SEC Expansion: Texas A&M Just the First Potential SEC Addition?

It's not official yet, but it's certainly looking like Texas A&M will break away from the rest of the Texas and Oklahoma schools and go to the SEC, rather than head to the Pac-10.

Reportedly, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State will join the expanded Pac-10 to give the conference 15 teams early next week.

The Big Ten just added Nebraska, and it appears that there will be more to come for that conference in the next 12 to 18 months.

If or when the Big Ten and Pac-10 officially expand to 16 teams, the SEC will not be far behind. I've spent much of the day expecting the SEC to expand to only 14 teams, but with the Big 12 South's impending exodus to the Pac-10, the SEC will more than likely do the same.

According to Gene Stallings, former national champion head coach at Alabama and current Texas A&M Board of Regents member told Paul Finebaum today, "A&M is big enough not to piggy-back anyone."

If that's not a direct slap at the rest of the Texas teams, I don't know what is.

Last night, I placed the chances of A&M joining the SEC at 51 percent. Today, I'd place it at around 75 percent. Obviously, this situation is fluid and changing by the hour, so that is subject to change.

However, if 16 is the new target for the SEC, one would have to believe that Mike Slive is working the phones as I type this story.

But who is on the other line?

The primary suspect has to be Clemson . The program just makes too much sense for the SEC. It is almost exactly halfway between Atlanta, GA, and Charlotte, NC. It has natural rivalries with both South Carolina and Georgia of the SEC.

Miami, Virginia Tech, and Florida State are popular choices among many bloggers, but Miami and Virginia Tech both issued public statements today saying they were happy in the ACC. That, plus 50 cents, will get you a newspaper.

But when you consider that Clemson and Florida State have issued no such statement, something could be up.

I have had trouble believing Florida State would leave for the SEC, but even I have to admit they are somewhat conspicuous by their silence.

Another program that has been silent, yet linked to the SEC through various reports and rumors, is West Virginia .

West Virginia makes all kind of sense for the SEC. It opens up a new market for the conference. It is a tad on the northern side geographically, but program has plenty to love, and it opens up Ohio, Pennsylvania, and northern Virginia to increased SEC coverage.

At one point in this whole expansion circus, new media markets were the primary reasons for all the hubbub.

These four teams absolutely make the most sense. Couple that with their relative silence, and you have enough to speculate.

Now, that is one team added to the West of the SEC footprint and three to the East. That's easily fixed by either placing Florida State in the West—it is in the western portion of Florida—or by moving Vanderbilt from the East to the West, since it is the only SEC East team in the Central Time Zone.

Other programs being mentioned make some sense, but teams like Georgia Tech and Louisville will not be added: Georgia Tech , because the SEC already has the Atlanta market covered with Georgia; and Louisville , because the program just isn't up to par with SEC play right now. (Yes, I know Vanderbilt and Mississippi State aren't either, but it's different adding a team versus keeping one.)

Miami appears happy in the ACC, as does Virginia Tech . North Carolina and Duke would be a package deal, but neither of those programs are moving anywhere.

Missouri is a possibility. It's not terribly far from Arkansas, but would the SEC take a Big Ten reject? I doubt it very seriously.

That leaves the four previously mentioned schools—three of which are as silent as a church mouse, and one that is fighting tooth and nail to join the SEC.

Sounds plausible to me.