HOUSTON — The official Texas A&M fight song includes a line that bids farewell to Texas, “so long to the orange and white.” By this time next year, Texas A&M may have said goodbye to a lot more than its storied, century-old rivalry with Texas.
Texas A&M announced Wednesday that it will leave the Big 12 Conference by July 2012 if it can find another home, preferably in the Southeastern Conference.
The decision could set off another round of conference realignment in college sports and it raises questions about the future of the Big 12, which is starting the football season with 10 teams after losing Nebraska (Big Ten) and Colorado (Pac-12). The Big 12 said it would move quickly to find at least one replacement for the Aggies but offered no timeline.
“The presidents and chancellors of the nine remaining member institutions are steadfast in their commitment to the Big 12,” Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said. “As previously stated, the conference will move forward aggressively exploring its membership options.”
The Southeastern Conference said it hadn’t received an application from Texas A&M to join the league and that it would have no further comment. The SEC has reaffirmed its 12-school membership, but remains open to expansion talks.
So far, the only school to publicly express interest in joining the Big 12 is SMU, the former Southwest Conference team that now plays in Conference USA and has climbed back to respectability after receiving the NCAA’s only “death penalty” punishment after a pay-for-play scandal in the 1980s.
Another Conference USA team, Houston, could also be a suitor for the Big 12. And BYU, which left the Mountain West Conference this season to become a football independent, is another option.
The Big 12 agreed to a 13-year television deal with Fox Sports in April worth more than $1 billion, a contract that technically could be voided with Texas A&M’s departure and lead to legal issues for the Aggies.
