(01-05-2018 11:35 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(01-05-2018 11:14 PM)templefootballfan Wrote:  SEC is not taking Okla much less OSU
who they moving east, Auburn or Auburn & Ala with Missouri moving west.
Va & NC are 1st on the list
SEC might be better off with VT & WV
maybe with Hous & Mia or [UCF is certainly moving into the picture]

And you know this how? In '91 when the discussions were held the path was clear. We looked West, not East. Our targets were Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Florida State (who was independent) and looked East to one school (Clemson). There was a silent partner at the time for Texas (Oklahoma). Texas looked to the PAC, A&M couldn't shake free from Texas politics (there was a Baylor problem) Arkansas joined. ESPN didn't wan't the SEC to have total leverage over the state of Florida so the ACC (fully apprised of our offer which was looked over by a certain network) made their offer (a better one) the day before we showed up to make ours. Bobby Bowden cited an easier path to the playoffs as his reason and the rest is history. Some think Clemson only showed interest to spy, but either way a Clemson trustee told a South Carolina trustee we were looking so they applied and were accepted.

Here we are 25 years later and Arkansas is in. South Carolina took Clemson's slot. Missouri took Florida State's slot, and A&M is now in the SEC.

Who does that leave? Texas and Oklahoma.

As long as the SEC and ACC both have contracts with ESPN the SEC won't be taking an ACC school. So we continue to look West to the two best brands remaining on the table.

For the SEC to take ACC schools it would have to be after the Big 10 raided them and then we would be encouraged by ESPN to hold onto the brands they want most to keep. I give that less than a 5% chance of happening prior to 2034 which might be past the scope of my remaining years.

Since you brought up ‘91 and looking west, I’m told that with Arkansas in and the other prime expansion targets off the board that SEC feelers went out to Rice, as well. “Fix/Upgrade Rice Stadium, and we’ll sponsor Rice as #12.” Not sure whether this was before or after the SoCar application. We declined (partly out of loyalty! to SWC schools??). Curious if you’d heard any of that story.