[Chise]

Originally Posted by SoonerDog

The last time Texas A&M was unbeaten and untied was in 1939. They haven't won 10 games since 1998. Yet in their first year in the mighty SEC they'll likely have 10 to 11 wins and theoretically, could still win the SEC in the highly unlikely event Alabama loses to Auburn.

If A & M were still in the Big 12, I suspect they'd still have 2 losses at this point in the season. In fact, if Alabama was in the Big 12 they'd probably have 2 losses as well, given the difficulty they had against the only really good offensive team they've faced all season.

I think what you guys that have grown up mainly watching SEC & Big Ten football fail to understand is that it's practically impossible to shut down a great offense IF that offense is playing at its absolute best. It doesn't matter how good your defense is, you simply cannot cover everything when facing a team with a great offense that is on a roll. The problem is- No matter how good an Offense is, it's going to have some off days. The same isn't necessarily true for great defensives.

That's why you'll see a team like Oklahoma look really good one week and like crap the next- When it's all 'clicking', a great offense is going to beat a great defense. It's when that "great offense" has a mediocre day that the defensive team is going to prevail.

Teams like Alabama and LSU would definitely be competitive in the Big 12, but they'd also lose some games they weren't supposed to for the reasons above.

Actually, they can't. Once LSU won, that pretty much eliminated TAMU. If Bama loses, LSU probably represents the West by virtue of being the highest ranked team.

[Kinnick]

Originally Posted by Chise

Actually, they can't. Once LSU won, that pretty much eliminated TAMU. If Bama loses, LSU probably represents the West by virtue of being the highest ranked team.

Yet another post where I reference 2008. When the Big XII had their Texas/Okl/Tech one loss debate, they yielded Oklahoma as the winner because they decided in their rules that the highest ranked team in the BCS would go. All other conference tie breakers would have yielded Texas as the representative in that situation. SEC goes by head to head of the top two if they are within 5 spots of each other. So if A&M is #3 and LSU is #5 then LSU goes, but if A&M is #3 and LSU #10 and Bama #11 then A&M goes. LSU isnt going to be more than five spots back so LSU has it essentially locked.

[Major Seahawk]

Originally Posted by JDIII2007

Now, that the seasons are done people can start to judge how all these teams have done in their first year in a new conference.

West Virginia has had a disappointing year in its first year but is poised to become bowl eligible with a win over Iowa State or Kansas. Obviously, they were hoping for a lot more this season but were competitive in most of their losses save the Tech loss where the West Texas winds were a big factor.

A&M has had the exact opposite compared to WV's season where they exceeded expectations and have won a number of games including beating Bama at Bama. They have shown that they can compete and that the Sumlin/Kingsbury combination has worked in year 1. A&M has also benefited some with the collapse of Arkansas and Auburn this year making the SEC West the weakest it has been in years.

Missouri has had a tough season and will have to knock off A&M to become bowl eligible. Prior to the start of the season, I thought they would do better than A&M but obviously they have struggled in the SEC East this season.

TCU has had an up and down season this year but has been competitive in every game. Despite the record attrition and loss of their starting QB this season, TCU still has managed to become bowl eligible and is now sitting at 7 wins with a game to go against OU. In the tough final 5 games, they are 2-2 with one to play.

Looking at things at this point, I think A&M and TCU have proven they can perform in their new conferences and WV and Mizz still have some work to do to meet their expectations. We will need to wait a few more years to really tell which conference benefited the most from these moves.

Mizzou has done to worst out of all of them. West Virginia started out okay but they've since collapsed. A&M and TCU I'm pretty impressed with. TCU has more losses but they were undefeated until they lost Pachall so I doubt they'd have that many losses if they hadn't of lost him. And even without him, they're still able to beat Texas on the road. Not bad, not bad at all

[JDIII2007]

West Virginia is now bowl eligible after beating Iowa State yesterday. They also can get a 7th win against Kansas to finish the season 7-5. Mizz plays A&M today to decide their bowl eligibility status.

[AggieNation]

Originally Posted by JDIII2007

West Virginia is now bowl eligible after beating Iowa State yesterday. They also can get a 7th win against Kansas to finish the season 7-5. Mizz plays A&M today to decide their bowl eligibility status.

Sorry Tigers, but Gig 'em Aggies!