Mike Slive Hopeful to Get Texas A&M in Conference for 2012-13
by Year2 on Sep 12, 2011 6:30 PM EDT
in Conference Realignment
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PrintWhile Baylor's legal threats have stalled Texas A&M's move to the SEC, Mike Slive made some comments today at a speaking engagement that indicate that it is only a temporary condition:
We remain optimistic that Texas A&M will be a member of the SEC and have started to look at schedules for 2012-13 involving 13 teams.
That line was a part of a larger comment on the conference expansion process. He included plenty of CYA language regarding A&M coming to him and not the other way around to keep the lawyers at bay. He also said, speaking for all of the league's members, that "we would very much like to have Texas A&M as a member of our conference." He further stated that the conference doesn't have any immediate plans to add a 14th member, as he's going for quality over quantity.
This is the most aggressive speech regarding A&M to come from the SEC to date. Even the announcement about the unanimous vote to accept TAMU's application was weakened by the language about it being on the condition that the Big 12 conference and its member schools do not sue. The SEC's public stance to date could be summed up as a fairly passive one, with the league not being in any rush to add the Aggies.
This statement from Slive makes it actually sound like the conference is enthusiastic and has some kind of sense of urgency in the matter. If you're curious as to what a 13-team SEC football schedule might look like, we covered that back in August. It's not pretty.
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13 team schedule is a bad idea
I have a ton of respect for Mr. Slive, but I can’t see how a 13 team conference is a good idea. Hopefully he’s pulling a little gamesmanship and is really working on adding a 14th team also. A wacko schedule like this just seems bad.
But, I have another scenario that is a little simpler. Everyone in the West (assuming TAMU joins the West) plays all 6 division opponents and 2 opponents from the East. Everyone in the East plays all 5 division opponents and 2 opponents from the West. The East teams add a non-conference game to their schedules.
At least there are clear division winners (except for the 3-way tie situation that already exists) and the math doesn’t require a Master’s degree to put together. The West teams will have a legitimate gripe that the East had an easier and more flexible schedule, but this makes more sense to me than not playing all your division opponents.
Agreed.
But I’m sure they have a 14th team in the works. Just like A&M, though, they’re probably doing everything they can to keep high ground when they pull a team out of (likely) the Big East or the ACC. I don’t see the SEC even hinting at a 14th team until that team has announced its intention to leave its current conference.
by David Hooper on Sep 12, 2011 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions
if OU and OSU are truly pulling out
then Mizzou will be available. Although the East/West balance is rough there.
Also, you might appreciate this: one the way back from school today, I saw a car with Heels, Huskers, and Pokes stickers. Random combo.
Heel for school, Vol for life!
Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!
by Incipient_Senescence on Sep 12, 2011 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions
If it's just Missouri, I'd expect Auburn to shift over.
But they may have to switch Vandy and Alabama straight up (ugh) so that both Auburn/Alabama and Tennessee/Alabama can continue.
by David Hooper on Sep 12, 2011 8:40 PM EDT up reply actions
that's not an ugh from our perspective
we already play Bama every year, and Bama would be our permanent SEC West rival. But I can’t see the rest of the conference standing for it.
Heel for school, Vol for life!
Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!
by Incipient_Senescence on Sep 12, 2011 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Vandy* would be our permanent SEC West rival
Heel for school, Vol for life!
Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!
by Incipient_Senescence on Sep 12, 2011 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions
That is an odd combo of stickers.
But a lot of people in Wyoming are fans of both UW and Nebraska. If one moved out East, that would make sense.
by David Hooper on Sep 12, 2011 9:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Heels for basketball, Huskers for early football, Pokes when their "cool" ascendancy coincided with UN's decline
"Lattimore, as the kids can say, can ball, and sometimes does it to the extent one might say [he] is out of control in his balling." - Spencer Hall
by GwinnettGamecock on Sep 13, 2011 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions
It's probably legal CYA stuff again
Slive has taken pains to make sure everyone knows that Texas A&M came to him, not the other way around. If the SEC right now says publicly that it’s going to start looking for a 14th team, that gives potential future lawsuits ammunition if it’s not a refugee from a dead Big 12 (like Mizzou post-Oklahoma leaving).
I can’t imagine that the SEC will stay at 13 indefinitely. I think doing 13 for one year is a very real possibility, but not much longer than that. Besides, we all agree that the best time to be doing this is not during the football season. The SEC isn’t going to go do a very public 14th team search now; it’s probably going to wait until next summer a la the Pac-10/Big Ten plans of 2010.
Adding A&M is a no-brainer because it gets the conference into Texas. Vetting a 14th school will take considerably more time. Even if they’re not tabling the 14th school issue for now and will actively evaluate candidates in the coming months, they probably still have to say that they’re not anyway for legal reasons like I said above.
Team Speed Kills -- SBNation's SEC Blog
If you're so inclined, follow me @Year2
Am I missing something?
I read Slive’s statement to mean, “We are probably going to make this A&M thing happen, though it hasn’t happened yet.”
And now the news arm of SBNation is reporting that his statement means it’s a done deal.
Did I miss something in Slive’s statement, or am I just not reading enough between the lines?
I have the same question
Heel for school, Vol for life!
Bolts, Preds, Canes (childhood team, home state team, hometown team). Canes mini-STH. Southern hockey solidarity!
by Incipient_Senescence on Sep 12, 2011 7:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I think people are assuming that Slive's openness is a sign that things are close to done in the back rooms.
Given how tentative the SEC was earlier, people are now reading confidence as a done deal. It might well be accurate, too.
by David Hooper on Sep 12, 2011 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions
The key phrase
“When Texas A&M joins our conference, we don’t have immediate plans for a 14th member.”
It’s that first word: when. Not if. When.
Team Speed Kills -- SBNation's SEC Blog
If you're so inclined, follow me @Year2
Not to go all "English teacher" or anything...
… (primarily because I always hated English)…
… but that statement is future tense, implying that Texas A&M hasn’t yet joined the conference. When you combine that with the quote you linked in the article:
We remain optimistic that Texas A&M will be a member of the SEC and have started to look at schedules for 2012-13 involving 13 teams.
That just says to me that it’s not a 100% done deal yet… more like a 90% done deal. And the Pac-16 was supposedly a 90% done deal in the summer.
All I’m saying is that I’m really nervous that we seem to be counting our 13 chickens when all we have right now is 12 chickens and 1 egg.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 12, 2011 9:02 PM EDT up reply actions
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