It just keeps getting juicier and juicier with the Texas A&M-to-the-SEC talks. On A&M’s end, the decision appears to be in its final stages with nothing more than the logistics -- including, potentially still, a formal invite -- to iron out. On the Big 12’s end, Commissioner Dan Beebe is working diligently to keep A&M as a member once again.
Or, at least we thought he was. Because if this next bit of information is true, it might be the final breath of air the Aggies take in the Big 12.
A source close to the situation -- and there appear to be a lot of those in this saga -- has told Aggie beat writer Brent Zwerneman that Beebe, in turn, told A&M that the Big 12 can survive without them.
To twist the knife even more, the source added that Beebe said Texas holds the key to the long-term future of the conference.
We can’t say for sure if this is true, but if it is, Beebe just opened the door for A&M to leave the Big 12 -- assuming the Texas House of Representatives doesn’t shut it immediately in response.
The bottom line is that if the Aggies didn’t feel neglected or unappreciated before, they sure as hell do now.
It’s not that Beebe wasn’t correct about Texas holding the Big 12 together; there are just some truths that shouldn’t be told -- at least not if Beebe was serious about keeping A&M.
The source adds that if A&M were to go, Houston would be a potential immediate replacement. It’s not a bad choice. Houston has a top-25 football program with a large enrollment in a major media market.
But, UH is not A&M, and when you’re talking conference realignment, you’re talking about the value a program brings to the table. The Big 12 would be losing more in A&M than what it would be gaining in Houston.
Unless keeping A&M part of the Big 12 is no longer worth it to Beebe. We can’t imagine that’s the case, but there have been whispers that other Big 12 members were growing weary of A&M’s courtship with the SEC, which has reportedly predated the Aug. 1 athletic directors meeting Dallas to discuss the specifics of the Longhorn Network and airing high school games -- a central cause of A&M’s wandering eye.
Upon learning of [A&M President R. Bowen] Loftin’s alleged meeting with SEC officials before huddling with Big 12 ADs on Aug. 1, one official at a Big 12 school questioned the Aggies and their Code of Honor, which states, ‘An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.’
The source said Texas A&M made a 10-year pledge to hold the Big 12 Conference together when ABC/ESPN vowed a year ago to keep paying the Big 12 as if it was still a 12-member league with a championship game. The source also questioned if A&M might be liable for breach of contract after signing a 13-year, $1.17 billion TV contract with Fox Sports for the Big 12’s second-tier rights to football in April.
The NCAA’s Board of Directors have already “endorsed the NCAA staff’s interpretation of existing bylaws” prohibiting youth broadcasts on institution or conference-affiliated networks. If A&M gets what they wanted, which they did, and still bolts for the SEC, then their angst clearly lies deeper than any recruiting advantage Texas would get. It would be the kind of angst that is irreversible.
A&M threatened to leave last year, and they’re threatening to leave this year.
Beebe may have just told the Aggies not to let the door hit ‘em -- or, gig ‘em -- on the way out.
UPDATED 3:47 p.m. ET: Beebe has sent a text message to ESPN Radio - Dallas host Ian Fitzsimmons saying comments on Texas holding the key to the Big 12’s future are “totally inaccurate.”
But the Longhorns do. Just to be clear.
