Texas A&M to SEC...confirmed???

[GGGG]

Texas A&M Rival's site is reporting that the move to SEC is a "done deal" and will be announced officially August 22nd.  I obviously have no idea how confirmed this is but if it is, the next move is the one that determines the fate of the B12 - and possibly the BE.

[brewcity77]

I have to think if A&M is going to the SEC, they'll try to add another team as well. Just to keep with two equal divisions...maybe Missouri (just guessing) as they already were ready to bolt if the Big Ten had offered. I imagine K-State, Kansas, and Oklahoma would all be very appealing to the SEC as well.

[Husker4MU]

Clemson?  Add one to the east and one to the west divisions.  That would prevent a realignment of divisions and Clemson & A$M would then be the protected crossover game for football.

Missouri is another option.  I don't feel that OU will go, they are too tethered to Texas.

[brewcity77]

Clemson?  Add one to the east and one to the west divisions.  That would prevent a realignment of divisions and Clemson & A$M would then be the protected crossover game for football.

Missouri is another option.  I don't feel that OU will go, they are too tethered to Texas.

I hope not, but it makes sense. I'd like to see the Big 12 as the only major conference to collapse here...seems like if the ACC starts failing, all the dominoes could fall leading to a complete restructuring of the Big 12, ACC, and Big East to keep up with the Big Ten, SEC, and PAC-10. And if that happens, my guess is our lack of football puts us on the outside looking in.

But it would make sense... 

[muhs03]

Bwhahahahah....KState and Kansas are appealing to the best football conference in America? Umm....yeah...sure bud. No one cares about bball...how much evidence do u need? How bout this; The last two expansion teams of the B10 have been Penn State and Nebraska. Super awesome bball schools! LOL!

I wonder of UL, Auburn, VTech or WVU are in play? Mizzou isn't SEC level. WVU is for sure. Yes, Hughins helped, but WVU is 100% football.

[brewcity77]

Bwhahahahah....KState and Kansas are appealing to the best football conference in America? Umm....yeah...sure bud. No one cares about bball...how much evidence do u need? How bout this; The last two expansion teams of the B10 have been Penn State and Nebraska. Super awesome bball schools! LOL!

I wonder of UL, Auburn, VTech or WVU are in play? Mizzou isn't SEC level. WVU is for sure. Yes, Hughins helped, but WVU is 100% football.

K-State was becoming a pretty good football team under Bill Snyder, and his return had them back in a bowl game for only the second time since he took them to a top-ten ranking and the Fiesta Bowl in the 2003 season. It's not unthinkable that with Snyder back at the helm K-State could return to being a very good football program, especially if they moved to the SEC.

Kansas might be a harder sell, but they did win a BCS bowl just 4 years ago. Another program on the build (if Turner Gill can get them back in the right direction) and doesn't the SEC West need its own version of Kentucky?

[muhs03]

K-State was becoming a pretty good football team under Bill Snyder, and his return had them back in a bowl game for only the second time since he took them to a top-ten ranking and the Fiesta Bowl in the 2003 season. It's not unthinkable that with Snyder back at the helm K-State could return to being a very good football program, especially if they moved to the SEC.

Kansas might be a harder sell, but they did win a BCS bowl just 4 years ago. Another program on the build (if Turner Gill can get them back in the right direction) and doesn't the SEC West need its own version of Kentucky?

Umm...they lost to Syracuse in their bowl game. Nuff said. UL and WVU are WAY better options. The SEC doesn't care about bball (how has A&M done post season?????).

[GGGG]

Not a chance the SEC looks at KU or KSU.  Mizzou maybe, but my guess is that Oklahoma, Florida State and Va Tech top their list.

[HouWarrior]

If true-- this is big news

(Yes --I saw what occured on my last post--just a joke--wow)

[Husker4MU]

Mark Gottfried (yes, him) tweeted that he's hearing FSU.  Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com says the SEC is looking to add A$M, OU, OSU and Va Tech.

I hope it's just A$M and either VaTech/Clemson/FSU.  That would leave a spot open in the ACC for West Virginia and maybe this will all settle down. 

The ripple effects to the Big East could be damaging.  I know that Marinatto says that they aren't looking to kick out members, but they will have to if they add 2+ new members.

Additionally, what will Delany do?  Missouri?  Maryland?  Rutgers?  Cuse?

[muhs03]

you know what? I'm just waiting for this board to realize that no one cares about bball NCAA credits or attendance. think about it; Nebraska, Penn State, A&M...throw in VTech, Miami, and BC. Yeah....super bball heavyweights being thrown around...never mind the PAC10's expansion....Utah...Colorado and whoever else. Think about it; if MU was a fball school...how would u feel about expansion? Not so good! U think WVU is dying to stick with MU, DePaul, Seton Hall, Providence, Nova, GU and SJU? Yeah...total loyaly! LOL

[brewcity77]

Umm...they lost to Syracuse in their bowl game. Nuff said. UL and WVU are WAY better options. The SEC doesn't care about bball (how has A&M done post season?????).

WVU is maybe a better option, but to say UL is a WAY better option...uhh...on what grounds? Because they came back to win the Beef O'Brady's Bowl? That's amusing. Or because they had one BCS appearance in 2006?

Here's the thing...this is all about money. Louisville doesn't open up any new markets because Kentucky is a bigger factor in the state. West Virginia opens a new market, but is a smaller (slightly) school than Kansas with a smaller fanbase and less than half the endowment. Jayhawk Nation is huge and I think that opening up Kansas as a market is worth more than opening up West Virginia, if for no other reason than the 1,000,000 difference in population between the states.

Ranking the four, I'd say 1) Kansas, 2) West Virginia, 3) Kansas State, 4) Louisville (and distant). Without a doubt, Kansas will bring the most money. A&M made more sense than any of them because of the size of the university and the opening to the state of Texas. But in terms of fanbases, Kansas would rank second.

Virginia Tech, on the other hand, may be more lucrative than any of those four.

[wadesworld]

I wonder of UL, Auburn, VTech or WVU are in play? Mizzou isn't SEC level. WVU is for sure. Yes, Hughins helped, but WVU is 100% football.

You lost any and all credibility.  Auburn is going to leave...the SEC...to go to...the SEC?  Interesting plan.

Nobody is saying if you have a good basketball program you are in.

[brewcity77]

you know what? I'm just waiting for this board to realize that no one cares about bball NCAA credits or attendance. think about it; Nebraska, Penn State, A&M...throw in VTech, Miami, and BC. Yeah....super bball heavyweights being thrown around...never mind the PAC10's expansion....Utah...Colorado and whoever else. Think about it; if MU was a fball school...how would u feel about expansion? Not so good! U think WVU is dying to stick with MU, DePaul, Seton Hall, Providence, Nova, GU and SJU? Yeah...total loyaly! LOL

If MU was a football school, I'd feel great about expansion. We'd be in a BCS conference as a football program. And we'd probably be in a decent shot to reach a BCS bowl. If UConn could get there, why couldn't we? (assuming we had and always had had football)

What a silly statement 

[muhs03]

Sorry, I meant Clemson, not Auburn.

Brewcity: If you think that way, then you are dismissing the fact that the BE expanded with bball-only schools to balance the voting power. IF MU had a fball team, we would never have been invited into the BE in the first place (unless you think Wisco is better recruiting grounds than KY, OH and FL.) I'll give you KY but MU doesnt have the track record in bball that UL has in bball.

[brewcity77]

Sorry, I meant Clemson, not Auburn.

Brewcity: If you think that way, then you are dismissing the fact that the BE expanded with bball-only schools to balance the voting power. IF MU had a fball team, we would never have been invited into the BE in the first place (unless you think Wisco is better recruiting grounds than KY, OH and FL.) I'll give you KY but MU doesnt have the track record in bball that UL has in bball.

And UL doesn't have the track record in basketball that KU has in basketball.

Kansas would be the pick over UL in a heartbeat, and probably West Virginia too.

[muhs03]

And UL doesn't have the track record in basketball that KU has in basketball.

Kansas would be the pick over UL in a heartbeat, and probably West Virginia too.

Huh? Im talking about the last BE expansion - in which you stated that MU would be in a BCS conference if we had football despite the fact that the last BE expansion (ex-TCU) was about balancing voter power.

You need to review UL's performance in the BE and the national rankings and compare that to KU....or KSU. LOL. I guess you think KSU is slowly becoming a fball power. If so, I cant imagine what you think about Syracuse (considering they beat them during what you proclaim to be a Renaissance year).

[brewcity77]

Huh? Im talking about the last BE expansion - in which you stated that MU would be in a BCS conference if we had football despite the fact that the last BE expansion (ex-TCU) was about balancing voter power.

You need to review UL's performance in the BE and the national rankings and compare that to KU....or KSU. LOL. I guess you think KSU is slowly becoming a fball power. If so, I cant imagine what you think about Syracuse (considering they beat them during what you proclaim to be a Renaissance year).

If it was just about how good the football program is, they'd be after TCU and Boise State, the best non-BCS (well, at least until next year for TCU) teams. Flagship state schools are desirable. Moneymakers are desirable. If you think Louisville is going to be more lucrative than Kansas, you have no clue about what drives the economics of sports.

Look at it like this...which team makes more money, the Brewers or the Cubs? The answer is the Cubs, and it's not even close. While the Brewers clearly have the better team, the Cubs have a fanbase that dwarfs the Brewers. Kansas has a much bigger fanbase than Louisville has. They are the flagship state school in Kansas. The SEC already has the flagship state school in Kentucky. Louisville brings nothing comparably to the table.

And you fail to realize why K-State's situation is improved. You really think one game against Syracuse means anything in the grand scheme of things? K-State was on the verge of becoming a national powerhouse when Bill Snyder retired. If he can replicate his success, they will get back there. However, due to his age, that might be unrealistic. Which is why I'd put K-State behind WVU.

But Kansas is still the winner of all of those schools. Biggest student base, biggest alumni base, biggest television market addition. In terms of football success, WVU would likely have about as much success as Kansas in their early years in the SEC, which is virtually none. As much as WVU is better than Kansas, neither of them are at an SEC level.

[muhs03]

I know exactly what drives conference expansion: 1) tv markets 2) football

KU and UL have the same stadium capacity for football. UL has far more upside as they are the most profitable AD in the entire BE. Sure, KU is a new market but their football isnt trending higher than UL's. I'll give you the fact that UL doesnt offer new tv markets like KU does....but I never said UL (or KU) is the next in line for the SEC. The SEC has said that they dont want to add schools that are already in their footprint (so that kinda eliminates UL). Not disagreeing there. I WILL disagree that there are MUCH better options that KU or KSU for the SEC....namely VTech, WVU, or Maryland. If conference politics dont get in the way, GTech and FSU are better options that KU.

[brewcity77]

I know exactly what drives conference expansion: 1) tv markets 2) football

KU and UL have the same stadium capacity for football. UL has far more upside as they are the most profitable AD in the entire BE. Sure, KU is a new market but their football isnt trending higher than UL's. I'll give you the fact that UL doesnt offer new tv markets like KU does....but I never said UL (or KU) is the next in line for the SEC. The SEC has said that they dont want to add schools that are already in their footprint (so that kinda eliminates UL). Not disagreeing there. I WILL disagree that there are MUCH better options that KU or KSU for the SEC....namely VTech, WVU, or Maryland. If conference politics dont get in the way, GTech and FSU are better options that KU.

Va Tech, yes. WVU, no way. Maryland...hmm...probably. Georgia Tech, no, they already have Georgia. Florida State...while they have Florida, I think I'd say yes. That's just too big of a football power with a massive fanbase.

Okay, adding all those in, I'd rank...

1) Florida State
2) Virginia Tech
3) Maryland
4) Kansas
5) West Virginia
6) Kansas State
7) Georgia Tech
8) Louisville

The only real debate I could see is FSU and VT as 1/2. FSU has a huge alumni base and track record of success, but VT has been very successful over the past 20 years, brings a new market (Virginia is the 12th largest state), and is the more successful program in recent memory. Close call. I'd say that there's a huge dropoff from #5 to #6. While K-State brings a new audience, it's not a major state school like the top five. Probably just as big a drop from 6 to 7. Georgia Tech and Louisville are mid-level football programs and don't bring new markets.

[HouWarrior]

Nebraska was a big fish catch TO Big 10 last year, as is TAMU, for SEC . The biggest fish are mostly in the SEC, and Big 10...(with B12 UT, and OU, Pac 10 USC,and Indep ND)

Forbes Most Valuable College Football Teams
College Football's Most Valuable Teams according to Forbes

School (Million)
1) Texas ($119)
2) Notre Dame ($108)
3) Penn State ($99)
4) Nebraska ($93)
5) Alabama ($92)
6) Florida ($88)
7) Louisiana State ($86)
8) Ohio State ($85)
9) Georgia ($84)
10) Oklahoma ($83)
11) Michigan ($81)
12) South Carolina ($80)
13) Tennessee ($78)
14) Auburn ($70)
15) Southern California ($68)
16) Michigan State ($57)
17) Arkansas ($56)
18) Texas A&M ($52)
19) Wisconsin ($48)
20) Oklahoma State ($47)

[muhs03]

Va Tech, yes. WVU, no way. Maryland...hmm...probably. Georgia Tech, no, they already have Georgia. Florida State...while they have Florida, I think I'd say yes. That's just too big of a football power with a massive fanbase.

Okay, adding all those in, I'd rank...

1) Florida State
2) Virginia Tech
3) Maryland
4) Kansas
5) West Virginia
6) Kansas State
7) Georgia Tech
8) Louisville

Meh, Fine. BUt like I said, the SEC commish said he isnt in favor of expanding the conference in states in which they dont already have a presence. Granted, he may change his mind if the value-add is too good to pass up...
1) VTech - solid fball. own the state. new market. will UVA oppose them leaving since the Gov. made sure the ACC got them instead of Cuse? New Gov so maybe it wont matter.
2) FSU - overlaps market. FLA would likely oppose. turned down SEC once. forget it.
3) WVU - fball first. throw in baseball. basketball is a cherry. they own the state. state-wide following. bread and butter of the BE nowadays. decent record against SEC.
4) GTech - overlapping market. UGA would oppose. forget it.
5) Maryland - meh. new market. too yankee for the SEC. Randy Edsall is a buzz-kill.
6) UL - making money. uptrend in fball but overlapps market. gives doormat UK fball a rival...big time
7) who cares. wont get this far. the SEC will never accept KU or KSU with their BE-level fball stadiums. better off assuming UC has a chance.  

[GGGG]

Now they are essentially saying that things aren't 100% done yet, for instance the ADs have yet to vote on adding A&M, but you can be sure that things haven't gone this far without the SEC commish having deep coversations with A&M. 

[Abode4life]

Full Disclosure:  Best case scenario is that we stay in the Big East.  Not even a question.

But if the dominoes do fall, I wish that Marquette would get together with other basketball only schools and form their own conference.  You could get DePaul (for the chicago TV market), Notre Dame if they want to stay independent, Georgetown, St. Johns, Nova (depending on if they want their football to stay below D1), Xavier, Providence, Seton Hall, maybe Bucknell (football is less than D1 I think), Butler???.  The list could easily be refined, I just threw some names out there. 

Granted there are lots of challenges, but any conference restructuring poses challenges.  The key is to get schools from decent TV markets and make sure the quality of the basketball competition is extremely good.  Yes a basketball only conference will never be able to get the money like any of the major BCS conferences, but without having to support football, you don't need as large of revenue.  As long as the quality of play is good, and you have multiple teams in the tournament every year, you could make it work.  If you are a good conference, and only basketball, you could pitch that to recruits. 

I will again say, staying in the Big East is a far better scenario.  However, if conference realignment happens, I absolutely believe it would be better to form a great basketball only conference and focus on that niche than being relegated to some other mid-major conference. 

[bilsu]

WVU is maybe a better option, but to say UL is a WAY better option...uhh...on what grounds? Because they came back to win the Beef O'Brady's Bowl? That's amusing. Or because they had one BCS appearance in 2006?

Here's the thing...this is all about money. Louisville doesn't open up any new markets because Kentucky is a bigger factor in the state. West Virginia opens a new market, but is a smaller (slightly) school than Kansas with a smaller fanbase and less than half the endowment. Jayhawk Nation is huge and I think that opening up Kansas as a market is worth more than opening up West Virginia, if for no other reason than the 1,000,000 difference in population between the states.

Ranking the four, I'd say 1) Kansas, 2) West Virginia, 3) Kansas State, 4) Louisville (and distant). Without a doubt, Kansas will bring the most money. A&M made more sense than any of them because of the size of the university and the opening to the state of Texas. But in terms of fanbases, Kansas would rank second.

Virginia Tech, on the other hand, may be more lucrative than any of those four.

Kansas is all about basketball. Do they really want to be in the same conference with Kentucky and take the chance they become the second best team in the conference? Would Kentucky really want Kansas in the SEC?