XLance
Hall of Famer
Posts: 14,435
Joined: Mar 2008
Reputation: 794
I Root For: Carolina
Location: Greensboro, NC
|
RE: Whither goest Texas?
(03-01-2018 08:10 PM)JRsec Wrote: (03-01-2018 07:55 PM)XLance Wrote: (03-01-2018 02:20 PM)JRsec Wrote: (03-01-2018 01:01 PM)Wedge Wrote: The SEC increased in economic clout primarily because of massive population increases in Florida and Georgia. Florida today has more than 4 times as many residents as it did in 1960.
That's true. And by 1992 that trend was well established. It is why the SEC was horribly shortsighted with regard to accepting Bowden's first overtures so indifferently in the early 80's. By '87 or '88 when he was pushing the SEC again we were still dismissive. The 2nd biggest realignment mistake IMO was the failure of the SEC to lock down Florida by adding Florida State long before the ACC nabbed them. And the opportunities were there. The 3rd biggest mistake was the Big 10 failing to add Missouri. It's not that Missouri was a terrific catch on their own, but because Missouri would have really opened the door toward Oklahoma and Texas and was a more profitable path for them than Kansas.
When we talk about realignment we criticize additions. All of the additions are relatively understandable by looking at the context at the time. The truly inexplicable realignment mistakes were the failures to make additions.
The #1 realignment mistake belongs to the PAC who should have added Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado before the little brothers got involved and even the second go around with Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State would have been quite profitable.
When people do their what if threads the really interesting one should be, what if the SEC had taken Florida State in the late 80's, what if the Big 10 had taken Nebraska along with Kansas and Missouri to go to 14, and what if the PAC had taken at least Texa-homa?
If the SEC had taken Florida State in the late 80's there is a good chance that it would have kept the ACC's value level low enough to have been more of an enticement later on. It may have kept their value low enough for the Big East to have poached ACC schools like Maryland and maybe even convinced Penn State to join up as well. And if it had done that a healthier Big East may have been able to keep the Big 10 at bay which would have green-lighted the taking of Missouri and Kansas with Nebraska thereby killing the Big 12 and sending Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and either Texas Tech or A&M looking. Maybe the SEC still gets A&M, but most likely the SEC would have gone after North Carolina and Virginia and taken Duke to get UNC and added them to F.S.U.. If this had been in the works prior to '91 then Clemson probably takes South Carolina's place in the SEC.
So the SEC might have looked like this if F.S.U. had joined in the late 80's:
Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia
Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia
Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Arkansas, L.S.U., Mississippi, Mississippi State
The Old Big East Football Might have looked like this after expansion:
Boston College, Connecticut, Penn State, Maryland
Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse
Cincinnati, Louisville, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Miami, South Carolina
Which would still have been a dynamite conference for all sports.
The Big 10 might have looked like this:
Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue
Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Wisconsin
Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Nebraska
Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas
The PAC might still have had some nice additions:
Colorado, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Utah to go to 14.
T.C.U. would have been there for DFW if they had wanted that penetration and it would still have left them 1 slot for the best of rest in the West.
Things might have looked quite differently.
If Florida State had joined the SEC in the late 80's the ACC might have added Penn State before the Big 10 got 'em and perhaps Syracuse, too!
BTW in the late 80's the ACC's media payout was the highest of all major conferences and we had already formed out own network and were broadcasting football and basketball on a regional basis.
That's true, but you hardly had football chops back then. Clemson had faded from the Danny Ford years, but Virginia was a lot better than they are now.
True, but we were competitive amongst ourselves and that is before we knew conferences we going beyond regional.
|
|