[There are, dear reader, at least six reasons that you should discount my opinion on the whole A&M/SEC situation:
1) I came to Texas A&M from out of state.
2) I like college basketball more than college football.
3) Having moved to SEC territory in middle school with established sports ties, I don't particularly care for the SEC.
4) I would heartily support the creation of a functioning football minor league for football players who are not interested in being college students, even if it would significantly erode the quality of the talent pool in college football.
5) I hate superconferences. For the SEC, moving from 12 teams to 14 teams will make it 16.67% worse. And a 12-team conference is already 50% worse than an 8-team conference, which is the Platonic ideal for sports conferences.
6) I've been accused of liking too many teams. I suppose part of this comes from having lived in seven different states. About a decade ago I made a list of my 50 favorite college sports teams, and every single Big 12 team was represented. (As an amendment to #3 above, Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi St., and Vanderbilt came in at #24, 25, 34, 35, and 40, respectively.) I realize that I'm breaking a rule here. But since the rule involves, essentially, the requisite amount of animus you should have toward teams that play against your favorite team, you would think that breaking it would not offend people. But it does.]
A couple weeks ago, I was at my sister's wedding, and I was sitting at a table with several former family friends. One couple was from Fayetteville, Arkansas. One was originally from Florida, but I knew them in Memphis. Someone else I knew from both Memphis and Fayetteville, and currently lives in Florida. In other words, SEC country was well represented. Still, I had no problem announcing that I "despise" the SEC. I feel fine saying that, partially because I respect the heck out of everyone at that table--I've lived in two different SEC towns, and I like the people there a lot. If Texas A&M goes to the SEC, I will be very, very disappointed, but I'll get over it. I get the feeling that something different is going on between Texas A&M and Texas.
Since moving to the SEC involves potentially cutting ties with almost 300 years worth of Texas-based rivals, you would expect there to be, at the very least, some bittersweet feeling about making this kind of move. Instead, the overwhelming feeling I get from the Aggie community is unrestrained glee. I wouldn't expect a whole lot of tears to be shed over Baylor and Tech, but it disappoints me the extent to which people are willing to discard our rivalry with Texas.
There seems to be a lot of very real-world negative emotion directed at Texas considering that sports is, all things considered, not exactly the most consequential thing in the world. Coming to Texas A&M from out of state, I was not at all surprised at the bad blood that existed between the schools on the playing field. But I was a little bit disappointed at how much of that spilled over into everyday life. I thought that these Aggies had lots of high school friends who went to Texas and that many Aggies were considering going to Texas. Up to a point that's true, but there are a lot of Aggies who genuinely hate UT. I don't know how it compares to other big rivalries (especially ones that have a power imbalance), but I know it's too many people who feel this way.
Rivalries exist on a sort of delicate balance--too much animosity and you get incidents like the one between the Giants and Dodgers fans on opening day; too little and you get things like Brett Favre lying down for Michael Strahan. The Texas/Texas A&M rivalry, at its best, has intense moments on the field and moments of unity off, like the 1999 Bonfire game. At its worst, it devolves into two very different fan communities: one is cocky and willing to alienate rivals as long as they get theirs; the other is bitter and so eager to prove it's not the little brother that it's willing to blow up the rivalry. Kind of a shame, really.
Some people view college football as a way to unwind from a world that has too many pressing issues. These people will probably be happy wherever Texas A&M ends up playing. But this process has highlighted a number of people who really seem to believe that the University of Texas is not just holding back the fortunes of their favorite football team or even their favorite university; it's holding them back. Reading the message boards and listening to the people driving public (Aggie) perception on this, I get the distinct impression that lots of people think that moving to the SEC will solve something for them. These people are likely to be very disappointed--this whole time they thought their problem was Texas; they're about to learn that their problem is living vicariously through sports teams.
I guess what I'm saying is that a little perspective is in order. Sports is great, but since the start of the BCS, we've spent billions of person hours discussing something that is, by my count, three levels removed from sports*. And if A&M goes to the SEC, everything will get ramped up to a level we've never seen. We'll likely form four 16-team superconferences, devise a playoff system designed around platitudes like "Settle it on the field**", and get state legislatures involved in college sports conference alignment when they're having trouble funding basic services.
Serenity now.
*Watching sports is one level removed from participating in sports. Talking about sporting events is two levels removed, and discussing the organization of sports leagues and the determination of a champion is three levels removed.
**Every kind of championship includes objective elements and subjective elements. There is no perfect way to determine a champion.
