SEC, Texas A&M, And Other Expansion Headlines

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Just a few headlines for you on this Tuesday morning…

1.  Here’s a transcript of Mike Slive’s Q&A with the media on Monday night.  (Highlights — The SEC has received no assurances that Baylor won’t sue… the SEC isn’t racing to find School #14, etc, etc.)

2.  Mike Slive says the addition of A&M will allow the SEC to renegotiate its television contracts.

3.  Prior to Slive’s Q&A, Aggie brass held what amounted to an SEC-A&M “marriage” ceremony in College Station.

4.  Here’s more on the celebration, complete with a video clip or two.

5.  Gotta make room on the SEC’s old banner/wheel logo for the Aggies.

6.  Big 12 coaches weighed in on A&M’s move Monday.

7.  Here’s more reaction from coaches and ex-players from across the country.

8.  This writer says the Big 12 is the best fit for Missouri.

9.  MU chancellor Brady Deaton probably realizes by now that the Big 12 is down to four AAU members while the SEC has three.  In other words, Mizzou could make the SEC more academically reputable than the Big 12 simply by moving.

10.  Mizzou football coach Gary Pinkel isn’t backing of his criticisms of the Big 12 which puts more pressure on Deaton and MU administration.  For all the writers who say the Tigers should play chicken and avoid the SEC, it’s interesting that their coach seems to have a totally different view.

11.  This writer says Texas was more interested in the ACC than the Pac-12… and that UT had zero interest in the SEC or Big Ten.  (Last summer, however, Texas and Big Ten officials were caught exchanging emails.  Where was Kenneth Starr then?)

12.  Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference are considering a merger in football in the hopes of landing a BCS bid.

13.  The governor of Connecticut says UConn wants into the ACC… but it looks like that league is waiting to see what other leagues do before expanding to 16 teams.

14.  Don’t miss our breakdown of how a 13-team SEC schedule might look next year.  (It ain’t real pretty.)

15.  And finally, former West Virginia coach Don Nehlen thinks the Mountaineers still have a shot at landing in the SEC.  Unfortunately, he also says he can’t understand why the ACC picked Syracuse and Pitt over WVU when those schools “can’t bring 5,000 to a (road football) game.”  That statement shows that he fails to grasp what expansion is really about.

For those who haven’t read our take before — and it’s a take shaped by the input of SEC sources and one senior television network executive — WVU is a good fit with the SEC in terms of athletics and fan culture.  It’s a bad fit in terms of population, television households and academics.  The SEC is no doubt keeping WVU’s application on file, but the fact they didn’t jump at it tells you all you need to know.  Sadly, the Mountaineers are a fallback choice and nothing more.