In an incredibly intriguing move, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State are close to moving their annual game to the Cotton Bowl beginning in 2008. DMN's Brian Davis was the first one with this story and Tim MacMahon posted his two cents on the DMN College blog. OSU AD, Mike Holder has this to say about the possibility:
"Playing Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl in conjunction with the State Fair of Texas has a lot of appeal for our university," Holder said. "We have a large recruiting presence in Texas for students and student-athletes. A lot of our alumni live in Texas."
And Tech AD, Gerald Myers had this on the deal:
"I think there is a big upside to playing a game in Dallas," Myers said. "That's why I say don't ever say never. But at this point, we don't have any conference game scheduled in Dallas."
I've got a ton of thoughts running through my head, let's see if I can't make out at least one that's coherent:
- First and foremost, I cannot contain my excitement that this game might happen. I think it would be great for Tech as a university and it would allow me to go to one extra game that I wouldn't normally attend because of the distance.
- I really applaud Tech for making an attempt to do something special. Wouldn't it just be easier not to do anything? I don't think Tech fans think that they can replicate what UT and OU do, but I do think they can draw some good attention to their program. This will be a situation where this game provides the opportunity for the DFW alums to support their Red Raiders (that's me and yes, I'll be at the first game). And last but not least, this game will provide some inroads to DFW prospects. That doesn't sound half-bad.
- MacMahon's blog post is just funny. He takes a swipe at the poor Aggies and judging by the comments, the Aggies are quick to respond to this poor decision on ATM's part.
Tech had been trying for some time to get A&M to agree to this kind of deal. This is a case of the Aggies (who, by the way, are also scrapping to try to compete with the Big 12 big boys) being a bit too big for their own britches.
A few of the Aggie comments are what you would expect them to be. Let's begin:
- One Less Home Game:
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- Point: The Aggies don't want to take away a home game from their precious Kyle Field.
- Counterpoint: Yeah, it's a shame that OU and UT aren't able to recover from losing that home game.
- DFW Recruiting:
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- Point: There's no point in recruiting in the DFW area.
- Counterpoint: Great, just focus on the Houston area. Besides, there's no shame in the Aggies not being strong enough to out-recruit the OU's and UT's of the world.
- TANGENT: I won't bore you with any of the tired arguments about whether or not Tech and A&M is a rivalry. The facts are that Tech, with arguably less talent, has more than handled A&M over the last few years. The idea that LSU would even think about playing the Aggies is laughable. Besides, the satisfaction of beating the poor Aggies is all I really care about.
If this happens, it will be a good day for me and a great day for Tech.
GO RAIDERS . . .