Will Texas A&M Become The SEC’s 13th Member?

The SEC presidents met Sunday and announced, at this time, they will not be extending an invitation to Texas A&M to join the SEC. However, the door is still very much open for the Aggies to join the conference and sources close to the situation say the SEC presidents were merely hitting the "pause button", giving the SEC and Texas A&M time to make sure they're both on the same page and they have all of their legal ducks in a row.

"The SEC Presidents and Chancellors met today and reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment. We recognize, however, that future conditions may make it advantageous to expand the number of institutions in the league. We discussed criteria and process associated with expansion. No action was taken with respect to any institution including Texas A&M."

According to OrangeBloods.com, the University of Texas Rivals site, sources say that Texas A&M and the SEC "want" each other and that "The plan is still very much for Texas A&M to be added to the SEC".

This story will continue to develop over the next couple of weeks, but all signs indicate it's a foregone conclusion that A&M will be a member of the SEC starting in 2012. No doubt the Aggies will be able to compete immediately in most sports, but A&M fans had better get use to sub-par football seasons for a few years.

Only the most die hard (and delusional) Aggie fan thinks Texas A&M will be challenging for SEC-West titles immediately upon joining the SEC. Aggie fans are going to find out quickly, there's a big difference in playing 2-3 big games per year (like they're use to in the Big 12) and playing heavy weight opponents week in and week out. 5 out of 6 SEC West teams are ranked in the top 20 going into this season. 3 out of the last 4 National Champions call the SEC-West home..  The SEC is bigger, stronger and faster; and the Aggies are going to have to take their lumps for a few years before they're ready to compete consistently with the SEC's best. Just like their former SWC brethren Arkansas  had to.

Personally, I'll be rooting for the Aggies in every game except when they play Arkansas. I hope they come in to the conference and do well. But, it's going to be a few years before they're ready to compete consistently in the SEC. Prepare yourselves Aggie faithful. It will be worth it in the end when you're Aggies are among the nations elite in the strongest conference in the nation.