By ROBERT CESSNAFinally, the next season Texas A&M has waited more than a decade for is here, but Aggies have been talking more about joining the Southeastern Conference than what's about to happen on the field.
The move to the SEC and the fallout from leaving the Big 12 will be a distraction, and how the team handles it will help determine just how memorable this season will be. A&M head coach Mike Sherman kept the players focused in training camp without any trouble. The dynamics are different now that school has started. The players no longer will be isolated, and as the season progresses dealing with SEC questions time after time will become annoying.
And it's one thing to constantly say, "No comment." But how will A&M handle opposing fans at Kansas State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma? Those venues have historically been tough places for the Aggies to win at, and you can bet the Wildcats, Red Raiders and Sooners would like nothing better than to strike a blow for those loyal to the Big 12 by beating the we're-too-good-for-you Aggies during their farewell tour. Remember how much A&M fans enjoy beating Big Ten-bound Nebraska last year?
Aggies loved it that Nebraska fans bemoaned the discrepancy in penalties -- 16 for Nebraska, two for A&M. Do you really think A&M will get a call in Lubbock or Norman?
This will be such a trying season, because A&M's exit will be so unique. Few begrudged Nebraska heading to the Big Ten and Colorado joining the Pac-10 because those programs seemed better suited for those leagues. Besides, the Big 12 said it'd be better off with just 10 members, putting its money where its mouth was, paying an advertising firm a million bucks for a branding and imaging campaign saying how great life would be in the slimmer, trimmer dynamic Big 12.
But even before the campaign kicked off, A&M said they wanted more money, more visibility and a better national brand. And the best way to accomplish wouldn't be in the Big 12.
Now, it's up to the football team to back that play. It won't be easy. Many already regard A&M as the villain, leaving fellow in-state rivals Baylor and Texas Tech behind. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State aren't pleased either. They were just starting to enjoy budding, financially rewarding rivalries with A&M. Do you think Oklahoma State will have a chip on its shoulder when it comes Kyle Field to open Big 12 play since the original Big 12 schedule had A&M at OSU, but the Aggies asked to switch so they could have five home league games this year and four next year, only they won't be in the league?
And then there's Texas, the real reason the Aggies are heading east. There's room for only one kingpin in the Big 12 from the state and that's the Longhorns.
Everyone assumes the two will continue to play in football. Maybe, maybe not. But they'll meet in Big 12 play only one more time. What a game that will be.
Nebraska, which also tired of Texas running the Big 12 and left, spent all of last offseason pointing toward the sixth game of the season against the Longhorns at Memorial Stadium. The fifth-ranked Cornhuskers, though, laid an egg allowing Texas to walk off with a 20-13 victory.
Hopefully, the Aggies won't do the same.
The added pressure on the team isn't fair, but a byproduct of change, hopefully for the better in the future. But what about now? The seniors on the club won't play in the SEC. Their legacy will be forever tied to the Big 12. Wide receiver Jeff Fuller didn't pass on the NFL draft to help the Aggies become rivals of the Arkansas Razorbacks and LSU Tigers. He came back to beat the Cowboys, Sooners and Longhorns. He returned to hoist the Big 12 championship trophy at Kyle Field after the UT game.
The team's goals are to win the Big 12 and represent the league in a BCS Bowl game, maybe even the national championship.
Sherman has said that he can't concern himself with all the SEC talk.
"We can only control what we control -- how we prepare for this season and all that outside stuff we let other people take care of that," he said. "We just focus on what's in front of us."
But what's right in front of Sherman and the 2011 team will have a huge say in how the Aggies enter the SEC.
There's a debate about whether the Aggies will be on a level with kingpins Florida, LSU and Alabama in the SEC or be a middle-of-the pack program. At least a 10-win season with a victory over future SEC rival Arkansas would serve notice that the Aggies mean business.
But a loss to Arkansas, which would be the seventh straight to an SEC team, coupled with a third-place finish or lower in a conference that A&M wants out of would be just horrible in so many ways.
Yes, it will be a season to remember. But what will those memories be?
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