I do believe the snowball is rolling down the hill as far as conference expansion is concerned these days. We could do a heck of a lot worse than Texas A&M.
I learned to give respect to certain schools in 1989-92 when I had to work in Charleston, SC after hurricane Hugo. It was the Citadel that gave me pause. As a kid on Signal Mtn. in the '60s, there were two brothers in my church whose father was a Citadel grad. Well, of course they played UTC and none of us kids had a clue and we dogged Russell and Mark for rooting for the Cadets when they played the Mocs.
I was in my mid 30's in Charleston and I saw the school, met grads and even more impressive were the students I met. Those kids made me respect them and I'll never forget it. While it is no West Point, Annopolis or Air Force Accademy the Citadel has some exemplary students. If a grad asked me for a job, it would happen.
Lots of you know that my son is a Lipscomb grad and Chris did his post-grad at A&M. Grad school was the first time he had a home college team to root for and after growing up in Knoxville and attending quite a few UT games as a large fan, he now had his Aggies and their traditions.
Sharlene and I visted College Station several times and moved Chris into his first apartment about 400yds from the stadium. (If you like pickup trucks, this town is heaven.) College Station is the cleanest (litter/graffitti-free) city I've been in 30-35yrs. And here's another thing: Shar and I did a road trip to Austin one day and going down the two-lane highways, anytime we came up from behind on another vehicle they just slid onto the shoulder at speed to let you pass even with a mile of visibility! (Make sure you give a friendly wave when they do that). Those folks are happy to let you roll! I also worked in Houston for several months after hurricane Alicia hit there in the early '80s and there were 7-9 million people in the Houston area. Everytime I have been to Texas, I see Tennessee because we have such connected history.
I do think expansion is enevitible and we could do a whole lot worse than the Aggies; I'm not sure we could do much better selecting a school with such a rich tradition, a school that will not disrespect, but embrace the SEC traditions. (Hell no to Texas; I do enjoy deflating their "Texas attitude" by telling them they would be Mexico North without Tennesseeans; it's like fingernails on the chalkboard to them). I really do think the Ag's families would give you one of their bedrooms if you couldn't find a hotel room on a game road trip and I truly mean that!
Rant over.
G
