Conference Realignment

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

RIP - The Alliance between the ACC, Big 10, & PAC-12

RIP College Football as we knew it. I will be gone in 3-5 years

The King Is Dead

Long Live The King

 

[paindonthurt]

I like how you put this squarely on baby boomers.

 

[Dawgg]

If the SEC decided to expand to 20 teams, what 4 teams would you like to see added?

I feel like the two most logical choices are North Carolina and Duke, but only if they come as a package deal. Both are national brands, especially in men's basketball. I know men's basketball is a big drop from football as the #2 revenue sport, but it is a revenue sport and having Kentucky, UNC, and Duke on your schedule pretty much guarantees some national prime time TV slots. Plus, it expands the footprint without creating a logistical nightmare for non-revenue teams.

Outside of that, I feel like a few of the names being thrown around have some problems:
Virginia Tech - Would the SEC really add a member that is one of two Power 5 programs to never win a National Championship in a team sport? Can't relate.
Oklahoma State - I feel like they're a good fit culturally (better than OU) and they're about the only Big 12 school left worth looking into, but without T. Boone Pickens' checkbook, it feels like they would just be filling a spot. Also, no Sooner I know (I'm married to one) thinks of OK State as their rival. Texas is.
West Virginia - Might be a fit culturally, but what do they add? A mid-card football team and a lower population than Mississippi and about the same median income.
Miami - Their administration is on again/off again with its investment in its athletic department. They still have a little cache from their run in the 90's, but I don't think they move the needle anymore.
Louisville - I still see them (probably unfairly) as a G5 school. Yeah, they've made it from Conference USA to the Big East/American to the ACC, but it feels like they're still at Cincinnati's level. I mean... the SEC just added OU and Texas. Adding Louisville at this point would be akin to adding UCF, Cincy, TCU, or Memphis.
Any school west of El Paso - the logistics for non-revenue sports just don't make sense.

Best options after a UNC/Duke combo would be any 2 of these:
Florida State - The brand is somewhat damaged right now, but they were a national brand within the past decade and could easily be that way again.
Clemson - Clemson is good now. Will they be when Dabo leaves for Bama? I don't know, but you can't ignore how often they've been in the national championship conversation for most of the CFP era.
Georgia Tech - If Clemson or Florida State balk, then go this route. Probably the least exciting of the 3. Good fit culturally and probably makes more sense than them being in the ACC, but if GT was added, it would more than likely be one of those "well, we need 2 to balance the schedule" hold your nose Missouri add-ons like when the SEC added A&M.

If A&M can suck it up, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida can too.

 

[Dawgg]

I guess the next shoe to drop is going to be the Pac vs Big 12.

The Big 12 was able to beat the American (even with the AAC being backed by ESPN), but the Pac should be a bit more formidable.

That being said, there may not be anybody left in the Big 12 that the Pac-12 is really after. The Big 12 should have a lot of interest in picking up at least the Pac's 4 "mountain" schools (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah) though. It would look a heckuva lot stronger.

Remember 12 years ago when the Pac-10 was on the cusp of gutting the Big 12, taking OU, OK State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Colorado and becoming the biggest conference in the country? Crazy.

 

[tenureplan]

What's funny is that its your liberal brethren that are going to fly hundreds if not thousands of people these many miles each week. but hey Kerry does it and nobody blinks.