Wildcard In The Race To Land Texas and Texas A&M?

Things rarely go as assumed. For example, it was assumed that once the SEC took care of adding Arkansas that Florida State was to be admitted as the 12^th SEC member. But as the SEC finalized its plans to wreak havoc on the SWC, the ACC began talking to FSU, which took the ACC offer over the SEC offer and shocked the college sports world.

Will the ACC make another such unexpected move during this time of uncertainty?

I am not talking about the ACC offering Notre Dame. That is a standing, though unofficial, offer. I am wondering if the ACC is preparing to slip into the race to land Texas and Texas A&M.

Absurd you say? Let’s look at it carefully. It is in the best interests of those two schools to play in a southwestern based conference. But if the Big Ten takes Missouri and Nebraska (and possibly Kansas), the Big 12 will be ripe for total dismantling. Both the SEC and Pac 10 understand that, both wanting Texas and A&M, both willing to take other schools to try to land that pair.

If, as most in a position to know assert, Texas and A&M, and perhaps Texas Tech, are bound together in any conference rearranging, and if Texas is as adamantly opposed to the SEC and its perceived academic deficiencies as most assert, then there may be a stalemate between the two Lone Star State giants, because Texas Aggies are not going to want any part of the Pac 10. A&M would fit in the Pac 10 about as well as Notre Dame and BC would fit in a league with BYU and 9 fundamentalist Protestant colleges. Add the distance, and such a move will be untenable for Aggies.

The Aggies will want to join the SEC. So if Texas rejects the SEC, and A&M rejects the Pac 10, and the pair are bound together, the ACC can be the compromise candidate.

Texas is a Gulf of Mexico state, and the Gulf, like the Caribbean Sea, is merely a small section of the Atlantic Ocean. TX is an Atlantic coast state, not a Pacific coast state.

The University of Texas wants to be in a conference with premier state and private Liberal Arts universities at least as highly ranked academically as it is: Virginia, North Carolina, and Duke will serve that desire, and BC and Wake Forest are certainly no slouches.

A&M wants to be in a conference with respected Ag and Engineering schools: Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Clemson, and North Carolina State will serve that desire.

Texas and A&M would prefer to join a conference that already has a state or two producing large numbers of premium recruits: the ACC is in FL and GA, as well as NC and VA.

TX is in Central time, which is two hours from Pacific time, but only one from Eastern time.

The ACC has the nation’s capital, while the Pac 10 has the movie capital.

The new ACC TV deal is the third richest in the country, which means the ACC + TX would secure deals worth at least a little more than the Pac 10 + TX.

The ACC is the nation’s premier basketball conference, which would help Texas and A&M basketball prestige far more than could their joining any other conference.

The ACC is among the 3 great baseball conferences, and is dominant across the non-revenue sports spectrum.

And perhaps best of all: though the ACC has schools with great football history and potential (Florida State and Miami come to mind for most people), none of them could rival Texas in terms of history and fan base combined. That means that the Texas ego would not be hurt by joining the ACC, for Texas would enter as the obvious Big Dog in the biggest sport. If entering the Pac 10, Texas would have to displace SC, and if entering the SEC, Texas would have to displace Alabama, Tennessee, and even Florida.

If the ACC offered BC, it should not think Texas too far away from its heartland, especially considering the value of Texas and A&M. But would the ACC also offer Texas Tech?

That might be the key question, because if TX legislators demand that all three universities remain in the same conference, they will be able to get that from the SEC and probably from the Pac 10.

If the ACC is willing to entertain Texas Tech, it will be in play to land Texas and A&M, should the Big Ten gore the Big 12 North. And if the ACC could secure the trio of TX state universities, the offer to complete the league at 16 would go to Notre Dame. If Notre Dame continues to prefer to remain independent in football, which is probable as long as BE basketball remains competitive, then the ACC could offer TCU.

The current ACC plus those 4 TX schools would take a back seat to no conference in either revenue sport, nor in baseball nor several smaller sports such as lacrosse and soccer. It also would command TV exposure and money equal to the SEC.