Poll: What action will the SEC take in conference expansion?

[CrimsonPaul]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

If all this shakes out like it looks then Missouri will be left hanging and we'd be crazy not to invite them. To round out the 14 it would look like an northern ACC team. Just my thoughts.

 

[Redwood Forrest]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

If all this shakes out like it looks then Missouri will be left hanging and we'd be crazy not to invite them. To round out the 14 it would look like an northern ACC team. Just my thoughts.

I agree, they border with Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee and also have a pretty good TV market.

 

[BEATtutorsee]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I have no idea what's going on. But, if the PAC-10 and BIG-11 both go to 16, I have to think that the SEC will too.

I have to agree.

Obviously, our #1 is Texas, but they may not want to come or require too much baggage for us to accept them.

I think that our #2 choice should be UNC. A great bball school, a football team on the rise with a good coach, and a large fan base with Charlotte. Would they come? Who knows.

I believe Va Tech is our #2.

 

[ontopp]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I like the sound of Oklahoma in the west, The TV And fan support would be great, FSU in the east. Both big time programs, might even improve the recruiting.:BigA:

 

[crabapplemcfly]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

Count me among the TAMU and VT crowd. They offer solid football programs that could really take off in our league and they have very passionate fanbases that would travel well like most of our current members. I really hope it is no more than 2 schools added though.

I have a question that either I have glossed over or just missed during all of this expansion talk, but when would the new alignments begin? Will there be a waiting period or are we kicking off the 2010 with new teams in new places?

 

[CrimsonMapper]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

UNC and Duke are a package deal just like so many others. They aren't going to break up what they think is the greatest rivalry of all time. I see the basketball oriented ACC schools merging with the leftovers from the Big East (UCONN, Georgetown, Louisville, etc..) to create a dominant basketball conference. I just don't see Duke or UNC as viable options for a football minded SEC.

 

[KrAzY3]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I completely dislike OU and Texas in the west. I think Alabama fans got really arrogant really fast (again). OU and Texas are football elites, they (on paper) better than any other SEC west program other than Alabama. If anyone thinks they can be added to the west division without Alabama suffering it just isn't happening. Both those programs make LSU and Auburn look like small fries. This will have consequences....

As a added "bonus" OU isn't that attractive financially either and Texas doesn't play well with others. Those two programs are half of my do not want list (and at the top).

 

[ontopp]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I ain't skeered we just beat Texas with 3 years of Saban recruiting Imagine 5 more years.:BigA:

 

[KrAzY3]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I ain't skeered we just beat Texas with 3 years of Saban recruiting Imagine 5 more years.:BigA:

This type of arrogance would be anyone's undoing...

Alabama is a few years removed from losing to ULM and Saban will not be there forever. If talk of OU and Texas coming to the west happened three of four years ago Alabama fans would probably be saying things like "great now we'll never get back on top". Now that they're on top they think they're unbeatable...

Here's the big secret, teams like Texas and OU take more than a week to prepare for and more than a week to recover from. You can only get up for so many big games a year (as Nick Saban says). You can't just keep tossing games like that on top of a already brutal SEC schedule, it won't end well. Even if you win, it distracts you from other games. Imagine playing OU then facing LSU, UT or Auburn the next week. Even if you're the better team you enter at a disadvantage.

 

[PacadermaTideUs]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I voted for 4 TBD. But on second thought, I don't see any of the big gainers (Pac 10, Big 11, SEC) going to 16.

I think the best fit would be:

NU, MU and ISU to Big 11, which becomes the Big 14
UT, CU, OSU and TT going to Pac 10, which becomes the Pac 14
OU and TA&M come to the SEC West
AU moves to the East

Remaining Big 12 teams (KU, KSU, BU) get absorbed by MWC and WAC, each of whom only has 9 teams at present.

 

[jangalang]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I agree, they border with Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee and also have a pretty good TV market.

I'd love to see my 2nd favorite team (Mizzou) come to the SEC. They border the right states and are very similar to SEC-type people in that they are blue collar and so on. As far as a tv market, it's quite mixed, because baseball is king and the Cardinals play well through October nowadays. Besides that, the NFL teams (Rams and especially the Chiefs) have a stronger following than Mizzou.

 

[Crimson Cat]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I agree in part with what Krazy has posted...I don't see why the SEC would want to add another football power to the mix, as we have a strong nucleus already. Its tough enough to get through an SEC schedule unscathed as it is and play a conference championship.
I think IF we're expanding, we'd do well to add a VaTech or Missouri or possibly TAMU type team, solid football teams that offer competition and interesting matchups, would fit well in the SEC, and bring in a new market for the SEC.
Secondly, Texas is not only a powerhouse as is OU, but they're going to demand to be catered to and I don't want the SEC to pander to them or "sell our souls" just to get them. (I'm basing some of this off of some things I've read where it appears the SEC and PAC10 are offering special network deal to TX to sweeten the deal.) I hope thats not the case and is just rumor. Let them go to the Pac10 and be king if thats what they want.
JMHO.

 

[KrAzY3]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

I'd love to see my 2nd favorite team (Mizzou) come to the SEC. They border the right states and are very similar to SEC-type people in that they are blue collar and so on. As far as a tv market, it's quite mixed, because baseball is king and the Cardinals play well through October nowadays. Besides that, the NFL teams (Rams and especially the Chiefs) have a stronger following than Mizzou.

Missouri is my second favorite addition from the Big 12 right now. If the SEC can't get A&M, I think Missouri is a nice way to expand into a decent size state and it would make balancing the divisions easier when the SEC adds some eastern teams.

I think IF we're expanding, we'd do well to add a VaTech or Missouri or possibly TAMU type team, solid football teams that offer competition and interesting matchups, would fit well in the SEC, and bring in a new market for the SEC.

Secondly, Texas is not only a powerhouse as is OU, but they're going to demand to be catered to and I don't want the SEC to pander to them or "sell our souls" just to get them. (I'm basing some of this off of some things I've read where it appears the SEC and PAC10 are offering special network deal to TX to sweeten the deal.) I hope thats not the case and is just rumor. Let them go to the Pac10 and be king if thats what they want.
JMHO.

We're pretty much on the same page.

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

This type of arrogance would be anyone's undoing...

Alabama is a few years removed from losing to ULM and Saban will not be there forever. If talk of OU and Texas coming to the west happened three of four years ago Alabama fans would probably be saying things like "great now we'll never get back on top". Now that they're on top they think they're unbeatable...

Here's the big secret, teams like Texas and OU take more than a week to prepare for and more than a week to recover from. You can only get up for so many big games a year (as Nick Saban says). You can't just keep tossing games like that on top of a already brutal SEC schedule, it won't end well. Even if you win, it distracts you from other games. Imagine playing OU then facing LSU, UT or Auburn the next week. Even if you're the better team you enter at a disadvantage.

Again, it's not outright arrogance to welcome competition. What's the difference in facing Penn State, USCe, Florida, then Arkansas or OU (or UTw) and the lineup that you described? Very little. Could Championships come less often? Yeah, sure. Playoff or not, there wouldn't be any doubt who the best team in the land was when the dust settled.

Competition isn't nessecarily a back breaker for conference expansion. With Nebraska, the Big Ten will have 3 of the 5 winningest programs of all time.
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[KrAzY3]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

Again, it's not outright arrogance to welcome competition. What's the difference in facing Penn State, USCe, Florida, then Arkansas or OU (or UTw) and the lineup that you described? Very little. Could Championships come less often? Yeah, sure. Playoff or not, there wouldn't be any doubt who the best team in the land was when the dust settled.

Competition isn't nessecarily a back breaker for conference expansion. With Nebraska, the Big Ten will have 3 of the 5 winningest programs of all time.
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The SEC already has the most difficult schedule though! The competition is already there. Miss. State was #1 last year, Alabama was #2 (didn't play themselves). The #1 and #2 teams faced each other in the SEC championship game. My point is not to try to be uncompetitive, it's that the SEC is already as competitive as it needs to be! It would be foolish to say teams like A&M, Clemson, Georgia Tech and so on would just roll over and play dead if they came to the SEC. I'm saying you add teams like that because they aren't as murderous as OU and Texas (and if SEC teams still want to play them they can schedule them). It's about trying not to make the schedule even more difficult, the competition is already there.

 

[CrimsonSon]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

Again, it's not outright arrogance to welcome competition. What's the difference in facing Penn State, USCe, Florida, then Arkansas or OU (or UTw) and the lineup that you described? Very little. Could Championships come less often? Yeah, sure. Playoff or not, there wouldn't be any doubt who the best team in the land was when the dust settled.

Competition isn't nessecarily a back breaker for conference expansion. With Nebraska, the Big Ten will have 3 of the 5 winningest programs of all time.
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If given the choice I would stay the way we are, but if you are gonna add, add the best.

 

[CrimsonSon]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

RJ YELLOW HAMMER or KRAZY3,





In your opinion do we get out of this mess without expanding? I guess I'm being unrealistic but I was thinking/hoping it is possible. I guess you two are in favor of expansion, I read some rumors about the SEC having talks with OU but it is likely a rumor, I don't know. You both make very good points and seem as current on the info. as anyone else and diffently more than me.

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

The SEC already has the most difficult schedule though! The competition is already there. Miss. State was #1 last year, Alabama was #2 (didn't play themselves). The #1 and #2 teams faced each other in the SEC championship game. My point is not to try to be uncompetitive, it's that the SEC is already as competitive as it needs to be! It would be foolish to say teams like A&M, Clemson, Georgia Tech and so on would just roll over and play dead if they came to the SEC. I'm saying you add teams like that because they aren't as murderous as OU and Texas (and if SEC teams still want to play them they can schedule them). It's about trying not to make the schedule even more difficult, the competition is already there.

You're right. We do have the toughest schedule...right now. I think we can all agree that the landscape is changing pretty dramatically. Part of what makes us the SEC is how tough the schedule is; we don't want the Big Telewelve or the Pac-whatever to be pounding their chest about how much money they're making OR about how tougher their conference is than ours in 5 years.
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[KrAzY3]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

RJ YELLOW HAMMER or KRAZY3,

In your opinion do we get out of this mess without expanding? I guess I'm being unrealistic but I was thinking/hoping it is possible.

At this point I think the SEC expanding is mandatory. The question is who and how many.

As the chances of the Big 12 falling apart continue to go up, it seems that for the sake of perception if nothing else, the SEC needs at least one Big 12 team as a trophy. To me, the best options are A&M or Missouri. You add a new market, you make it easy to balance the divisions and you don't make football insanely difficult.

It's going to happen though. It might end up being exclusively ACC teams but Slive has made it clear the SEC won't just sit idly by and let other conference grow in strength.

You're right. We do have the toughest schedule...right now. I think we can all agree that the landscape is changing pretty dramatically. Part of what makes us the SEC is how tough the schedule is; we don't want the Big Telewelve or the Pac-whatever to be pounding their chest about how much money they're making OR about how tougher their conference is than ours in 5 years.
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Well, I believe if you do something like OU+Texas and FSU+Miami there is absolutely no question in my mind that other conferences will be pounding their chest while the SEC beats itself up. I believe OU and Texas would cross a threshold and put the schedule difficulty through the roof (the SEC would have 9 of the top 20 all time teams).

I think expanding is important, but if the SEC can add at least one prime market (with A&M for example) and then wisely chooses it's other addition or three the perception of a stronger conference will remain and the chance for the best teams to be undefeated still remains as well.

If you tossed all the best programs into a single conference, let's say Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Nebraska, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Nebraska and (insert football power here) were all in a conference together. Well, they would obviously be the best, but does anyone honestly think any team would run the table on those teams? No, so there'd be a undefeated Boise State from the WAC or West Virginia from the Big East or perhaps FSU from the ACC and they'd probably end up ranked higher than the 3 loss team from that conference. My point is you don't add any team on that list, you start from below it though, you consider West Virginia, FSU, etc... you just don't add the true elites because they're the ones most likely to unseat teams like Alabama and Florida and what good does that really do?

 

[CrimsonSon]

Re: What action will SEC take in conference expansion?

At this point I think the SEC expanding is mandatory. The question is who and how many.

As the chances of the Big 12 falling apart continue to go up, it seems that for the sake of perception if nothing else, the SEC needs at least one Big 12 team as a trophy. To me, the best options are A&M or Missouri. You add a new market, you make it easy to balance the divisions and you don't make football insanely difficult.

It's going to happen though. It might end up being exclusively ACC teams but Slive has made it clear the SEC won't just sit idly by and let other conference grow in strength.



Well, I believe if you do something like OU+Texas and FSU+Miami there is absolutely no question in my mind that other conferences will be pounding their chest while the SEC beats itself up. I believe OU and Texas would cross a threshold and put the schedule difficulty through the roof (the SEC would have 9 of the top 20 all time teams).

I think expanding is important, but if the SEC can add at least one prime market (with A&M for example) and then wisely chooses it's other addition or three the perception of a stronger conference will remain and the chance for the best teams to be undefeated still remains as well.

If you tossed all the best programs into a single conference, let's say Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Nebraska, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Nebraska and (insert football power here) were all in a conference together. Well, they would obviously be the best, but does anyone honestly think any team would run the table on those teams? No, so there'd be a undefeated Boise State from the WAC or West Virginia from the Big East or perhaps FSU from the ACC and they'd probably end up ranked higher than the 3 loss team from that conference. My point is you don't add any team on that list, you start from below it though, you consider West Virginia, FSU, etc... you just don't add the true elites because they're the ones most likely to unseat teams like Alabama and Florida and what good does that really do?

I 100% see the rationale you are using on this and it dose make perfect since if you believe the SEC is already the toughest conference. How ever RJ's point is I think that you would likely evenly distribute these elite teams. The way we scheldule now I don't see a huge difference. We want a challenge, Big name, now we have it in conference. I feel like Saban envisioned building Alabama football to handle this very thing and not only survive it, but flurish in it. I don't mean it arrogantly, I just believe we can aspire to be that kind of program. Let's set a precedent that is admired and undeniable. I know it would be demanding but don't you believe we would adapt to the challenge. I see your point but I also see a possibility that we may could actually grow stronger from this. If you want be the best, you gotta beat the best. Our conference already has this personna but thinking that way got us that way. Why change the vision and the mentality. It has worked up to this point.