SEC Expansion: The 5 Biggest Losers in the Conference's Future Plans

The world of college football as we know is likely headed for a massive realignment, which could end with four 16-team power conferences, and Texas A&M's intended decision to move to the Southeastern Conference Saturday morning is what has put everything in motion. 

The Texas A&M Board of Regents is scheduled to meet Monday and vote to finalize the deal to send the Aggies to the SEC as early as the 2012 season. 

The Big 12 Conference athletic directors have scheduled a 4:00 p.m. conference call with commissioner Dan Bebee for Saturday afternoon to discuss the future of their conference for the second time in the past two years. 

An SEC official told ESPN there is still a 30 or 40 percent chance the Aggies may not get enough votes to get into the conference, but this would likely only happen if the conference is unable to add a 14th team.

"We realize if we do this, we have to do the 14th," the SEC official said. "No name has been thrown out. This thing is much slower out of the chute than the media and blogs have made it."

The SEC is reportedly looking to add Clemson, Florida State and Missouri along with the Aggies, but Missouri athletic director Mike Alden has said the university has not had talks with any other conference.

The biggest winner in this scenario is the SEC, which now adds a reputable program in just about every major sport to their already-dominant conference.

Make no mistake though, they are likely the only ones coming out ahead in this scenario.

No. 5: Bottom-Feeder SEC Teams

Texas A&M has had success in just about every major sport in recent years. The Aggies have consistently made the NCAA tournament in basketball, bowl games in football and have a strong baseball program.

Adding a well-rounded program like Texas A&M to the SEC does not bode well for the teams already struggling in certain sports. 

Kentucky and Vanderbilt come to mind on the football field as the two teams hurt the most by the move, and it could get even worse for those two perennial football duds if national title contender Florida State opts to join with the Aggies.

On the hardwood, LSU has not put together a solid basketball team since the departures of Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Tyrus Thomas.

Additionally, Auburn has struggled to put together a winning basketball program, and rising teams like Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State would have their tournament chances hindered in the future with the addition of Florida State and Clemson.

The SEC already has the best baseball conference in the country as well, and adding the 2010 Big 12 co-champion Aggies and perennial powerhouse Florida State would make it almost impossible for any of the current bottom-feeders to move up in the conference anytime soon on the baseball diamond. 

No. 4: Texas A&M

At first thought, Texas A&M deciding to move to the SEC is a great decision because the Aggies' coaching staff can walk into the homes of some of the best recruits in the state of Texas and tell them they can play in the best conference in America.

But, will Texas A&M be able to have enough success to be relevant in their recruiting wars with arch-rival Texas?

The Aggies' football program has had nowhere near as much success as more than half the teams in the SEC. Their last national title came back in 1939, while five different SEC teams have won at least one since the BCS was formed.

Texas A&M has also only won 106 games since joining the Big 12 back in 1996, which, compared against SEC teams, leaves them in seventh place—and the only time the Aggies won the conference was back in 1998.

The move to the SEC also puts their storied rivalry with the Texas Longhorns in jeopardy, according to some of the ESPN analysts, and could make them "just another team" in both basketball and baseball among some of the best teams in the nation.

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No. 3: Texas Longhorns

Texas' recent decision to start their own television network essentially forced the hand of Texas A&M to escape the shadow of the Longhorns' program. 

The Longhorns and Aggies hate each other on the field, and apparently the Texas A&M athletic department does not like the bullying mentality with which Texas does business.

If this is true, the historic rivalry between the two teams could disappear entirely.

Texas also loses, because if another school like Missouri bolts for either the Big Ten or the SEC, the Longhorns may be left out in the cold and forced into becoming Independent.

While the Longhorns are probably the best-suited team in the country for independence, they could be forced into joining the SEC, Pac-12 or Big Ten if four "super conferences" are formed with 16 teams apiece. 

The conferences could ask for a share of Texas' massive television deal with ESPN in order for them to join one of their respective leagues, which in no way, shape or form is a win for the Longhorns.

Texas and the Big 12 both have uncertain futures, but as of today, there are not many scenarios where the Longhorns end up coming out better than they went in. 

No. 2: The Bowl Championship Series (BCS)

As mentioned multiple times in this article, the SEC is hoping to end up with 16 teams after they complete their current expansion. This would likely mean the end of the Big 12 and potentially the Big East if the Big Ten attempts to lure Missouri, Rutgers, Syracuse and Pittsburgh into what would be another 16-team conference.

This would force the Pac-12 and Atlantic Coastal Conference to keep up in the expansion race, and take on the leftover top-tier teams from the respective conferences to get to 16 teams, while the lesser-renowned programs would wind up in mid-major conferences such as the Mountain West and the WAC.

The massive shift in the college landscape would take away conference tie-ins to the Bowl Championship Series bowls and force the hand of the NCAA to implement a playoff system, which the BCS has been against from day one.

Change is coming, and the current predictions on the horizon likely mean the end of the BCS and the beginning of a college football world with either an eight-team or plus-one playoff at the end of the regular season.

No. 1: Every Other Conference

The SEC was already the best conference in college sports before the expected addition of Texas A&M along with the potential robbery of Florida State and Clemson from the ACC, but now the gap between them and every other conference has just grown exponentially.

Florida State is expected to be a national title contender this season and is bringing in a top three recruiting class in 2012, which is potentially when they would be entering the SEC if they choose to leave the ACC for greener pastures.

The Big Ten will likely respond to the SEC by making offers to Missouri, Notre Dame, Texas, Rutgers, Syracuse and Pittsburgh. However, Texas and Notre Dame do not like to share revenue, which the Big Ten does with any money brought in by their teams, so they are unlikely to join.

If the Big Ten settles for the other four schools, they would become the best basketball conference in the country, but the additions would not close the gap very much for the other sports.

The Pac-12 has the best shot at catching the SEC's potential 16-team conference if they are able to add Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and another Big 12 leftover.

For the time being though, the SEC is set up to lap their competition in the race for conference superiority in college athletics.