Did Texas A&M Get Mizzou'd In Conference Realignment?

Short answer, not so fast.  The situation played out at a fast and furious pace over the past few days.  After a year of flirtation with the SEC, Texas A&M appeared to be on their way to the top football conference in the nation and away from their bitter rival Texas.  But everything has been put on hold at least temporarily as the SEC voted and denied Texas A&M an invite as the 13th member of the conference.  Did Texas A&M get Mizzou'd?

It's hard to say what exactly went into the vote and the statement made by the SEC leaves the door very much open so it might be a little too early to throw this back in the face of any Aggie fans out there.  In fact there is probably a possibility that this could still transpire in the coming weeks or months. It could be that the SEC wants to get their ducks in a row in terms of a 14th, 15th or maybe even 16th team.  That move could even include Mizzou who was shunned by the Big 10 in similar fashion a year ago.  

"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."

- University of Florida President Dr. Bernie Machen

There are a host of reasons that the SEC is voting to "stay at 12 teams for now" but none of those reasons mean that Texas A&M is any more committed to the Big 12 and none of them change the fact that Kansas needs to find a way to proactively protect their interests.

As much as it might be tempting to take joy in the A&M situation now or the Mizzou situation a year ago, we're still in a reality where we aren't in most of these conversations to begin with so in many ways the Big 12 remaining in tact is the best possible scenario for us at this moment.  In all reality it's the best situation in the future, provided that things can stabilize.  The problem is that this is a very fluid situation and Kansas just needs to find a way to ensure the best situation possible going forward and a big part of that rests heavily with the Jayhawks ability to improve their football situation.