Jason Cook — the VP of marketing and communications at Texas A&M — just sent his school’s official statement regarding the Gainesville billboard to MrSEC.com. Here’s what it says:
"So was this oaf an Aggie"
We have as man "oafs" as any other fan base, so I won't suggest that it's implausible that one of ours could stupid and embarass us by talking smack on a billboard.
So I'll put it this way...
An Aggie talking smack on a billboard? Very possible.
An Aggie talking academic smack on a billboard? possible I suppose, but I'm skeptical at that point.
An Aggie talking NCAA infraction smack on a billboard? Nope, I just can't suspend disbelief long enough to put this one in play. Even more than the "Aggie Nation" phrasing which isn't used among Aggies, the key tell is the infraction smack. Somebody is trolling A&M (and the SEC) using the media.
The NCAA infraction smack would fit the MO for both Texas and Baylor. But the academic smack ironically is a huge Baylor tell. While Texas actually is a strong academic university, the majority of their fans don't care about the school, just the football team. Baylor alums however (there is no such thing as a Baylor fan who didn't attend there) have a strong belief that they are the academic power in the State and that the only reason they aren't acknowledged as such is because the liberal media is biased against them. Academic smack is right in the their wheelhouse.
The more I read it the more obvious it is that it's a Baylor troll. And you have to admit it's a masterful job, because it got exactly the reaction they were hoping for.
