I think this is missing the point a bit. Sure, the facilities upgrades and athletic department contributions matter, but it’s the money that is getting contributed off the books that is accounting for their great recruiting. A&M has a well-organized and funded bagman network that is getting up to the level of Bama, UGA, or Auburn. They produce a ton of graduates with middle class jobs and they are a cult that tithes to their football program to get players. Every insurance broker, middle manager, and car dealer from Corsicana to Port Arthur is passing the hat and filling up bags to get these players in there.
Nobody who has ever been to College Station and observed their traditions would ever describe it as “cool.”
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They’re going there because they’re getting paid.