Category 3 and Growing: Tech Needs to Grow Up

When living in Texas, a person gets use to diverse weather.  I have honestly seen every type of weather condition within a 24-hour period.  From hurricanes to dust storms, Texas understands the calm before the storm.  The storm of rumors has been circling without much organization, until now.  It is as if the eye of the hurricane has settled over the Texas capital of Austin, and the armband-clouds are obscuring the rest of the state from public view…leaving all of the inhabitants scurrying around trying to figure out what to do.   The University of Texas is loving it.

What is “it”?

Attention, power, control—three nouns when coupled with any football team name make the rest us cringe.  This “it” is exactly what UT has…had…and enjoying every minute of this

Who does Texas think they are?

The University of Texas.  If you are familiar with what it means to be a Texan, the pure statement of “the University of Texas” means more than any credential I could type out here.  They are THE University of TEXAS, they have built themselves to be one of the most influential state run universities in the nation.  But this does not give them the entitlement they claim to have. 

This entitlement complex is fueling the emails that have arisen between Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee and Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany stating that he had spoken with UT President William Powers.  What has arisen?

  "I did speak with Bill Powers at Texas, who would welcome a call to say they have a 'Tech' problem," Gee wrote in an e-mail that was among several obtained by The Dispatch through a public-records request for documents and correspondence related to Big Ten expansion proposals.

What is this “‘Tech’ problem”?

As of now, all we can do is speculate.  Tech is the Red-headed B-child of the state of Texas.  I grew up in the Houston area, and it was all A&M or UT.  Tech has been fighting hard to become a respected school, and has earned that respect in 2008 when they were ranked second in the BCS for a short time, beating out UT 33-39. 

Tech is the thorn stuck in UT’s toe that won’t just go away.  UT wants to be an independent deal when it comes to any expansion talk.  They do not want to be tied with Tech or A&M in any form or fashion.  It is like the oldest sibling is trying to break ties from the family…but most conferences are wanting a group deal.

Is UT delusional?

They are not going to get away from a Texas A&M or a Texas Tech no matter what major conference they join:

SEC

Alabama, Florida, Georgia

PAC 10

USC, Oregon, UCLA

Big 12

Tech, OU, A&M

Big 10

Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa

 

That Tech problem is going to be the thing that is going to keep UT at bay.  With A&M flirting with the SEC and UT trying to make deals with the Big 10 and the Pac 10, this leave OU to sit back and wait to see what the Texas schools are going to do.  This could free up the conference for them.  And Tech 

What does Tech need to do now?

Tech needs to stop worrying and playing nice.  It is time for Tech officials to show the Big 12 and UT that they are coming of age. 

Kate Hairopoulos of The Dallas Morning News stated, “Hance's concern of Tech being left scrambling if a dramatic makeover does occur…Gerald Myers noted academic profile as an important element and stated that ‘Texas Tech needs to continue to be good partners with UT and A&M’.”

Well, Mr. Myers…UT obviously thinks they have a “Tech” problem and are not playing nice with their “partners” in academia and sports.  It is time that Tech stands on their own feet instead of reacting to UT and TAMU’s decisions.  They obviously don’t care what happens to Tech, so why should we care what happens to them. 

Tech needs to start playing the field just as TAMU and Texas is.  Tech needs to either publicly state that they are staying true to the Big 12 or “allow” their emails to be leaked stating that they are looking elsewhere.  The time for playing nice is over…its time to do the business that is right for interests of the university.  They had no problem acting all big and tough when firing Leach, why can’t they do that against UT? 

Come on Tech build the barricades yourself and grow up already!

Key

This is the acronym that I (and most of the Big 12) use for these schools.  I will use these acronyms in this and future articles.

University of Texas—UT

Texas A&M—TAMU

Texas Tech—TTU

Oklahoma University—OU

Oklahoma State—OSU

All other schools are going to be stated in full or partial name