Big 12 Football: Texas A&M Move to SEC Receives 'Conditional' Approval

USA Today and ESPN have both just released reports that the SEC has conditionally approved Texas A&M’s move to the Southeastern Conference.

Reportedly, the SEC presidents met late last night and granted unanimous approval of A&M’s application based on the condition that all nine of the remaining Big 12 schools condone the move.

Supposedly this condition (i.e. the agreement by the Big 12 members) was thought to be met and was confirmed by a letter from the Big 12 and Texas A&M to the SEC dated Sept. 2 but then yesterday the SEC caught wind of at least one school retracting it’s approval of the move.

This development has delayed what was expected to be the announcement of Texas A&M’s full approval to join the SEC.

There is as of yet no official reports of which school is withholding its endorsement but according to the USA Today report the Dallas Morning News has mentioned that Baylor is “considering some sort of legal action.”

Baylor’s concerns are completely understandable and any legal action would be an act of self defense, for if A&M’s departure signals the demise of the Big 12 then the Bears are one of at least two schools who could find themselves left without a BCS conference home.

With the talk of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech to the Pac-16, Kansas and Kansas State to the Big East and Missouri either to the Big Ten or SEC, schools like Iowa State and Baylor are in a absolutely perilous position if the Big 12 folds.

The SEC will now withhold unconditional approval of the Aggies application until they are suitably assured that all nine remaining Big 12 members condone the move.

According to the USA Today report, Florida president Dr. Bernie Machen, who chairs the SEC board, has made the following statement regarding the Texas A&M application,

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“The SEC has stated that to consider an institution for membership, there must be no contractual hindrances to its departure. The SEC voted unanimously to accept Texas A&M University as a member upon receiving acceptable reconfirmation that the Big 12 and its members have reaffirmed the letter dated September 2, 2011."

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