Decision Time for SEC

[Volfan1000]

I know lots of folks are watching the changes in conferences/alignment… and whether or not our Conference should pick up some new members to “keep up” with the changes.

MSN

As for me, I’ll always be a VFL whatever happens. But, if the conference wants to expand more to keep up then I really do think all of the conferences should just go ahead and immediately fire all of the conference administrate staff now (to include Sankey and everyone on SEC conference staff) as they are all just unnecessarily diluting the payoff to each of the schools. There could easily be a singular staff to arrange media rights for those universities that actually attract viewers (thankfully UT is part of this group) without unnecessarily expend precious dollars on multiple staffs who are not really doing anything to preserve the so-called “status qou.”

If that report from the PAC-12 is correct, those remaining University Presidents should surely immediately fire everyone in their Conference offices.

While I have enjoyed being in the SEC since attending UT many years ago, what happening now is not really what I grew up with. I’m open to change though…. frankly, I don’t have any affinity or affection for any other “SEC team.” I get no satisfaction from getting beat by Georgia now (or Alabama, Florida in past).

If indeed we’re going into this brave new world driven by deals/money, then it’s surely time to toss off the unnecessary costs of maintaining multiple “conference” administrative expenses when they really don’t add much value.

The “Power T” is thankfully a greatly superior Brand than some silly SEC conference affiliation.

Go VOLS!

Do the remaining PAC 12 conference members go to the Mountain West Conference and form an alliance there?

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Do the remaining PAC 12 conference members go to the Mountain West Conference and form an alliance there?

That is the answer those four schools are desperately trying to find a way to avoid, tonight. Dropping to a G5 conference is NOT what they want to do. I'd imagine they are doing the corporate equivalent of begging for a place in the B10 or B12.

SEC is wisely staying on the other side of the street from this debacle.

Go Vols!

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

I really don't think some Tennessee fans - younger ones usually (but not always) - understand how much the Big 10 schools look down on the south and on southern colleges, both in their educational rankings and their cultural environment. For as long as football has been around, the northern / east coast schools and their big market media have downplayed the SEC as a lesser conference. Part of the SEC's historic unity comes from that disdain for their snobby attitudes. Notre Dame's attitude is no less snobby, and in that sense, they're a perfect fit for the Big 10. All those northern schools look down on the SEC, on every school in the SEC, and really, on any school that isn't part of their little AAU club. They wouldn't touch the SEC with a ten foot pole, and I promise you that none of them would ever want to be a part of the SEC. We're a bunch of uncultered uneducated morons whose degrees mean nothing.

That's part of why all those prissy Big 10 schools can't stand the SEC beating the crap out of them all these years. Their inability to dominate the SEC galls them. They hate it. They hate losing to "inferior" programs run by pretend schools who aren't "legitimate" academic institutions.

Best post I've seen on here in awhile. So true.

 

[DaddyChad]

I will watch. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not going to watch or follow it.

But, it will never be the same. Change is constant. This stuff is a change for the worst

Changes for money usually are for the worst.

 

[esarmstrong]

The “Power T” is thankfully a greatly superior Brand than some silly SEC conference affiliation.

Yeaaaaaah, I mean, I am all Vol, but until the "Power T" can pull a 3 billion dollar ten year contract out of the mouse's butt, I'd probably cool it on the "we don't need the SEC" nonsense.

Just ask Georgia Tech about how the "we don't need the SEC" garbage worked for them in 1964.

 

[Fitz1]

Please take us (Pitt) and make the Johnny Majors classic a yearly event. I know it is a pipe dream as Pitt fan but one can hope. Good luck this season and looking forward to coming down to a game again this year.

 

[JohnWardForever]

Add the two Big Boys left; FSU & Clemson. That's all.

 

[JohnWardForever]

To clarify further (why I titled the thread “Decision time for SEC” is that it has been reported Oregon/Washington are going to Big 10 (now appears to be Big 18) and Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah are waiting to join the Big 12 (soon to be 16).
The decision for the SEC is whether or not to make counter-move (e.g. swoop in and grab some ACC teams as example).
If so (and intent is to remain “on top” by collecting some more marquee brands from those eager to re-align), I was suggesting that why not go all in now and just bypass this Game of Thrones drama.
I looked it up… Sankey makes $3.7M and his staff collectively makes a little more. If CFB is heading to a NFL model, I’d rather UT just get the roughly $1m/year back into it’s coffers than some staff in Birmingham.

3.7 Million? No wonder he is such an arrogant sob.

 

[Hairy Vols]

I will watch. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not going to watch or follow it.

But, it will never be the same. Change is constant. This stuff is a change for the worst

Like 25 years ago college football was naming multiple national champions a year. I think it’s important to realize the product will be the same and at the end this kind of thing happens. Once we get a larger playoff bracket a lot of this will become more irrelevant. I think the future of college football is as bright as ever.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

The SEC doesn’t need anymore teams

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Like 25 years ago college football was naming multiple national champions a year. I think it’s important to realize the product will be the same and at the end this kind of thing happens. Once we get a larger playoff bracket a lot of this will become more irrelevant. I think the future of college football is as bright as ever.

Name the multiple national champions named in 1998. Because I could only find one in 1998, Tennessee.

 

[feathersax]

Just ask Georgia Tech about how the "we don't need the SEC" garbage worked for them in 1964.

Indeed. With that blunder they cemented the name "Ramblin' Wreck".

 

[bonavol]

I blame the Big 10 for taking two schools, UCLA and USC, that were not even remotely close to the region they play in and tore apart the Pac 12. From this day on, everyone should hate the Big 10 and publically root against their schools and avoid supporting them in any capacity.

I agree. If the sec expands further it should be teams located in the southeast. It has the most fertile recruiting grounds, and will remain the dominant conference.
As far as the super conferences, the nfl has made mistakes and has implemented rules that has kept the league stable. I believe college will eventually learn from its mistakes also. It may require reforming or replacing the ncaa though.
In the mean time let’s enjoy the ride to the top.
Go Big Orange!

 

[spyfish007]

It will be more than $30…they are losing about a B a quarter.

Well I think it could be but not by much. At some point people will not pay. I don't think people are going to pay $40 for sports. The other services like YouTube TV are only going to drop $10 a month when they drop ESPN. Very interesting times from a business point of view.

 

[butchna]

After Texas and Oklahoma arrive, I expect the SEC will remain primarily exclusive to the traditional membership and those who have conned their way in. They’ll set themselves apart with their relative sanity.

 

[butchna]

Please take us (Pitt) and make the Johnny Majors classic a yearly event. I know it is a pipe dream as Pitt fan but one can hope. Good luck this season and looking forward to coming down to a game again this year.

You’re way too formidable! Narduzzi has never (admittedly) lost a game.

 

[ftsandersvol]

The SEC was born in the Andrew Johnson building less than a mile from Neyland Stadium. Tennessee is the SEC.

What a coincidence! I was born in the Andrew Johnson building less than a mile from Neyland Stadium. Now that I think about it, I've never seen myself and the SEC in the same room together.

 

[ftsandersvol]

The whole conference realignment thing has spun totally out of control.

It's all just gotten stupid at this point.

We seem to be in a period where college football is trying to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up.

 

[sjt18]

Conference realignment is necessary to shift power away from the NCAA and form something "new" for top programs. Ultimately I would love to see the top 40-60 programs in some kind of arrangement with 3 or 4 conferences that crown a true champion on the field each year. An OOC loss vs a good team or two or three shouldn't be a disqualifier. There should be no incentive for loading a schedule up with cream puffs. There should be no punishment for playing tough teams or improving over the course of the season.

 

[sjt18]

The whole conference realignment thing has spun totally out of control.

It's all just gotten stupid at this point.

Almost all adjustments in an industry go that way. Things will work. Things will fail. Eventually we will get back into an equilibrium. As messy as this is... it is far better, will produce a better decision, and will take less time than if the NCAA tried to "plan" the changes.

 

[Hairy Vols]

Name the multiple national champions named in 1998. Because I could only find one in 1998, Tennessee.

That was the first year of the BCS. The BCS helped end that mess. Odd you chose the first year of the BCS to have me quote. I can go back just one year with 1997 naming Michigan and Nebraska.. what about 2003 naming LSU and USC.

If you have a billion dollar industry based on competition and can’t name a singular champion your product needs work. Point blank.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

That was the first year of the BCS. The BCS helped end that mess. Odd you chose the first year of the BCS to have me quote. I can go back just one year with 1997 naming Michigan and Nebraska.. what about 2003 naming LSU and USC.

To be fair, you did say, "Like 25 years ago...." 25 years ago was 1998. He didn't pick the year at random. You pointed right at it, whether you meant to or not.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

Almost all adjustments in an industry go that way. Things will work. Things will fail. Eventually we will get back into an equilibrium. As messy as this is... it is far better, will produce a better decision, and will take less time than if the NCAA tried to "plan" the changes.

Not a fan of the appearance of changes being out of control and possibly short on logic. Just don't have any comfort zone that the coast to coast BIGx is practical and sustainable across all sports. I am wildly SPECULATING that somewhere down the road the remaining POWER? conferences will ATTEMPT to put some practicality into the travel aspects.

Could we end up with them withdrawing football from the NCAA and letting the rest of the sports remain?

Could we end up with a giant meeting of the minds and having a massive realignment instead of this chaos grab game we have had of late? Can't fix it piece meal I don't think. I could see a NEW WORLD ORDER where the bigtime far west schools would be joined by SOME of the most western schools in the current SEC and BIG and with those two picking the bones of the ACC. Could the SEC exchange Texas, TAM, MO and OK for FSU, Clemson, NC and VT? Could the BIG give up Nebraska and Iowa in exchange for Pitt and ND (finally forcing their hand). Or something along those lines for STARTERS. Do we see other adjustments like replacing Vandy and Northwestern type schools. Would ARK rather go with the west group? Would the Texas schools prefer to be split up again? Should they look for different adjustments to end up with four conferences instead of 3. I know the loss of the real Pac? and ACC would be hard to swallow, but the new world order in football driven by NIL and the Portal will create greater hardships on those that can't play the money game, so why keep them on an annual schedule?

That would still leave the new WESTERN conference with inefficient logistical issues, but put some reason back into the other big 2. The ACC residual might add Vandy, NW and a few other more BB competitive and centric schools and reformulate, same for the Pac. Some other conferences could pick up the rest based on geography.

I have long advocated for 3 conferences with 18 teams divided into 3 6 team divisions each. Playing 5 division teams and rotating 2 from each of the other 2. Division winners and highest rated non winner enter a semi then final game deal. Still leaves room to schedule natural rivalries when separated by the new conferences. There will be costs in that area. So some of the marginal schools could work their way into the new power conferences to fill up to 18,

I am sure there may be other more logical adjustments they could employ, but this would be a starting point for the rebuild of college athletics. I am sure Duke will not like it.

If football withdrew and realigned keeping the NEW conference groupings for BB and the Olympic sports just would not make sense. Football is the cash cow and needs to drive the train. We should be able to live with the results of a 48 team setup in FB.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

That was the first year of the BCS. The BCS helped end that mess. Odd you chose the first year of the BCS to have me quote. I can go back just one year with 1997 naming Michigan and Nebraska.. what about 2003 naming LSU and USC.

If you have a billion dollar industry based on competition and can’t name a singular champion your product needs work. Point blank.

Let’s go back to say 1980. Out of those NCs, multiple ones have been named a total of 4 times (1990, 1991, 1997 and 2003). You say the industry needs work? That’s a statistically insignificant number of outliers. So your point blank statement is just demonstrably false.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

The sec isn’t looking to expand anymore right now. We aren’t going to anytime soon. GBO