Quote:
Originally Posted by patteeu
I don't think the Big 8 could have survived (as a top-tier or near-top-tier conference) this long without embracing the Texas schools. Maybe there was a better way to absorb Texas and aTm without shifting the center of gravity to Dallas and making the northern teams afterthoughts, but the Big 8 needed Texas to survive, IMO.
|
I agree, and the Big 12 was doomed from the start. In some respects, it's impressive that it lasted as long as it did. I pulled for Texas when we were in the same conference for the same reason I pull for the rest of the SEC today. A strong Texas was good for Mizzou in that players in Texas wanted to play for Texas, and the next best thing was playing against them. Mizzou got loads of players simply because they wanted to be in the same conference.
In the SEC, there is a similar phenomenon on a much larger scale. I pull for the conference to the extent that it helps Mizzou. The exposure, recruiting, money, prestige, etc. all combine to provide advantages that other programs don't have. The best players want to play in the SEC. The best coaches want to coach in the SEC.
There is a cycle that has become self-sustaining. The national narrative is that the SEC is the best. The more the recruits hear this, the more they want to play here. The more recruits we get, the more success we have on the field. The more success we have on the field, the louder the narrative gets...and they cycle, feeds upon itself and gets stronger and stronger. Literally no other football conference has this going for it. The Big East was getting to that point in basketball, but basketball can't carry a conference, and their lack of football success doomed the conference to failure.
At the end of the day, it's hilarious to me that certain posters care so much about who I cheer for. It's so bizarre that anyone in the world would care about what teams a guy they will never meet cheers for that it makes me cheer for them even more just to watch posters work themselves into a frenzy.