And Nashville. Well east of the Mississippi!
To answer a question upthread, Gene Stallings is a regent for the A&M system. He seems to be single-handedly pushing the A&M-SEC invite. He’s gone on record saying that A&M can stand on its own, doesn’t need Texas, etc.
A&M has a serious inferiority complex about Texas. They’re the first state uni, the land grant uni, but were upstaged by UT established 6 years later. There’s the oil money thing, the urban-rural thing… it goes deep and it goes to the early days of the state.
A&M’s AD, who might have gotten this thing going by bitching about the travel to Oregon and Oregon State, is now in the stay with Texas, go to the Pac-16 camp. Because… he has common sense.
What’s the saying? If you say something crazy long enough, people start believing it’s true? Seems to be happening here.
And I agree that Chip Brown and Geoff Ketchum from Orangebloods have gotten everything right so far - they have good connections and are careful with their reporting. Kansas has been mentioned in addition to Utah. They have decent football and awesome hoops, of course. If there is a sympathy vote, it would probably go here, as they’ve been royally screwed by the whole situation thus far.
Plus it could be argued that they have a foothold in the KC/St Louis market, which brings TV sets.
Big losers so far: Mizzou (by far the biggest), Kansas, and Baylor, who just doesn’t have any appeal whatsoever (and no Bob Bullock or Ann Richards to lobby for their inclusion). Bible thumping and Ken Starr are also unattractive to the Pac-10. Starr had a presser and has been lobbying the Texas schools. As someone tweeted recently, Starr needs to lobby the Pac-10. Texas schools are sympathetic but no-one is going to demand Baylor come to the Pac-16.
I’d just like to say that even if the Big Ten doesn’t make any more moves, adding Nebraska is a BIG win for the conference (had we even mentioned the possibility of this happening in this thread?). They’re a great program and I think they can be one of the top teams.
I know Notre Dame is mostly concerned about their own TV contract with NBC, but adding Nebraska gives the Big Ten a bit more cred, and I think that will increase Notre Dame’s interest just a bit, even more so if they can add Rutgers and provide the Irish with a regular trip to NYC outside of a one-off Army game.
I don’t mean to bang on this any more than I already have, but I’ve read this whole thread, and most people believe that Rutgers is a non-entity. Yes, they are near NYC, but that’s it. NYC is not a college town, and people are not going to follow Rutgers. I think there are probably more ND fans in NYC than Rutgers fans. If the Big 10 is looking to increase its footprint and bring the NYC area into the fold, there have to be people looking into what school would interest the NYC area. Rutgers is not on the top of that list.
Notre Dame can play whoever they want whenever they want. And there are certain things that Notre Dame won’t change. For instance, they play Navy every year not because it’s an almost guaranteed win, but because Navy helped out the Notre Dame football program when they were down and out. I think that Notre Dame has traditional rivalries that will disappear with a conference affiliation, and their alumni don’t want that. As much as most of us think ND is the most natural fit for the Big 10, they will have to think long and hard about giving up their traditional games, like USC, Navy, etc. The Conference requirements will not permit ND to maintain all of these traditional relationships, and that may just keep them independent.
But, I don’t see the addition of ANY school enticing ND to join. If ND wants to play Nebraska, that’s a phone call between AD’s, and the first open date they can agree on is filled.
Today’s wild-assed speculation has the Little IV (Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas and Missouri) going to the Mountain West. Or the Big East.
Dan Beebe, the Big XII commissioner, is loudly proclaiming that the conference can not just survive, but thrive with the ten remaining schools. Of course, everyone who is NOT employed by the conference is predicting the entire southern division will defect next week.
So far, the Little IV has presented a united front. However, there’s a rumor now circulating that if Texas A&M goes to the SEC instead of the Pac-10/11, the Pac will invite Kansas.
Half their traditional games are Big Ten teams.
And schedule flexibility and the NBC contract aren’t going to mean much in the future if ND ends up on the outside of 4 superconferences looking in.
So there are some clear winners, conferences and schools, that have benefitted from the conference shifts.
WINNERS:
Colorado - gets the more natural West Coast connection, and their embarrassment of a football program might actually do decent against current Pac-10 competition.
Nebraska - gets more money and “respect” in the Big 10.
Texas, o.u., OSU, Texas Tech - will get even more money when the Pac-16 negotiates the next TV deal and launches its own network. Keep the Big 12 South more or less intact, and the competition out west (ASU, Arizona) doesn’t really create a problem for the Texas-o.u. juggernauts.
SEC - If they get a&m, they get a foothold in the Dallas/Houston TV markets, plus opens up the state of Texas to even greater SEC recruiting.
LOSERS:
Missouri - started the whole secession talk in the Big 12, didn’t get the invite, and if current reports are to be believed, they won’t get the Big 10 invite. They will likely end up doing less well academically and financially in the Mountain West.
Baylor - Rode the Texas schools’ coattails into the Big 12, displacing arguably better TCU and U of H programs with less political connections. Now with their most prominent alums dead, they’ll likely end up where they should be - a less competitive conference.
Kansas - These guys I actually feel sorry for. As far as I know they weren’t agitating to leave the Big 12, but they’re on the outside looking in with decent to excellent athletic programs.
The other ones - Iowa State, Kansas State. Ouch.
WHAT THE F***, I’M NOT CLEAR WHAT THESE GUYS ARE DOING:
a&m - Seriously, I hope someone can help me see the upside to them going to the SEC. Their football program is second, actually, more like third or fourth banana in the state. Top recruits are going to Texas, o.u., out of state programs, Tech… and then maybe a&m is in the mix, unless there’s a family connection or they’re from rural Texas where they like the ags. Now those guys won’t get a chance to play against their HS friends and rivals because they’re the only Texas school in the SEC. No playing your buds at Tech or Texas for the next four years. Not only that, but you’re a hotshot prep star and the ags come to your door promising that they’re about to get competitive, why wouldn’t you just go ahead and sign with Alabama or LSU or Auburn? They’re already at the top of the pile.
You’ve been a cellar dweller in the Big 12 South and haven’t sniffed a shot at a conference title since the league’s inception. How are you going to do any better in the SEC West?
I’ve had a lot of laughs at the expense of our friends in College Station, but this borders on suicidal. Gene Stallings is about to drive your covered wagon off the cliff!
I have to take exception to this. Last year’s Colorado in last year’s Pac-10 probably would’ve come in 7th or 8th.
I don’t understand all of the lamentations about ending tradition and rivalries. I think UGA continued playing GaTech after GT left the SEC. Everybody gets 3 out-of-conference games per year, and most schools uses one of those for an OOC rivalry game, such as Clemson vs. USC. There’s no reason why Texas and Texas A&M couldn’t still play every year.
http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1093756
Well, I guess that one reason would be Texas getting all bitchy about it.
Now that Southern Cal is going to be crippled for the next few years, The Pac-10 has gone from a 1 team conference to a 0 team conference, and I don’t think that adding Colorado changed that. If Texas and Oklahoma want a challenge and respect, they should join the SEC.
What makes you think that challenge and respect have even the slightest role in the schools’ decision making process?
Foolish hope, I suppose.
The ESPN scroll just said the SEC would prefer to have Texas first and foremost (duh!) and then Texas A/M.
It goes on to say that the SEC is not considering FSU, Miami, Clemson, Miami. But it does not say anything about Va Tech.
I think Virginia Tech would be a great addition to the SEC. The school has SEC type football passion and expands the SEC geography without skipping over states. West Virginia is similar.
IMO the perfect storm for the SEC is to add UTexas, OU, Va Tech, WVU. They expand Westward and Eastward.
Rucksinator, PAC10 is the only BCS conference (at this time) that play 9 conference game and 3 non-conference games.
The SEC, Big10, Big XII, ACC have been playing 8 conference games and 4 Non-con games.
After the dust settles, there could be some other casualties if goes to 4 power conferences of 16.
The B-Ball powerhouses that don’t play football. primarily Georgetown and Villanova but also DePaul, Marquette, Seton Hall, and St Johns.
Wow. If the SEC could pull that off, they could just rename the conference the National Championship Division. Add four more top notch football programs into the existing SEC, and nobody else can assemble anything close to the kind of depth the SEC would have.
The template for this is Arkansas. When I was a student in the early 90s, our most hated rival was Arkansas - more than a&m and o.u., mainly because neither of them were any good, and Arky used to slap us around on the gridiron and the hardwood. Arky gets the idea to bolt to the SEC… and we didn’t play them for about 10 years. Whether true or not, the perception was that Arky killed the SWC and they would pay for doing so. Furthermore, recruiting and competing in the SEC is a little different than the SWC/Big 12. Arkansas has had some decent seasons (including pasting aggy last season) but they are not a power as they were in the SWC. aggy’s football program is in much worse shape than Arky’s when they left.
Heh. How many BCS appearances does challenge and respect earn ya? The goal in the current system is to start off with a Top 10 preseason ranking and go undefeated. There aren’t any points for strength of schedule in college football. It would be against one’s best interests to place yourself voluntarily in a conference that makes these things very difficult. Which is why the possible move by a&m makes no sense. There’s pride in going 4-7 in a tough conference, versus going 7-4 and being bowl eligible in a weaker one? :rolleyes:
Where will the FEDEX _____ conference fit in?
Could the SEC or ACC possibly prostitute themselves to make this happen?
I think the Big 12 is the only major conference that would be considering it right now. They need every penny they can get.
I just came in here to mention this. Someone will take Memphis for 10 million a year. No doubt. Memphis has a good basketball program, and depending on what conference takes them, they’d probably be able to recruit better for their football program.
This is getting goofy. T. Boone Pickens can drop 15 million for Ok. State to go to the SEC if he wants. If FedEx can actually do this, all bets are off.
Memphis to the SEC would be interesting. They’d be down with Vandy and Mississippi State in football, but they’d be immediately competitive in basketball. Kinda doubt they’ll get the invitation, though. The SEC is a football conference first and foremost.
Just saw two interesting things: Rivals.com reporting that a&m turned down the Pac-10. Likely headed to SEC. Pac-10 commish’s plane headed to Kansas City (to offer invite to Kansas?)…
I am loving this… I cannot wait to see the fallout from the aggy defection!