The nation's toughest conference? Ah, gig 'em.Texas A&M commitments don't seem at all intimidated by the Aggies' likely move to the SEC. "It will be a good thing," Aggies commitment
Kenneth Marshall said. "It's more competition. We'll have competition for the class of 2012; to start out the year in the SEC will be nice. We're going to compete with everybody: Florida, Alabama and all those guys."Marshall, a three-star safety from Houston South who committed to Texas A&M in June, said no one at Texas A&M ever mentioned it might leave the Big 12 and move to the SEC during his recruitment. Marshall said he heard the move was a possibility a couple of weeks ago.Still, he has no complaints."I'm OK with it," he said. "If Texas A&M is totally 100-percent they want to do that then I'm down for it. It's better competition. I'm not going to Texas A&M to just play Texas. I'm going to get an education. It doesn't matter who lines up in front of us I think we're going to dominate each and every week."Aggies tailback commitment
Trey Williams agreed."It's no problem to me. I love playing the best and with the best," the four-star prospect said in a Facebook message to ESPN.Yet the loss of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry is a concern among some Aggies commitments. There's tradition. Then there's simply beating the program that many think may bully the Big 12 out of existence.Williams can't wait to play the Longhorns in Austin."Because they do things wrong up there and I want to make a statement," the Aggies commitment from Houston Andy Dekaney wrote.Marshall, like many prospects from the state of Texas, also hopes the rivalry continues, mainly because of all the ties between the two nearby programs."That was one of the only teams I did want to play against simply because they have a guy that went to my school," he said. "I told him I was going to hit him and make him feel it. I'm hoping we can still play them on Thanksgiving Day."Better conference or not, there's definitely a desire among some to play certain high-profile teams in the SEC."Alabama and Florida and LSU because it always seems like they have the best programs," Marshall said when asked what SEC teams he looks forward to playing. "It would be nice playing against them and putting on a show. And for us to show A&M is coming up as we defeat them guys."It's debatable just how much the new alliance could help A&M in recruiting. A&M it could draw more top prospects from the Lone Star state because it's a part of the SEC. Texas could still get the pick of the litter and the Aggies would be hurt my not playing traditional Big 12 powers. Or A&M could expand its recruiting footprint."It's going to be very helpful," Marshall said. "Texas A&M is going to be able to get Texas prospects, Louisiana prospects, Florida prospects. We're going to have a mixture of great talent. Us bringing talent together will help us make a lot of things happen."