Chronicle: atm feels B12 backlash in scheduling

My son is at Bama and we pondered the thought of going to Parent's weekend until we realized that we would have to go without tix (which probably doesn't apply to fb players' parents) and it would cost us north of $2k for us to go, with the boy probably going to tell us to get lost after accepting our care package and we said "screw it". No rent cars, no hotels and only 1 plane ticket for him to come home and we therefore won't be going to Tuscaloosa to see him play his sport. We have been offered private jet rides by passionate alumns, but we would be at the mercy of their schedule and the closest hotel to campus is sold out for his entire tenure at $1k/night (for parents' weekends). It's a full day drive from anywhere in Texas.

You think those facts might enter into the recruiting mindset? LSU is very do-able from Houston and Ole Miss is from Dallas, but Ole Miss does not have an airport that I am aware of so you fly to Memphis and rent a car and drive and arrive 5-6 hours after you leave Houston if that is where you live. LSU is easy from Houston if that is where you live. 3-4 hours EACH way. I can't say about the pigsty, but I imagine it's OK from Dallas.

You think maybe these notions might make an impression on recruits?
 
I really like what Rick Barnes said. Simple enough for the ags to understand. I wondered if they thought about the parent visiting or watching the kids play aspect of moving to the SEC.
 
They have a point. I mean, since they would never discuss the pros of their SEC affiliation with recruits, its just not right for anyone else to discuss the cons.

Aggie stupidity is exceeded only by their hypocrisy.
 
Why is this a surprise, aggy threw everyone else under the bus, threatening Tech, Baylor etc with the loss of millions annually. Why would any school in Texas want to play them and enable their jackassery. aggy lives in their own echo chamber and all they hear is what they want, no reason, no reality allowed.
 
When you open up a series with another school, it gives that school a presence in your state for recruiting purposes. That is no secret. Why do you think Arkansas jumped at the chance to play A&M at Jerry World? Recruiting had to be at or near the top of the list.
Recruiting is war in college football. You can be sure all the schools are going to play this card against A&M, it goes without saying. They will reap what they sow. They won't be playing in Texas in front of their parents and friends as often, that's just a fact. There's nothing wrong with pointing out this very obvious fact to the families and recruits of the high school players in Texas.
A&M is going to have to deal not only with this fact, but with the increased competition for recruits they opened up by their move from their loving SEC brethren. They will be squeezed, not just from their wandering hands in their pockets, but from both sides in recruiting.
 
Btw, on our college tour we didn't go down into Florida, but we went to Georgia. Athens reminds me of a smaller Austin. It's really quite a cool city from my VERY brief perspective, but it is a ROYAL pain in the *** to get to from Atlanta. Trafffic lights on the "highway" make 50 miles take 2 hours. I hear there is an alternate route, but we didn't know about it. Atlanta is a ********. Well.. Georgia Tech is in a part of Atlanta that is a ********. Took 30 minutes to go around a block and when I stopped at a gas station next door to campus there was a nasty-looking dude rubbing one out in the middle of the bathroom.
 
In this Chronicle article, their new basketball coach, Billy Kennedy comments that 'They still want to own Texas'? WTF is that supposed to mean? Does he have some sort of idea that A&M owns recruiting in Texas or even more insanely, own UT in basketball? You don't have to go very far back to find a time when aggy was a complete joke in basketball. We beat them like 19 out of 20 in one stretch?

What kind of BS did they sell this guy? I don't care if the quote is taken out of context. Seems it shouldn't be made at all. Hopefully, it's on the bulletin board
 
it would be one thing if A&M was located in Austin (or even Dallas or Houston), at least then they'd have a chance. But they're in College Station. No only do they have to travel out of state for every away game, but when they do play at home, they're playing in the butthole of the state. I mean, if you've ever spent much time in and around Bryan/College Station, it's really horrific. Unless you are a backwards country bumpkin, it's not appealing in the least.

Top that off with dudes for cheerleaders that squeeze their junk, I just can't imagine ever going to school there.
 
The reality is that recruiting is always considered when a school schedules an OOC opponent. A&M should have considered this fact before whining about Texas schools avoiding them on the schedule. This was a no-brainer. UT, TCU, Tech, Baylor, even OU and OSU have no incentive to play A&M for very important recruiting reasons. A&M did this to themselves, it ain't no conspiracy.
 
It's typical agricultural thinking..."I can give you the middle finger while splitting this pop stand, and you'll still want to play me."

Not to sound like a quote machine, but what goes 'round come around. This move to the SEC is the ultimate case of aggy shooting itself in the foot. Even the Texas high school coaches don't like the cult leaving the neighborhood. You don't have them on your side, your recruiting sucks. Theirs hasn't been that great for years...it's about to get worse, just as they move into the meat grinder.

As for anybody in the Big XII playing them in the foreseeable future, No way. No How. Since they're farmers, let 'em reap what they've sown. Insignificance.
 
A&M is going to be just fine. The only schools that may boycott A&M are the B12 schools but A&M really had no desire to play Baylor or Tech in football, it's a very uneven trade for a home and home. Baylor especially looks silly. Half of their Top 10 attended games at Floyd Casey are Aggie games and it's not because Baylor filled up their own stadium. The only interest A&M had was in the minor sports but that's really no big deal. Texas has already been discussed ad nauseum. The Texas Women's Bball coach though was funny repeating the same lines, she has to be throwing a party knowing she doesn't have to face Gary Blair anymore.

There are still a lot of Texas schools out there though that would love to play A&M, we have SMU scheduled already. TCU may be pressured to not play but Rice, UH, Texas State, North Texas, SFA, Sam Houston, and many others would LOVE to play A&M and most would take whatever terms are offered (buyouts or 2 for 1's with the "1" in Reliant or similar). A&M certainly doesn't need to add more "big games" with the SEC schedule so really it is just geography.

If WVU or Louisville is added to the Big 12 the average distances to conference teams will be negligible. This is especially true because A&M has always focused recruiting on East Texas and Houston. A recruit in Houston or the Golden Triangle is certainly not any closer. Even so, the difference when you really do the math is maybe one more game that is closer per year for most recruits. The only significant difference would be for D/FW or West Texas kids but it still isn't that dramatic.

A&M can still sell kids on playing in the best conference in the country, in the biggest and best venues in the country, in a league that has the most TV exposure and that produces the most NFL players while offering a minimum of 8 games in Texas. In the end that's still not a bad package to sell.

You may also hate on B/CS all you want but it is an hour from Houston and no more than 3 hours from the other major cities and it's a very clean town that is a pure college town though it has over 150k people combined now. It's not like Lubbock and Waco are glorious destinations.
 
A&M can still sell kids on playing in the best conference in the country....

If those kids are any good they'd be going to either UT or the other (non aggy) SEC schools.

So yes, aggy can sell that; I just don't think many recruits will be buying.
 
I'm not trying to convince you of anything, I'm just giving a different perspective. I don't see how "A&M is ******". If A&M were in the SEC this year it would probably be the 4th best team behind LSU, Bama, and Arkie. That's what SEC people believe at least. That puts A&M in the Cotton Bowl which is certainly a decent possibility this year as well depending on how things finish out. A&M currently has the #6 ranked recruiting class in the country as well.

Really Bama and LSU are the only teams on a different level than A&M at the moment in the SEC. Of course, they are on a different level than basically everyone in college football. The SEC is cyclical though. A&M is about to put in an athletic village this offseason that is going to be as good as any facility in the country if not the best. Plans for updating Kyle just were delayed because it is evident plans need to be even bigger than originally thought because of demand.

It just is almost comical to hear Baylor and Texas scream about how they won't play A&M and to act as though A&M can't play any other Texas teams. Eight games in Texas is plenty and my guess is most recruits would rather play a road game between the hedges in from of 95k in Athens or play in The Swamp in Gainesville than see the couch burning in Morgantown or the glory that is Manhattan, Kansas. To each his own though.
 
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