(05-12-2013 09:52 PM)Indiana Bones Wrote:  ECU already has one of the best game day experiences in the nation. I've brought my friends that graduated from Alabama, Texas and FSU & all of them have walked away thoroughly impressed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFAZ5WJjTJ0

If ECU was in the SEC then selling 80,000 tickets would be a piece of cake.

There is one scenario in which I think the Pirates could have a realistic chance, but much has to happen for this to come about.

1. The Big 12 expands and Texas expresses total commitment to keeping the Big 12 viable and to show that intent they agree to morph the LHN into a Big 12 network that will profit all of the schools of the conference.

2. The ACC has already taken their necessary step with their GOR.

3. The Big 10, SEC, and ACC grow very weary of scheduling 14. Truly 16 is much easier and lends itself to more money by extending the conference championship from one game to two and from two teams to four.

At this point the SEC will be looking for the best possible additions to get to 16. Their reasonable candidates would be South Florida, East Carolina, Cincinnati, and possibly Southern Methodist. This would be the breakdown on those options:

1. South Florida averages over 50 k at their home games and have made great strides in both their academic ratings and in their research spending. The Bulls offer access to a part of the state of Florida that has heretofore been relatively unexploited by most SEC teams. The mid-Gulf Coast will become in a decade or so what Miami once was in the 60's and 70's. As the culture of Miami shifts Central Florida and South Florida will both move way up. While they don't add a market there is much to the upside of this program.

2. East Carolina is a football first school in a state that would add market share to the SEC. While they don't carry the state they average enough in attendance to merit, as you have pointed out, the good chance to draw 80 k. With SEC money they could both enhance their academics and their facilities and could easily overtake N.C. State as a destination of choice for recruits in state. The Pirates have historically produced good athletic programs and could easily compete at the mid-level in sports in the SEC in a relatively short period of adjustment. (Plus Pat Dye came to Auburn from East Carolina).

3. Cincinnati would bring both competitive basketball and football to the SEC and deliver an interesting new market. While from Ohio they are at least as Southern in culture as Louisville. With SEC money the Bearcats would be elevated across the board in athletics in short order and could surpass Ohio as the #2 program in their state. While the idea may be a stretch for many SEC folks in a college football world where ACC and Big 12 targets are off the board Cincinnati would likely be the best first choice.

4. Southern Methodist delivers Houston. They have a 1.1 billion dollar athletic endowment and membership in the SEC would certainly help them to recruit well. The main drawbacks here are in their average attendance which is below 40,000 and in their overall competitiveness in all sports.

Of the remaining choices Tulane left the SEC and I doubt even with much better numbers that they would be considered and three teams from Tennessee is too many so Memphis would not really get a look either. Southern Miss would be deserving but two Mississippi teams would preclude that move and La Tech doesn't have the facilities or crowds. As far as Central Florida is concerned they are more commuter based than USF and that would not work in the Knights favor although they are a promising team. And, while Old Dominion is on the upswing it will be a couple of decades before they could get a serious look. And Tulsa while good is way too small in a state that's too small to consider a private school that small.

If I had to rate the prospects they would be 1. Cincinnati, 2. East Carolina by a hair, 3. South Florida and 4. S.M.U.

But understand that this would only apply in a world where the Big 12 has expanded and bolstered the revenue sharing of their conference. If they don't expand and don't address the economic disparity then I believe future SEC growth will come from there.