The Blog Hawgs

The Twitterverse, and my phone, have been aflutter this evening thanks to an ESPN report that a meeting of SEC members today yielded no invitation for Texas A&M to join the party.

Dennis Dodd–just as any cbssports.com writer worth his salt–has, with a jerk of the knee,  already dubbed Sunday an embarrassing day for Texas A&M.

It seems like everyone else is asking the same question–”What happened?”. The answer is simple: “Nothing.”

Now, let me get the obligatory disclaimer out of the way. As we have maintained throughout this process, conference expansion is complicated “bidness”. There are a lot of egos and moving parts involved. Things can change quickly.

But, in order to take today’s report at face value, as some have, and interpret it as the punch line to yet another tired Aggie joke, one has is to assume some very unlikely events have taken place.

Stated another way, do you really think the Texas A&M Board of Regents would call a special meeting (within a regularly scheduled meeting already set for later in the month) specifically to discuss the Aggies conference affiliation if they had not received a “wink and a nod” from the SEC? I don’t.

There are simply too many sharp people and too much cash involved for Texas A&M to get caught holding the bag, particularly after A&M was caught flat-footed last year when the Big 12 narrowly avoided internal combustion.

Undoubtedly, the SEC and A&M are going to be sure to follow the requisite order of operations, here. They do not want to provide ammunition for a potential lawsuit. And, technically, A&M is still single.

Arkansas Chancellor Dave Gearhart said as much, today, as reported by ESPN.com:

Gearhart said the SEC presidents and chancellors are “very comfortable” with the 12-team alignment, financially and competitively. But he, too, said they wouldn’t rule out expansion.

“If some other conference is going to make changes, it behooves us to take a look at that,” said Gearhart.

He added: “I think everybody will sort of be watching what happens in Texas and what they do.”

For his part, Texas A&M’s President R. Bowen Loftin certainly doesn’t sound like a man without a plan who is standing around helplessly while his school stays in an unhealthy relationship with the Big 12.

When reached for comment, today, Loftin reportedly  said in part:

“These are extremely complex issues, and it is imperative that we proceed methodically and in the best interests of Texas A&M.”

Does that sound like a man with egg on his face or a man who is ready to write (or has already written) a “Dear John” letter?