Texas A&M SEC Expansion Rumors: Could an Aggies Move Force the Big Ten's Hand?

ESPN's Doug Gottlieb is reporting that, according to a source within the school, the Texas A&M Aggies are planning to leave the Big 12 and unfriendly rival Texas to join the SEC.

Although the other schools reported to be considering the same move—Florida State, Clemson and Missouri—all have so far denied the rumor, the Aggies' potential move would be a seismic shift in the college sports landscape.

The move for the Aggies would not be surprising, as the school has made it very obvious that it is not happy with Texas and the Longhorn Network's possible implications on schools in the state.

If A&M goes, that could be the first domino in a second cycle of conference expansion. But if the dominoes start to fall again, could the Big Ten be left out of the loop?

The Big Ten was the biggest winner of conference expansion a year ago, bringing Nebraska into the fold. By adding the Cornhuskers to a conference that includes Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Michigan, the Big Ten has closed the gap significantly depth-wise between it and the SEC.

Although they may not always field top teams, A&M possibly going to the SEC could make the SEC even stronger in the long run.

With the Aggies out in the SEC, that opens up the Texas pipeline to other SEC teams that already reside in the incredibly loaded talent pool in the southeast.

While it's unclear at this moment as to whether or not having Nebraska's connections to Texas will open up recruiting for the 11 other Big Ten teams, the move signals that the conference may once again need to play catchup.

According to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune, Jim Delany has said that, while they still are exploring the new landscape, the expansion discussion has been closed for quite a while.

The Big Ten has plenty to be proud of: They added another traditional power in Nebraska and created two somewhat-balanced divisions, meaning they will have a conference championship game in Indianapolis this December.

Still, if the SEC gets A&M and any of the other teams it is linked to through rumors, it could set off a domino effect, leaving the rest of the Big 12 teams to choose between the Pac-12 or other destinations.

The Big Ten can't afford to get left behind if Oklahoma is there for the taking, but I'm not sure whether the Sooners academic standards are high enough to meet the Big Ten's.

Notre Dame is always an option, and if college football is move to a super-conference system with a playoff, its hand could finally be forced.

Other schools like North Carolina, Rutgers and Kansas could also be possibilities, but like Delany said, "we're about as comfortable as we can be with where we are.”

If the dominoes start to fall and A&M does go, we'll have to see how happy Delany is then.

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