I have been following the Texas A&M hissy fit over the Longhorn Network with some amusement. It’s like they spent the last 11 months pretending it was not really going to happen, and then as it draws within a month of actually debuting, the Aggies as a whole looked around and said, “Oh, f**k. This is the last straw.”

And last week, the unsourced rumors started that Texas A&M was ready to go to the SEC, and the SEC would take them. No substantiation seemed to be coming. Just non-denials and everyone basically saying that they have heard the rumors but don’t know much beyond that.

Then tonight came and there was this:

Now, my initial dismissal of this latest report was not because it came from the internet or a recruiting site. It is the fact that most recruiting sites have limiteds sources — and they skew heavily towards the school the site covers. They don’t have sources in the conference offices because 95% of the information they report doesn’t have anything to do with the conference itself.

In other words, a site that covers Texas A&M primarily gets the spin and information from Texas A&M sources. Just as a Pitt site gets most of its stuff from Pitt-tied sources.

The fact that no other site. No other reporter. No one was reporting anything made it seem dubious. Texas A&M may well want to bolt the Big 12 for the SEC. Their board and administration may have decided to pursue that direction. But the silence from the SEC and all its member schools seemed to be keeping quiet.

Well, now the chatter is happening.

A high-ranking SEC source told Sporting News on Thursday night that a report of Texas A&M accepting an invitation to the SEC is “just not true.”

But wait, there is a bit more to this.

While the two parties continue to talk about a possible agreement, there are numerous hurdles to clear before Texas A&M becomes the 13th member of the SEC.

“Way premature,” the SEC source said. “Our conference presidents and athletic directors haven’t met about it, and that has to happen before anything goes forward. There’s a lot of work to do before we’re anything close to that.”

While the sides are talking, the article makes an important point that can gum up this scenario. This is football in the state of Texas. A situation where all that talk of keeping the government out of places it doesn’t belong goes out the window. So this becomes a provincial issue with rivalries, histories and — naturally — money is at stake.

The other issue is the awkwardness of a conference with 13 members. So, the SEC would also need a 14th. That’s where it gets speculative and chaos can be unleashed.

It’s beginning to look more like a 14th team — if the A&M deal is completed; a big IF — could be Virginia Tech or Missouri. That also is assuming the SEC can’t lure Oklahoma.

Oklahoma seems unlikely, as they are probably tied to Oklahoma State. Plus, they seemed to have hitched their, um, wagon to Texas and keeping the Big 12 afloat.

Missouri, on the other hand, probably would jump at the chance. Like Texas A&M, they have been chafing at the controls from Texas. Unlike Texas A&M (or Nebraska for that matter) they lack the individual juice to wrangle an invite out of their present situation to a better conference situation.

But if the SEC set its sights on Virginia Tech or possibly Florida State, then the chaos and dominoes fall. The ACC would have to react, presumably by looking to the Big East for a new member. Usual suspects: Syracuse, Pitt, UConn, Rutgers would be bandied about.

Oy. My head already hurts at the prospect of this cycle restarting.

Well, the date to watch for a lot to happen will be August 22. That’s the day the Texas A&M Board of Regents meet. It will be 10 days of intrigue. Negotiations, rumors. recriminations, insane message boarding.

Two sources said the SEC presidents are being gathered Saturday in an emergency meeting to address the possible addition of Texas A&M.

The sources said the Aggies’ nine-member regents board is leaning toward leaving the Big 12 and are being fueled by a lack of confidence in the current configuration of the league – i.e. the relationship between Texas and ESPN (the Longhorn Network) and how it could negatively impact the rest of the members.

Man, the start of the actual season cannot get here quickly enough.