Another week, more drama from the Texas A&M Aggies. On Wednesday morning, the Aggies announced that they intend to leave the Big 12 conference - and they plan to terminate their membership in July of 2012 with the Big 12.
Texas A&M University today officially notified the Big 12 Conference that the institution will submit an application to join another athletic conference. Should this application be accepted, Texas A&M will end its membership in the Big 12 Conference effective June 30, 2012.
"After much thought and consideration, and pursuant to the action of the (Texas A&M University System) Board of Regents authorizing me to take action related to Texas A&M University's athletic conference alignment, I have determined it is in the best interest of Texas A&M to make application to join another athletic conference," President R. Bowen Loftin wrote to Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe in the letter dated August 31, 2011.
"We appreciate the Big 12's willingness to engage in a dialogue to end our relationship through a mutually agreeable settlement," Loftin added. "We, too, desire that this process be as amicable and prompt as possible and result in a resolution of all outstanding issues, including mutual waivers by Texas A&M and the conference on behalf of all the remaining members."
This, of course, is just weeks after the SEC had voted not to add the Aggies to the conference, but the door was left over for further possible expansion - and it looks like the Aggies will be on their way to the SEC, bringing us one step closer to super-conferences.
The Big 12 will now have lost Nebraska, Colorado and Texas A&M within two years, reducing the conference to nine teams. Brady Deaton, the Big 12's chairman of the board of directors, said that the conference has formed a committee to look at schools who would serve as replacements for A&M, Nebraska and Colorado.