SEC Football: 5 Reasons the SEC Doesn't Need Texas A&M

There have been a ton of rumors swirling around the college football world in the past month. Will Texas A&M stick it to its interstate rivals in Austin with a big move to the SEC?

More importantly, does the SEC even want to accept the Aggies into its selective brotherhood?

There are plenty of pros and cons when discussing the addition of Texas A&M—most of which come down to monetary issues. All the conference members have a supercilious mindset when it comes to their rightful place in the college football world.

Who's to say they shouldn't?

They've proven that they're the best. And no one's even close to them.

Here's five reasons the SEC should tell the Aggies to grab some tissues because they won't be grabbing an SEC conference spot anytime soon.

1. Record vs. the SEC

There are plenty of pros for the Texas A&M Aggies joining the SEC. None of them actually refer to the Aggies' ability to strengthen the conference with their program's direct contribution.

This could be seen as a pro, but I'll take the negative side on this one—hence the slideshow title.

The Aggies have a historically dismal record versus the SEC and its current crop of teams. Adding a program to the conference that does not add anything substantial besides a gateway into Texas recruiting and additional television revenue should be highly suspect upon review.

Seriously, the SEC already has a boatload of powerhouse programs. It keeps Vanderbilt around for a GPA boost. Kentucky takes care of the basketball side of things. South Carolina and Mississippi State—until recently—have largely been irrelevant in the large scope of things when it comes to SEC division title races, BCS bowls and national championships.

Until last year, South Carolina's never even been to an SEC conference title game. In fact, the only time it has won a conference title was in 1969 during its days in the ACC. The SEC has a chokehold on college football and it's not because of its bottom-tier schools.

Texas A&M has a porous all-time record versus the SEC. A cumulative record of 58-78-6, which comes out to a whopping 42.6 winning percentage, is certainly nothing to write home about. 

Given that most of those games were played against LSU and Arkansas, neither of which A&M has a winning record against, the SEC doesn't need an extra drum to beat on during the season.

It can play outside of its conference if it needs a pick-me-up tune.

2. Bowl Game Record

The SEC likes dominating. It likes to dominate media coverage, recruiting, itself, the regular season and bowl games. That's just a simple fact.

How does that old saying go?

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

That's exactly what the Texas A&M Aggies are trying to do. Their insecurities over not being the top program in their own state has this school squirming for attention.

We know darn well that the SEC doesn't want them for what they bring to the table as a football program. The Aggies are trying to jump ship after their instate rivals received a lucrative television network deal.

Except there's a big problem here: the Aggies have been horrendous in bowl games over the past decade. And I mean cover-your-eyes-this-could-get-ugly horrendous.

The Aggies finished the 2000s with a whopping 14.3 winning percentage record in bowl games. That would be one for seven in postseason games if you don't have a calculator handy.

Four of their six losses were to SEC teams. Four different SEC teams, may I add. All of which were by three scores or more except for a two-point loss versus Mississippi State in 2000. The average points deficit in these four losses came in at 18.5 points per loss.

The SEC sure is smitten about the possibility of adding these toothless postseason losers.

3. NFL Draft Picks

A big part of the SEC entails its connections with the NFL. NFL scouts, coaches and GMs have no problem telling you that the SEC is where they typically look first.

A guy from the SEC versus a guy from say—oh, I don't know—the Big 12 might get a few bonus points for playing in a conference that has NFL-ready guys week in and week out.

Five of the first six draft picks in 2011 were from the SEC. The one exception was Von Miller, the linebacker from Texas A&M. Every school has a standout stud from time to time. Last year, A&M happened to have Miller.

Coincidentally, both conferences produced 10 first-round picks during the 2011 NFL draft. Again though, I harp on the fact that five of the first six were SEC players.

Slice it however you want, but that's impressive. And dominant.

Since 1993, the SEC has had five programs with more NFL draft picks than Texas A&M. Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida make up those five teams.

Texas A&M has had 60 draft picks since 1993, according to the biglead.com. A number that should not draw criticism, but would still not woo any of the SEC constituents.

Not to mention, if the Aggies opened the door for the SEC to come into their recruiting territory, how would they compete? They can't even win in their own state versus Oklahoma and Texas. And they want to invite the best conference in all of college football into the mix.

Someone needs to protect the Aggies from themselves. Didn't momma ever tell you as a kid to not make rash decisions when you're emotional?

4. Travel Expenses

In case you haven't looked at a map lately, College Station is not exactly geographically friendly to the SEC. LSU would probably be the only school that would not feel a change in its allotted athletic travel budgets for the year.

Gainseville and Knoxville are both roughly 950 miles away. Lexington lies a few miles further at roughly 975 miles. Columbia's a distant 1,100 miles away.

With the looming discussion about the possibility of paying collegiate athletes, adding on additional expenses for a school that only brings additional television revenue possibilities and recruiting opportunities seems misguided.

The additional miles added onto the athletic buses for all these schools does not include just football. Every sport will have to make the long trek to College Station throughout the year.

Schools have a hard enough time keeping their varying athletic programs afloat. Sure, the additional television revenue will help, but will it be able to pay for all the programs' new fees?

I doubt it.

Each school needs to think this entire thing through. On the surface it could seem attractive, but delve into the nitty-gritty and it might tell a different story.

5. SEC Presidents Are Content

At the end of the day, it comes down to what the different school presidents from the SEC think. For Texas A&M, it's not exactly encouraging.

"

"The SEC Presidents and Chancellors met today and reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment. We recognize, however, that future conditions may make it advantageous to expand the number of institutions in the league.

"We discussed criteria and process associated with expansion. No action was taken with respect to any institution including Texas A&M."

"

Take that statement released by the conference for what you will, but it says a couple things that stand out.

First, the words "reaffirmed" and "satisfaction" have a significant connotation. The word "reaffirmed" seems pretty self-explanatory. The SEC Presidents and Chancellors had already discussed the possibility of expansion in the past and have already come to a prior conclusion. Not to say that couldn't change.

"Satisfactory" signifies that the SEC brass is more than okay with keeping things the way they are. After all, as they say in the South, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?"

Second, the other carefully chosen word that stood out to me was "advantageous." Is it to the SEC's advantage to add a program like Texas A&M?

There certainly are other programs the conference could add. Missouri, Virginia Tech, North Carolina,  Maryland, Clemson and Florida State have all been linked with moves into the conference.