Texas A&M to the SEC will happen; what about Oklahoma?
One of these schools figures to be SEC-bound. The other school might follow. (AP photo)
Let’s go ahead and make the call, Election Night style, and give Texas A&M to the SEC. On Wednesday, Texas governor Rick Perry, a former Aggie yell leader, told the Dallas Morning News, “As far as I know, conversations are being had.” A&M soon released a statement that was in no way a denial, and Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe told the Austin American-Statesman he was taking the reports “very seriously.”
That’s an awful lot of hullabaloo for one August day, but it only underscores the rickety nature of the Big 12, which is technically down to 10 members — Colorado’s in the Pac-12, Nebraska in the Big Ten — and has no place to expand. Indeed, the Big 12 as is might as well be renamed Texas And Everybody Else, seeing as how the tent-pole school has struck its own deal with ESPN to launch the immodestly named Longhorn Network.
If you’re Texas A&M, what’s your motivation to remain in a dying conference where your biggest rival has been handed a massive competitive edge? There was talk two summers ago that the Aggies want badly to bolt for the SEC, which has the advantages of being both a better and more balanced league, but in the end Beebe was able to hold most of his conference together. It’s hard to imagine him doing it again.
An A&M official told the Houston Chronicle the rest of the Big 12 was “tired of Texas.” The rest of the league, you might note, includes Oklahoma. Even though the Dallas Morning News reported that “no other Big 12 team is considering an exit,” it would only make sense for the SEC, assuming it adds a 13th team, to find a 14th just for numerical balance. And Oklahoma, which is ranked No. 1 in the coaches’ preseason football poll, would be the obvious target.
Check the Sooners’ 2011 schedule. Note that Nebraska isn’t on it. That game, which stood for decades as the decider in the old Big Eight, has been lost to realignment. Oklahoma still plays Texas in Dallas and Oklahoma State home-and-home, but who else in the Big 12 stands as a worthy adversary? Kansas? Baylor? Iowa State?
There might be no groundswell for Oklahoma to leave the Big 12 yet, but just wait. When/if Texas A&M departs, would the Sooners want to stay in a nine-team league where its biggest rival has its own network?
No one school owns the SEC. No, not even Alabama. (If Bama did, would Auburn enter the 2011 season as the reigning BCS titlist?) The competition in the SEC is cutthroat, but schools believe that if you work hard enough you can win big. Check that coaches’ poll and you’ll find South Carolina, Arkansas and Mississippi State in the Top 25.
If everybody else in the Big 12 is “tired of Texas,” Oklahoma would surely feel the fatigue more than most. (Let’s note, too, that the Longhorn Network hasn’t even had its premiere.) Oklahoma looked hard at the SEC in the summer of 2010. When/if Texas A&M bolts, the next school to exit could well be riding off in the Sooner Schooner.
By Mark Bradley
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347 comments Add your comment
Jeffrey8569
August 11th, 2011
1:37 pm
First,in the East maybe UNC,UNS,Wake.VT or VA.Kentucky will not allow Duke and FSc will never come because it would have to actually play HARD and competitive teams each Saturday.
NO freaking way to have GT back
Fats Domino
August 11th, 2011
1:38 pm
I’m sick of reading about all the strategic moves that conferences are pursuing in the name of increasing revenue through TV deals. College football sounds more and more like a summary of rumored mergers and acquisitions in the Wall Street Journal. When is enough ever enough? Leave the SEC (and college football in general) the h*ll alone.
GT Hulk
August 11th, 2011
1:39 pm
This conference crap is so stupid—hated to see the SWC end and all these others begin. Will BYU and Texas Tech join the ACC or SEC next? The TCU to the Big East was stupid enough, Guess Hawaii will wind up in the Big 12.
beebee
August 11th, 2011
1:45 pm
Plenty of schools can step up and into the Big 12. And then other powers can arise to replace the Nebraska that left.
Leave the SEC alone as it is right now. Super strong! Even Vandy ups and makes a little noise every so often. Manageable driving distances for fans anywhere in the League. And those 5 straight BCS titles won’t ever be matched by another conference.
Leave the SEC alone as it is. Please.
bee
T.O. sued for child support : Gambling Poker Blog
August 11th, 2011
1:45 pm
[...] Texas A&M to the SEC will happen; what about Oklahoma? [...]
Stu
August 11th, 2011
1:46 pm
I dont like the idea at all. The SEC is just fine the way it is. If we had Oklahoma in this conference, there would be no need for a National Championship. The winner of the SEC would be all that mattered, really.
joe
August 11th, 2011
1:47 pm
If that happens, just crown the SEC champ national champ every year…nobody else would matter.
Stu
August 11th, 2011
1:47 pm
Look at it this way, if we add teams to the SEC, or even if the number of teams stays the same but we add someone like Oklahoma and Texas A&M, either way, your teams chances of winning the SEC, in any given year, just went DOWN.
bc
August 11th, 2011
1:49 pm
wow john duck you are a slow reader. must be a uga fan
Paul in NH (formerly RDU)
August 11th, 2011
1:53 pm
Mike – A&M may have a deep and long football tradition, but so does Pitt. If you really want to go after PA you go after PSU and if you really want to go after TX you go after the Longhorns.
DawgDad
August 11th, 2011
1:58 pm
Hailing from “Big 8″ country all this realignment stuff tears me up. Texas has destroyed the Big 8/12, pure and simple.
A&M and Alabama deserve each other. Hate to sully the rest of the SEC, though.
ToccoaDawg
August 11th, 2011
1:59 pm
“IF” the SEC were to expand then go all the way aTm and mizzou in the west and clemson and Fsu or VT in the east. Clemson contrary to the gamechickens fans is more of a sec school. mizzou would snatch the SECs arm off if they were invited.
Fortguy
August 11th, 2011
2:01 pm
I’m sure A&M will be going to the SEC, while Oklahoma will probably take OSU and TX Tech with them to the PAC-12. The Longhorn Network is too toxic for any conference to accept, so they’ll probably end up as an independent. If that happens, then Texas better not have a recruiting scandal followed by a severe probation period or the network would blow up in theirs and ESPN’s faces, and Texas won’t have a conference to fall back on.
Vandy is definitely not feeling the love on this forum, but they’re not going anywhere. The reason the power conferences put up with the Vandys, Baylors and Northwesterns in the world is that private school membership frees the conferences from a whole hornet’s nest of freedom of information and public disclosure issues. The secretive, back channel negotiations regarding expansion would not be possible with all public school conferences.
ToccoaDawg
August 11th, 2011
2:05 pm
Vandy is a charter member and isn’t going anywhere. Leave Vandy Alone
coachx
August 11th, 2011
2:06 pm
How would you split up a new conference ?
Would it still be East vs West ?
If you add Oklahoma and Texas A & M would that bump Auburn to the East ?
Tdawg
August 11th, 2011
2:06 pm
Olk and A&M in the SEC west and Clemson and Tech to the east. Yes Tech. I have all ideas that Tech would love nothing better than being back in the SEC. Clemson would be a natural. Can’t see any of the other ACC schools wanting to enter the SEC. Miami, maybe, but you never know about them boys.
ToccoaDawg
August 11th, 2011
2:08 pm
Tdawg Tech was in the SEC and left…No way should they be let back in. SUFFER Tech stay in the All Coward Conference
LHarding Dawg
August 11th, 2011
2:25 pm
Maybe it’s time to have a super conference, less the NCAA.
Knowsbest
August 11th, 2011
2:31 pm
For UGA the best school to add is Tech. They already play, wouldn’t have to add another team as a conference game, and already have to recruit against them.
JM
August 11th, 2011
2:31 pm
I hope it happens soon
Boca Baby
August 11th, 2011
2:36 pm
Clemson would be the most natural fit. They are already playing SC and UGA and Clemson are only about 72 miles apart. And who can forget those great games of the early 80’s when both UGA and Clemson were top five.
GT79
August 11th, 2011
2:36 pm
Would love to see A&M and Oklahoma in the SEC so we could have two more schools kick UGa’s butt every year
G8tr
August 11th, 2011
2:38 pm
OU would have to play someone with a pulse outside of Texas..I doubt big game Bob has the guts to step up and play with the big boys
LHarding Dawg
August 11th, 2011
2:44 pm
GT79 – I believe the Dogs did pretty well against A&M in our last meeting. And, of course, we always do well against Ga Tech.
shankit
August 11th, 2011
2:53 pm
Bring the rambling wreck back into the conference.
That would be the logical choice, but I don’t see them
leaving the ACC due to basketball.
LHarding Dawg
August 11th, 2011
2:55 pm
Tech can’t come back in because Auburn would refuse to play them. Just like they do now. Wonder why?
Browncoat
August 11th, 2011
2:56 pm
These comments are hilarious. People speculating without using common sense or facts.
First, the SEC is only likely to expand into new markets because of TV.
Second, VA Tech and Virginia will not be split up. Doubtful you could get both.
Third, Okla and Okla St. are unlikely to be split up. Have to take both, if you take one.
Fourth, Ga Tech and the SEC has no interest in each other, been there, done that.
So, if the SEC takes A&M, and only adds one other team, it will not be Va Tech or Oklahoma. Also, it won’t be any other team in its footprint, like Ga Tech, Clemson or Fla. State.
So, you are left with a Texas team, Missouri, Miami (unlikely), West Virginia or a Big East team.
But it they decide to go to 16, then Okla and Okla St. are in play.
MS
August 11th, 2011
3:07 pm
Keep Texas A&M and any other Big XII(X)conference team right where they are now. They should consider adding teams like Houston, Tulane, Louisiana Tech or Memphis to their conference.
TP
August 11th, 2011
3:23 pm
Texas is not in the Southeast, nor is Oklahoma. Leave them where they are, or let them find another conference out there, and make the SEC a southeastern conference like the name implies.
Browncoat
August 11th, 2011
3:26 pm
LHardingDawg, one of the reasons that Dodd moved Tech out the SEC was (along with money) that teams in the SEC wouldn’t agree to come to Atlanta to play Tech. At the time there wasn’t a set conference schedule, so a number of team like Alabama would only agree to play Tech at home, not on the road.
Georgia Whine
August 11th, 2011
3:30 pm
It is obvious why A&M (or anyone not named Texas) would want out of the Big 12.
What is not obvious is why the SEC would want A&M. They would have to bring a lot of additional revenue just to make everyone else not lose money with their inclusion.
Does CBS pay $12MM more a year if the SEC has A&M to increase viewership in Houston and Dallas? ESPN has those games either way.
A little insight on that side of the equation would be nice.
Ty Cobb
August 11th, 2011
3:32 pm
TP, I don’t consider Arkansas in the southeast.
Legalcock
August 11th, 2011
3:35 pm
No way the dawgs and cocks tolerate clemson getting a bid. Why the heck would we allow them to get the money and exposure of the SEC? Carolina is just now pulling away from them due to the SEC $$$. You might as well try and get Ga Tech back in if you want to be so generous with a rival.
Legalcock
August 11th, 2011
3:38 pm
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You could really screw up a good thing by getting to many teams. See, Southern Conference back 30 years ago, see conference USA/Metro back before the cocks joined the SEC.
Gamecocks
August 11th, 2011
3:58 pm
If not Oklahoma the team from the ACC will be N.C. State. They are the most natural fit unlike Clemson which makes zero sense revenue wise.
UGAKev
August 11th, 2011
4:04 pm
I would like to see Florida State come to the SEC as the 14th team if Texas A&M decides to come.
Evansdawg
August 11th, 2011
4:07 pm
Texas and Oklahoma are NOT the Southeast. I don’t like it.
GT81
August 11th, 2011
4:13 pm
I don’t consider Kentucky in the southeast.
Superior?
August 11th, 2011
4:16 pm
if the sec had any nads, the would invite Tech beck but they are too afraid.
LHarding Dawg
August 11th, 2011
4:22 pm
That’s right, we are all too afraid of Georgia Tech to play them. In your dreams! Check out the record.
reebok
August 11th, 2011
4:26 pm
Clemson isn’t going to jump to the SEC, and there’s no reason the SEC would want them…they dont add anything to the TV market. The ACC and SEC both benefit from the intrastate/interconference rivalry games…Florida v FSU, GT vs UGA and So Carolina v Clemson. I would love to see both the SEC and ACC expand to 14 or even 16 teams, tho.
puppydawg
August 11th, 2011
4:26 pm
Video killed the radio star and Texas killed the Big 12.
ChangeNeeded
August 11th, 2011
4:26 pm
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The SEC is now 4th in TV revenue and won’t be able to renegotiate it’s TV contracts any time soon unless they expand the conference. That is a potential loss of millions of dollars every year for each school.
Texas Ex
August 11th, 2011
4:27 pm
Is Texas A&M’s “fortunes” really better in the SEC ?
I’m still not convinced.
A&M wold have to get a big bump in $$$$ for them to move.
Anyone know what A&M gets now as a memebr of Big12
versus what each SEC team currently gets?
puppydawg
August 11th, 2011
4:30 pm
@ Texas Ex. If memory serves, each team in the SEC got something like $18M at this year’s SEC meetings. Not sure how that compares to the Big 12 but I would bet it dwarfs whatever those schools got.
OU guy
August 11th, 2011
4:43 pm
I’m an OU guy living in SEC country, and a fan not only of college football but the history and traditions of college football. This is a sport that is personal to anyone who ever attended an NCAA football playing school, had a son or daughter or father or aunt who attended that school, or who just identified with that school over a period of years. Conferences may come and go or morph, but the sport itself if much older than the NFL or MLB or even the modern Olympic Games. At most big time programs, teams play on the same field in the same (if expanded) stadium as their predecessors did 6, 7 or 8 decades ago or more. The Game loses when OU no longer plays Nebraska, or for that matter, when Nebraska no longer plays even Kansas or Kansas State. The current power of the SEC is impressive – clearly the best conference in college football – but the health of the game is measured by more than rich TV contracts, merchandising, or even who’s on top now. For all those reasons, realignment which tears up historical rivalries, however much money or TV exposure is involved or perceived recruiting advantages, is NOT necessarily a good thing. Oklahoma has no natural or historical rivalries East of the Mississippi or the West Coast. I very much enjoy seeing the Sooners play intersectional games – we’ll win some and we’ll lose some, that’s football, but our natural home territory is Texas, Oklahoma, and the Plains States. All this is true of Texas A&M, as well – their fight song even mentions the Longhorns as their biggest rival and I can’t see the words being changed to LSU or Mississippi State.
Texas Ex
August 11th, 2011
4:43 pm
pup:
The total money pie is now split among 10 teams, instead of 12.
The per team payout is now larger than it was for 12 teams.
However the Big 12 per team payout is uneven
and not equal amounts for each team like the SEC.
Curious as to how the $$$$ differs for A&M in each conference.
ChangeNeeded
August 11th, 2011
4:45 pm
The SEC makes 205 million annually, a little over 17 million per team annually. The Big 12 just signed a new contract that puts them at about 140-150 million, but they don’t evenly distribute the revenue. Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M take the majority. Here is a quote from an online article talking about A&M specifically:
“Last summer, Texas A&M reportedly negotiated a guaranteed revenue slice of $20 million annually, but under the new agreement, that issue becomes moot, Beebe said. In other words, the Aggies will cash in beyond that total.”
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/apr/14/big-12s-tv-deal-worth-1-billion/
BjohnDawg
August 11th, 2011
4:46 pm
For the SEC…Texas A&M would be all about the TV/Cable market in Texas. More eyeballs =more $.
And the next logical team would be Va Tech…to pick up the Virginia market. While FSU would be nice, SEC already has Fla.
Just like Goodfellas….its all about the dollars.
Dr. Warren
August 11th, 2011
4:47 pm
I’m a Texas alumnus and wouldn’t mind seeing A&M move out of the state entirely, but seems to me that Waco is a long way from the Southeast United States. What next–will LSU move to the Pac-10?