A&M And FSU Haven’t Closed Any Doors

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Trying to read between the lines of statements made by athletic
directors is often a futile exercise.

But we won’t let that stop us from trying.

If you’ve followed the conference expansion story closely, you’ve no doubt noted that officials from the vast majority of schools have stated their desire to stay in their current leagues.

Rarely do officials openly discuss the possibility of jumping to another specific conference.

Most of the Big 12 schools — Texas included — have had to say “We’ll keep our eyes open,” due to the shaky ground upon which their league sits, but saying “We’ll keep our eyes open” is a far cry from
specifically discussing other conferences.

Only a handful of schools have chatted freely about other leagues. Officials connected to Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Rutgers have all expressed some amount of interest in the Big Ten, for example.  Those schools stand out.

When it comes to the SEC, most schools are keeping their traps shut. When SEC rumors arose, Miami officials recently said that the ACC was a perfect fit for their school both academically and athletically.  Their response might not mean a thing when all is said and done, but I believe it’s telling just how quickly they seemed to close the door on talk of The U jumping to the SEC.

But two schools’ athletic directors have been open to talk about the SEC.  Bill Byrne at Texas A&M and Randy Spetman at Florida State.

In mid-May, Spetman was asked about the SEC and he admitted that he’d
asked new football coach Jimbo Fisher what he would think about such a move.  That’s a little more info than most ADs are willing to share.  In reality, every AD in the country is talking with his coaches about expansion, but none have really gone on the record to admit it.

Spetman said of moving to the SEC, “We’d have to have meetings.  That’s a huge issue — the president would be involved.  … It’s certainly a topic that we have to be aware of and we have to look (into it).  You know, we’re very happy in the ACC.  But there are so many different (scenarios), as you see written every day.”

In 1990, Bobby Bowden was quoted in The New York Times as saying it would be hard for FSU to turn down an invitation from the SEC after the school had tried for so long to gain entry.  Most folks now say that Bowden put the kibosh on a move to the SEC because he wanted an easier conference schedule — like the one the ACC provided.  But that doesn’t jive with Bowden’s own comment.  Nor does it mesh with Bowden’s willingness to play anyone anywhere in the 1980s.  Seldom mentioned in SEC circles is the fact that FSU officials stated at the time that the academic standards of the ACC were a major factor in the school’s decision.

Spetman’s openness certainly makes it seem that Florida State would be interested in talking to the SEC.  But his comments also came prior to the ACC’s eye-opening deal with ESPN.  While the Seminoles would still make more money in the SEC, a move today wouldn’t provide the boost in revenue that it would have prior to the ACC’s new TV contract.

On the other side of SEC’s footprint, Byrne and A&M didn’t slam the door on SEC talk either.  When asked if the SEC might be a good home for
the Aggies if the Big 12 implodes, he said, “It might be.  You know what?  It might be.”

Now that’s not a “Yep, we’re moving East,” statement, but in the tight lipped world of expansion espionage, it almost qualifies as such.

And Texas A&M has been interested in the SEC for years.  The Aggies AD during the SEC’s last round of expansion was John David Crow.  Crow said in a 2007 interview that he and LSU athletic director Joe Dean had discussed A&M joining the SEC.

“Joe was going to sponsor us, do what was needed to be done.  They would have like to have had us,” said Crow.  (Former SEC commissioner Harvey
Schiller says the SEC wasn’t interested in A&M, but I find that hard to believe considering the school’s proximity to Dallas and Houston and its history with both Arkansas and LSU.)

According to the 2007 MySanAntonio.com piece (which is required reading, by the way), one top A&M official actually flew to Baton Rouge in 1993 and met with LSU’s chancellor to discuss a move that would bring both A&M and Houston into the SEC.

So there’s some history between the SEC and both A&M and FSU.  Both schools’ ADs, at the very least, didn’t slam the door on SEC rumors and speculation.

And if the SEC could land those two schools, it would be making a pair of good moves.

In our Expounding On Expansion series, we ranked 18 different schools in nine different categories.  The idea was to see which potential expansion partners would provide the biggest boost to the SEC in terms of athletics, academics and finances. 

Texas A&M ranked second on our list.  Florida State — even though
it currently sits in an SEC state — ranked sixth.

A&M would expand the SEC’s geographic footprint and give the SEC access to the Texas television markets — especially Houston and Dallas.

Florida State, on the other hand, would provide the league with one of the best brand names in college football.

Both play in SEC-size stadiums and have SEC-worthy athletic budgets.  Both reached the NCAA tournament last year which would provide the league a basketball boost as well.

From a divisional standpoint, the fact that one is in the East while the other is in the West is also a plus.  FSU has a rivalry with Florida and would likely develop new rivalries with Georgia and Auburn.  A&M already has a series scheduled against old SWC mate Arkansas and the Aggies have met LSU on the football field 49 times.

We’re trying to read the tea leaves here, so I wouldn’t go placing any wagers on the SEC expanding to include Texas A&M and Florida State just yet.

But if an SEC expansion plan did include those two schools, the league would be getting off to a darn good start.