The Value Of TAMU And WVU To The SEC

It seems that Texas A&M will be unable to persuade any of its Big 12 South foes to opt for the SEC over the Pac. Whether A&M will choose to go it alone into the SEC, to rejoin with old SWC rival Arkansas and make its border state rivalry with LSU a conference one, remains to be seen.

What I think should be emphasized is that the only way A&M can get out from under the shadow cast by Texas is to go its own way. As long as A&M is in the same league with Texas, an arrangement made by Texas, A&M will be perceived as the distant junior partner.

Cutting out on its own to the SEC is the best way for A&M to mark itself as its own man and reach its full potential.

That said, what is the value of A&M and the school I think the SEC will pair with it, WVU?

The SEC has the most balanced divisions and best rivalries in college football. The conference seems to be televised almost as much as was 'Peyton Rock Place' on The Flintstones: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all 3 networks.

So why would the SEC risk messing up the equation that works beautifully (Paul Finebaum to the contrary)?

As odd as it may sound, A&M is a sleeping giant, Texas and Oklahoma helping to hold it in somnolence. Like Texas, A&M has large numbers of passionate fans all over the Lone Star State. That means that if the SEC lands A&M, it has the entire state. Current SEC members will find recruiting TX talent much easier.

Looked at from the other side, if the Pac totally controls TX, the SEC can never make more inroads into a state that produces the best football talent in the country. That is the main reason that if I were SEC commissioner, I would carefully study adding Baylor and/or TCU if A&M were signed on. The more that traditional SEC powers play in TX, the more the SEC will benefit.

WV is the antithesis of TX in many ways; it is very small and produces very little talent. But WV has geography going for it.

The game the SEC must play with the Big Ten can be likened to Risk. It is about acquiring territory, and some territories are valuable only because they serve as blocks on the enemy. WV borders both OH and PA, the two most important Big Ten states for recruiting. Most people do not know that Morgantown is only 70 miles from Pittsburgh.

If WVU is an SEC school, its SEC-level passionate football fan base, and its ACC-level passionate basketball fan base, will serve as a thorn pointed at the right eye of the Big Ten. And if WVU is in the SEC, it will begin taking 4 and 5 star midwestern recruits away from Big Ten schools.

Location location, location.

Texas A&M and WVU would provide the SEC with two ideal new locations.