College Football Realignment: Texas A&M Submits Request for Admission to SEC

Texas A&M has formally submitted its request for admission to the SEC. Billy Liucci of TexAgs.com expects a decision to be quickly made on the request. An announcement that A&M has been accepted to the SEC could happen as early as Wednesday.

Once A&M is officially accepted into the SEC, the rest of the teams in the Big 12 can begin to sort out their futures.

Oklahoma is seriously considering joining the Pac-12. OU has evidently gotten fed up with Texas ruining the conferences it is in and is venturing out on its own. The prevailing wisdom had been that OU would stick with Texas because they wanted to maintain the rivalry game with Texas in Dallas every year and the recruiting advantages that created. 

Bob Stoops indicated that OU is going to do what is best for OU and that may not involve continuing the series with Texas.

Oklahoma State will follow wherever OU leads them. Uber booster T. Boone Pickens believes that will be into the Pac-12.

If OU and OSU join the Pac-12, expect Texas Tech to follow. The Red Raiders were not happy with the unequal revenue distribution plan that was set up in the Big 12 last summer and would jump at the opportunity to secure a spot in an AQ conference for themselves.

The big question in all of this is what Texas will do. If Texas wants to join the Pac-12, it will have to re-structure the Longhorn Network into a regional network it will share with Texas Tech. ESPN is unlikely to approve of this move because they have already invested tens of millions of dollars in the LHN and the regional networks with the Pac-12 may involve giving up control of the network to Fox.

Part of the $15 million in revenue that Texas is paid every year goes to academic programs at the university. With education budgets cut to the bone, do not expect the academics at Texas to give up that revenue without a fight.

It is unknown whether Texas will go independent, join the Pac-12, or try to maintain the Big 12 with different schools added to the conference.

When A&M joins the SEC, it will end a process that began in July when the Aggies started to question the future of a conference with Texas in it. When ESPN and Texas announced that the LHN would be broadcasting high school games and an extra conference game every year, the Aggies felt the conference's days were numbered.

A&M is expected to join the SEC as the conferences 13th team for the 2012-13 season. Depending on what other conferences do, the SEC could wait until 2013-14 to expand to 14 teams or could add another team along with A&M in 2012. If OU joins the Pac-12, expect massive changes in the makeup of conferences across the nation before the 2012 academic year.