Update: As we projected, it appears as though Baylor will in fact throw their bodies in front of A&M to the SEC, and refuse to waive their right to sue.
From the Twitter account of the Fort-Worth Star Telegram’s Jimmy Burch:
Source: A&M announcement on SEC bid on hold because of litigation threats from Baylor. SEC bid contingent on B12 schools not suing
As we said earlier, this A&M to the SEC thing will happen eventually.
But there is a whole lot of legal red tape to wade through first.
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If we’ve learned anything over the past few weeks, it’s that when it comes to the imperfect, shotgun marriage of the SEC and Texas A&M, things aren’t nearly as easy breezy as they might appear.
The latest, greatest and final step between the two seemed set to hit on Wednesday night, as the SEC Presidents were set to vote on admittance of A&M to the conference. By all accounts that vote went down, and according to Chip Brown of OrangeBloods.com, the presidents voted 10-2 in favor of admitting A&M. It seemed like for all intents and purposes, everything was in place for the move to finally be announced, with- in true 21st century fashion- an after party even planned at A&M to commemorate the moment (no word if Snoop Dogg was hosting).
But hold the iPhones. There is still one hold-up, according to Brown, the college football expansion soothsayer.
This from the website OrangeBloods.com:
The Southeastern Conference presidents met Tuesday night and voted to admit Texas A&M. But the vote came with a stipulation that still must be worked out.
The SEC presidents voted to admit Texas A&M as the 13th member of that league so long as each individual member of the Big 12 waives its right to litigation against the SEC.
And it was unclear Tuesday night if all nine remaining members of the Big 12 would waive that right, sources said. The Big 12 schools were expected to discuss the matter on Wednesday, sources said. That’s the same day Texas A&M has planned a celebration in College Station to announce its admission into the SEC, sources said.
If even one of the Big 12 schools refuse to waive their right to sue the SEC over its courtship of Texas A&M, the SEC could withdraw its vote to admit A&M, sources said.
To quote our old friend Keith Jackson… “Woah, Nelly!” It looks like just another piece of legal red tape holding up the process.
Interestingly, it does say later in the article that the Big XII offices will waive their right to the veto. Why? Who knows. Maybe Dan Beebe has given up hope of salvaging the league, maybe he’s got a backroom deal set up with Mike Slive to become a secretary in the new SEC offices, or maybe, just maybe, he’s got a back-up plan to save the Big XII, with bit pieces from other conferences. Who knows why Beebe won’t veto, but it appears the decision has been made.
At the same time, what’s to keep the conference schools from waiving that right?
Let’s think about this logically for a second. It seems like for all intents and purposes, when this whole conference realignment thing is done, most of what’s left in the Big XII is going to land on their feet. The Texas and Oklahoma schools appear destined for the Pac-12, and Missouri seems like it’ll find a soft landing spot, most likely in the Big Ten. That’s not guaranteed though, especially since Jim Delany seems to be perfectly content at 12 teams.
But what about everyone else?
Kansas seems like they’ll end up in whatever becomes of the ACC or Big East hodgepodge, if only because of the strength of their basketball program. While it’s clear that football is driving this bus (basketball isn’t even on the bus at this point), Kansas basketball is still an entity, and still a desirable brand. That’s especially true on the East coast, where college hoops is simply more important than it is in any other part of the country. Keep in mind too that Kansas and Kansas State seem to be tied at the hip because of political pressure from within the state.
However, even with those two out of the fray, that still leaves Baylor and Iowa State on the outside looking in of super-conference realignment. Neither seems to have a clear landing spot, and both could be relegated to non-AQ irrelevance when all is said and done.
Which brings me to the biggest point: If you’re one of those schools, why wouldn’t you use your power to sue? What is there to lose? If you’re successful, maybe you delay the inevitable Oklahoma-Texas caravan out West for a short time. And if you’re not, at least you went down fighting.
Ultimately, if we’ve learned anything in this round of conference expansion, it’s that things are never as easy as they appear. There are a million different hold-ups, and legal maneuvers to avoid.
Texas A&M will get to the SEC eventually, and the dominoes will fall until then.
Still, the fight will ravage on. This is just the latest one to spring up.
For updates on late-breaking news, opinion and everything else in the world of college football, follow Crystal Ball Run on Twitter @CrystalBallRun.
Follow Aaron Torres on Twitter @Aaron_Torres.
