant to look at Florida State, Clemson or Georgia Tech. The SEC already has TVs locked up in those respective states.
West Virginia would be new television territory, as would Missouri, and of course A&M is in a state with 27 million TVs.
If Slive has to find a school from a new SEC state — forget that Alabama-Auburn and Mississippi-Mississippi State have survived within the same state boundaries for decades — his job becomes a lot tougher.
He should not even look in the direction of Maryland after the ugly uniforms the Terrapins wore Monday night.
Of course, he would like to have Texas. Everyone wants to dance with the Longhorns.
They are graceful but powerful and have more money than some small countries.
What they aren’t long on is loyalty. At least not to the Big 12, the Bowl Championship Series (which might be eliminated if there are four 16-team super conferences), the bowls or anyone else.
The Longhorns care only about the Longhorns, and whichever option they choose will benefit the Longhorns.
They apparently gave the Aggies a heads-up they were going to move, and Texas A&M landed on its feet in the SEC, the best football and financially-sound league in the country.
Soon the race will be on for survival, expansion and E$PN.
Sports, Pages 13 on 09/08/2011