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The Auburn Live Morning Reads: July 4

Justin Hokansonby:Justin Hokanson•07/04/22•

_JHokanson

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(Photo: Getty Images)

Good morning, Auburn fans, and welcome to the Morning Reads. Every day, we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Tigers’ athletics, and the sporing world. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Auburn football, recruiting, basketball, baseball and much more in Morning Reads.

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In case you missed it…

Anniston (Ala.) offensive lineman committed Ryqueze McElderry was committed to Georgia for seven months. But that changed. McElderry decommitted from the school Saturday. Ranked as the No. 417 overall prospect in the 2023 On3 Consensus, McElderry is a four-star prospect according to On3.

Over the past six weeks, McElderry has taken official visits to Auburn and Tennessee as well as an unofficial visit to Alabama. Auburn is firmly in the picture, but Alabama might be tough to beat.

Conference realignment talk

The moves of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC was certainly monster news. However, the news of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten seems to have shaken the college sports (mainly football) world in a tremendous way. It was a shocking move, and a countermove to the SEC’s expansion.

Schools that aren’t members of the SEC or Big Ten at this point are undoubtedly filled with uncertainty and anxiety.

ESPN.com provided some quotes from college athletic directors and such on the current landscape.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin said: “The SEC and the Big Ten have separated themselves from an overall property standpoint. As we saw with Texas and Oklahoma a year ago, it’s not surprising that other schools would want to be a part of one of those two leagues.”

Another source said: “I see a world where the whole thing splits in half. There’s 35 or 40 programs in the top echelon that are actually driving the College Football Playoff, and all the economics around the CFP. Everything else flows off of that. It’s obvious why it’s happening now.”

ESPN (SEC) and Fox (Big Ten) are tied directly to these major realignment moves. What would it look like if those two leagues explored a more elaborate conference postseason — a four-team or eight-team conference playoff — before some type of national title game between the winners. Could that squeeze the other leagues out of the playoff or demand more spots?

Another source said: “I would think they’d be silly not to at least explore that. If I’m the TV consultant, I’d say to them, ‘You can set up your own eight-team playoff and make millions.”

ESPN.com’s Ryan McGee writes about the SEC and the Big Ten, comparing them to the Beatles and Rolling Stones, saying: “Just as there were other navies, other nations and other rock bands, ultimately everyone else in the room, no matter who they are or what they’ve done or what they still might do, they all end up standing against the walls and watching who really matters do what really matters.”

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