Just for fun - mu and basketball-only schools to sec

[bamamarquettefan]

I know this is pure fantasy and has a strong southern bias, but as I planned my trips to lsu and to the Bradley center to see vandy, something occurred to me.  If big east football were to break up eventually, the one bcs conference that could really use the big east basketball-only schools is the sec.

The sec has been the mirror image of the big east - dominating the football scene (4 of the top 10 in today's bcs standings with lsu or bama likely to continue the run of titles). But top to bottom easily the weakest of the bcs conferences in hoops.  There is a lot of frustration that hoops stars from the south don't stay because they are such an afterthought on every sec campus except for Kentucky and vandy. (you can even win a national title at florida and be an afterthought, and even if you are great at Tennessee you are 3rd behind football and pat summit.)

From the sec perspective, you start to tell recruits that in addition to playing Kentucky, vandy, you are now going to play mizzou, a&m etc, AND, every 2 years you have three trips to NBA arenas that include:

1. A Georgetown-nova run vs 2 national powers,
2. A chicago trip  that includes Marquette inthe bucks arena Nd a win against depaul, and,
3. A trip to Madison square garden to play st johns and one of the jersey schools (providence and seton hall if you go to 21 teams and play everyone once or drop seton hall and have everyone keep a home and home against their natural rival - bama vs auburn, mu vs depaul etc.)

I realize most of you would prefer adding Dayton, Xavier and butler or forming a catholic leave to having 3 or 4 two-game trips down south every year, but when I flip the question to which bcs conference would get a boost by adding us, it's the sec.

For Olympic sports, I'd put mizzou, Kentucky, Tennessee and vandy with the 6 big east schools and form 2 divisions, which would keep travel pretty reasonable (and we do take Olympic sports seriously here in auburn, where we typically get more Olympic medals than most countries in the summer games).

I know, probably as likely to happen as sultans time machine, but this was
More fun to think about than Pitt, Syracuse and wvu leaving.

[cheebs09]

Kentucky would never allow it. With the way we have owned them in the tournament, they'd never want to play us every year.

[bobnoxious]

+10000

[MerrittsMustache]

I know this is pure fantasy and has a strong southern bias, but as I planned my trips to lsu and to the Bradley center to see vandy, something occurred to me.  If big east football were to break up eventually, the one bcs conference that could really use the big east basketball-only schools is the sec.

The sec has been the mirror image of the big east - dominating the football scene (4 of the top 10 in today's bcs standings with lsu or bama likely to continue the run of titles). But top to bottom easily the weakest of the bcs conferences in hoops.  There is a lot of frustration that hoops stars from the south don't stay because they are such an afterthought on every sec campus except for Kentucky and vandy. (you can even win a national title at florida and be an afterthought, and even if you are great at Tennessee you are 3rd behind football and pat summit.)

From the sec perspective, you start to tell recruits that in addition to playing Kentucky, vandy, you are now going to play mizzou, a&m etc, AND, every 2 years you have three trips to NBA arenas that include:

1. A Georgetown-nova run vs 2 national powers,
2. A chicago trip  that includes Marquette inthe bucks arena Nd a win against depaul, and,
3. A trip to Madison square garden to play st johns and one of the jersey schools (providence and seton hall if you go to 21 teams and play everyone once or drop seton hall and have everyone keep a home and home against their natural rival - bama vs auburn, mu vs depaul etc.)

I realize most of you would prefer adding Dayton, Xavier and butler or forming a catholic leave to having 3 or 4 two-game trips down south every year, but when I flip the question to which bcs conference would get a boost by adding us, it's the sec.

For Olympic sports, I'd put mizzou, Kentucky, Tennessee and vandy with the 6 big east schools and form 2 divisions, which would keep travel pretty reasonable (and we do take Olympic sports seriously here in auburn, where we typically get more Olympic medals than most countries in the summer games).

I know, probably as likely to happen as sultans time machine, but this was
More fun to think about than Pitt, Syracuse and wvu leaving.

That would NEVER happen...because it makes far too much sense.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Bama  That was fun to contemplate.

[bamamarquettefan]

Bama  That was fun to contemplate.

Thanks, and I did think of the Kentucky veto

Shoot, everyone knows the reason Syracuse left is realizing last year they would never be able to beat us again so no more big east titles - we are too good for our own good!

[brewcity77]

The SEC has basketball?

[MUBurrow]

Moved from a thread where it probably didnt belong... has anyone looked into how the $$ works out in these two situations:

1) BBall only schools split, add Xavier, Dayton, maybe Butler
2) BBall only schools join one of the big conferences for BBall only, only split BBall revenues in that conference and leaves the football revenue situation untouched.

Of course one of the biggest problems in this scenario is all non BBall, FBall sports. But I was just curious who would say no because of $$ in scenario 2 - the BBall schools, the preexisting football schools in whatever conference, or if it might be mutually lucrative.

[Guy Fieri's Dad]

This would be a great move for SEC, B12 or B1G would instantly make their conference as good in basketball as ACC if not better.

[dgies9156]

Taking Vanderbilt and Kentucky from the SEC has about as much chance as Al McGuire rising from the dead to return to coaching Marquette. Nice thought... No way.

Here's why -- both Vandy and that awful blue wildcat probably make more money off Alabama and LSU making the BCS Championship series than either does off its basketball program. In Vandy's case, why do you really think the Commodores have the most God-awful football team ever invented? They are the only legacy SEC team (Ala, GA, Fla, Tenn, Ole Miss, MSU, LSU, Auburn, VU and KY) never to win the SEC in football. They stink and they always have stunk. But because they play football, they share equally with Alabama and Georgia in the conference's football largess.

Unless the SEC boots them out, Vandy will never leave. And Kentucky, when they can count to 10 without help, we'll talk.

[Les Nessman]

Taking Vanderbilt and Kentucky from the SEC has about as much chance as Al McGuire rising from the dead to return to coaching Marquette. Nice thought... No way.

Here's why -- both Vandy and that awful blue wildcat probably make more money off Alabama and LSU making the BCS Championship series than either does off its basketball program. In Vandy's case, why do you really think the Commodores have the most God-awful football team ever invented? They are the only legacy SEC team (Ala, GA, Fla, Tenn, Ole Miss, MSU, LSU, Auburn, VU and KY) never to win the SEC in football. They stink and they always have stunk. But because they play football, they share equally with Alabama and Georgia in the conference's football largess.

Unless the SEC boots them out, Vandy will never leave. And Kentucky, when they can count to 10 without help, we'll talk.

Who said anything about taking anyone from the SEC? The whole point of the thread was moving the Big East basketbal-only schools into the the SEC to strengthen their basketball status.

[bamamarquettefan]

Who said anything about taking anyone from the SEC? The whole point of the thread was moving the Big East basketbal-only schools into the the SEC to strengthen their basketball status.

Yes, you are correct. He may have misunderstood my reference to possibly going to divisions for OLYMPIC sports just to cut down on travel, but vandy and Kentucky would certainly always play hoops and football in the sec no matter what other changes are made - even one as far-fetched as what I've proposed.

On the money allocation - I believe the check to basketball-only schools in a football conference will always be small. A couple of million maybe, but if it loops you into the big tv deal the exposure will get you the money.

[dgies9156]

And there is NO way that the SEC will take us or most other basketball only schools.

What do we add to their football franchise. Even among football playing schools, the Big East candidates add NOTHING to the likes of Alabama and LSU... etc.

The SEC is the gold standard of college conferences. Period. It's cohesive and geographically based. The teams in the conference are generally natural rivals and the conference is relatively close knit. So what you see, with the Aggies, is what you will get. Even 100 years from now.

Sorry, but Marquette will dilute the SEC take and that's not something they're open to. Period.

[bilsu]

He did title the post "Just for fun"