Missouri and Texas A&M officially join the SEC today

By Kevin Kelley -

Today the Missouri Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies have officially joined the SEC. The conference now has 14 members and has expanded for the first time since 1992.

Missouri will compete in the East Division along with Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Their first game of the 2012 season is on September 1 at home against Southeastern Louisiana and their first SEC game is September 8 vs. Georgia.

Texas A&M will play in the West Division along with Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. The Aggies open vs. Louisiana Tech at Shreveport on August 30 and then kick off SEC play on September 8 at home against Florida.

Both schools arrive in the SEC from the Big 12, a conference they have competed in since 1996. The Aggies won the Big 12 conference title in 1998 and also were South Division champions in 1997 and co-champions in 2010. Missouri never won a Big 12 title, but did win the North Division in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Due to the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M, the SEC had to set a future schedule format and new permanent cross-division rivals. On June 1, the SEC announced that they would stick with the 6-1-1 format. Each SEC team will play six inter-division games, one permanent cross-division game, and one rotating cross-division game.

The permanent cross-division game for Missouri will be Arkansas while Texas A&M’s opponent will be South Carolina.

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Comments (6)

The bad feelings and sour grapes! The only ones Missouri and Texas A&M did favors for were themselves. They sought stability. Who knows what these Conferences are going to morph into in the decades ahead? What will happen to the Big 12 if someday Texas finally decides for sure that they belong on the West Coast? I think the SEC will eventually take Schools from North Carolina and Virginia to make 16. That 16 will be like the Rock of Gibraltar! Can the Big Whatever say the same?

September 22 in Columbia, SC – The inaugural edition of “The Battle of the Columbias” will be played between the Mizzou Tigers and the USC Gamecocks. Both the Universities of Missouri and South Carolina are located in Columbia. This should be a fun game.

Let’s not forget about the Tiger Series between Mizzou, LSU and Auburn.