"Strong Enough To Stand on Its Own": Texas A&M Headed To SEC?

Since the start of the Pac-10 expansion talk, it has almost been a foregone conclusion that Texas A&M would be baggage that would follow Texas to whatever conference they chose to join.

That all changes with one comment from Texas A&M regent Gene Stallings. 

“I think A&M is now big enough to stand on its own” Stallings said of the Aggies’ relationship with the University of Texas.

One can only assume that Stallings is implying that the Aggies will not follow the Longhorns to the newly forming Pac-16, and will instead pursue opportunities in the Southeastern Conference.

If true, this is a major blunder.

If A&M were to part with Texas and head to the SEC, they would almost certainly have to maintain the annual Thanksgiving game with the Longhorns, forcing them to not only play an SEC conference schedule that is at this point way out of their league, but to also play a non-conference game against a perennial top-five team.

If A&M were a strong enough program to handle this type of schedule, it would be a great scenario as their strength of schedule would undoubtedly put them in a position to play for the BCS title every season.

However, they are not.

A&M, at this point, will be lucky to finish .500 in SEC play.

Playing Texas each year would almost guarantee another loss, giving them a best case scenario of going 6-6.

This won’t work for long.

As an SEC fan, I would welcome the storied tradition of Texas A&M but would hope that they improve dramatically to uphold the integrity of the conference.

In my humble opinion, A&M is making a huge mistake to come to the SEC.

They should continue to ride the coattails of their big brother in Austin and join the Pac-16 where they will have an opportunity to win seven or eight games each year.