I know several of the Cyclones on the board are from Texas, but here is what I'm hearing right now:
House Higher Ed Committee announced a hearing on A&M to SEC on 8/16. Chip Brown interviewed Dan Branch, the Chairman of the Committee and here are the results of that conversation. For what it's worth, Dan Branch is an SMU guy and is not tied into any of the current B12 schools:
Committee chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, also called a hearing last year when it appeared the Big 12 could break up with Texas and Texas Tech headed to the Pac-10 and Texas A&M headed to the SEC. But the Big 12 came together before the scheduled hearing. Just got off the phone with Branch about what he wants to get out of the hearing with Texas A&M officials. "We want to be in position to have a discussion about a potential move to a new athletic conference for one of our major universities - that its in the best interest of the state of Texas," Branch said. "There's a lot of resources in play. These athletic programs have a lot of dollars involved with the TV contracts and the funding that comes from a particular conference. So we want to make sure if there was a decision to go a different direction at Texas A&M, its the regents' job to make sure this is in the best interest of Texas A&M as one university in that system. And it's the Legislature's job to make sure it's in the best interest in the state of Texas." I asked Branch if the committee found that such a move wasn't in the best interest of Texas, what could the Legislature do about it? "Ultimately, these are public institutions," Branch said. "The Legislature is responsible for funding and directing the ultimate policy of our public institutions. "So I think it's important that the Legislature be advised. And so I want to create an opportunity on a timely basis to give the members of the House of Representatives the opportunity to ask questions and make sure they felt like this was in the best interest of the state of Texas. "There's an argument that going to the SEC would be a good thing so that Texas' biggest schools would have a footprint in two major conferences, so I'm going into this with an open mind. But it seems to me it's the regents' responsibility to do what's in the best interest of Texas A&M as the flagship of that system. And it's the Legislature's responsibility to make sure it's in the best interest of the state of Texas." Branch said there are really two points of interest that are critical to the state's view of a possible move by Texas A&M to the SEC. "Part of that goes to you don't want another major conference coming undone by the action of one," Branch said. "So there's two parts to this. One, is this a good move for Texas A&M? "And, more importantly, from our vantage point would there be a negative consequence to the University of Texas or Texas Tech University and even our private schools like Baylor ? what effect it could have on them?" Stay tuned."
So it looks like there will be some political interests at play.
I still think A&M is gone and that OU won't go SEC without OSU, so the conference survives in the nearterm with some additions (maybe a UH or BYU).
Stay tuned...
House Higher Ed Committee announced a hearing on A&M to SEC on 8/16. Chip Brown interviewed Dan Branch, the Chairman of the Committee and here are the results of that conversation. For what it's worth, Dan Branch is an SMU guy and is not tied into any of the current B12 schools:
Committee chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, also called a hearing last year when it appeared the Big 12 could break up with Texas and Texas Tech headed to the Pac-10 and Texas A&M headed to the SEC. But the Big 12 came together before the scheduled hearing. Just got off the phone with Branch about what he wants to get out of the hearing with Texas A&M officials. "We want to be in position to have a discussion about a potential move to a new athletic conference for one of our major universities - that its in the best interest of the state of Texas," Branch said. "There's a lot of resources in play. These athletic programs have a lot of dollars involved with the TV contracts and the funding that comes from a particular conference. So we want to make sure if there was a decision to go a different direction at Texas A&M, its the regents' job to make sure this is in the best interest of Texas A&M as one university in that system. And it's the Legislature's job to make sure it's in the best interest in the state of Texas." I asked Branch if the committee found that such a move wasn't in the best interest of Texas, what could the Legislature do about it? "Ultimately, these are public institutions," Branch said. "The Legislature is responsible for funding and directing the ultimate policy of our public institutions. "So I think it's important that the Legislature be advised. And so I want to create an opportunity on a timely basis to give the members of the House of Representatives the opportunity to ask questions and make sure they felt like this was in the best interest of the state of Texas. "There's an argument that going to the SEC would be a good thing so that Texas' biggest schools would have a footprint in two major conferences, so I'm going into this with an open mind. But it seems to me it's the regents' responsibility to do what's in the best interest of Texas A&M as the flagship of that system. And it's the Legislature's responsibility to make sure it's in the best interest of the state of Texas." Branch said there are really two points of interest that are critical to the state's view of a possible move by Texas A&M to the SEC. "Part of that goes to you don't want another major conference coming undone by the action of one," Branch said. "So there's two parts to this. One, is this a good move for Texas A&M? "And, more importantly, from our vantage point would there be a negative consequence to the University of Texas or Texas Tech University and even our private schools like Baylor ? what effect it could have on them?" Stay tuned."
So it looks like there will be some political interests at play.
I still think A&M is gone and that OU won't go SEC without OSU, so the conference survives in the nearterm with some additions (maybe a UH or BYU).
Stay tuned...
