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Everyone comes out more or less ahead... Texas gets the big television payday it wanted and the shot at a profitable network it doesn't have to share with anyone. Nebraska and Colorado both move into conferences they consider better academic and cultural fits. Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri and, yes, Baylor hold on to their spots in a big-money conference and aren't forced to seek refuge in the Mountain West, Conference USA or Big East. The Big Ten and Pac-10 (assuming it makes a play for Utah out of the Mountain West) both pick up a 12th member that facilitates a conference championship game. Assuming the Big Ten is content at an even dozen – Missouri is presumably locked into the Big 12 for the foreseeable future, and Notre Dame remains by all appearances firmly committed to independence – the once doomed Big East will remain intact without losing a single member. Even if it loses Utah, the Mountain West picks up the slack with the addition of Boise State, a net boost (albeit a small one) in the MWC's bid for an automatic BCS bid in 2012.

The Pac-10 ultimately whiffed on the blockbuster score it was hoping for, but it did expand in exactly the (relatively modest) fashion everyone expected when it first announced its plan to add teams. No one is in worse position as the smoke begins to clear than they were when the fires started burning.

By not joining the SEC, A&M has basically said they do not want to be part of the big time. The BOR has shown that they are not forward thinkers. A tv contract with such unequal revenue sharing will cause the same hard feelings that have plagued the conference to continue to fester in our 'new' 10 team league. Given a chance to join the best league in the country while in the process creating a new athletic identity for the school, the BOR chose the easy way out. The Board of Regents has delayed the inevitable for a couple more years, at the most. This conference is doomed to fail because tu's boorish behavior will eventually drive someone else away, and the resulting instability will cause the whole process to repeat itself again. The SEC is the greatest league in the land not because of their superior athletics, but because of their superior leadership. The SEC understands that by sharing revenue equally, it benefits every program in the league and therefore the league as a whole. It is the rising tide theory in real life. It is too bad that we do not have leadership like that at A&M.

The bright side of this ordeal is that I have run into a whole bunch of really nice people who are fans of the various SEC schools. Their friendliness on the blogosphere has made me an even bigger fan of the SEC than I already was. I can assure you that whenever I see an SEC team competing with another conferences team from now on, I will be rooting for the SEC. There are some really great people in that conference. I always said that before I die I was going to go attend an SEC football game, and tailgate at a baseball game with the Lounge Lizards at MSU. This experience has only deepened my resolve to those ends. I sincerely hope A&M has the chance to join the SEC again in the future. We have a lot in common with the SEC, and I think we would fit right in.

I cannot blame the Ags out there who are canceling their season ticket orders, and refusing to donate to the 12th Man Foundation this year. I know they feel betrayed, just as I feel betrayed. Our leadership let us down in a major way. A&M is supposed to produce leaders, but our BOR obviously missed out on a major part of our curriculum. It sickens me to see them let this opportunity pass them by. We can only hope a similar opportunity presents itself again in the future. I can almost taste the BBQ at Dudy Noble Field. I'm gonna go find some little old lady to beat up. I hope the judge is an SEC fan, because then I know he will understand.

Texas didn't save the Big XII -- it decided not to kill it. The whole episode has changed my view of Texas a great deal. Maybe it's because I come from a socialist conference that divides conference revenues evenly -- whether you're an Alabama or a Vanderbilt -- but it seems to me that the Longhorns have created a Darwinian league that has less of a spirit of partnership that we have in the SEC. More on that in a moment. But saying Texas "saved" the Big XII is like saying that if I point a gun at your head and decide not to shoot you that I've saved you. Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's ridiculous. Texas spent weeks and probably months trying to strike a deal with the Pac-11; made a show of fighting for Baylor but then didn't care what happened to them; tried to blame Nebraska for killing the conference (now obviously untrue) when the Huskers saw the writing on the wall and left; then tried to blame A&M for dividing the South schools because A&M dared to consider another deal; and now wants credit for "SAVING THE BIG XII FROM IMMINENT DEATH." Chip Brown and the Texas media should be given a pass on following that line, but the national media should know better.

Texas A&M is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference and will continue to be affiliated with the conference in the future. As Athletics Director Bill Byrne and I have stated on numerous occasions, our hope and desire was for the Big 12 to continue. We are committed to the Big 12 and its success today and into the future.