The official website of Texas A&M athletics announced today that Texas A&M will join the South Eastern Conference (SEC) after an official and unanimous vote by their Conference Presidents and Chancellors.
This is a move that has been anticipated for weeks, but was hung up on the threat of lawsuits by members of Texas A&M’s current conference the Big 12. The most visible and vocal of those threats came from Baylor and their president Ken Starr, but those concerns seemed to melt away after it was revealed that Texas and Oklahoma would not be joining the Pac-12, meaning that the Big 12 is likely to survive (for now). This leaves the Big 12 with nine members.
This will make Texas A&M the 2nd and 3rd swimming programs that the Big 12 has lost in two years, after Nebraska’s women’s team left to join the Big Ten beginning this season. The Aggies will finish out the 2011-2012 academic year in the Big 12 before making the jump officially to the SEC in July, 2012.
“The addition of Texas A&M University as the SEC’s 13th member gives our league a prestigious academic institution with a strong athletic tradition and a culture similar to our current institutions,” Florida president Dr. Bernie Machen said.
There have been plenty of opinions on what this move will mean:
How Would Texas A&M’s Seemingly Definite Move to the SEC Affect the Swimming Landscape?
College Conference Craziness
Texas A&M Men’s Captain Amini Fonua says that team is “excited” about the move.
From the overall perspective of the SEC, this move makes a lot of sense for the Aggies. It gives them greater access to the massive Texas television and recruiting markets. Aside from the major financial implications, A&M views this move as a whole-university process. They believe that it is an opportunity to improve the University’s branding, as well as win more in-state recruiting battles for Texas athletes who want to associate with the athletically-prestigious SEC.
As a total athletics program, Texas A&M is one of the best in the country. Last year, they placed 8th in the Learfield-Sports Director’s Cup that ranks the overall performance of athletics programs, and while the non-revenue sports aren’t what makes the wheels turn, as a swimming website we’ll buy the premise that this was at least a small factor in the move. A&M has a very similar sports offering to the SEC, with the only mismatches being no gymnastics at Texas A&M and no equestrian in the SEC.
The obvious downfall is the loss of ancient in-state rivalries with schools like the University of Texas. The SEC has no other representation in the state of Texas.
The new lists of teams in each conference who sponsor swimming, along with their placing at the 2011 NCAA Championships, are below, followed by the official press release.
SEC
Men
Florida (#5)
Auburn (#6)
Georgia (#10)
Tennessee (#12)
Texas A&M (#13)
LSU (#26)
Alabama (#29)
South Carolina (#36)
Kentucky
Women
Georgia (#2)
Florida (#7)
Auburn (#8)
Texas A&M (#10)
Tennessee (#12)
LSU (#14)
Kentucky (#28)
South Carolina (#29)
Arkansas (#32)
Alabama (#41)
Vanderbilt
Big 12
Men
Texas (#2)
Missouri (#22)
Women
Texas (#6)
Missouri (#23)
Full press release, unedited, from aggieathletics.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference Presidents and Chancellors, acting unanimously, announced today that Texas A&M University will join the Southeastern Conference effective July 1, 2012, with competition to begin in all sports for the 2012-13 academic year.
The addition of Texas A&M will increase the SEC membership to 13 institutions. It is the first expansion for the SEC since September of 1991 when the University of South Carolina joined the league. The University of Arkansas joined the SEC in August of 1991. With the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina, the SEC was the first conference to split into divisions and add a conference championship game in 1992.
“The Southeastern Conference Presidents and Chancellors are pleased to welcome Texas A&M University to the SEC family,” said Dr. Bernie Machen, chair of the SEC Presidents and Chancellors and president of the University of Florida. “The addition of Texas A&M University as the SEC’s 13th member gives our league a prestigious academic institution with a strong athletic tradition and a culture similar to our current institutions.”
“The Southeastern Conference provides Texas A&M the national visibility that our great university and our student-athletes deserve,” said Texas A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin. “We are excited to begin competition in the nation’s premier athletic conference. This is a 100-year decision that we have addressed carefully and methodically, and I believe the Southeastern Conference gives the Aggies the best situation of any conference in the country.”
Texas A&M , located in College Station, will also be the third institution in the Southeastern Conference to hold membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities, joining University of Florida and Vanderbilt University. Texas A&M has an enrollment of 50,000 students, ranking as the sixth-largest university in the country, with 360,000 former students worldwide.
Texas A&M also adds to the athletic excellence of the SEC. Last season, the Aggies won three NCAA team titles (men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, women’s basketball) and finished eighth in the prestigious Learfield Sports Director’s Cup all-sport rankings.
“On behalf of our presidents, chancellors, athletics directors, students and fans, I welcome Texas A&M University to the SEC family,” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “Texas A&M is a nationally-prominent institution on and off the field and a great fit for the SEC tradition of excellence—athletically, academically and culturally.”
The Aggies sponsor 20 varsity sports. Men’s sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country. Women’s sports include basketball, equestrian, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country and volleyball. Texas A&M participates in every sport sponsored by the SEC except gymnastics and the SEC sponsors every sport the Aggies participate in except equestrian.
