🏈 SEC presidents say they are happy with what they have -- at least for now

[Joe]

"BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Saying they are satisfied with the current, 12-team structure, SEC presidents met today and said the league had not taken action in regards to the possible addition of Texas A&M.
That means Texas A&M, Texas and the Big 12 will have to come to terms after the Aggies reportedly considered bolting the league. Or, that Texas A&M has to get its ducks in a row before the league seriously considers an addition to the SEC.

Florida's Bernie Machen, chairman of the Southeastern Conference Presidents and Chancellors, issued a statement through the SEC office a few minutes ago:


"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," Machen said." From AL.com

It will be interesting to see how Texas A&M responds to this answer. The SEC may look back on this day as a blown opportunity.

 

[Joe]

"The Aggies reportedly are looking to leave the Big 12. The Texas A&M System board of regents is to meet Monday, and among the items on the agenda is conference alignment.

A&M President R. Bowen Loftin said in a statement Sunday there is “a considerable amount of misinformation” regarding the school and the SEC. Loftin said he did not participate in Sunday’s meeting with the SEC, but is authorized by the regents to “take all actions related to athletic conference alignment.” From KURT VOIGT, AP Sports Writer

 

[Crimson14Tide]

Whew! Hopefully one day they'll realize they have two teams too many in the conference.

 

[Joe]

Tim Brando Reacts to SEC Presidents

 

[BadAllergies]

"A&M will be announced in SEC in 21 days"

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1251783

 

[bamadezz]

Wow, so I thought this was a done deal... :headscratch:

 

[LBS]

I think this is all going down out of sequence. A school has to 1) set the table for leaving their current conference, 2) petition the new conference for membership, 3) be voted in by the new conference.

The SEC President's meeting yesterday was #3. The meetings needed to seperate (i.e. #1) will be be held this week. And, we have not heard that an Official petition to join the SEC has even been made.

In theory, #1 then #2 and then #3 could all be satisfied by this time next week.

The other issue is the desire to not end up with an odd number of teams, even for a year. Playing with 13 is solving TAMU's problem while creating one for the SEC. Furthermore, A&M's problem is not a major one, so it could wait until another (14th) team has its own ducks in a row.

Watch for the Step #1/Seperation moves being made with a 14th school. I'm guessing that it will give you the best indication of WHEN all this will go down.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Taking A&M without having another team committed puts the SEC at a disadvantage. FSU (or Clemson or VaTech) might be more demanding if they believe the conference is coming to them in need of another member.