Could happen by Wednesday. http://outkickthecoverage.com/how-espn-is-complicating-am-to-sec-deal.php "Texas A&M meets on Monday. Expect for A&M to give its president the authority to negotiate with other conferences at that meeting. Come Tuesday A&M is scheduled to appear before a committee in the Texas house. The SEC athletic directors meet in Orlando on Wednesday of this week. All of these meetings will go a long way towards helping to resolve the current legal complexities that are holding up this deal." or 3 weeks http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1251783 A source locked into Texas A&M's situation said the Aggies will be announced as members of the Southeastern Conference beginning in 2012 within 21 days. "Texas A&M wants the SEC, and the SEC wants Texas A&M," the source said. The SEC presidents met Sunday and decided to take no action on Texas A&M but certainly left the door open. "We discussed criteria and process associated with expansion," said Florida president Bernie Machen, chairman of the SEC presidents and chancellors, in a statement. The A&M source said the process to complete A&M's move from the Big 12 to the SEC was always expected to take two to three weeks. That process continues uninterrupted, the source said. On Monday afternoon, Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin is expected to receive the ability to make all decisions with regard to "conference alignment" at a meeting of A&M's board of regents. Loftin released a statement Sunday that the regents meeting will proceed and that he'll appear at a House Higher Education Committee hearing Tuesday at 2 p.m., called by committee chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, to look at A&M's situation. "As we have seen over the past several days, there has been a considerable amount of misinformation regarding these discussions and any associated timelines," Loftin said in the statement. "The chairman of our board has indicated that the regents will proceed with tomorrow's agenda item, which authorizes the president of Texas A&M to take all actions related to athletic conference alignment. "I will also accept Chairman Branch's invitation to participate in his committee's hearing on Tuesday. These are extremely complex issues, and it is imperative that we proceed methodically and in the best interests of Texas A&M." A source close to Loftin said he will not talk about the Aggies' disatisfaction with Texas and the ESPN-run Longhorn Network at the committee hearing. Instead, he'll talk about the benefits to Texas A&M of moving to the SEC, including more national exposure and branding as part of the SEC and equal revenue sharing. Three sources in the know about the Texas A&M and SEC situation said they all believe the statement released by Florida president Bernie Machen, chair of the SEC presidents and chancellors, was merely a chance for the SEC and A&M to catch their breath during this courtship. The plan is still very much for Texas A&M to be added to the SEC, the sources said. But the presidents and chancellors of the SEC wanted to slow down the process and make sure everyone was on the same page as far as expansion plans as laid out by SEC commissioner Mike Slive, the sources said. There was probably some concern in the SEC about possible litigation from the Big 12 with regard to the SEC interfering with Texas A&M's current contracts with Big 12 TV partners (ABC/ESPN and Fox), the sources said. Texas A&M's lawyers have also been looking at all the details involved with leaving the Big 12. According to an official in the Big 12, Texas A&M's buyout (exit fees) could reach $30 million to leave the Big 12. By hitting the "pause button," according to one source, the SEC also gets to see how Texas A&M handles questions from state lawmakers during a hearing on Tuesday before the House Higher Education Committee. The decision to take no action on Texas A&M Sunday also gives the SEC more time to decide who and when a 13th (most likely still the Aggies) and 14th school may be added. House Higher Education Committee chairman Dan Branch told Orangebloods.com on Saturday that A&M officials have told him they thought any possible move to the SEC would take "two to three weeks to finalize." Here is the entire statement from Dr. Bernie Machen, Chair, Southeastern Conference Presidents and Chancellors: "The SEC Presidents and Chancellors met today and reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment. We recognize, however, that future conditions may make it advantageous to expand the number of institutions in the league. We discussed criteria and process associated with expansion. No action was taken with respect to any institution including Texas A&M." Stay tuned.
SEC invite coming soon? http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205247891&DB_OEM_ID=27300 COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M University today officially notified the Big 12 Conference that it is exploring options related to the institution's athletic conference affiliation. Texas A&M also requested that the Big 12 outline the process to be followed should the university elect to withdraw from the conference. In the letter to Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe, Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin indicated that if the university withdraws from the conference, Texas A&M would do so in a way that complies with the Big 12's bylaws. Additionally, Texas A&M would be supportive of the Big 12's efforts to seek a new member of the conference. "As I have indicated previously, we are working very deliberately to act in the best long-term interests of both Texas A&M and the State of Texas. This truly is a 100-year decision," said Loftin. "While we understand the desire of all parties to quickly reach a resolution, these are extremely complex issues that we are addressing methodically." "Ultimately, we are seeking to generate greater visibility nationwide for Texas A&M and our championship-caliber student-athletes, as well as secure the necessary and stable financial resources to support our athletic and academic programs," Loftin added. "As a public university, Texas A&M owes it to the state's taxpayers to maximize our assets and generate additional revenues both now and well into the future."
the catch is that the SEC can't "poach" A+M from the Big 12. A+M would have to take the first step of withdrawing from the conference, then immediately afterward the SEC could make their "official offer". The other catch is that the SEC needs the 14th team in the bag before they can extend the offer to A+M as well.
Any word on who the 14th team would be? I've heard Florida St and Clemson thrown around but my guess is they'd much prefer the Noles to Clemson.
I don't know, maybe they just poach somebody from the Big East. The ACC or Big East could be screwed if the SEC went to 16 and took Clemson, FSU and North Carolina.
SEC would take VaTech before Clemson IMO. USC would complain about having to compete for recruits like the MS and AL schools.
I also saw the New York Times guy is denying a formal letter as well but my thinking is where there smoke there is fire. This is going to happen it's just a matter of when and how many teams is the SEC going to bring in.
Seems this is getting interesting now... BYU and TCU possible replacements now. http://espn.go.com/college-football...big-12-discuss-leaving-conference-source-says Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin had a phone conversation with Missouri chancellor and Big 12 Conference board chairman Brady Deaton on Monday night about his university's desire to withdraw from the conference, a Big 12 source confirmed to ESPN's Joe Schad on Tuesday. Texas A&M could send its formal, written letter of departure as early as this week, the source said. The only holdups are threats of litigation by Big 12 members and the need to clarify exit fees. The New York Times said in a story posted on its website Monday night that Loftin sent a letter to Deaton to inform the league it was leaving. Texas A&M denied that report, saying Tuesday it has not sent a letter of withdrawal to the Big 12. When Colorado and Nebraska left the conference last year, they paid about half of what the Big 12 could have contended they owed upon leaving the conference, and Texas A&M would like similar treatment, the source told Schad. Texas A&M said Monday it had received a letter from Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe outlining the withdrawal procedure should the Aggies decide to leave the league. Texas A&M spokesman Jason Cook said on Monday that the letter "outlines the withdrawal procedures according to the financial provisions of the Big 12 bylaws and mutual waivers of legal claims." He wouldn't provide any other details of the letter or comment on what A&M's next step might be. The Aggies are interested in joining the Southeastern Conference. Loftin sent a letter to the Big 12 last week formally telling Beebe they are exploring their options and asked for the conference to outline the process if they decide to leave. The mutual waiver of legal claims could mean the amount the Aggies would pay could be determined by mediation instead of lawsuits. Texas A&M would prefer to leave the Big 12 and have an announcement about joining the SEC before this season starts to aid with scheduling concerns and to allow the Big 12 to begin the process of adding a replacement, the source told Schad. But it is possible that process could last until the second week of Texas A&M's season, which is a bye week. The Big 12 board announced Tuesday the conference has formed a committee to discuss schools that could replace Texas A&M if the Aggies leave the league. Deaton said that the committee could also address the possibility of expanding the conference even if Texas A&M stays put. Deaton said the committee is looking at expansion in the "broadest context" and will make a recommendation to the board concerning whether expanding the conference "by one or more members" is beneficial. Adding one school, at least to start with, is the most likely scenario. The Big 12 has interest in Notre Dame, Arkansas, BYU or TCU, a source within the conference confirmed to Schad, though Notre Dame and Arkansas are considered unlikely. BYU declared its football independence this year and TCU has committed to the Big East, but the Big 12 would attempt to react as quickly as possible to the expected departure of Texas A&M. So far, the only school to publicly express interest in moving to the Big 12 is SMU. Athletic director Steve Orsini said he's had informal talks with Big 12 officials for some time to inform them of the school's improvements and growth. "I think we add stability to an (automatic qualifier) BCS conference, especially in our region," Orsini told The Associated Press. "So our goal is to return to the AQ, BCS status that we used to have. They didn't call it that back in the old Southwest Conference, but our goal is to resurrect ourselves to get back there." The Big 12, including Texas A&M, agreed to a 13-year television deal with Fox Sports in April worth more than $1 billion. There is a chance the contract could be voided if the Aggies leave the conference, which could lead to legal issues for Texas A&M and its new league. "The Big 12 remains a strong conference with a very effective media contract in place," Deaton said in a statement Tuesday. The league's board of directors addressed the possible departure of the Aggies last weekend. "I certainly appreciate the discussion among the Big 12 presidents/chancellors and the expression of their desire for Texas A&M to remain in the conference," Loftin said in a statement Monday afternoon before The New York Times report. "We all agree that Texas A&M is an extremely valuable institution; thus, it is incumbent upon me, as the president of the university, to ensure that we are in a position to enhance our national visibility and future financial opportunity." Loftin added this is a "complex and long-term decision," but "it is not our intent to prolong our conference exploration for an extended period of time." The SEC said earlier this month it was happy with its current 12-school membership but left the door open to expansion. Loftin then received authority from the board of regents to take any action he deems necessary in terms of realignment. Information from ESPN college football reporter Joe Schad and The Associated Press was used in this report.
It's official .... goodbye aTm. Obviously now the big question is who will be the other team to go with them to the SEC? Let's hope it's Oklahoma officially killing the Big 12 and making the SEC even better. http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6912807/texas-aggies-tell-big-12-seek-new-conference
eh we dont want Oklahoma unless it's one or the other between them and A&M. I don't think A&M will have any success at all in the conference but they could prove me wrong. Honestly I think they'll just be the Kentucky of the West. For the equalizer; It's going to be an east coast school. Expect bid offers to either Georgia Tech, Va Tech, something in either Carolina, with a dark horse of Florida State.
As an ACC fan, you can have Miami or Florida State. Very unlikely you get anything from North Carolina. Va Tech? Who knows.
Some people want Clemson. I don't know why. They're like the Ole Miss (on a good year) of the conference.
Hey they won a title back in 83 or whatever year it was... those fans act like it was last season. That's their little carrot they throw around... it's like yeah and what have you done since Reagan was in office? Schools like LSU and Bama are salivating at the oppurtunity to get Texas exposure. Things I am hearing are that Oklahoma is likely to go West with Texas with the Sooners making the first move so Texas can avoid the political pressure of being the first so they can dump Tech. Texas apparently going to the Pac 12 would allow them to keep their network and Oklahoma supposedly is in the midst of creating their own.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/football/big_east_thinking_big_ou8JdQKJUhWEeCUtGv7dNP COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It's all about Nov. 1, 2012. That's the date the Big East Conference becomes a TV free agent. The league's goal is to be able to present such a solid, far-reaching and valuable product that it lands a deal in the neighborhood of the $4 billion package recently signed by the Pac-12. So when you hear Big East and wonder why schools such as Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State are being mentioned, think Midwest TV markets. Maps are just a piece of paper with lines. With Texas A&M poised to join the SEC, the Big East is looking to add those three Big 12 schools and grow to 12 football schools and swell to 20 in basketball. If that seems unwieldy, think outside the box. The Big East has studied the creation of four five-team divisions in basketball and two divisions -- East and West -- in football, The Post has learned. In basketball it could mean each school having home-and-home games with the other four schools in its division and then playing crossover games from schools in other divisions. Some schools wouldn't play each other in a given year. Football would split along geographical lines with Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Cincinnati, Louisville and TCU in the West Division, and UConn, Rutgers, Syracuse, Pitt, South Florida and West Virginia in the East. Division winners would meet in a true conference championship game, with a BCS bowl game on the line. The basketball splits likely would create some division but unless the non-FBS football schools (Georgetown, St. John's, et al) are willing to risk the very real possibility of the FBS football-playing schools breaking away, they'll agree to expansion and the new formats. The non-football schools are very willing to accommodate the football schools for the sake of the league, several sources told The Post. A big check from TV revenue would assuage any hurt feelings. These changes, of course, hinge on the Big 12 falling apart, which seems likely. With Texas A&M headed to the SEC, the Big 12 is down to nine schools with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech likely leaving for the Pac-12. When one considers the Pac-12 would then grow to 16 teams in football and basketball, the 12-and-20 makeup of the Big East doesn't seem so radical. John Swofford, commissioner of the ACC, all but shot down a report out of Austin that his league was interested in taking Rutgers, Syracuse, UConn and Texas. He also alluded to the reason why the Big 12 is in trouble is because of the Longhorn Network and the uneven distribution of TV monies. Swofford was asked if he would bring in any entity that created uneven distribution. "I don't think that you ever say never about anything these days but that has been a very strong principle in our league since the middle '80s," he said. "I think that it's one that has a lot to do with the stability of conferences." The two main potential stumbling blocks focus on Missouri. Missouri dearly covets an invite from the Big Ten, which recently invited Nebraska and showed little interest in the Tigers. That could change, though the Big Ten has only added two schools -- Penn State and Nebraska -- in the last 30 years. The second scenario has Missouri going to the SEC as that school's 14th member. But Missouri does not see a good cultural fit with the SEC and might prefer the Big East. But by coming to the Big East with Kansas and K-State, Missouri maintains its relationship with two rivals.
Looking around I found and liked this scenario: http://utsportsnews.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/acc-posibility/ Craig Floyd and I mentioned last Friday that if the Aggies made a move to the SEC that Texas would be in a 9 team Big 12 that wouldn’t be great for the program. Since then A&M’s plans to jump over to the SEC have been put on hold as the SEC looks for a 14th member and rumor has it that the Missouri Tigers are in consideration for the spot. Now Missouri is a school who at Big 12 Media days was against the Longhorn Network like most other schools. Missouri Head Coach, Gary Pinkel, expressed his opinions about the network saying, “It’s a lack of common sense there to think that the university network can coach or have high school games on their network. To me there’s no common sense there.” Now the move to the SEC could be against what Missouri is all about since they have high standards in academics. Missouri is only 2nd to Texas in Academics in the Big 12 and a move to the lower standard academics in the SEC might be what scares Mizzou away. With all that being said if the Tigers wanted to become the 3rd Tiger in the SEC next to Auburn and LSU in the SEC West then the Big 12 would hit the self destruct button and would have teams looking to go elsewhere. Three teams will likely make the move as a group. Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are almost a package deal because of the desire to keep these rivalries alive in the future. Now when it comes to conference we mostly hear about Larry Scott in the new Pac 12 and Jim Delany in the Big 10. But what if I told you that John Swofford of the ACC has also contacted Texas about taking their talents east? Take a minute to think about this. The ACC is currently a 12 team league who has been thought of as a conference waiting to be dismantled by “Super Conferences”. Now, the ACC would be in position to make itself the first 16 team Super Conference. Along with the addition of Texas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State the ACC could have their pick of 3 schools who would be interested in joining as the 16th member. Notre Dame, Kansas, and Pittsburgh would be the options. Notre Dame would bring in the Chicago, New York and some of the Indianapolis market to go along with their storied football program, a good basketball program. The NBC contract that ND has would mean they would have to pay opposing teams a predetermined sum to play on their network. Pittsburgh would bring in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia markets as well as a solid football program and a good basketball team. Kansas wouldn’t provide much of a market or football boost but the Jayhawks can add greater value to the basketball court, which is what the ACC is known for, is their basketball. Kansas would jump at the opportunity to tag along with Texas, OU, and OSU. All three have baseball programs but none would be huge additions. Now here is what the divisions would look like… The Coastal Division would be made up of: Florida State, Miami, North Carolina State, Duke, Maryland, Boston College, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. (Pittsburg would join this side if accepted and Virginia Tech would be moved to Grassland) The “Grassland” Division would consist of: Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina, Wake Forrest, Virginia Tech (If either Notre Dame or Kansas are accepted they take Virginia Tech’s spot in the “Grassland” and move VT to the Coastal) Automatically the moves would make the ACC the best conference in collegiate sports. Yes that means it would top the SEC. Football Conference Championship game could be alternate between Jacksonville and Dallas. Baseball Conference Championship game could alternate between Greensboro and Oklahoma City. Basketball Conference Championship could stay in Greensboro as well. Now why would Texas want to make this move? Well, for starters the ACC has a contract with ESPN which means the Longhorn Network would be allowed to proceed. It would also give Texas 1 game in the state of Florida and Georgia every other year. Texas would have to pay the same predetermined sum that the league would decide on for the Longhorn Network to air conference games. Some of you may ask what the importance of playing in both states is. The answer is Recruiting. Texas would be able to tap into out of state recruiting with a lot more visibility to the recruits who could go see Texas play at a road game at Georgia Tech, Florida State or Miami. The current Texas coaching staff is primed for out-of-state recruiting. Stacy Searels coached at Georgia for four years. Bo Davis coached four years at Alabama. Manny Diaz coached at North Carolina State, Middle Tennessee State, and Mississippi State in his short and fast tracked career. Even WR’s Coach Darrell Wyatt has connections in the southeast as he coached at Southern Mississippi for two years. That’s 4 guys with roots on the east coast in recruiting. Not to mention Major Applewhite and Bryan Harsin’s willingness and experience traveling to meet with recruits. How many coaches have connections out west? 2. Harsin and Akina. What about connections in the northeast? Just Harsin, and that’s probably even a stretch. Now to the Basketball and Baseball side of things. You would have a conference with North Carolina, Texas, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Duke, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, and North Carolina State… RPI would be through the roof and the weekly match ups would be must see games. Granted you would have very few schools winning 20 games in basketball and 40 games in baseball, the RPI would be so high that 17 wins in basketball and 32 in baseball would likely get you into the dance and on the road. I’m not saying if A&M and Missouri go to the SEC that this is a lock, but what I am saying is that it is a possibility and would be a great move for all parties involved.
