Texas A&M got what it wanted when it moved from the Big 12 to the SEC: stability and out from underneath Texas’ shadow.
Of course, more money helps too.
But when reached by Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said the move was bittersweet.
“I regret that it is coming to an end,” Byrne said. “On the other hand, looking at what’s going on nationally, I think it was a brilliant move to go to the Southeastern Conference, which screams stability. No one is trying to get out of the Southeastern Conference. That’s not true of the current conference we’re in.”
Truth, or just sour grapes? You can be the judge by reading Jon’s entire story with Byrne HERE, but it’s tough not to believe that just about any school would sacrifice tradition in favor of a higher annual payout these days. Not that A&M wanted to completely scrap tradition; Byrne added that he tried to get the best of both worlds and keep the Lone Star Showdown alive despite the Aggies moving on to the SEC.
“I’m very foolish,” Byrne explained. “I assumed -- and it was a rash assumption on my part -- that our friends over in the state capital would want to continue playing us. It turns out they didn’t think we were as much of a rival as we thought of them.”
How that’s a surprise, I’m not entirely sure. Texas made it clear from the get-go that if A&M departed the Big 12, there would be no more annual rivalry between the two schools for the immediate future. And after losing a heartbreaker in College Station to the Longhorns last November, it’s no wonder that the Aggies want another crack at “t.u.”
But, in the end there doesn’t appear to be a lot of love lost between the two. As much as I -- and I’m sure I speak for plenty of others -- would love to see the two sides play every year, the reality is the business of the sport speaks the loudest regardless of what each side says.