The addition of Texas A&M as the SEC's 13th team was a good one, Hart said, but the league's leaders must take their next steps deliberately.
"I think a lot of the conversation is just where we go from here, obviously, because at some point 13 will not be the number," Hart told The Associated Press. "There are a multitude of components to this that we have yet to really delve into. We will do that in relatively short order, but it's very complex in nature."
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New Tennessee AD Dave Hart says what everyone is thinking
That the SEC would look to expand beyond 13 is not a novel concept, but Hart is the first administrator at any school to go on the record as saying it will happen. To date, everything official from the conference has said that everyone is happy with 13 schools.
Hart strongly cautions that the factors involved in SEC expansion from here on out are inordinately complex. For whatever it's worth, Hart was the AD at Florida State prior to working at Alabama and now Tennessee. His tenure in Tallahassee included the time when the ACC expanded to 12 teams. It's unclear whether his statements are based on current conditions and discussions or his previous experience at FSU.
