Lawyers, guns and money

This thought occurred to me in the process of writing yesterday's blog:

What if nothing happens?

I am far from connected on the topic of Texas A&M and the SEC and Oklahoma and the Pac-12 and all the other stuff that's been dominating the news lately.

But with all the talk of "armageddon" and "looting in the streets" -- figurative, of course -- you wonder about the possibility of hysteria being slightly overblown.

It tends to happen these days, you know.

Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com, who's been out front on most of these developments, revealed what could be a major impediment to A&M's assumed path to the SEC:

One source said Baylor is seriously considering a lawsuit against the SEC alleging the acquisition of Texas A&M would set off a domino effect in realignment that would result in hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to schools across the country.

The source also said Baylor would consider a lawsuit against Mike Slive personally.

Obviously, the SEC is taking this seriously because the presidents in that league made their vote to admit Texas A&M contingent on the individual member schools in the Big 12 signing a waiver not to sue the SEC.

Whoa.

This is just staggering on a number of levels.

First of all, who would have ever conceived of a scenario in which Baylor is the most powerful school in not only Texas, but beyond?

Second: If this is indeed a legitimate hurdle, how in the world could the folks at Texas A&M not have conceived of it before this point?

A lot of folks in Austin are laughing right now, because Texas A&M might've just created the Aggie joke of the century (and there are lots of Aggie jokes in Austin).

It makes perfect sense when you think about it. Baylor stands to lose a lot if the Big 12 implodes, as documented in this column from Dan Wetzel last week.

If college sports winds up with four super conferences and nothing else, the number of disenfranchised will grow. Hence, the churning stomachs. Hence the constant work by administrators to try to make sure there’s a safe port for the coming storm.

“I had four hours of not worrying about conference realignment,” Baylor AD Ian McCaw joked afterward. “I feel refreshed now I can get back on the phone and get to work.”

Sounds like the man wasn't joking about getting on the phone and getting to work. If there are four or five teams in the Big 12 (Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri) who stand to lose if the Big 12 implodes, then it stands to reason that they could form an alliance and do everything they can to block Texas A&M's passage to the SEC.

That's just speculating. Because again, I'm far from connected on these matters. But it's fascinating to think about.

Grab the popcorn.



LW