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Nice poker face, Lady Gaga.
Way to go all in there, Bevo.
Oh, we were braced for Expansiogeddon. Texas was going here. Texas was going there. Everyone wanted Texas. Texas to the Pac-10 was a done deal. Texas was going to topple all the dominoes because Texas held all the cards.
Well, then Texas got its bluff called. And guess what? When it came down to the moment of truth, Texas pushed away from the table, stayed right where it was. Texas fold ’em.
Don’t get me wrong. Thank goodness. The Big 12 (now 10) somehow hanging on saved college football as we know it. It kept regions that made sense intact. It kept Iowa State, the Kansases, Mizzou and Baylor from being blown right off the map.
And so we’ll hear a lot about how Texas “saved” the Big 12, and it did. About how Texas made out like a bandit. And oh, baby, it did.
About how Texas got exactly what it wanted. Yeah, it did. It definitely did.
But that’s the point. This is what Texas wanted. Superconference? No thanks. No longer being the lone superpower? Uh, no, not for them. Living in a league which might feature clashes of titans most every week? Nah. Having to actually count the votes? Please.
No, when it came time to “call,” Texas was bluffing. Texas was never leaving. This was what Texas wanted all along.
Look. We media and fans might get worked up over the prospect of top-five matchups and superconferences and the like. We want games that make our hearts stop on Tuesday. But coaches? They prefer to see an Iowa State, a Baylor, a Vanderbilt on the conference schedule now and then. And probably more often than that.
And Texas likes the way things are, and especially the way they are about to be, in the Big 12. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Heck no. That’s Spock talk, Bubba. No, Texas wants to sit at the head of the table, not around a round one. Texas would rather be the big fish.
Texas is a decider, not a uniter.
We have heard and will hear a lot about comfort, and that’s true. This is the right fit. This is what Texas wants, this is who Texas is. This is definitely what Texas is more comfortable with. Texas could have gone for it, done something bold. And it blinked.
Yeah. It did.
Nothing wrong with that. Personally, I like college football better this way. Texas did make out like a bandit (or, as has been noted, like the New York Yankees). It did save Iowa State.
It is better to realize who you are and how good you’ve got it (Tom Izzo) than to leap into the deep end only to realize it’s not all it was cracked up to be.
Why would Texas make the move? Prestige of affiliation? Ask Southeastern Conference teams what it’s like to have a national contender, only to end up with two or three losses at the end of the day.
Money? The Tea-sips print their own money no matter where they end up. We’ve seen that now.
Think about it. Does a top-notch program have a better chance of winning a national championship in a superconference? Or in the Big 12 (now 10)? Yeah.
Now. Oklahoma is big time. Texas A&M should be. Kansas State has been. Missouri could be. Kansas has Tom Osborne Jr. as coach. Iowa State … is a very strong wrestling school.
Baylor has Ken Starr. Don’t make him call Linda Tripp on you.
Okie State has the kind of sugar daddy Oregon does on the West Coast.
It’s an outdated model, true. While the rest of college football is looking to the future, this looks like something akin to the old Big Eight. The old SWC. Texas went hot tub time machine on us. We’ll see how long it lasts.
This conference is a dinosaur. But those thunder lizards stomped on the terra back in the day.
This presents an easier path to a national championship than would membership in a super league.
In the end, Texas opted not to run with the big dogs. In the end, Texas relished the idea of a superconference – until it saw what that would actually mean.
In the end, Texas blinked, Texas bluffed, Texas folded. And got exactly what it wanted.
I guess I should say it one more time. Nice poker face.
