Following the football-driven (and what isn't?) expansion to 14, Texas A&M and Missouri enter the SEC. What kind of opening year will they have in conference play? http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/coll...as-am-missouri-braced-for-sec-switch_aid24265 The 2nd question may be whether there are any SEC soccer fans logging in here.
Well if you just look at A&M's record vs the SEC last year (1-2) you might think they're in for a pretty rough time. However, I don't think that paints a completely accurate picture. I think the SEC is going to be a tougher league than the Big 12, but nothing like what the football team is going to face. And it seems that in the SEC you can lose a few game and still win the conference championship, which isn't always the case in the Big 12. I'm not real familiar with the SEC yet, but A&M played what seems to be 3 of the top 4 teams in the league and could have won all three. The two games that were lost were by just one goal each, and came early in the season before A&M's very young team had figured out how to play together. That won't be a problem next year. The biggest question mark for the team is the forwards. They had a very good year last year, but next year they won't have much in the way of leadership. Also 2 of the key forwards have undergone surgery since they last played, always a bit of a mystery as to how they will come back after that. A third key forward has spent most of the spring with the track team, which will make her a better athlete for sure, but not sure what it will do for her soccer skills or team chemistry (she looked a bit off in the spring game she played). The other problem A&M will face is just not being familiar with all the teams (except Missouri, we know they'll be very very physical). But that could also be a benefit since the SEC teams aren't too familiar with A&M either. In my opinion A&M should have a very good shot at winning a conference title in the first year if they can keep enough key players healthy.
A&M couldnt have asked for a better schedule either. Looks like the SEC rolled out the red carpet for them and Missouri.
