Baylor Holding Texas A&M Hostage is Hypocritical
Posted on September 7, 2011 by Jacob Bunn
For a moment, it appeared as if the college football landscape was on the verge of a major alteration. History was seconds away from repeating itself in a major way.
In the late '80s and early '90s, the then called Southwest Conference (consisting of some of the members of today's Big 12) was disbanded. One of the leading factors of this dissolution was Arkansas departing from the Southwest Conference to join the SEC.
Today, a similar movement is taking place. This morning, it was reported that the SEC presidents voted to accept Texas A&M as the thirteenth member of the conference. The only stipulation, though, by the SEC was that there would be no legal ramifications as a result.
For a few moments after this report surfaced, patrons of college football believed that the initial action in a major realignment movement had taken place. And just when I had the idea put squarely to rest in my mind, another shoe dropped, and Baylor threatened legal action if Texas A&M left the Big 12.
Upon first hearing this, I was stunned. It comes across to me as a bit of a public relations stunt. That may be the reason for the curious action, or it may just be desperation on the part of Baylor as it envisions super-conferences forming on the near horizon and excluding the Bears.
I do find this significantly hypocritical, though. Where were the green and gold litigation-happy suits from Waco last year when Nebraska went to the Big Ten and Colorado went to the Pac 12?
Furthermore, Baylor has done next to nothing for the Big 12 throughout its existence there. Maybe that is why no conference seems to desire the Bears as realignment begins to take place. At any rate, whether it has the ability to or not, Baylor should not be interfering with something that Texas A&M is trying to accomplish. What is the end game for the Bears anyway? Do they want to try to hold the entire college football landscape hostage so their grievances can be heard? It is like the kid on the playground who might not get chosen by the team he likes running away with the ball so no one else can play. It is senseless, and Baylor seems to be making itself look progressively worse by holding everything up.
Texas A&M is all but certainly going to be a part of the SEC in the very near future. But, antics like this from other schools are holding up the process.
If nothing else, we have learned one thing during this latest round of conference realignment, though. That is that the college football programs in the state of Texas can be petty and downright whiny when it comes to getting their way.
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Email Jacob at jacob@bunnsports.com and follow him on Twitter at @JacobBunn
