By Erick Smith and Thomas O'Toole
UPDATE: Bernie Machen, the president of the University of Florida chair of the Southeastern Conference Presidents and Chancellors, released a statement saying the league "reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment."
"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."
Original post:
Conflicting reports are leaving questions about whether Southeastern Conference presidents will meet on Sunday to talk about the possibible addition of Texas A&M.
The Sporting News is contradicting a New York Times report that 11 of the 12 presidents will meet in a secret location as the league discusses expanding to at least 13 teams. The Times quoted a high-ranking SEC official with knowledge of the meeting. But the Sporting News also quotes a high-ranking official who said no such meeting is planned.
The Associated Press then chimed in with a report that the meeting will be held Sunday in Atlanta, according to a person with knowledge of the talks who asked not to be quoted because the meeting is not public.
What is planned, however, is a Texas A&M board of regents meeting on Monday to discuss "athletic conference realignment."
The addition of Texas A&M has been speculated for more than a year. But talks have heated up with A&M's frustration with rival Texas about to launch its Longhorn Network.
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and the conference's board of directors discussed A&M's potential departure during a teleconference on Saturday. In a statement, the conference said "the board strongly conveyed to Texas A&M its unanimous desire that it remain a Big 12 member, and acknowledged its value to the conference."
According to the Times, an SEC official said the addition of Texas A&M was not a certainty, putting the chances the presidents could vote against the addition at 30% to 40%. One issue needing to be resolved would be which other school would join the league to grow it to 14.
Texas A&M considered joining the SEC last summer when the Big 12 nearly fell apart with Colorado and Nebraska announcing plans to leave. According to the SEC official, renewed talks between the league and Texas A&M started three weeks ago and there was a meeting between the sides one week later.
SPEAKING OUT: FSU officials say there has been 'no contact' with SEC
RESPONSES: Missouri, Clemson officials deny possible SEC moves
MORE: LSU's Miles says there are 'Great advantages' to Texas A&M joining SEC
Another concern surrounding A&M move is whether can break its contract with the Big 12. The remaining 10 teams committed to staying together last summer and announced a television contract with Fox worth more than $1 billion last April.
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Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomCollegeMensBasketball-TopStories/~3/-bW3fmZ4CQI/1
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