Up until Wednesday night, the great quest to find something, anything behind the long-simmering rumors of the Texas A&M Aggies joining the SEC finally resulted in some light words from some heavy hitters < --- literary device. Texas governor Rick Perry led the way, essentially saying somebody somewhere is talking about the realignment move.
Perry was followed by Big 12 commish Dan Beebe saying he's talking to people and taking everything seriously while cautioning against breaking up rivalries. This came after A&M released a statement that its president is "committed to doing what is best for Texas A&M not only now, but also into the future." Aggies coach Mike Sherman had even less to say.
Read into that what you like, but there's not really anything there. OR IS THERE?
Team Speed Kills deploys its experience at picking apart things said by politicians, finding the string of non-denials to essentially amount to a confirmation that A&M is looking into the SEC. (You'll note the SEC has not said anything that would lead you to believe interest is yet consensual.) Which, yeah, actually is news, technically.
OK, so Texas A&M is thinking about going to the SEC. Let's assume the SEC is also interested, for the sake of ... well, we absolutely must be prepared, for some reason. Sensible thinkers are throwing out 2014 or 2015 as possible arrival dates. Who's coming along with them, to even out divisions?
Thinking one step beyond the hypothetical A&M move, TSK further pondered whether SEC schools with in-state rivals who'd like to join could simply block admission of said rivals -- Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky and Florida could ally to keep Georgia Tech, Clemson, Louisville and FSU out, in theory, since nine votes are required for admission.
Dawg Sports considers the implications for Georgia, weighing how entry into the state of Texas would alter SEC East recruiting and discussing which other new school would provide the best Aggie accompaniment.
Parties with dogs in the fight, such as I Am The 12th Man and Barking Carnival, are also weighing in. This stuff is pretty fun to read about; it's like looking over someone's shoulder while they play SimCity.
I love the idea of the SEC going after North Carolina and Duke. I'd wonder whether picking up the country's best basketball program and a large, ancient state school that really does care about more than just hoops would be even more valuable than landing A&M, actually.