Disclaimer: Recently I have written several basketball recruiting articles for Texas A&M’s Rivals.com affiliate AggieYell.com. However, this blog does not represent the opinions of AggieYell.com, and they are my own independent thoughts an opinions.

Let’s just get this started with a full on helping of honesty. I am an Aggie. And not a “went to A&M but only wear my ring sometimes when I’m meeting Aggies” type Aggie. I was a campus tour guide for four years, I was a Fish Camp counselor, and I was the Reed Rowdies (basketball fan clup) president. So I’m laying my bias in all of this out there on the table.

That said, Texas A&M has a chance to make a historic decision in the coming days. And before you say I’m being to hyperbolic, I’m not. The spirit of Texas A&M is as much intertwined in the football program as it is in the traditions of the campus. However, for decades Texas A&M has been linked with Texas in every way. Well that time may be over.

What We Know

We definitely know that Colorado is going to the Pac-10 conference. Other than that most everything else is speculation. We’re all fairly sure that Nebraska is going to the Big 10, and we’re also fairly sure that the Pac 10 wants the entire Big 12 South sans Baylor. It appears that the report of A&M and Texas going to the Big 10 is false, and the SEC has remained quiet on all fronts. So that ends the very short list of things we actually know.

What it Means for the Aggies

I’m not going to steal pay into from A&M websites, but most everything in this situation is out in the open. Texas and A&M met earlier today near Austin, in what is probably an attempt by Texas to keep A&M in step. Texas is masterful at controlling their own media, it’s really amazing to behold. The Texas athletic department was able to get OrangeBloods.com’s Chip Brown out ahead of this story to the point that he is now the national source on Big 12 departure and realignment news. I have a lot of respect for what they’ve been able to do, and the quality of reporting that Brown has done. However, his pieces have their own bias.

First, it is extremely unlikely that the Texas legislature is going to restructure how money is distributed to state universities because of athletic conference alignment. To do so would take a 51% vote in the Texas legislature, and the media firestorm over cutting funding to a flagship university and a multi-billion dollar research university like Texas A&M would be off the charts. 

Next, Chip Brown has said several times that should A&M break away and join the SEC, that Texas would refuse to play them for the foreseeable future. Why? If Texas is that upset that A&M would think on their own, then that in and of itself shows that this is a great idea for A&M. Let me explain.

For years the A&M brand has been attached to the overshadowing power of Texas’. It has been the Fitch to Texas’ Abercrombie. There is a lot of value in A&M, but it’s always been tied to Texas. Everything about A&M has always been directly compared to Texas. It’s time to change that.

A&M is not an all male school in 1960. It’s not an agriculture school that has a few other majors just for kicks. It’s not a niche school that is good just for the small town kids and Texas and those that don’t feel comfortable at a “big university.” 

A&M has over 48,000 students. It’s one of the top ten largest universities in the nation. It’s almost exactly 50/50 on male to female ratio. The Look College of Engineering is one of the nation’s premiere engineering colleges, and the College of Liberal Arts produces more Aggie graduates than any other college on campus. This is no longer that Texas A&M of the past, and that statement has been made in the academic world. Well, it appears as if the university is about ready to make that statement in the athletic arena also.

Now I’m not saying that A&M should definitely join the SEC. The Pac 10 might have a better offer financially, and that’s what is most important here. So obviously there are a lot of things to consider. However, if all other things are equal, A&M needs to seize this opportunity.

If Texas is so angry that A&M might split off that they’re willing to not play them, then who is it that is really ending the rivalry? There has to be a reason that Texas doesn’t want A&M there other than tradition and state pride. They didn’t have the same sense of nostalgia when leaving behind Houston, SMU, TCU and the rest of the Southwest Conference in the mid 90’s. So why should A&M care now?

Therein lies the entire reason why this could mark a gigantic shift in A&M’s history. This is no longer about what’s best for Texas. No longer about A&M being the sister that always comes along. It’s time that A&M made their own move without regard for what Texas thinks about it. Perhaps A&M’s marketing and communications department was somewhat prophetic when deciding on this year’s A&M marketing, because they couldn’t have nailed it any better than they did. This years slogan?

It’s time for Texas A&M.