Saw this on the conference realignment thread on main board. Had not heard this before:

(02-20-2014 05:35 PM)Frog in the Kitchen Sink Wrote:  When the SWC was started, what if LSU and Mississippi had joined (from Wikipedia):
"Originally, Bellmont wanted Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi to join the conference as well, but they declined to do so. The Southwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference became an official body on December 8, 1914, at a formal meeting at the Rice Hotel in Houston."

(02-20-2014 06:51 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  Yep, the "Gulf Coast Conference" as it was originally envisioned would have included Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi, UT, A&M, Rice and Baylor.

(02-25-2014 08:23 AM)pablowow Wrote:  

(02-25-2014 07:40 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(02-25-2014 06:22 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(02-23-2014 06:58 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  Nobody was sure they would be acted on but it happened. What moves out there seem obvious to happen eventually but havent' been made yet?

While I'm at it: My case for Rice to the ACC, as posted in response to question on the main realignment board:
Rice to the ACC.

Here's why:
1. gives the ACC entry into Texas market for recruiting/exposure
2. addresses SEC's move of adding Texas A&M (Texas market)
3. city of Houston is closest major Texas city to eastern border of state
4. aligns more with ACC's predominance of academically oriented schools than SEC has (Duke, UNC, VA, GA Tech, Wake Forest)
5. large stadium (currently 45,000, easily expandable to original capacity of 72,000 by removing tarps)
6. large city/market of Houston would be open to filling Rice's large stadium to watch major teams in FB like FL State, Clemson, etc... and Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse in basketball. Plus added bonus of perennial Top 20 and recent National Championship (2003) Baseball program at Rice complements already strong ACC baseball programs of national prominence.

Give FSU someone within driving distance!

This is quite a plausible possibility. If they all go to 20. Even 18. And of course Tulane is there to bridge over from the east.