All of these Texas A&M to SEC rumors were merely Internet rumors on message boards, but now it is getting serious as the Texas A&M Board of Regents meeting was moved up a week to Aug. 15 from Aug. 22. Then there was an added item to the agenda:
Authorization for the President to Take All Actions Relating to Texas A&M University's Athletic Conference Alignment, The Texas A&M University System
Over at Team Speed Kills they are speculating that the SEC wants Texas A&M to make the overture to join so that the SEC does not look like they are stealing a team:
Essentially, Bowen Loftin is going to get the go-ahead to make all the decisions that would be needed to get A&M into the SEC. Rumors are indicating that the SEC doesn't want to poach A&M from the Big XIIish, but would likely accept A&M if the Aggies left the conference -- and such semantics are important in the odd world of conference administration.
I don't think the SEC really has to worry about that because it has always been Texas A&M who has initiated interest with the SEC. However, the SEC is having a special meeting involving all 12 SEC presidents. The meeting adds up with the Texas A&M rumors and their scheduled meeting on Aug. 15, plus they most likely will be discussing who to add as their 14th member.
Speaking of the 14th member teams that have been floated are Houston, Florida State and Virginia Tech, but the Hokies have said they will decline an offer.
Over at Burnt Orange Nation they feel the move is not because of the Longhorn Network, but to make their trail and not always be considered Texas' little brother:
So let's be real here -- this isn't about the Longhorn Network. The appeal of playing in the premier football conference in the country certainly plays a major role, but given the Aggie psyche, this seems more about getting out of the shadow of Texas than anything else. Texas A&M wants to make the move because it can.
Texas Athletic Director Deloss Dodd believes the Big 12 can get survive with nine teams, but would ideally want 10 teams. With Texas A&M making this move, Oklahoma is also covering their tracks and is considering what to do if the Big 12 does fall:
OU officials spent Thursday and early Friday discussing the various options should A&M leave the 10-team Big 12. Some favor trying to keep the Big 12 together, while others favor seeking new conference alignments. The Pac-12 is the most-discussed option, since the then-Pac-10 offered an invitation last summer, but some have brought up the Big Ten.
Oklahoma is powerful enough to make them interesting to the Pac-12, but outside of moving to the Pac-12 the SEC could be an option and tag along with Texas A&M. Or they could stay pat in the Big 12 and look to add another team to get the league back to 10 teams.
Now if the Big 12 does fall apart then it could possibly effect the Mountain West, not by losing teams but possibly adding teams. Over at Big 12 Hoops they put together some scenarios of where the other Big 12 teams could land and how it could effect the MWC:
Iowa St. Cyclones, Kansas St. Wildcats, Mountain West: ISU and K-State are the biggest losers in Big 12 conference dissolution. They are really schools without a home. Their athletic revenues don't warrant being pursued by the other BCS Power Conference (ahem, Big 10), and the MWC needs more schools with TCU and BYU jumping ship.
Those two teams do not excite me too much or really do anything outside of making the Mountain West a 12-team league and creating a conference title game. It has been floated last year that Kansas, Kansas State and possibly even Missouri could head to the Big East to create a 20-team hoops league and 12-team football league.
Kansas and Kansas State would be a great addition to the Mountain West by making them a better basketball league and give them two decent football teams as well as having that coveted title game. The Pac-12 will play a big role in this because they may go after Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, because Oklahoma would be attractive to bring along Oklahoma State even though the two may or may not be attached together.
Texas Tech could be an option if they do not get snatched up by the Pac-12 could be a good add for the Mountain West. They are close enough to New Mexico so that travel would not be to much of an issue, and maybe add on Baylor just to keep a foothold in Texas. Baylor and Iowa State would be the next two teams on the totem poll and adding Iowa State would spread the league out thin, so Baylor would be a good choice in that regards.
The end result could be the Mountain West possibly selecting Baylor and Iowa State, because those schools have the most to lose if the Big 12 falls apart. We will just have to wait to see what Texas A&M and the SEC decide to do.
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