texas moving to the Big Ten would destroy their program, and strengthen A&M. If texas moved to the Big Ten, I don't think A&M would follow them. There are no geographical ties for A&M to the Big Ten, and the appeal really isn't there for us. A&M's best options would be to stay in a revamped Big 12, or to talk to the SEC. I think A&M would be better off approaching the SEC about dropping Arkansas, and adding us. While Arkansas fans would think this an impossibility, reality is that Arkansas add little to nothing to the SEC as far as television revenues go, and isn't a particular recruiting hotbed of note. Adding A&M to the SEC would open up a whole new area of recruiting for every SEC school, and open up two top 10 television markets (Dallas and Houston) to the SEC.

With A&M moving into the SEC, I think the Southwest Classic game with Arkansas would be allowed to expire after ten years, or the opponent would be replaced with another SEC school, most likely LSU. Our annual Thanksgiving Day game with texas would continue, but as a non-conference game. texas' move to the Big 10 would wreck their football program. I just don't see Texas high school recruits wanting to go play against Michigan or Ohio kids in college, kids they have no ties to. One of the things that makes Texas high school recruits choose to go to A&M, texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, etc, is the chance to play with or against the same kids they faced in high school. This type of regional rivalry would be non-existent when playing Big Ten teams. The only advantage I can see for texas going to the Big Ten is that they'd make more money in television revenue, but I believe the Big Ten shares their television revenue, so it isn't as capitalistic as the Big 12 revenue sharing model.

A&M in the SEC would allow the Aggies to share in what is currently the best television deal in all of sports. ESPN's ties to the SEC mean the conference is going to continue to be hyped as the top conference in football, even in years where they have a down season, like 2009. From a basketball standpoint, A&M would add another solid program to the SEC. The SEC currently has three teams ranked in the top 25 (Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee), and A&M would give them another team that is becoming a Dance regular. The SEC is also an excellent conference for college baseball, and while we underachieved there last seasn, A&M has a solid program and a nice tradition to add to the league.

If texas joined the Big Ten, it would ultimately end up huritng their athletic department, while benefitting A&M.