Dawg Sports, a Georgia Bulldogs community

As Jason Kirk points out in the article, watching the Cotton and Sugar Bowls fight over who hosts this is going to be absolutely perfect. Geographically, it's a slam dunk, from a style of play and also a travel standpoint. It possibly renews old rivalries (you think Texas vs. A&M wasn't referenced?) and will mean big money for whoever hosts it. Since details are light, what are your initial thoughts on this?

Welcome, Aggies! I mean . . . as vineyarddawg noted in the comments, Texas A&M officially has announced its withdrawal from the Big 12. College football season gets underway at 6:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night. Let's see if Mike Slive can announce the Aggies' admission to the SEC before the offseason officially ends. In other words, welcome, Aggies! Go 'Dawgs!

It's a good assessment of the Southeastern Conference's stature in the wake of a conference expansion exercise that ended with a whimper rather than a bang. Go 'Dawgs!

. . . because it appears to be done. (Hat tip: SG Standard.) ESPN reports that Texas has announced its intention to remain in the Big 12, and school sources at Texas A&M are offering a similar indication. Gene Stallings certainly has backed off of his hardline stance in favor of the Aggies moving to the SEC. Frankly, I don't get it. I don't see how the Big 12 can negotiate a better television deal after losing the marquee program in the Big 12 North, the Denver media market, and the right to host a conference championship game. If, however, that is what has happened---and it certainly appears that it has---we all owe Dan Beebe a huge apology. After getting so psyched up over the ostensibly impending arrival of Texas A&M, I am disappointed at the loss of the opportunity to see the Bulldogs play a conference road game at what is (in my humble opinion) the most well-named college stadium in the country. At the end of the day, though, the twelve-team SEC has been an enormous success, and the prospect of twelve teams in the Big Ten and the Pac-10 does not threaten the long-term viability of the league. With neither the Big Ten nor the Pac-10 gaining a toehold in the Lone Star State, the SEC is not imperiled by failing to make such inroads. In the end, it looks like initial projections were correct, and we all got caught up in the excitement of what turned out to be much ado about not very much. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. Go 'Dawgs!

It wouldn't be my preference, but blackertai makes his case for the Cougars. Go 'Dawgs!

According to at least one Aggie fan, it does. Here is the very sensible short course in why the best move for Texas A&M would be to head east rather than west. It's a good read. Go 'Dawgs!

It seems like every update offers an additional indication that an Aggie power broker is pushing Texas A&M to make the culturally, geographically, and financially sensible decision to go east to the SEC rather than west to the Pac-16. I don't buy for a second that Oklahoma is still on the table, and Texas was never on the table to begin with, but the Aggies seem like an increasingly good bet. The story has gone mainstream, and it appears the votes are there, so I'm increasingly confident that this deal is going to get done, but, after the Kirby Smart debacle, I know better than to count my chickens before they've hatched. We need to hold our horses where the welcoming committee is concerned. Do I believe it's going to happen? Yes, I do . . . but it hasn't happened yet, and this Agatha Christie mystery almost certainly has a few plot twists left to come before the hay truly is in the barn. Yes, I'm gearing up to welcome the Aggies---hey, I mentioned chickens, horses, hay, and barns, didn't I?---but we'll offer a formal "howdy" when we get something official. Stay tuned, folks; we've got a heck of a week ahead of us. Go 'Dawgs!

Although the Red and Black produced a pair of all-Americans at the NCAA outdoor championships, both halves of the Georgia track and field team finished in disappointing fashion. The women tied for 26th place, while the men were tied for 40th. One note of possible interest is that the same school captured the men's and women's national championships: Texas A&M. Go 'Dawgs!

. . . but this concerns the SEC and it comes from the guy who has broken most of the stories on this whole affair, so I'm posting it. Go 'Dawgs!

This may be the finest example of a blogger writing a humorous song to deal with his pain since . . . well, you know. Go 'Dawgs!