As the Texas A&M move to the SEC starts to look almost sort of likely, we must deploy the side-eye to deducing which eastern school would be brought on to re-balance the conference's geography. We must! Adding Oklahoma would be great and all, but Texas A&M itself is southeastern by only the faintest definitions.

Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, NC State and Louisville (LOL) have been brought up the most often. The Hokies appeared to be the front-runner, based on absolutely nothing solid said by anybody ever, as they'd add a handful of large and transient media markets up the coast, not to mention box in the ACC's North Carolina stronghold while robbing the lesser conference of its best recent football program.

But wait!

Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post reports the SEC may favor FSU, as evidenced by ongoing discussions:

Florida State officials have been flirting with the SEC for several months and the discussion now are getting more serious, according to sources ... "This is real," said a source close to FSU.

For insight into why the SEC might prefer to bring on a program whose turf overlaps with at least two or three current SEC schools, take a look at Dawg Sports' TV coverage breakdown. The Noles don't just deliver Tallahassee -- they're perhaps the only truly national football team the SEC could add while still remaining in its traditional geographic footprint.

Some combination of Florida, Alabama, Auburn and Georgia wouldn't like bringing on FSU, but if the prize is a chance to dip into Texas' recruiting grounds, perhaps enough of that bloc could be convinced otherwise to make Florida State a possibility.

For more on FSU, head to Tomahawk Nation. For more SEC, venture to Team Speed Kills.