An SEC fan's guide to Texas A&M

With A&M joining the fold, it's time to get educated about Aggieland.

* First, let's go to Monday's welcoming party in College Station -- here is the Houston Chronicle's story, here's the one from USA Today, and here we have Dallas Morning News coverage.

* A&M will be the biggest school in the SEC, and they've played LSU 50 times (for the record, it's LSU 27, A&M 20, with 3 ties). That and more from The Birmingham News here.

* What does A&M bring to the table? Eyeballs, for one thing. Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston rank 4th and 8th, respectively, among the top TV markets for college football. Go here for more on college football viewership.

* The SEC's official website has details and links here.

* A&M's athletics site here. Aggie traditions here.

* And about the photo: "Come and Take It" dates to the Texas Revolution. More on that here and here.

What we think we know -- Week 4

Let's have a hearty EXPATS' welcome to Texas A&M . . . clap, clap, clap . . . Sorry, that's the best I can do.

I just don't buy the notion that the SEC needs to expand to protect its preeminence, particularly when the new teams may or may not enhance the best brand in all of football. How do you expand a footprint that already runs coast to coast? Given the damage expansion inflicted on ACC hoops, SEC football already offers the only MUST-SEE TV in college sports.

Further, it took years before Arkansas and South Carolina in the SEC didn't sound and feel totally weird. Some Hogs fans still believe they are the outlier. The Aggies, who will give us an Auburn sensibility when/if Auburn goes to the eastern conference, will certainly bring a fanaticism that's par with its new surroundings, and it's on the upswing as a team. Saturday nights in College Station could be a great 7:30 game -- with the right opponent. But that's one of my problems: How long will the SEC have to carry A&M before it reaches conference cruising speed?

The best thing that may come out of this is further isolation of Texas. The Horns lose their biggest in-state rival. Their conference continues to teeter, and if it falls apart, UT may be left sucking its thumb with its $300 million network, spending nights in the fall watching reruns of Happy Feller and Tommy Nobis. Missouri? Bigger TV market, right. Your honor, as Exhibit I, we'd like to introduce Boston College . . .

Auburn's Gene Chizik has had the shortest honeymoon since Ernest Borgnine married Ethel Merman.

How do you go from having the greatest year in the school's history, capped out by the GREATEST winning comeback in Iron Bowl history, made EVEN GREATER because the Tigers turned the Tide inside out IN TUSCALOOSA!! to drawing the level of ire Chizik is getting now for AU's struggling start? Let's review. They didn't call it "All In" for nothing. Auburn lost about everything. Somehow that's been lost on a surprising number of AU fans, or at least the ones spending too much time posting and not enough thinking. Anonymous internet heroes, as a group, show the analytical skills of an army ant. But c'mon! In this case, the so-called Family -- even the online bohunks -- needs to show some patience. Auburn has brought in very good players. The season is young. Talent + practice + game experience = Improvement. The defense is awful, inexplicably so. But it should get better. Too bad for the Tigers, the meat of the schedule is at hand.

OK, I admit it: Alabama appeared scary good against Arkansas But before Tide Nation flies too close to the sun, remember what's waiting Saturday: A stadium filled with alcohol-enhanced, full-throated obnoxiousness and a roster with just as much athleticism as Alabama. This is our Blinking Yellow Game of the Week. True, AJ McCarron was 15-20 for 200 yards against Arkansas on Saturday, but that's the most misleading stat of the weekend. He still doesn't look comfortable in the swarm. His downfield accuracy is suspect, and Will Muschamp will be firing his guns from the get-go. On the other hand, if this is the Alabama defense we'll see from here on out, McCarron can sit in a lounge chair at midfield and slug beer all night, and still walk out of Gainesville with a win. Big game for both teams. But if Alabama escapes, it will be on veritable cruise control until its November matchup with LSU. This is no gimme. In fact, I think it will turn out to be the slugfest Arkansas/Alabama was supposed to be.

How bad is Ole Miss? Maybe we can trade the Rebs' outright to Southern Conference for Wofford and App State and a Miss America Finalist to be named later. Houston Nutt ran a shell game for years in Arkansas and once again he has fielded a team in Oxford that is outgunned, undermanned and undercoached.

No way to go through life, son.

MG

Welcome, Aggies

It's official: Texas A&M is coming.

Go here for the story from the Houston Chronicle, then here for a Q&A with Tony Barnhart. And while you're in a reading mood, go here for the official announcement on Texas A&M's website (with a helpful link at the bottom to "Learn more about the SEC").

Among the many pressing questions: Who'll have a better year in 2012, A&M or its current most-famous alum, Texas Gov. and GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry? (Here's his transcript to prove he didn't spend game days at the library.)

Polls are out; LSU the new No. 1 in AP

Beating 3 ranked teams in 4 weeks will do that to a team. Go here for the AP and USA Today rankings. Guess this means we can officially start the countdown to the Nov. 5 game between LSU and Alabama. Here's who they play between now and then. (And, interestingly, both teams have a bye week before the game).

* LSU -- Kentucky, Florida, at Tennessee, Auburn.

* Alabama -- at Florida, Vanderbilt, at Ole Miss, Tennessee.

Who Ya Got? Week 4

Two big games, finally, kick the SEC schedule into gear this week -- none bigger than the Red on Red affair Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa.

For sheer gothicness, though. you'd be hard-pressed to find a deeper dive into the archetypes than the moonlight battle between LSU and West Virginia in Morgantown.

Alabama and LSU should survive. But as little as we still know about Nick Saban's current squad, he thinks he has something special. OK, show us. As former Alabama All-American Forrest Gump might put it, "Special is as special does."

Now let's open up this week's box of chocolates.

Arkansas at Alabama

Simple game, really. Arkansas has the better offense, Alabama controls the D. The winner will be the team that better plays to its strength. Of course, there are wrenches galore -- what if Arkansas forces the Tide to throw? What if Alabama's young quarterbacks live up to their billing? Arkansas under Bobby Petrino is still chasing that first truly big win. This would be it. But Alabama will make the visitors earn it. And the Hogs, with key injuries, just aren't quite good enough to get her done. Tide, 24-17

LSU vs. West Va.

In Baton Rouge, they howl at the moon for the fun of it. In Morgantown, the baying comes from a deeper spot. The Mountaineers have one of the best crowds in all of college football. And given the pre-season embarrassments brought on by their current and former head coaches, there has to be the feeling among the faithful that the program's prominence is slipping away. Don't be surprised if the home team defends its turf with a last-stand desperation. That will work for a quarter. And then listen as the baying grows faint. Tigers, 27-12.


Florida at Kentucky

With Alabama coming to Gainesville next week, this matchup, and millions more like it, explain the popularity of the term "trap game." If only Kentucky could play a lick, but it can't, so we're spared cliche abuse for another week. Gators, 30-10.

Georgia at Mississippi

If Mark Richt wants to truly experience the charms of the hot seat, let him lose to Houston Nutt's train wreck in Oxford. I'm sure the Right Reverend would be happy to give up his chair, were he not chained to it. Georgia better take heed. This is a Dawg team that speaks with a straight face about still getting to Atlanta, but it's also a team strung together with duct tape. And its way past time for Aaron Murray to play up to his press packet. Georgia, 21-17

Vanderbilt at South Carolina

With Auburn's loss last week, the Gamecocks cemented their spot as the most suspect undefeated team in America. Something is truly amiss with Steve Spurrier's squad, which despite all its returning talent, has turned into a one-trick pony. Marcus Lattimore is actually a horse who performs a pretty good trick, and South Carolina gets the surprising Commodores at home. USC, 24-14


Florida Atlantic at Auburn

A truly awful team has come to the rescue of the Tigers at just the right time. This game should be over after one quarter. If it's not, whoa boy. Calling Icon the Entertainer AU, 45-14.

La Tech at MSU

A deceptively tough team hits Starkville just when the Bulldogs may be at their weakest emotional point of the Mullen Regime. State thought it was big time. Auburn and LSU showed them they are not. This one wears a blinking yellow light. Bullies, 35-21.

MG

Big 12 saved, or is Missouri still in play?

Today's quiz: Who said it?

"... pushed me out of the stands ... eight foot drop onto concrete."

a) The Iowa State mascot, who broke his arm during the game at UConn. (Story here.)

b) Former Big 12 commish Dan Beebe.

The correct answer is a), but for the purposes of this and future posts, b) is perfectly acceptable as well.

Sports Illustrated sums it all up: "The Big 12 dumped embattled Commissioner Dan Beebe on Thursday and announced a plan to bind nine member schools together by holding a huge financial hammer -- their TV rights for the next six years -- over the heads. The plan is far from a done deal, since it must be approved by some if not all the schools' governing bodies." (Full story here; Andy Staples surveys the scene here.)

So Missouri's in lockstep with all this? Maybe, maybe not. Here's the headline from The Kansas City Star: "Mizzou doesn't commit to Big 12, SEC still an option." (Full story here.) That doesn't quite square with The Times-Picayune: "Missouri off the table for SEC's 14th team" (Full story here.)

But Texas A&M is still SEC-bound, right? Sure. We think. "They're so far down the line with the SEC that I don't think they are likely to change their mind," said Oklahoma President David Boren.

For now, the last word belongs to new Texas A&M chancellor John Sharp, who said Tuesday, "We are going to the Southeastern Conference to play with the big boys," then added, "That will come back to haunt me."

Paul Finebaum and his love song to AU

I take no joy in posting this. Paul Finebaum is a professional cheap-shot artist. Though he mocks Auburn with this piece in Sports Illustrated, he could have easily targeted Alabama(or any other team).

In fact, he's probably well into a first draft.

Punch here if you must.

mg