August 13, 2011

Bill Vilona

The next couple days could reshape the landscape for major college athletics.

Multiple media outlets in Texas reported Saturday that Texas A&M will join the Southeastern Conference, a move that could potentially trigger a domino effect with other potential SEC additions, including Florida State.

The Texas A&M Board of Regents have scheduled a meeting Monday morning, where it's expected the governing body will discuss of leaving the Big 12 Conference.

But a Texas lawmaker, Dan Branch, R-Dallas, the chairman of the House Higher Education Committee told reporters it would be "highly inappropriate" for the Texas A&M Board of Regents to take any action during a Monday meeting that would finalize a move to the SEC.

August 13, 2011

Sports Illustrated

A Texas legislator doesn't believe Texas A&M will leave the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference before a hearing in front of his committee Tuesday.

State Rep. Dan Branch, the chairman of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education, called a hearing before his committee for Tuesday with Big 12, SEC and Texas A&M officials. Texas A&M soon moved up a meeting of the board of regents from Aug. 22 to Monday that includes an agenda item about conference realignment.

He said it would be "inappropriate" for Texas A&M to switch conferences before the hearing.

"I'm told by A&M officials that it is not an attempt to pre-empt legislators questions and that this will take perhaps a week to two weeks to work out anyway, if a bid is extended," Branch said.

Meanwhile, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and the conference's Board of Directors discussed the future of the conference and Texas A&M's possible departure during a teleconference Saturday.

August 13, 2011

Brian Floyd

It's beginning to feel a lot like deja vu in the conference realignment extravaganza of 2011. In fact, it's felt like deja vu all along, but many of the same maneuvers we saw in 2010 are happening again. Now, it's the Texas lawmakers' turns to jump into the fray and weigh-in, with at least one requesting the legislature be given a chance to probe the conference realignment implication.

One question still remains: Does Texas A&M even have an offer? According to Rep. Dan Branch, the answer seems to be unclear, though he's under the impression no offer has been made yet.

August 13, 2011

Jimmy Burch

Blog

Dan Branch, chairman of Texas’ House Committee on Higher Education, said today he has been assured by Texas A&M officials that the purpose of Monday’s board of regents meeting in College Station _ one day before a scheduled public hearing in Austin _ is not to circumvent Texas lawmakers on their way to the Southeastern Conference.

“I’ve been told that’s absolutely not the case,” Branch said in a phone interview, adding that A&M administrators indicated to him that it “may take up to two weeks” before closure can be achieved on finalizing a move to the SEC. “This is not an attempt to pre-empt my colleagues from being able to ask questions on Tuesday.”

Branch, R-Dallas, acknowledged that some committee members raised those concerns when A&M administrators called a special regents meeting on Monday that included an agenda item authorizing the school president to “take all actions relating to Texas A&M University’s athletic conference alignment.”

August 13, 2011

Husker Extra

It's murky out there in conference-shakeup land.

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds told the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman newspaper on Friday that it appears to him that Texas A&M is leaving for the Southeastern Conference but said he thinks the Big 12 can survive, perhaps with as few as nine teams.

“They’ve got to do what’s best for them,” Dodds said of the Aggies. “We’re going to look at every option we’ve got, and we’re going to end up in a good place. That’s what we do. We’re good at that.”

Of course you are good at that, DeLoss. Of course you are.

But wait a second. The Dallas Morning News reported Saturday that maybe Texas A&M will not be pulling the trigger on an SEC move Monday like people expected and media reported. Texas State Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas) seems reassured that A&M officials will wait until his special hearing of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education.

August 13, 2011

Team Speed Kills

Blog

There's been a lot of reporting on whether Texas A&M and the SEC are moving toward an imminent deal or just going through the first steps of something that could take a while. Let's try to figure out what's going on.

Is the SEC really meeting tomorrow to discuss and maybe vote on expansion?

The presidents will definitely meet to talk about and potentially vote on inviting Texas A&M to the league. Unless they don't.

Huh?

The New York Times has reported (and appears to be standing by) a story that says the SEC will meet. (Pete Thamel also did an incredibly simplistic column that blames this mess on the SEC and A&M, without really acknowledging that this whole mess could have been avoided if Jim Delany and Larry Scott hadn't engaged in last year's money grab.) The NYT piece cites "a high-ranking SEC official with first-hand knowledge of the talks," which (as Year2 pointed out) means it's a pretty safe bet that someone who would know is telling Thamel about this.

August 13, 2011

Kirk Bohls

There continued to be an emotional, if not political and financial, plotline developing Saturday with Texas A&M's potential defection to the Southeastern Conference.

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said Saturday he didn't know whether long-time rival A&M would be joining the SEC, a change of his opinion from the day before.

"I think everybody wants them to stay," Dodds, who is viewed as the most powerful athletic director in the Big 12 Conference, told the American-Statesman."We've played them for what, more than 100 years? It's hard."

Meanwhile, State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, said any move by the Aggies to join the SEC would be "inappropriate" until the school administrators provided testimony to a Higher Education committee meeting Tuesday.

August 13, 2011

Rana L. Cash

Despite signs pointing to a Texas A&M departure to the SEC, the path is not without potential potholes. There are legal, political and financial hurdles that could stall — or stop — the Aggies.

For starters, Texas A&M signed a 10-year contract with the Big 12 last year. A&M would likely argue that Texas' 20-year, $300 million Longhorn Network partnership with ESPN changed the dynamics of the league. That might allow A&M to get out of its contract without severe penalty, but it’s a hurdle A&M would have to clear.

No one, not even the Big 12, knew of the Longhorn Network’s intention to televise high school games — since prohibited by the NCAA — or more than one Big 12 game involving Texas, when the contract was signed.

The Big 12, meanwhile, has a 13-year, $1.2 billion contract with FOX, a deal settled with the understanding that Texas A&M, in the Big 12 for 15 years, would be in the league.

August 13, 2011

Chuck Carlton

For Texas A&M fans, life as a member of the Southeastern Conference almost feels like a given now.

Others aren’t so sure.

State Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas), the chairman of the Committee on Higher Education, says he was assured by A&M officials that the Aggies won’t announced for the SEC after Monday’s board of regents teleconference.

The New York Times cited an unnamed SEC official who said A&M faced a 30 percent to 40 percent chance of being denied membership when SEC presidents meet today in a special session.

Two things are clear after Saturday. First, the road east for A&M now contains speed bumps. Secondly, it would still be a huge, huge surprise if A&M fails to join the SEC quite soon, whether Monday or a few days after.Meanwhile, Big 12 athletic directors and board of directors convened in separate teleconferences Saturday with commissioner Dan Beebe, minus A&M. League sources indicated that the nine schools each reaffirmed their commitment to the league, even Missouri, the subject of rumors earlier Saturday.

August 13, 2011

Kristie Rieken

A Texas legislator doesn't believe Texas A&M will leave the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference before a hearing in front of his committee Tuesday.

State Rep. Dan Branch, the chairman of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education, called a hearing before his committee for Tuesday with Big 12, SEC and Texas A&M officials. Texas A&M soon moved up a meeting of the board of regents from Aug. 22 to Monday that includes an agenda item about conference realignment.

He said it would be "inappropriate" for Texas A&M to switch conferences before the hearing.

"I'm told by A&M officials that it is not an attempt to pre-empt legislators questions and that this will take perhaps a week to two weeks to work out anyway, if a bid is extended," Branch said.

Meanwhile, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and the conference's Board of Directors discussed the future of the conference and Texas A&M's possible departure during a teleconference Saturday.