No A&M. Not Yet.

[DRU2012]

Word out of Sunday's SEC-meeting to discuss Texas A&M and the larger issues regarding possible expansion has the members' presidents and chancellors "being content with the current 12-team alignment and not voting to extend and invitation at this time" to ANY schools to join.
There is accompanying vague encouragement regarding A&M in particular in the statement released, and the exact wording more than merely leaves the door open for welcoming such a move in the future--in fact, the statement does nothing to dampen the general direction things have been moving in, only the SPEED at which they're moving. The spokesman pointedly notes that the process must and has been happening at a much slower pace than the reporters and the media have been reporting it. We'll see.
The major sticking point, by their own account, has been the necessity for adding a 14th team as well. There are a number of complex internal considerations and opinions on that decision. The "A&M-question" in fact appears commonly accepted, it seems--by all appearances, they're going to be welcomed at some point, but the combination of the question of the 14th member and the SEC NOT wanting to be seen as directly participating in the break-up of the Big 12 has precipitated this response. A&M's moving to the SEC will almost certainly happen at some point, and perhaps very soon--just not "this week".

 

[InkedAdrenaline]

Dunno if we really need them in our division...but I guess they fall in line somewhere between SC and UGA in team 'toughness' maybe?

 

[DRU2012]

They're on the "upswing" now, compared to where they've been most of the last few years in the Big 12, but yeah, figure that puts them around the "middle-of-the-pack" in the SEC...I see them in the West, though (geography alone dictates that, right?), which of course factors into who the 14th school, presumably headed for the SEC East, might be. Obviously they could just ignore all that if it gets in the way of convenience and the "best opportunity" (for eg., to accommodate Oklahoma, whom I doubt wants to jump, or Missourri, who almost certainly would if asked), but I have a feeling that won't be the case here--my own gut feeling is that it'll be one of the schools who are actually somewhat "southeast" AND, though their characteristics differ, do not violate members' various "conditions of rejection"--Clemson, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, perhaps one of the Carolina schools (but it would have to be some distance from USC and/or deliver the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill TV-market with it--these are EXACTLY the kinds of forces at work that eliminate certain schools right from the start, and make it such a tough, hard-nosed bargaining process).
(BTW, regarding this last point: I am adamant in my view, shared with most fellow Gators, that we should NOT permit FSU's consideration for SEC-membership under ANY circumstances. I won't repeat all those reasons here, comfortable as I am that the powers representing UF in these deliberations are well aware of our general feelings in this regard, and in fact hold these same views at least as strongly themselves. A list of those reasons, compared and contrasted with one covering the reasons we would block any consideration of Miami--albeit much less likely to be considered in the first place--would well convey the many nuances and considerations at work in the whole process of the SEC Members Council arriving at decisions in this matter.)

 

[Leakfan12]

Guessing they couldn't land a 14th school so no to A&M for now.

 

[DRU2012]

Yep...think it's coming, tho'--maybe even "agreement in principle" (at least) before this season is over... at latest, in form of big "falling domino"-extravaganza with hysterical media coverage AFTER the season, next winter/early spring.

 

[CaliZona_Gator]

I do not want the SEC or any conference to expand past 12 teams. Unfortunately I think other conferences will expand beyond 12, and I would like the SEC to get a jump on everyone else and get good teams to join.

 

[DRU2012]

I agree...it's coming, so we should get out in front of it and make our choices count...to 14 "now" (ie. soon), then 16 if/when the "avalanche"/"Great Break-Up Panic" is imminent.
(That last will presage the handful of "superconferences" that will form a defacto College Football Championship Association, which will in turn eventually play something like a "Plus 2"-format National Championship Series in January each year--but that is some years off, I think, after the above long and emotional process plays out.)

 

[robdog]

You guys thing they are going to stop at 14 or just expand to 16?

 

[Escambia94]

All we need is 14 for now. We have a good formula. Only Auburn and Alabama are major in-state rivals. The rest are the sole public university in the state (Vanderbilt as a private university does not necessarily compete directly with Tennessee for recruiting due to the very high academic standards at Vandy). So, bring on Texas A&M so we can consume some of that Dallas and Houston TV market, then bring in a schmuck just to make Vanderbilt happy...someone like NC State. NC and Duke will never move from their positions due to basketball rivalries, but it would be nice to snag an NC team that naturally fits in the southeast....and is not too far of a drive for tailgating. Georgia Tech is a nice fit as a charter member of SEC, but its academics are higher than UGA's and they may or may not compete too much with the LegHumpers. Either way, we would seal off Atlanta solely for the SEC...if we could not expand slightly northward. Missouri could fit as well, but it is rather far away and barely qualifies for the southeast. West Virginia is a nice character fit, but is quite a drive. Louisville is too much competition for Kentucky, so they are a no-go. Virginia Tech would be a nice foray into the most northern of the southeastern states.

The best fit is Texas aTm and one schmuck, any schmuck to keep us at 14. No more than 14 is needed.