For a period of at least 15 years dating back to the Jackie Sherrill era .... Texas A&M either had an equal amount of talent on the field with Texas every year or maybe even better .....but those days are clearly long gone. Now ... I understand that some of those Aggie teams were supplemented with illegally recruited young men ...but in this supposedly "cleaner and better" college football environment of 2006, all teams have the same amount of scholarships and all teams ... in theory ....have an equal shot at the top recruits. But any college recruiter will tell you that's not true.

Clearly the big state schools around the country ....plus Notre Dame ...have an advantage because they have more money to work with when building or enhancing their big stadiums, work-out facilities ..etc ..and they get on TV more often (which brings in more money for the school). My question is .....how can the Aggies have such great facilities ....plus such a loyal fan base that contributes heavily to all kinds of athletic projects .... and not have better athletes on the field?? I was blown away by the difference in overall quality of athletes that populate the rosters of Texas A&M and Texas Tech compared to the University of Texas. Both teams on the field Saturday clearly had some outstanding athletes ....but you could combine the top athletes from both Tech and A&M and not equal the top athletes that Texas has on it's roster.

Texas Tech fans expect as much. It's that underdog role that they've played for many years that motivates them when the Red Raiders play the 'Horns and the Aggies. But for Aggie fans this must be terribly tough to swallow. All the money their alums pour into that program and all they have to show for it in their last two games is a loss to Texas Tech and a near-loss to Army?? No wonder Coach Fran is on the hot-seat.