The Southeastern Conference hasn't received an application for membership from any university, USC President Harris Pastides told The Daily Gamecock Sunday afternoon.
He further said Sunday’s meeting of the 12 SEC member presidents was held in order to prepare for the possibility of such an application and determine the criteria and steps associated with any potential expansion. Pastides, speaking after USC’s New Student Convocation at the Coliseum, said the league presidents “love” the current conference landscape, but that it was necessary to drop what they were doing and hold such a meeting in order to best plan for the league’s best interest in the future.
Regarding rumors of Texas A&M’s desire to leave the Big 12 Conference and join the SEC, Pastides said the proverbial “ball” is in the school’s “court.”
The Texas A&M System board of regents will meet Monday to discuss the school’s conference realignment. It is expected the regents will vote to give all authority to Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin in regards to the school’s athletic affiliation. On Tuesday, the Texas House Committee on Higher Education will hold a hearing to discuss potential realignment of state institutions in various collegiate conferences.
Pastides said the SEC is not interested in a “raid” on any conference, and that any potential expansion will occur on the condition that a university approaches the SEC rather than the league targeting a school. Any school interested in joining the SEC must apply for membership.
USC head football coach Steve Spurrier said Saturday that he would be in favor of Clemson joining the SEC after an ESPN report Saturday indicated Clemson was a likely SEC target. A CBS Sports report Sunday suggested that Clemson and other ACC schools in states already occupied by the SEC would be prevented from joining due to a “gentleman’s agreement.”
Pastides said while Clemson is not in line to join the league, it is not because USC would “block” its entrance, but rather because Clemson is not interested in membership and happy with their current standing in the ACC – a sentiment Clemson President James Barker expressed to the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier on Saturday, saying his school is “committed” to the ACC.
Florida President Dr. Bernie Machen, the chairman of the SEC presidents and chancellors, released a statement after Sunday’s meeting stating that the presidents “reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment,” but “recognize … that future conditions may make it advantageous to expand the number of institutions in the league.”
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By The Daily Gamecock | Feb. 13, 2012