One of the more asinine rumors -- and there were/are myriad to choose from -- of the latest round of conference apocalypse had Arkansas leaving the SEC and taking Texas A&M’s spot in the Big 12.
Of course, that was never going to happen; why would the Razorbacks leave the money-rich stability of the SEC for the utter uncertainty of a conference that may not even exist a year from now? Regardless of how asinine and laughable the thought was, however, it didn’t stop the Big 12 from asking.
Just, ya know, in case.
In a somewhat surprisingly honest acknowledgement, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long confirmed to reporters Wednesday that officials from the Big 12 reached out to Arkansas in an attempt to gauge their interest in returning to a Southwestern-based conference. Not surprisingly, UA in essence said “thanks but no thanks” as quickly as humanly possible.
And, as if it needed to be restated, Long said that his school is firmly committed to the SEC.
“I think that our program is such that there are a number of conferences that would love to add us as a member,” Long said. “But we’re strongly committed to the SEC. I’d be surprised if we weren’t reached out to by other conferences about joining them. That happened. It didn’t surprise me. But, again, we’re committed to the SEC. It’s the strongest conference in the country and is only going to get stronger.”
So, we now resume your regularly scheduled conference rumormongering, already in progress...