It's official -- almost. An anticipated rubber-stamp vote by Southeastern Conference presidents to accept Texas A&M as a member turned into conditional approval late Tuesday night when word surfaced of possible legal action by a Big 12 school.
The SEC release said it was assured in a Sept. 2 letter that all Big 12 schools condoned the A&M move. But then on Tuesday, the SEC said it found out one Big 12 school had withdrawn its approval, leaving the SEC to say the Aggies would be approved "upon receiving acceptable reconfirmation that the Big 12 and its members have reaffirmed the letter dated September 2, 2011."
MORE: Read the Big 12's letter to the SEC
Florida President Bernie Machen, chair of the SEC's presidents and chancellors, released a statement addressing the issue:
"After receiving unanimous written assurance from the Big 12 on September 2 that the Southeastern Conference was free to accept Texas A&M to join as a new member, the presidents and chancellors of the SEC met last night with the intention of accepting the application of Texas A&M to be the newest member of the SEC. We were notified yesterday afternoon that at least one Big 12 institution had withdrawn its previous consent and was considering legal action. The SEC has stated that to consider an institution for membership, there must be no contractual hindrances to its departure. The SEC voted unanimously to accept Texas A&M University as a member upon receiving acceptable reconfirmation that the Big 12 and its members have reaffirmed the letter dated September 2, 2011."
The SEC did not name the school. The Dallas Morning News reported that Big 12 member Baylor was considering some sort of legal action. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY that Baylor was the school. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
"We are certainly pleased with the action taken last night by the presidents and chancellors of the Southeastern Conference to unanimously accept Texas A&M as the league's 13th member," a statement by Texas A&M said. "However, this acceptance is conditional, and we are disappointed in the threats made by one of the Big 12 member institutions to coerce Texas A&M into staying in the Big 12 Conference. These actions go against the commitment that was made by this university and the Big 12 on Sept. 2. We are working diligently to resolve any and all issues as outlined by the SEC."
The announcement keeps a three-month chapter alive in the ongoing drama of major conference realignment.
Assuming the A&M situation is settled, it would give the SEC 13 teams and an unbalanced format of its two divisions. It would seem the league would add a 14th at some point. So far, the league has said it is in no hurry on further expansion. Schools in the region who would seem attractive choices, such as Clemson and Virginia Tech, have insisted they are staying in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Florida State, another ACC member, has only said it is happy in the league and has had no talks with the SEC.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomCollegeMensBasketball-TopStories/~3/-_9hmkl9eK8/1
No comments:
Post a Comment