How do you feel about the current makeup of the SEC?

#51
#51
sjt18 said:
Another stupid post about "feelings". Missouri and A&M belong every bit as much as Arkansas, Kentucky, Vandy, or So Car.

I dislike the organization of it less than the programs. I would like to see 4 divisions. Those 3 games would qualify a team for a 4 team playoff for the conference championship at the end of the year. Each team should be required to play two teams from each of the other divisions for a total of 10 conference games. Teams could schedule a "rival" game outside of their division and it wouldn't penalize them. The winner of the SEC would get an automatic bid to the national playoff. The others would compete for at large.
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A stupid post that you commented on? Lol.

Divisions suck and almost everyone hates them. Who wants to go back to that? Divisions are the reason I hated having 14 teams in the SEC because it takes ages to play anyone.

And auto bids are a bad idea. You should already know that. See TCU circa ‘22 for further info.
 
#52
#52
VolBricks said:
what bothers me is that the other UT is going to come into the league and expect to be known as THE UT. That is just the way their fans are.
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Well, we did sell them the rights to the UT logo and we do have the Power T.
 
#53
#53
25vol said:
A stupid post that you commented on? Lol.
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Yes. It is stupid to say, "This team shouldn't be in the SEC because it makes me "feel"...." The SEC membership has changed over time. The footprint is contiguous even now. For anyone who cares, the current footprint lies within the historic "south" or "mid-south". Culturally most of the people who settled MO, Arkansas, and Texas came from other southern states.

Not sure what motivates people to keep bringing up their "feelings" about it.
25vol said:
Divisions suck and almost everyone hates them. Who wants to go back to that? Divisions are the reason I hated having 14 teams in the SEC because it takes ages to play anyone.
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Do they suck worse than your season depending on who you draw or who your permanent "rival" game is? Not to me. I would like to see UT get a Kentucky or Missouri schedule once in a while.

Divisions where all the games count toward championship berth would be no improvement. But making it where you basically have 3 permanent rivals that get you into a conference "playoff" isn't the same. It just levels the playing field a little more.
25vol said:
And auto bids are a bad idea. You should already know that. See TCU circa ‘22 for further info.
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I really don't think we should keep on with the charade now that every team with any kind of reasonable shot resides in either the SEC or Big 10. Just go ahead and make a football "super league" out of those two conferences. What are the actual chances that anyone else is going to win it?
 
#54
#54
SN-A-C Orange said:
You wish (or at least some of it) will be granted ... in due time. Much to the chagrin of most of the posters in this thread.
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I just want to see a level playing field for UT. Tradition is already well out the window so I'm don't really care if this rivalry or that one is preserved.
 
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#56
#56
25vol said:
Question is in the title. Answer below if you please.

My answer: I despise it wholeheartedly. I have never liked playing A&M or Missouri because it just feels wrong. We have no history with these teams and that’s just no fun. Who cares about playing teams you haven’t played but a handful of times in the past 50 years?

And yet it just keeps getting worse. I don’t know about you guys, but I can count on 1 hand the number of people I know personally in East TN that are longhorn or OK fans. How is that supposed to be better? To me, part of the whole fun of rivalries is being able to discuss games with Georgia fans, bammers, etc. We have no history with these other teams and we live so far from them how is that going to change? All this expansion does is make teams like A&M feel more at home.

It just sucks because there were plenty of teams I’d rather have seen us get in this conference. FSU, Clemson, NC, VT, WV. All of these teams we at least know about and live within a close enough proximity that it feels like a true regional rivalry. But instead money won the day and the SEC is all the worse for it.

Guess on the bright side we can look forward to getting to see what OK and TU stadiums are like within the next few years but I honestly could care less. I’d rather kick these weirdo Texas/Midwest teams back to their loser conferences and forget about them.
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I think it is terrible. If I was King for a day, I would send Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M back to the Southwest/Big12. I would tell Vandy to leave and go to the IVY League or wherever (They bring NOTHING to the SEC). Missouri would be told to leave. This would leave 11 teams. So if we try to go back to 14 teams, I would add Clemson, Florida St., and either Georgia Tech or North Carolina. This new 16 team with no divisions will likely end great yearly traditional games. Even Tenn vs Ala every year could be ended (a travesty if it happens). Also what does it take 10-12 years to play everyone home and home.
 
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#60
#60
sjt18 said:
Yes. It is stupid to say, "This team shouldn't be in the SEC because it makes me "feel"...." The SEC membership has changed over time. The footprint is contiguous even now. For anyone who cares, the current footprint lies within the historic "south" or "mid-south". Culturally most of the people who settled MO, Arkansas, and Texas came from other southern states.

Not sure what motivates people to keep bringing up their "feelings" about it.

Do they suck worse than your season depending on who you draw or who your permanent "rival" game is? Not to me. I would like to see UT get a Kentucky or Missouri schedule once in a while.

Divisions where all the games count toward championship berth would be no improvement. But making it where you basically have 3 permanent rivals that get you into a conference "playoff" isn't the same. It just levels the playing field a little more.

I really don't think we should keep on with the charade now that every team with any kind of reasonable shot resides in either the SEC or Big 10. Just go ahead and make a football "super league" out of those two conferences. What are the actual chances that anyone else is going to win it?
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1. Are feelings not what motivate you to be a fan in the first place? For me, they certainly are. No one’s holding a gun to my head and forcing me to follow this team. I’m a fan because my “feelings” are that I love this team, what it stands for, and what it means to East Tennessee. So yeah, it pisses me off that regional rivalries are being sacrificed for money. FYI: fitting in culturally ≠ fitting in regionally. These teams are over a thousand miles away. That’s awful for rivalries. Texas A&M and Missouri have been part of the SEC for a while now. Do you feel anything different about those teams now than when they first joined? I know I don’t, and multiple people I know feel the same. We barely ever play them, and we’re so far away that there’s no chance for anything to develop if we do.

2. I’m not going to touch your idea for divisions with a 10-foot pole because that’s an absolute logistical nightmare. With no way to know how a team is going to perform year over year, there’s no way to make it fair anyway. Balancing four divisions, ensuring games are competitive and geographically sensible sounds incredibly complex and would probably be even worse than how it’s been the past 10 years.

3. “Charade”? Eight out of the last ten national champions being from the SEC/B10 sounds more like “statistically significant” to me. Why should we continue pretending that other conferences are equal? They’re not, and if you follow the money, at this point, they might never be again. Yes, there are great teams in other conferences, and they deserve the same shot as an SEC/Big Ten school, but if they’re any good, they’ll earn an at-large spot. No free lunch, as they say. Clemson/FSU shouldn’t get a golden parachute to the playoffs for beating the crap out of their cream puff conference.
 
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#61
#61
Doesn't concern me at all. They play on Saturday, I watch the orange team and cheer. All the in-between is irrelevant until the games stop being played.

I started to ignore most media about two years ago. You guys should try it.
 
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#62
#62
25vol said:
1. Are feelings not what motivate you to be a fan in the first place? For me, they certainly are. No one’s holding a gun to my head and forcing me to follow this team. I’m a fan because my “feelings” are that I love this team, what it stands for, and what it means to East Tennessee. So yeah, it pisses me off that regional rivalries are being sacrificed for money. FYI: fitting in culturally ≠ fitting in regionally. These teams are over a thousand miles away. That’s awful for rivalries. Texas A&M and Missouri have been part of the SEC for a while now. Do you feel anything different about those teams now than when they first joined? I know I don’t, and multiple people I know feel the same. We barely ever play them, and we’re so far away that there’s no chance for anything to develop if we do.
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Feelings have a place. But feelings alone do not in regard to the membership in an athletic conference. Do you want to kick LSU out too? It is 657 miles from K'ville to Baton Rouge vs 608 to CoMo
25vol said:
2. I’m not going to touch your idea for divisions with a 10-foot pole because that’s an absolute logistical nightmare. With no way to know how a team is going to perform year over year, there’s no way to make it fair anyway. Balancing four divisions, ensuring games are competitive and geographically sensible sounds incredibly complex and would probably be even worse than how it’s been the past 10 years.
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Geographic? You would make the divisions by matching 4 close teams.
25vol said:
3. “Charade”? Eight out of the last ten national champions being from the SEC/B10 sounds more like “statistically significant” to me. Why should we continue pretending that other conferences are equal? They’re not, and if you follow the money, at this point, they might never be again. Yes, there are great teams in other conferences, and they deserve the same shot as an SEC/Big Ten school, but if they’re any good, they’ll earn an at-large spot. No free lunch, as they say. Clemson/FSU shouldn’t get a golden parachute to the playoffs for beating the crap out of their cream puff conference.
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I think you missed the point. I'm saying that the charade is pretending that the other conferences are going to be competitive going forward. How many teams are now left outside those two conferences that can win it?
 
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#63
#63
sjt18 said:
Feelings have a place. But feelings alone do not in regard to the membership in an athletic conference. Do you want to kick LSU out too? It is 657 miles from K'ville to Baton Rouge vs 608 to CoMo

Geographic? You would make the divisions by matching 4 close teams.

I think you missed the point. I'm saying that the charade is pretending that the other conferences are going to be competitive going forward. How many teams are now left outside those two conferences that can win it?
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I think we can just agree to disagree here. At the end of the day, the SEC I used to love is dead and gone, ruined by moneyed interests and TV networks.

Not you or I or anyone else has any say in it so it’s really a waste of time complaining about it. I’m still going to watch the Vols every Saturday like always, but I simply wish it was against teams that make sense for the fans, and not for the bottom line.

Thanks for the intelligent points and discussion.
 
#65
#65
25vol said:
I think we can just agree to disagree here. At the end of the day, the SEC I used to love is dead and gone, ruined by moneyed interests and TV networks.
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Just progress and people trying to calculate how to make it more marketable to more people. May end up being New Coke or NASCAR... but I don't think it is quite as simple as greed.
25vol said:
Not you or I or anyone else has any say in it so it’s really a waste of time complaining about it. I’m still going to watch the Vols every Saturday like always, but I simply wish it was against teams that make sense for the fans, and not for the bottom line.

Thanks for the intelligent points and discussion.
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I'm like you. I'll miss the "good ol' days". My menu for sports has gotten smaller over the years. I almost never watch MLB. Never watch the NBA any more. Seldom watch the NFL. Stopped watching NASCAR pretty much altogether. Don't even watch as much CFB or CBB as I used to other than the Vols. Between my age and the changes... I'm just finding I'd rather load some ammo and go shoot than watch things that "feel" like a shell of what I used to obsess over.

If it is going to change... then I'd like to have what we complained about not having for generations- a true champion that played their way to it.
 
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#66
#66
Unconditional Surrender said:
Guys I am fully prepared to start hating Texas as much I have ever hated anyone* anywhere. It's coming.

*Includes Al-Quaeda
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I lived in Dallas years ago and we will now see an incredible level of entitlement (worse than Bama who at least has won big) when TU comes into the picture (thats Texas if you didn't already know the Aggies nickname for them).
 
#67
#67
g0d0fm15ch13f said:
Mega conferences and the playoff are destroying regional rivalries and have no place in this beautiful sport. Saturdays in the Fall and the atmosphere they bring outweigh any trophy given to the "national champion". In a sport as inherently unbalanced as cfb, who cares who is the best team in the nation. I'd much rather beat bummer and fLorida every year than play in the end of season tournament.
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The ever-expanding CFB tourney is just a money-scam on fans--as the expanded playoffs are in pro sports. Crass commercialism and runaway greed--sanctioned by college presidents and chancellors, which is rather pathetic---is truly ruining college sports. Greed is a big thing in this country--and it has taken over college sports. There is no one with the courage to say: Enough. It's college. What we have now is college sports without the "college" part.
 
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#68
#68
thehardknoxlife said:
Doesn't concern me at all. They play on Saturday, I watch the orange team and cheer. All the in-between is irrelevant until the games stop being played.

I started to ignore most media about two years ago. You guys should try it.
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I started more than 20 years ago and it has greatly improved my love of sports. Try it for news as well - stop watching any and all TV news and you'll find you are more properly informed instead of being told what to think. It's incredibly liberating and it keeps your mind from rotting away.
 
#71
#71
25vol said:
Question is in the title. Answer below if you please.

My answer: I despise it wholeheartedly. I have never liked playing A&M or Missouri because it just feels wrong. We have no history with these teams and that’s just no fun. Who cares about playing teams you haven’t played but a handful of times in the past 50 years?

And yet it just keeps getting worse. I don’t know about you guys, but I can count on 1 hand the number of people I know personally in East TN that are longhorn or OK fans. How is that supposed to be better? To me, part of the whole fun of rivalries is being able to discuss games with Georgia fans, bammers, etc. We have no history with these other teams and we live so far from them how is that going to change? All this expansion does is make teams like A&M feel more at home.

It just sucks because there were plenty of teams I’d rather have seen us get in this conference. FSU, Clemson, NC, VT, WV. All of these teams we at least know about and live within a close enough proximity that it feels like a true regional rivalry. But instead money won the day and the SEC is all the worse for it.

Guess on the bright side we can look forward to getting to see what OK and TU stadiums are like within the next few years but I honestly could care less. I’d rather kick these weirdo Texas/Midwest teams back to their loser conferences and forget about them.
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I agree with you, well said. Once ESPN bought the SEC, decisions will be driven by Money only. They will care nothing about the fanbases, traditions, etc. The verse below tells it like it is. This love for money is the root of all evil. Notice these people are erroring from their faith and will pierce themselves with many sorrows. Unfortunately we have maybe no options or very few. Maybe just one option, turn the TV OFF. Don't watch ESPN. I would make the exception watch the college football games you want to watch, but don't watch any of the other shows on ESPN. College Sports are now owned by EVIL influences. These are some of the new owners of college sports. Demon possessed men who don't give a nickel for any of us.
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1 Timothy 6:10 King James Version (KJV)For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
 
#73
#73
Do away with the 2024, 2012, and 1992 expansions entirely.

While Texas and Oklahoma will eventually win "something" in the SEC, the other 4 schools have added nothing in terms of prestige.

Useless eaters

Go lean and mean like it's 1990 or if we MUST, go ahead and let TU and Okie in as trial members with 1/2 votes. Re-evaluate after 10 years where the SEC can boot one or both if they so choose.
 
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#75
#75
Each time the SEC expands, I like it less. The current expansion with OU and utjr is loathsome to me. We all love to hate bama but they are one of us. The newest outsider, utjr, is the worst possible addition - a spoiled entitled brat with a nasty attitude that nobody likes. They’ve already proven that this week and there have yet to be any official contests with them as a member. But it is all about money and fans be damned.
 
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