Here are 4 scenarios that I have prioritized based on profitability and desirability. Which do you prefer?

I like the addition of OU and OSU. Moving Bama and Auburn to the east and Mizzou to the west.

OK/Kansas: can still move Bama/auburn West, brings in another football brand, a basketball brand, and an AAU school.

Getting Texas would be great too, but I like A&M's current role in the league and I feel like accepting Texas hurts them. Of course money will talk more in that case than feelings.

If we take six, I'd prefer Iowa State. They are AAU and have a great fan base that I would think could fit well in the SEC.

However the smaller expansions leave room for eventually getting NC State/Virginia Tech/Clemson/Florida State if that is ever actually a possibility.

1. OU/KU only moves us to 16 teams. Alabama and Auburn probably move east. Most scheduling issues are not harmed. Divisions still workable.

2. Texahoma plus KU and WVU/ISU

The Oklahoma and Oklahoma State pair is the only realistic choice on the board.

(04-04-2017 03:12 PM)murrdcu Wrote:  1. OU/KU only moves us to 16 teams. Alabama and Auburn probably move east. Most scheduling issues are not harmed. Divisions still workable.

2. Texahoma plus KU and WVU/ISU

2. If super large conferences come about as Slive suggested, this is probably the most likely

3. OU/OSU
Most likely additions. Would work, but not terribly excited about double dipping in the state of Oklahoma

4. Texahoma
18 seems like and odd conference number and only adding one new state doesn't seem to optimize the cable/market rates from our network subscription fees even granted with Texas' content multiplier

(04-04-2017 04:14 PM)XLance Wrote:  The Oklahoma and Oklahoma State pair is the only realistic choice on the board.

They are all realistic. The only question is what is the objective? If the objective is just DFW then either of OU / OSU, or OU / KU works depending upon the answer to the question of does OU have enough leverage to merit OSU? Remember KU may not add enough for the Big 10.

If the SEC is looking at it's long term future then Texa-homa makes sense. It not only adds to our bottom line but locks out our competitors from picking up either or both of the last two most valuable players on the board and it solidly locks down Texas and Oklahoma a hotbed of football crazy folks for the SEC.

If the goal is to spread out and lock down Texas then adding Kansas and either Iowa State or WVU is a great way to finish out. Plus four divisions of 5 isn't so bad. It would allow us to pick up 3 AAU schools in the process too. This one depends on how badly the core of the present Big 12 wants its own division and wants to stick together.

So depending upon the wants, and objectives any of them could be realistic. At least to someone who is looking at this from an SEC perspective. I'm sure that any scenario other than OU / OSU puts the ACC in at a serious disadvantage so I can understand why you wish it was the only realistic option on the board.

(04-04-2017 09:32 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(04-04-2017 04:14 PM)XLance Wrote:  The Oklahoma and Oklahoma State pair is the only realistic choice on the board.

They are all realistic. The only question is what is the objective? If the objective is just DFW then either of OU / OSU, or OU / KU works depending upon the answer to the question of does OU have enough leverage to merit OSU? Remember KU may not add enough for the Big 10.

If the SEC is looking at it's long term future then Texa-homa makes sense. It not only adds to our bottom line but locks out our competitors from picking up either or both of the last two most valuable players on the board and it solidly locks down Texas and Oklahoma a hotbed of football crazy folks for the SEC.

If the goal is to spread out and lock down Texas then adding Kansas and either Iowa State or WVU is a great way to finish out. Plus four divisions of 5 isn't so bad. It would allow us to pick up 3 AAU schools in the process too. This one depends on how badly the core of the present Big 12 wants its own division and wants to stick together.

So depending upon the wants, and objectives any of them could be realistic. At least to someone who is looking at this from an SEC perspective. I'm sure that any scenario other than OU / OSU puts the ACC in at a serious disadvantage so I can understand why you wish it was the only realistic option on the board.

4 divisions of five would require amending rules that govern divisions. Not sure other P5 conferences would go along with that vote if they weren't also benefiting from it too somehow

(04-05-2017 11:01 AM)murrdcu Wrote:  

(04-04-2017 09:32 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(04-04-2017 04:14 PM)XLance Wrote:  The Oklahoma and Oklahoma State pair is the only realistic choice on the board.

They are all realistic. The only question is what is the objective? If the objective is just DFW then either of OU / OSU, or OU / KU works depending upon the answer to the question of does OU have enough leverage to merit OSU? Remember KU may not add enough for the Big 10.

If the SEC is looking at it's long term future then Texa-homa makes sense. It not only adds to our bottom line but locks out our competitors from picking up either or both of the last two most valuable players on the board and it solidly locks down Texas and Oklahoma a hotbed of football crazy folks for the SEC.

If the goal is to spread out and lock down Texas then adding Kansas and either Iowa State or WVU is a great way to finish out. Plus four divisions of 5 isn't so bad. It would allow us to pick up 3 AAU schools in the process too. This one depends on how badly the core of the present Big 12 wants its own division and wants to stick together.

So depending upon the wants, and objectives any of them could be realistic. At least to someone who is looking at this from an SEC perspective. I'm sure that any scenario other than OU / OSU puts the ACC in at a serious disadvantage so I can understand why you wish it was the only realistic option on the board.

4 divisions of five would require amending rules that govern divisions. Not sure other P5 conferences would go along with that vote if they weren't also benefiting from it too somehow

We would be a P4 at most. Once we are a P4 why do we want to stay in the NCAA? And even if we did with 20 of the top 50 revenue producers or better the NCAA would tell us that divisional alignment was under our autonomy.

If pressed in court they would lose that battle anyway. They may be able to justify minimum requirements for a conference but they can't dictate how large they may be. They don't negotiate our TV contracts and can't afford a suit that proves they are involved in restraint of trade.

Here are your 4

Oklahoma
Miami
Kansas
West Virginia

Now put down the keyboard and just listen to Uncle 10th for a second about why this is genius.

Oklahoma - Pretty much a no brainer. They add a king level program to replace Bama in the West and more importantly the combo of A&M/OU/Ark locks up DFW for the SEC. OU/Texas and OU/NU just became SEC properties for ratings. And all done with the addition of just one school rather than the silly ass "let's add all of the B12 South" nonsense that gets posted here. No one needs a bunch of parasites when you have the Sooners.

Kansas - Another of the 4 B12 properties worth having! Again we get a king level program for MBB which we absolutely do need because it's unacceptable for the SEC to be almost invisible during college sports second most important season. MU/KU is back and KU/UK is the new UNC/Duke and its all ours as is the entire OKC/KC/StL corridor...plus the west deserves one "absolutely doesn't care about FB school" break on the schedule like the East gets!

Miami - If we're gonna lock down Texas we need to lock down Florida too...specifically the fastest growing part of the state. Miami FB needs a shot in the arm and having UF/UGA/Bama/UT etc all coming into their place for games is it. Yes FSU is hotter but guess what? FSU/Miami is now a SEC property too! Between UF in the north and UM in the south, Florida is SEC country for a long, long time. Plus their women alone are worth the addition

WVU - 3/4 B12 properties worth having! Excellent! Good FB and MBB and pushes the SEC to it's logical northern limit with toe holds in D.C. and Pittsburgh and southern Ohio. They'll fit right in and provide some nice strength to the East as well as a nice rival for U.K. And UT

4 schools that max our value and content across all major sports, lock down our two population anchors while expanding our northern border to it logical limit

Do it

(04-05-2017 04:30 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  Here are your 4

Oklahoma
Miami
Kansas
West Virginia

Now put down the keyboard and just listen to Uncle 10th for a second about why this is genius.

Oklahoma - Pretty much a no brainer. They add a king level program to replace Bama in the West and more importantly the combo of A&M/OU/Ark locks up DFW for the SEC. OU/Texas and OU/NU just became SEC properties for ratings. And all done with the addition of just one school rather than the silly ass "let's add all of the B12 South" nonsense that gets posted here. No one needs a bunch of parasites when you have the Sooners.

Kansas - Another of the 4 B12 properties worth having! Again we get a king level program for MBB which we absolutely do need because it's unacceptable for the SEC to be almost invisible during college sports second most important season. MU/KU is back and KU/UK is the new UNC/Duke and its all ours as is the entire OKC/KC/StL corridor...plus the west deserves one "absolutely doesn't care about FB school" break on the schedule like the East gets!

Miami - If we're gonna lock down Texas we need to lock down Florida too...specifically the fastest growing part of the state. Miami FB needs a shot in the arm and having UF/UGA/Bama/UT etc all coming into their place for games is it. Yes FSU is hotter but guess what? FSU/Miami is now a SEC property too! Between UF in the north and UM in the south, Florida is SEC country for a long, long time. Plus their women alone are worth the addition

WVU - 3/4 B12 properties worth having! Excellent! Good FB and MBB and pushes the SEC to it's logical northern limit with toe holds in D.C. and Pittsburgh and southern Ohio. They'll fit right in and provide some nice strength to the East as well as a nice rival for U.K. And UT

4 schools that max our value and content across all major sports, lock down our two population anchors while expanding our northern border to it logical limit

Do it

Your logic on the first three is solid 10th and I wouldn't disagree. Miami is locked down until 2034 with a new GOR however. That's why I voted for the first two alone. West Virginia in a 4 school move has merit, but it is still doesn't meet the metrics of the SEC in most regards. I do agree however that their fervor for athletics is a fit, minus burning furniture of course. It's a worthy option. If you had to fill Miami's slot what would you suggest (a) just take the first two, or (b) who would you select to replace Miami?

(04-05-2017 04:30 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  Here are your 4

Oklahoma
Miami
Kansas
West Virginia

Now put down the keyboard and just listen to Uncle 10th for a second about why this is genius.

Oklahoma - Pretty much a no brainer. They add a king level program to replace Bama in the West and more importantly the combo of A&M/OU/Ark locks up DFW for the SEC. OU/Texas and OU/NU just became SEC properties for ratings. And all done with the addition of just one school rather than the silly ass "let's add all of the B12 South" nonsense that gets posted here. No one needs a bunch of parasites when you have the Sooners.

Kansas - Another of the 4 B12 properties worth having! Again we get a king level program for MBB which we absolutely do need because it's unacceptable for the SEC to be almost invisible during college sports second most important season. MU/KU is back and KU/UK is the new UNC/Duke and its all ours as is the entire OKC/KC/StL corridor...plus the west deserves one "absolutely doesn't care about FB school" break on the schedule like the East gets!

Miami - If we're gonna lock down Texas we need to lock down Florida too...specifically the fastest growing part of the state. Miami FB needs a shot in the arm and having UF/UGA/Bama/UT etc all coming into their place for games is it. Yes FSU is hotter but guess what? FSU/Miami is now a SEC property too! Between UF in the north and UM in the south, Florida is SEC country for a long, long time. Plus their women alone are worth the addition

WVU - 3/4 B12 properties worth having! Excellent! Good FB and MBB and pushes the SEC to it's logical northern limit with toe holds in D.C. and Pittsburgh and southern Ohio. They'll fit right in and provide some nice strength to the East as well as a nice rival for U.K. And UT

4 schools that max our value and content across all major sports, lock down our two population anchors while expanding our northern border to it logical limit

Do it

Can't really argue with that. But yeah, Miami is not going to be available.

Kansas in the SEC?

I voted OU and Kansas, but I think OU/OSU is much more likely.

For starters, I don't think OU will switch conferences without either having OSU or UT move with them. They want to play both every year and I don't think they'd do both out of conference every single year. They obviously played UT for years prior to Big 12 formation, and I think they'd save that rivalry and continue to play if they split now, but there'd also be a ton of pressure to play OSU every year, and having 2 non-conference games set permanently just doesn't really work. Combine that with a likely increase to a 9 game conference schedule and that would only leave 1 game a year to schedule. I just don't see that happening.

Kansas isn't really a cultural fit in the SEC, but at the same time adding their program makes a ton of sense. Would be huge for basketball obviously and restarting the border war rivalry with Missouri would be fantastic. Adding a bottom feeder to the West football standings could also help to make sure the other programs all go bowling. OU replaces Bama with another top dog in West, but getting to play Kansas (and Missouri) every year would really help solidify the middle tier of the division. Changing a 8-4 A&M to 9-3 and a 7-5 Mississippi to 8-4 makes Bama/LSU/OU look even better when beating them, and keeps the teams higher ranked.

I really don't think the combination of OU and Kansas happens, but it's certainly fun to think about. Kansas fits in much better with the Big 10 schools though. It's not much of a stretch to see the Big 10 adding them and then Missouri to get to 16. Missou culturally could go either conference, and after the race issues and declining enrollment I'm not certain the SEC would worry all that much if they lost them - although it would be a pretty big hit losing the KC and St Louis population centers. I'm not even sure if Missouri would move if the Big 10 offered, but I definitely think they'd consider it. If Missouri were to actually leave, I'd be happy with a OU/UT and either OSU or Tech expansion.

(04-05-2017 06:27 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(04-05-2017 04:30 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  Here are your 4

Oklahoma
Miami
Kansas
West Virginia

Now put down the keyboard and just listen to Uncle 10th for a second about why this is genius.

Oklahoma - Pretty much a no brainer. They add a king level program to replace Bama in the West and more importantly the combo of A&M/OU/Ark locks up DFW for the SEC. OU/Texas and OU/NU just became SEC properties for ratings. And all done with the addition of just one school rather than the silly ass "let's add all of the B12 South" nonsense that gets posted here. No one needs a bunch of parasites when you have the Sooners.

Kansas - Another of the 4 B12 properties worth having! Again we get a king level program for MBB which we absolutely do need because it's unacceptable for the SEC to be almost invisible during college sports second most important season. MU/KU is back and KU/UK is the new UNC/Duke and its all ours as is the entire OKC/KC/StL corridor...plus the west deserves one "absolutely doesn't care about FB school" break on the schedule like the East gets!

Miami - If we're gonna lock down Texas we need to lock down Florida too...specifically the fastest growing part of the state. Miami FB needs a shot in the arm and having UF/UGA/Bama/UT etc all coming into their place for games is it. Yes FSU is hotter but guess what? FSU/Miami is now a SEC property too! Between UF in the north and UM in the south, Florida is SEC country for a long, long time. Plus their women alone are worth the addition

WVU - 3/4 B12 properties worth having! Excellent! Good FB and MBB and pushes the SEC to it's logical northern limit with toe holds in D.C. and Pittsburgh and southern Ohio. They'll fit right in and provide some nice strength to the East as well as a nice rival for U.K. And UT

4 schools that max our value and content across all major sports, lock down our two population anchors while expanding our northern border to it logical limit

Do it

Your logic on the first three is solid 10th and I wouldn't disagree. Miami is locked down until 2034 with a new GOR however. That's why I voted for the first two alone. West Virginia in a 4 school move has merit, but it is still doesn't meet the metrics of the SEC in most regards. I do agree however that their fervor for athletics is a fit, minus burning furniture of course. It's a worthy option. If you had to fill Miami's slot what would you suggest (a) just take the first two, or (b) who would you select to replace Miami?

UCF or USF instead of Miami? There's enough recruits in Florida to handle 4 power teams.

(04-05-2017 04:30 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  Here are your 4

Oklahoma
Miami
Kansas
West Virginia

Now put down the keyboard and just listen to Uncle 10th for a second about why this is genius.

Oklahoma - Pretty much a no brainer. They add a king level program to replace Bama in the West and more importantly the combo of A&M/OU/Ark locks up DFW for the SEC. OU/Texas and OU/NU just became SEC properties for ratings. And all done with the addition of just one school rather than the silly ass "let's add all of the B12 South" nonsense that gets posted here. No one needs a bunch of parasites when you have the Sooners.

Kansas - Another of the 4 B12 properties worth having! Again we get a king level program for MBB which we absolutely do need because it's unacceptable for the SEC to be almost invisible during college sports second most important season. MU/KU is back and KU/UK is the new UNC/Duke and its all ours as is the entire OKC/KC/StL corridor...plus the west deserves one "absolutely doesn't care about FB school" break on the schedule like the East gets!

Miami - If we're gonna lock down Texas we need to lock down Florida too...specifically the fastest growing part of the state. Miami FB needs a shot in the arm and having UF/UGA/Bama/UT etc all coming into their place for games is it. Yes FSU is hotter but guess what? FSU/Miami is now a SEC property too! Between UF in the north and UM in the south, Florida is SEC country for a long, long time. Plus their women alone are worth the addition

WVU - 3/4 B12 properties worth having! Excellent! Good FB and MBB and pushes the SEC to it's logical northern limit with toe holds in D.C. and Pittsburgh and southern Ohio. They'll fit right in and provide some nice strength to the East as well as a nice rival for U.K. And UT

4 schools that max our value and content across all major sports, lock down our two population anchors while expanding our northern border to it logical limit

Do it

I'm low on WVU because of academic issues and couch burning (though as a TN fan I can't talk much about the second part, i.e Kiffin leaving night).

However, I also think that getting Miami (which I would not be against) means we would need another West school. In most 16 team formulations with say OK/State or OK/Kansas, Alabama and Auburn move east and Mizzou moves west for 8 school divisions). If we go to 18, I'm sure 6x3 will be considered, but 9x2 may come first, and so having equal east/west schools coming in stops that restructuring (which is okay, but does perhaps keeps things balanced a little, though that argument doesn't hold much water if Alabama crashes after Saban or something similar, but also keeps rivalries going in Tenn-Alabama, and Georgia-Auburn, etc.) Replacing WVU with Iowa State for instance, keeps the east/west balance better and brings in another AAU school with a great fan base, as well as moves the border with the Big 10.

(04-06-2017 07:14 AM)XLance Wrote:  Kansas in the SEC?

If the B12 is falling apart, they would be considered depending on the number of schools the SEC had at the time