Big 12 Exit Fees In For Texas A&M & Missouri

Published: 28^th Feb 12 7:36 pm

by Chris Hengst
College Football and MLB Blogger

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Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Bolting to the Southeastern Conference may elevate the Texas A&M and Missouri programs, but their Big 12 exit isn’t free.

The Aggies and Tigers owe $12.41 million on their way out, the price of playing the realignment game.

Attorneys for both schools obviously earned their legal fees as West Virginia paid nearly $20 million to vacate the Big East.

Unfortunately, withheld television revenues aren’t the sole issue and Texas A&M and Missouri owe $9.31 million out of pocket to facilitate the shift.

In 2010, Nebraska and Colorado also left the Big 12 and paid a little over $9 million and $6 million, respectively.

Those two schools departed prior to the gentlemen’s agreement in the summer of 2010 where the remaining members hoped to maintain the current conference make-up.

As the Aggies look to move out Texas’ shadow and Missouri enters a conference with a higher profit future, their exit fees shouldn’t faze either campus.

But the competition factor?

Nearly ten million in owed funds doesn’t seem like much compared to the revenue headed for College Station and Columbia.

Still, finishing third or fourth in one’s own division, not that far-fetched for either school, fails to produce the necessary stardom.

And if realignment has taught college football fans anything, it’s that the conference isn’t so significant as the program’s ability to post wins.