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
DC ACC
August 11th, 2011
9:35 pm
Dear Frank Lane,
Indeed, no Duke or Vandy grad could ever write a sentence as Faulkner-esque as the one you so eloquently authored:
“This means that they have a very small member of each class that can be given anything lower than an A, on the theory that the student would get an A if he/she did the same work anywhere else.”
Maybe you just don’t know how an actual grammatically correct sentence should read. Every school graduates some cold beers and some warm ones, but the suggestion that Duke, Vandy and all the Ivy League schools are graduating nothing but illerate morons is, well, moronic.
TP
August 11th, 2011
9:50 pm
Why don’t we just put every school in one conference. That would generate one helluva TV contract, since most of you see money as the main concern.
Jesse
August 11th, 2011
9:52 pm
Clemson, FSU, GT, and Louisville ain’t happening. UGA, USC, Kentucky, and UF have an agreement to block those schools. It would be chicken**** if either of those schools broke that pact. I say just raid the Big Texas conference. No one will put up with Texas at this point.
Jax Dawg
August 11th, 2011
10:09 pm
A & M is a done deal. The question is who else would the SEC bring in because it must be in pairs and it will be a “TV fit.” I am thinking they will consider one of the below:
Oklahoma—-top choice—-but too joined at the hip to Texas and Oklahoma State
Virginia Tech—-possibilty—-they would probably accept and they would expand the TV market
West Virginia—-they would accept in a second and expand the TV market
Clemson—-possibilty—-strong ACC tie—-may not accept—-but does not expand our TV market
***South Carolina would fight this
Florida State—-they would accept in a second—-but does not expand our TV market
***Florida would fight this
Georgia Tech—-does not expand our TV market—and they left the conference once already
***UGA would fight this
I think Virginia Tech or West Virginia make the most geographic sense. Personally I would like to see FSU. Who knows…they might try to get all 3!
Paul in NH (formerly RDU)
August 11th, 2011
10:14 pm
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.
—
GT and ALA played 15 times between 1950 and 1970 – 8 in Atlanta and 7 in Birmingham – but, hey, don’t let facts get in the way of a good story
Paul in NH (formerly RDU)
August 11th, 2011
10:27 pm
From reading the posts on this blog it seems as if I fell asleep in June 2010 and just woke up – same claims about the same schools joining the SEC as back then. The only difference this time is that A&M seems to have such an amount of Texas envy that they would sooner be the 8th or 9th best team in the SEC than be the 3rd best team in the same conference as UT.
Vince Lombardi
August 12th, 2011
12:07 am
A lot of rumors of FSU to SEC a done deal.
SonOfBoh
August 12th, 2011
12:17 am
Could we get Georgia Tech for the SEC East? I’d like the Georgia-Georgia Tech game to actually mean something.
LakeDawg
August 12th, 2011
12:57 am
I hate the thought of the SEC expanding outside of the southeast. It won’t really be the SEC then, just a super conference. Well, I guess nothing good ever survives in this world anymore. As for the Big 12, Texas has destroyed that league with their greed and will soon find themselves on the outside looking in. Sort of like Notre Dame.
Team Dream
August 12th, 2011
1:17 am
@A history class is in order here (August 11th, 2011 @ 4:49 pm)
… nice ‘revisionist’ history there on why GT left the SEC, pal. I’ll bet your history book also taught you that the South won the war and Lincoln committed suicide.
These SEC expansion discussions are all about $$$ and potential to expand into more TV markets. Plain and simple.
GEAUXTIGERS11
August 12th, 2011
1:24 am
I say we give the boot to Vandy, Tennessee. Both are awful and havent lived up to our SEC expectations lately SEC haha, not tennessee as much though. I’d like to see those two be replaced with 2 of these: Florida St., GA Tech(i know they aint good and prob arent interested thinkin they too smart for the SEC folks), Clemson, Tex A&M, UTexas, OKlahoma. Maybe even consider Miami, UNC, or (this is a BIG stretch) either Va Tech or Mizzou. soo much is to consider, especially when it comes to other sports like baseball and basketball. Big XII is very dominant in their basketball with OK, UT, KU, KSU, and even Mizzou. i honestly don’t see much to change. It should have never changed from the Big XII and Pac-10.
(i do not use spell check and really don’t give a $h1T about my grammar on a random AJC blog)
clay
August 12th, 2011
1:52 am
If they got two schools from the “BIG 12″ which in now down to ten. They would just move auburn and alabama to the east. That would be a hell of a schedule for any teams
MBard
August 12th, 2011
3:05 am
Who would be a worthy OU adversary? And you say Kanss, Baylor or ISU? You lost all credibility with me and anyone else who follows the Big 12. How about Tech, OSU or Missouri? Hopefully you chose those three schools for effect in your article, but either way, you don’t make a point. Tech for one, has split with OU the past 6 years, each team winning each of their three home games. The Big 12 is not as lopsided as you portray.
Thanks To ESPN, The Big 12 Is Now On Life Support at hoops227.biz
August 12th, 2011
3:07 am
[...] If Texas AM joins the SEC, the Big 12 drops to nine schools. And there is already speculation that Oklahoma will be the next to join the SEC. [...]
gamejacket
August 12th, 2011
5:12 am
This is a rumor that I heard. The new SEC West would be LSU, Ole Miss., Miss. St., Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma St., Oklahoma, and Texas A & M. The new East would be South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Vandy, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama. This makes geographical sense and also you pick up the Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Kansas City, and some Texas TV markets.
Source: Report of Texas A&M accepting SEC invitation ‘just not true’ – SportingNews.com | Price Per Head Blog
August 12th, 2011
5:50 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
talk t
August 12th, 2011
7:26 am
take OU and Texas not a&m—these 2 would generate millions more for the SEC. A&M wouldn’t bring much cash to the table.
Jacket Man
August 12th, 2011
7:48 am
If the Aggies make the jump to the SEC, which is a distinct possibility, then once again, the NCAA Conference dominoes will start to rattle, and rattle quickly. I think it would be obvious that the SEC would take more than one team if they took Texas A&M so they could have a balanced Conference, so the questions becomes, who, and how many?
First of all, the speculation is that Oklahoma would join A&M in the SEC, but this might cause an additional problem; would they leave the Big 12 without Oklahoma State? If not, then is the SEC willing to take them along with the other two teams just mentioned. If the answer to that question is yes, then we are right back to square one – at an odd number of schools in need of a dance partner.
If the SEC needed to add yet another school to its membership, it would seem logical at this point to look towards the East at this point, to try to even out its divisions and travel schedules. This would them to some “intriguing” choices, such as FSU, Miami, Clemson, GA Tech, and maybe even Virginia Tech. I’m sure there might be a case for another one or two schools to be added into the mix, but these would probably be the major players involved.
Before the SEC finalized their choice on the east side, there would be a lot of things to consider, including natural rivalries since each of the teams I just mentioned, with the exception of Virginia Tech, all have a rather lengthy history with SEC schools; GA Tech in particular. Obviously GA Tech might be the most controversial choice because they were previously in the SEC and left because of a variety of reasons.
At this point, however, it may behoove the SEC to zero in on GA Tech and ask them to join instead of the others mentioned, above. Why do I say this? What if I told you there was another big time Conference like, let’s say, the Big 10, was trying to get a foothold into the Southeast, and is looking to find a new member to invite to join their conference? What better location than Atlanta would there be to “crack that egg,” so to speak?
If GA Tech was presented with an option of staying in the ACC versus joining the Big 10 when it looked like there was another reshuffling of conferences going on and the SEC wasn’t inviting them to join, what do you think would happen? If I were a betting man, I would say the Big Ten Network would become very popular right here in Hotlanta. The guaranteed money in the Big 10 is so much greater than the ACC that there’s no doubt there would be a move.
So the question would be; would the SEC be willing for the Big 10 to build a branch in their back yard; the city that hosts their SEC Championship game? This sure would open up some key recruiting battles that haven’t been as prevalent as in the past.
bill
August 12th, 2011
7:55 am
Suggesting that wvu is SEC worthy is a joke. Without Big East Official help they would have lost to Marshall last year. When they beat Pitt and Penn State regularly call us back. WVU people live in a dream world where they think they are a college powerhouse. Texas killed the SouthWest Conference with their arrogance and obvious bias against the little schools in Texas. All that out of control cheating at SMU Houston and Texas did not help. The only nonTexas school Arkansas spent 40 years getting screwed by the league and particularly the officials before they left. No Arkansas based football officials worked Arkansas-Texas game. The Big Twelve could probably get Houston and Rice back from the old SWC.
jackyldo
August 12th, 2011
7:56 am
@ Gamejacket
If you add A+M you add Houston, San Antonio and Dallas are 3 of the 10 largest cities cities in the USA… Plus you take A+M grads all over the state of Texas and USA…
Not sure what Missouri brings to anyone It’s 125 miles from both Kansas City and St. Louis – has 248,000 alums worldwide .. If your from Kansas your a Kansas or a K State fan. The state touches Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska and the Big 10 now 12 didn’t want them although if they expand to 16 would seem a natural.
OK and OK State could fit and add powerful football opponents but seem more a fit for West (Pacific Conference or Mountain West) .. Other than football do they want to be sending their Volleyball, Gymnastics and other sports teams on multi day treks to Gainseville, Florida and Auburn, Alabama ?
Also why would Georgia be in favor of an alignment that means they have to play, Tn., Fl., Bama, Auburn, SCe,, Ky and Vandy then have a year with cross over games against LSU and Oklahoma to get to the SEC Championship game ..
It’s like being in a division with the Red Sox and Yankees every year ..
Expand East Va. Tech, West Virginia, a school like NC State that brings in the Raleigh and Charlotte tv markets. #24 and 27 .. OK City is # 45… and solidify Florida with Miami or South or Central Florida.
If SEC goes to 16 with A+M 13 — there are some interesting options out there ..
bill
August 12th, 2011
8:00 am
FSU turned the ACC down and wants no part of that league and its killer schedules. Clemson has been in the ACC forever and likes being in the ACC. Miami likes being in the ACC where they are looked on more kindly while being watched like a hawk by the league administrators . Ga Tech was a member andleft the league. I do not think even they are so stupid as to get back in the ring with the SEC. You can bet your ass the coached are not.
bill
August 12th, 2011
8:05 am
Jax Dawg you dropped your crack pipe on the WVU comment. The two people ein West Vairginia with cable don’t watch football when rasslin is on. West Virginia expands the TV market what a hoot.
Joe Bob Thibodaux
August 12th, 2011
8:30 am
Mark, the last time the SEC expanded in turned out very well. Arkansas and South Carolina definitely pull their own weight. During the last expansion, Florida State, Texas A & M, Miami, (if memory serves me) didn’t want anything to do with our beloved SEC. TAM turned down the SEC which opened the door for Arkansas. If expand we must, then TAM and Oklahoma would be fine by me.
GeauxTigers11, you are an idiot–probably an undercover GT goober grabber, too.
LSU Forever.
JBT
Concern
August 12th, 2011
8:42 am
Texas A&M then Oklahoma both to the SEC West then AU to the East.
Florida State and Texas A&M to SEC? Internet buzz says yes – Orlando Sentinel | Price Per Head Blog
August 12th, 2011
8:49 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Tyler Durden
August 12th, 2011
9:00 am
A&M will make a solid contributor to the SEC and gain recruiting momentum from just being in the conference. They will consistnently be near the top in recruiting once the move is official.
Whiskey Breath
August 12th, 2011
9:06 am
Nice job Mark, you actually used some references to back up your article. That is all I am asking, journalism 101, do a little homework to back up your statement.
chilidawg
August 12th, 2011
9:15 am
With all the talk about 16 team “super conferences”, it is very plausible that the SEC is working toward just that. Add 4 teams on the western side, maybe A&M, OU, Okie St and Mizzou. Then shift Bama and Auburn to the east.
Gator Fan
August 12th, 2011
10:09 am
Is JC Penney having a sale on jean shorts this weekend?
Atlanta87
August 12th, 2011
10:20 am
Possibly Gator Fan, but I know they are selling Autographed AJ Greene UGA Jersey’s and UGA SEC Championship jerseys.
Atlanta87
August 12th, 2011
10:21 am
Meant to say SEC Champ rings, not jerseys. *
Gator Mike
August 12th, 2011
10:23 am
Mr. Bradley, this is a very good article, and I agree with your assessment. I see A&M coming our way, and I believe OU will also entertain the move. It would certainly get tougher in the SEC.
I also think it would be great to have Clemson if OU does not want to relocate to the SEC. As far as any objections by the USCe folks, they have little to no voice in the issue because they are relatively new to the SEC.
It is a sure bet that the landscape is about to change once again, and the cause for the Big 12 (with 10 teams) folding will be the selfish moves by the Texas Longhorns.
npgator
August 12th, 2011
10:35 am
I read that FSU is being considered too. Either way Texas sux and will pay for their greed.
Beldar
August 12th, 2011
10:45 am
TexasEx, right now Beebe and the Big12-2 ‘promised’ A&M/OU $20 million annually based on a magic number that UT pulled out of their hat. The SEC shares revenue equally, with it consistently rising yearly with bowl appearance cash and other TV deals. If A&M does join the SEC, they get to completely renegotiate their TV rights, thus it will add more money obviously. The BIG difference is that it is obvious UT will not honor their agreement because it is attempting to undermine the conference’s stability, this was proven by the release of the LHN contract last Sunday. They are setting up everyone else to fail, and that is inarguable. Just go take a look on the Texas Tech or Baylor sites for confirmation. While A&M certainly hasn’t performed anywhere near to their potential in the Big12, especially in the 2000’s when we were run into the ground by Franchione (thanks Bama!) they will be competitive in the SEC, not immediately for sure but give it some time. It is this reason that most Longhorns are either against the move, and are trying to convince everyone that A&M can’t ever win at anything. Me, and many others, think that once A&M is away from Bevo’s manure they’ll thrive, as the school has changed dramatically in the last two decades and the SEC profile would be like a massive shot of Bovine Growth Hormone to A&M. (pun intended)
Two years ago when it was almost certain A&M was moving to the SEC, there were some political hurdles that made the Board of Regents very uneasy and thus the reason to stay in the Big12-2. This time, things are dramatically different, thanks in large part to UT and ESPN and their LHN, which opened up a huge door for a breach of good faith that A&M can take to the bank. Not only that, because of that breach it isn’t just A&M that is anxious to bolt away from a conference that is run entirely by one school and move one, and that alone makes it much easier for A&M to make the move.
A&M will be a great fit in the SEC, and while I think it will be awhile before they are competitive in Football, eventually they will be a force to contend with given their size, support, money, and facilities. Add the SEC into that mix and it will add up to wins on the field eventually.
jj
August 12th, 2011
10:59 am
We are headed to 6, 16 team super conferences. At that point we will have 96 of the top 120+ bcs schools and I would suggest the 20+ on the outside looking in don’t belong in this division anyway. When these 6 conferences get the amount of power they will have there will be no need to have the NCAA manage them. They will split away and create their own TV contracts and keep the 40% of revenue the NCAA currently keeps. I also think 6 super conferences will create more parity which will drive a more diverse group of chanpions and produce more TV revenue, which is what this is all about anyway.
Gator Mike
August 12th, 2011
11:12 am
Jessee and Jax Dawg, with al due respect, what makes you believe that UF would try to block FSU from entering the SEC? The rivalry is already heated and we compete for the same players in the state. Whether FSU is in the SEC or not, this rivalry will not diminiss. Plus, I believe that FSU was a choice to join the SEC ahead of SCe and AR, but they declined.
I am a total Gator, but it would not bother me to have the Noles in the SEC. It would make the rivaly more interesting, and we would not have to put up with anymore antics by those sub-standard ACC refs.
As for VA Tech, they have zero ties to the SEC as far as history, and I ,personally, would not want them. As for SCe blocking Clemson, well SCe is lucky to be in the SEC and they are still a new guy on the block.
They may have won a wek SEC East last year, but they still lost 5 games which does not make them a power house at this time.
Bottom line is that the SEC is fine in its current format.
Out of Town
August 12th, 2011
11:14 am
SMU?
Gator Fan
August 12th, 2011
11:21 am
My breath is really nasty.
GaHorn
August 12th, 2011
11:47 am
Poor little aggie. Jealous aggie, that is. Let them start their own network and see how many viewers watch. That’s the reason they wouldn’t get a network to talk to them about it. They tried playing LSU back in the late 80’s and early 90’s and couldn’t beat them then and that is in a troubled time for LSU. They would loose a major recruiting ground because the recruits might as well go to a school east of the Sabine rather than a&m. Texas just gets stronger. Who’s to say that an SEC school wouldn’t decide to go with their own network? I am not convinced that they would not be able to do that even if the SEC made them share the money equally. Poor little aggies get $10 million out of the deal Texas has with ESPN. This is just a ploy to make Texas pony up more money to the rest of the league. And, by the way, there is no guaruntee that the Texas/a&m home and home rivalry would continue. Chance are that it would, but Texas could get just as vindictive tomorrow as a&m is today. The aggies would be competive with Ole Miss, Miss State, Vandy and that is it.
Druid City
August 12th, 2011
11:54 am
Love to see the school of Stallings and Bryant join the conference. Oklahoma too.
Bama and the Aubs go to the East and get rid of Vandy and THUGA.
What an awesome conference this would be!
whassup
August 12th, 2011
12:07 pm
Well, Dang!
Why can’t we get College of the Pacific or Hawaii???
I mean, TCU’s going to the BIG EAST.
Texas A&M to the SEC will happen, but what about Oklahoma? | Mark … | ENA news
August 12th, 2011
12:12 pm
[...] Read the original here: Texas A&M to the SEC will happen, but what about Oklahoma? | Mark … [...]
Florida State Seminoles flirting with joining the SEC, according to sources – Palm Beach Post | Save America Today
August 12th, 2011
12:18 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (website) [...]
Florida State Seminoles flirting with joining the SEC, according to sources – Palm Beach Post | Sports Latest News Wall
August 12th, 2011
12:19 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Florida State Seminoles flirting with joining the SEC, according to sources – Palm Beach Post | Price Per Head Blog
August 12th, 2011
12:20 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Tide Rising
August 12th, 2011
12:23 pm
Add Tam and OU to the west and VT and FSU to the east and you have a superconference that will be rivaled by no one. And I do mean no one. VT is a football school and has no long term allegiance to the ACC having only recently joined and would bring the VA. tv market. FSU had said in the past few years- or at least Bowden had, that FSU had made a mistake in the 90s by not joining the sec instead of the acc. And I don’t think UF would oppose them joining. If not then lets look at Miami which like VT only recently joined the ACC, is a football school, and likewise to VT it has no real allegiance to the ACC since it is also a relative newcomer to that conference.
Tide Rising
August 12th, 2011
12:26 pm
Looks like what goes around comes around. Tejas got a little too big for their britches and now they could be alone in a conference of themselves and the baylors and kansas states and iowa states of the world. Sucks to be you Tejas but you did it to yourself.
Druid City
August 12th, 2011
12:37 pm
It’s like déjà vu all over again for the Southwest Conference Big XII.
Bodda Getta
August 12th, 2011
12:51 pm
In the SEC, I would get rid of Georgia before Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt brings us good academics, a College World Series baseball program, and a consistently solid basketball program. Georgia brings us nothing.
SEC WEST
August 12th, 2011
1:05 pm
What team would be moved East if thest two entered? Auburn??? and have their cross-over game be Bama??? They would be the most eastern team? Or would the SEC be more radical and invite Clemson & FSU/GT/VT/WVa. to balance each side???
Could get very interesting as well….almost as much fun in speculation as gameday….ALMOST!