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After it is all said and done the Big 12 managed to survive what seemed like a deep crisis when the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns tried for a moment to leave the conference and seek refuge in the Pac-12. This would had been a very strong blow for the conference, that would had to desperately seek for other competitive teams during the conference realignment changes that had been going on in College Football across the nation. Luckily for them, not only did the Sooners and Longhorns decided to stay, they even managed to get the TCU Horned Frogs to fill in the hiatus left by the Texas A&M Aggies and Missouri Tigers when earlier this year it was announced that both squad were leaving for the SEC.

It really seems that on paper TCU could certainly give a good fight in the Big 12 conference. They are coming from the Mountain West Conference, and they are leaving the aforementioned conference as the champions, and are now 3-0 in the Poinsettia Bowl after pulling a intense come from behind win over Louisiana Tech, 31-24. This is actually the third time this season that the TCU Horned Frogs have managed to pull off a come-from-behind win in the fourth quarter. That is, including the brilliant game they won against the Boise State Bills, 35-36, on Nov. 12. Just to set the record straight, this has been the only game the Bills have lost this season.

Now, although TCU has been quite a brilliant team during the last few seasons, it is still uncertain how competitive they will actually be once they have to play in one of the nations toughest Division I Football Bowl Subdivisions in the nation. Ever since head coach Gary Patterson took over the program in 2001, the TCU Horned Frogs have been 10-0 against BCS conferences, but in that same period, TCU is 6-6 among the Big 12 schools. So it is certainly a very good thing for this young team that their leading quarterback, Casey Pachall has been on fire, linking the squad’s 8^th consecutive win and building the momentum for when they officially kick off next season with the Big 12.

Pachall was 15 of 29 for 206 yards. He set school single-season records with 228 completions, 2,921 yards and a completion percentage of 66.5, breaking marks previously held by Andy Dalton. It really wasn’t the season they had expected over at TCU. Even thought they finished the year with a 12-2 record, they were really hoping to make it into yet another BCS Bowl. Last year, the Horned Frogs managed to beat Wisconsin on the Rose Bowl, and should they had managed to qualify for a BCS Bowl this year, they would have reached their 3^rd consecutive postseason bowl.

The Western Athletic Champion, Louisiana Tech, couldn’t hold off the Frogs defense at the end of the game and that made all the difference. The Frogs snapped the Bulldogs 7-game winning streak just a few hours after Louisiana Tech coach, Sonny Dykes, signed a contract extension that links him to the Bulldogs until 2017. Stick around for more NCAA College Football Bowl Action at Betias.com

The Texas A&M Aggies made the best out of the mess that both the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners made in the Big 12 conference when both schools announced their intentions to join the Pac-12 and jeopardize the future of the whole Big 12 conference. It had been announced that the SEC would be glad to take the Aggies if the sister schools in the Big 12 promised not to seek legal action against either the school or the conference. Truth be said, schools such as Baylor and Kansas had allegedly said they would possibly find a way to sue the Aggies, but we have to consider that such information was leaked at a point at which the future of the Big 12 was seriously threatened.

It’s still uncertain whether Texas A&M will have to face legal action set upon other Big 12 schools as their departure breaks some previous contracts and could be accountable. What we can say for certain is that starting July of next year, the Texas A&M Aggies will be part of the SEC for all collegiate sports and that until the next season, the SEC has said that it is not considering on bringing aboard any other teams into it’s 13-team conference. The Aggies are the first newcomers since South Carolina and Arkansas joined the conference in 1992.

The SEC is well aware that scheduling a 13 team conference could be somewhat of a hassle, but they are also saying that they will not include a new member just to make things easier. The Aggies are currently negotiating with other teams in the Big 12, hoping that their final transition into the new conference is finished without too many legal issues. The SEC commissioner, Mike Silve, has said that the invitation to join is unconditional, it doesn’t really matters much whether Baylor seeks legal action against the Aggies or the conference; should that be the case, it would be handled in the right time.

Silve decided to take the risk and bring on Texas A&M after the Oklahoma Sooners announced that it would stay in the Big 12 and keep the conference numbers at nine. Truth be said, it wasn’t really much of a decision made by Oklahoma, but by the PAC-12. Considering the scenario that included negotiation that included not only Oklahoma and Texas but also Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, it became evident that too much was at stake. Considering that not only would they have to work around Texas’ TV rights and its unwillingness to take part on a revenue sharing system, the PAC-12 announced it would not expand. Therefore, Oklahoma came back to the Big 12 and pushed its previous commissioner out of his job.

The only one big concern left is the rivalries and how this will play out. Now that the Aggies’ move to the SEC is official, there is renewed concern about the future of their annual football game with Texas, now held on Thanksgiving night.

The teams first met in football in 1894 and the rivalry is one of the oldest and most spirited in college football. It’s a highlight of the season in the state and a tradition those in Texas and beyond would hate to lose.