IF I am Mike Slive and IF I want to expand to 16 teams, here is my expansion list:

1. Texas (alone or with Texas A&M)
2. Florida State
3. North Carolina (alone)
4. Georgia Tech
5. Virginia Tech (alone)
6. Clemson
7. North Carolina with NC State
8. Virginia Tech with Virginia
9. Oklahoma
10. West Virginia

If Texas (possibly Texas A&M) required Oklahoma to be admitted, then Oklahoma would be offered a slot. If Oklahoma required OK St to be added and Texas/Texas A&M required Oklahoma to join before accepting, then I would take all four above any ACC team. If Texas refused, then I would offer the ACC teams listed above before offering Oklahoma.

My guess is that Texas will refuse an invite from the SEC to remain the King of the Big 12 (they are one of the only programs I can actually see with the money and power to realistically turn down the SEC). IMO, all of the other teams would accept SEC invitations (IMO, if FSU left, I think you'd see the other ACC school be much more open to leaving the conference as well).

(05-12-2010 05:44 PM)UofL07 Wrote:  IF I am Mike Slive and IF I want to expand to 16 teams, here is my expansion list:

1. Texas (alone or with Texas A&M)
2. Florida State
3. North Carolina (along or with North Carolina State)
4. Georgia Tech
5. Virginia Tech (alone but probably with Virginia)
6. Clemson
7. Oklahoma
8. West Virginia

If Texas (possibly Texas A&M) required Oklahoma to be admitted, then Oklahoma would be offered a slot. If Oklahoma required OK St to be added and Texas/Texas A&M required Oklahoma to join before accepting, then I would take all four above any ACC team. If Texas refused, then I would offer the ACC teams listed above before offering Oklahoma.

Here's my list:

1) West Virginia - has shown that they can be a major player in football and even basketball
2) VT - has build a SEC like program
3) Clemson - a SEC like school; however have fallen short since the early 80s but good baseball
4) Any of the Big 3 Public North Carolina schools - East Carolina - up and coming has shown ability to be a player in football and baseball; NC State - have not accomplished much since the early 80s in basketball and has been MIA in football; UNC a uppity school that has been strong in basketball but just average in football
5) Louisville - great basketball and has shown they can be a player in football and baseball
6) FSU - would put them higher but....

I am not too keen on Texas, OU, and etc as it throws off the southeastern footprint. If we expand any further west, we might as well look at USC, Arizona, and etc. I like the fact that I can take off on a Friday and just get to about any away game. The SEC is a culture in itself. Take away the southeastern part of it, I am afraid we might lose that.

Maryland - not the typical SEC school but I would rather see them added instead of Texas.

I also have a really hard time believing Miami would be a choice, but it's possible if:

the Texas/OK schools are off the table
VPI has too many political implications to leave the ACC now
South Carolina would try and block Clemson

Only if those 3 things were all true would Miami make sense to me in the SEC because to me each of those schools would clearly be ahead of Miami in the SEC's pecking order.

I would love for this report to be true, but frankly the unsubstantiated word of a blogger is hard to get too excited about.

(05-12-2010 01:41 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  

(05-12-2010 12:36 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  For the TV audience, dummy. Why do you think?

Certainly not for attendance: 47,000 a game in a 75,000 seat stadium, which would rank only ahead of Vanderbilt among existing SEC teams, and that's because Vandy's stadium only seats 41,000.

Could Miami sell more in the SEC? Sure, but 90% of schools would.

FYI...Miami now uses tarps to cover up 4 corners of the Stadium...so I think their current stadium capacity for Miami games is around 60,000-62,000 or so.

Miami seating chart with tarps covering sections in upper corners:
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mifl...ricing.pdf

You guys miss the reason for Miami to be in those discussions. It has NOTHING to do with how many fans they have in the stands. They are in a great recruiting area and are a national draw for TV.

When Miami is good, they probably have a "fanbase" as big as anyone including Notre Dame, Texas, etc. People all over the country love the "U" when they're winning.

(05-13-2010 12:43 PM)CitrusUCF Wrote:  When Miami is good, they probably have a "fanbase" as big as anyone including Notre Dame, Texas, etc. People all over the country love the "U" when they're winning.

People also love to hate the U when they're winning too. Either way, people want to watch.

(05-12-2010 11:25 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  Here's another expansion rumor, this time from the SEC. I heard the comment in question, and at the time thought he was joking. However, Low is pretty well tapped into the situation in the SEC. But I wonder if this isn't a ploy to direct media attention away from the Big Tin, and onto the SEC. I guess we'll find out more soon enough...

The Smoking Musket Wrote:SEC Bound?
By Ern
Published: May 12, 2010

ESPN SEC Blogger, Chris Low, reportedly made a statement on ESPN Radio late last night that Mike Slive (current SEC Commissioner) has had talks with four schools about joining the SEC.

The four schools were Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and (drumroll please) West Virginia.

I have yet to find anything in print today that substantiates that rumor. I do find it hard to believe that someone from ESPN would make that report without having a source or doing at least a little bit of due diligence.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor this story.

West Virginia makes more sense than Miami. Miami isn't really known for a rabid fan base and FSU and UF would garner the market in Florida more than an adequate amount. Getting Ga Tech removes the ACC from the Atlanta area altogether and severs them from a contiguous connection with Florida. WV is contiguous to an SEC state. But Miami has the name and UF, FSU, and Miami would effectively rope off Florida and take the ACC out of those markets south of South Carolina. The ACC might be forced to look at USF to help stop the bleeding in Florida. The ACC would then go for a northern orientation to make it up. Thought I'd throw in my scenario. I didn't do my research or due diligence though.

(05-12-2010 02:38 PM)MU88 Wrote:  I heard the rumor yesterday morning on some radio show, but the four schools were Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson.

This would be a crushing blow to the ACC. They would lose any presence in FL, GA, and SC reducing the conference to NC, VA, MD, and MA. If the BE loses Rutgers alone, I would propose a merger of the BE schools plus either Temple of Central Florida to make a 16 team conference that would span the majority of the eastern seaboard and the Ohio Valley. The league would be contiguous with the exception of Florida. It would control most of the major media markets on the east coast and into the Midwest with Cincinnati and Louisville. The BB league would possibly surpass the current BE.

(05-12-2010 02:33 PM)MiamiBull2 Wrote:  The problem is that Texas nor A&M needs the SEC and the SEC does not need Texas. Why would the Horns give up an 'easy' run to the national championship and a nice % of $$$ each year in a weaker conference and go to a much stronger conference where they could potentially fall in ranks and must split $$$ equally?

I think its about Texas attitude that they can carry a conference by themselves.

Look at how long Texas stayed in the SWC, until the mid 90's long after it remained nationally viable. They should have joined the Big 8 many years before as the SWC was ruining their programs.

It sounds like the same thing will happen again to Texas as Nebaska, Missouri are out the door while schools like BYU will be invited to maintain a championship game.

I could see Iowa State giving the Big East a look provided the BE stays together given the lack of revenue sharing in the Big XII.

I'd target TX, A&M, OU and OSU.

SEC West: Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M

SEC East: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina Tennessee, Vanderbilt

I'm cetainly not saying this will or could happen. That's simply what I would try first.

(05-14-2010 08:36 PM)3601 Wrote:  I'd target TX, A&M, OU and OSU.

SEC West: Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M

SEC East: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina Tennessee, Vanderbilt

I'm cetainly not saying this will or could happen. That's simply what I would try first.

Thats a given but i doubt Texas-AM will leave for SEC.