Daily Bull 11.12.15

MY NOVEMBER LACKS. G'ahead. Rate your enthusiasm for a mid-November game against Western Carolina on a scale from 0 to you-gotdamn-liar.

This is mayonnaise casserole of a game shoved into a decadent SEC spread. This is a meaningless game that makes a record look better than it is once context is removed. Don't believe me? Peek around the Hate Barn Saturday night. You're going to see a lot of redass, diehard Aggies dressed up as seats.

It's finally cooling off in Texas. While delightful, I no longer have to commence the day with a Gold Bond snow angel. November is a good time to be a Texan. November is also the #realtalk of college football.

I've mentioned it before, but my key measure of an A&M football coach's on-field performance is this:

Are you playing meaningful football in November?

Meaningful = Atlanta trip on the line. Or, rivalry. In 2015, Texas A&M is not playing meaningful November football.

No, it's not the end of the world. 2016 is setting up to be a program-defining season, and the remainder of 2015 should be used to lay the groundwork for a significant run at the West title. The best players on the team are still underclassmen, after all.

It would be unreasonable to expect to compete for Atlanta every single November, but the notion of playing a traditional rival annually when the leaves are falling is totally reasonable and *gasp* fun.

In countless walks of life, people vote with their wallets. You'll see it Saturday night. Families with expensive Aggie football season tickets are going to elect to stay home in Dallas or Houston.  Why spend even more money and time on a forgettable game?

When Texas A&M and the University of Texas finally play November football against one another again (and they will, eventually), the fan bases will vote with their wallets. Tickets will sell at a premium. TV ratings will soar. How do we make sense of this complex algorithm of demand? Football is fun. This rivalry is really fun. Hate in the context of college football is a damn blast.

Until the suits and their petty power posturing get out of the way, we're left with Western Carolina. In what continues to amount to a maddeningly frustrating season, we could be gearing up for the Horns. Oh, and talk about waste. When the Horns and Ags play again, and the Horns are really damn good again (yes, it too will happen), we'll get to commiserate wondering "what if". What if we had actually capitalized on the opportunity to beat the shit out of the Horns during one of their darkest eras in program history?

Until then, we can bicker about #brands, revenue, and who "needs"* the game more. So fun. Hang banners, light towers, and puff out your #branding chest.

Beat the hell outta Western Carolina.