Texas A&M has officially been accepted into the Southeastern Conference. Â The move is effective July 1, 2012, with competition to begin in all sports for the 2012-13 academic year. Â Read more after the jump.
The addition of the Aggies increases the number of SEC schools to 13. It is the first expansion of the SEC since September of 1991 when the South Carolina joined the conference.
“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 SEC’s announcement that Texas A&M will begin play in the conference next year is “unconditional,” sources told ESPN’s Joe Schad.
If any institution, such as Baylor, files litigation it would be dealt with at that time.
Baylor’s decision not to wave its right to sue the SEC or Texas A&M was based in large part, however, on a desire to get the remaining nine schools to commit, which Big 12 leadership says is a goal recently moved closer to.
