As we noted over the weekend, Texas A&M’s Board of Regents was expected to vote Monday on authorizing school president R. Bowen Loftin the power to negotiate a settlement with the Big 12.
It’s not very sexy to just say the vote went through, but that is indeed the case. As A&M spokesperson Jason Cook said afterward, the vote is just “the next step in the process.”
Loftin also needed board approval to explore conference options last year when the school was flirting with the SEC.
Negotiating the exit settlement is the last major hurdle for the Aggies as they plan to depart for the SEC on July 1 of this year. A timetable for the settlement -- meaning how much and by when it will be decided -- still remains up in the air.
Because A&M informed the Big 12 of its intent to leave the conference within a year of the departure date, Big 12 bylaws state the school should forfeit at least 90 percent of its conference revenue. That number had been rumored to be around $30 million, although it’s not expected that A&M will pay anywhere near that amount.
Both A&M and Missouri will play in the SEC next season; the Big 12 will be gaining TCU and West Virginia, barring legal hold up with the Big East.