Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[Gatorubet]

That's easy to do once she's chained up in your basement.

Easy to say if you aren't missing ages 19 and 28 from your Danica Patrick chained up in the basement collection.

 

[ysubuck]

Love Danica Patrick.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Love Danica Patrick.

She can shift my stick anytime...

 

[Oh8ch]

If we are doing pix let's do it right:

(Now I have to go hammer myself some more.)

 

[Muck]

Regarding the A&M/SEC scenario...the other school mentioned in that story is Clemson.

Word swirling around the Clemson blogs/fansites seems to indicate that not only had Clemson not been contacted by the SEC but that there is some doubt as to whether the administration would even make the move if offered.

 

[BuckTwenty]

The SEC really really wants Clemson if expansion were to go to 16. That said, the individual ACC schools are extremely committed towards sticking together and not letting expansion take any of their teams. They're going to be a tough nut to crack.

If A&M jumps first though, no telling what happens with the ACC and the rest of the conference arms races.

 

[MrNuke]

Regarding the A&M/SEC scenario...the other school mentioned in that story is Clemson.

Word swirling around the Clemson blogs/fansites seems to indicate that not only had Clemson not been contacted by the SEC but that there is some doubt as to whether the administration would even make the move if offered.

And as a Nebraska fan with a different opinion, I still remain unconvinced A&M actually has a standing offer to the SEC. I posted this in the Longhorn/ESPN thread, but it probably better suited here.

A&M decided to stay in the conference knowing the LSN was coming. From my perspective not much has changed since last summer to all of the sudden outrage Aggie. Last summer when everything was going down, it was known Texas was on the verge of launching their own network. Obviously the dollar terms weren't known, but we knew it would exist soon and they would get at least one game somehow.

The fact the previous contract didn't allow for teams to telecast 1 game lead me to believe at the time that either 1) ABC would move a game or games to LSN or 2) Assuming ESPN won a bid they?d buy the games off of Fox. Either way you are going through a process that doesn't limit you to 1 game. Judging by the internet?s response to the 2 game announcement, I don?t think anyone was shocked that Texas is getting more than 1 game.

the author comes across as seeking to find some way or reason to justify that the SEC would still be interested in expanding in addition to the bogus television argument. I'll address the TV issue first. The whole notion that the conference would add two teams because they are less than thrilled how their television deal ended up working (a record deal with everyone wanting to kiss Slive's rear-end at the time) is laughable at best. You don't undertake something that could last 50+ years because you are mildly upset about revenue for the next 5 to 10 years. Plus it is unclear how exactly additional teams would be handled per undisclosed terms with CBS and ESPN.

As for the SEC NCAA issue? That conference has historically had NCAA issues. It moves on from them and it continues to thrive. 1 or 2 teams may temporarily go down to the hammer, but others will rise (see Saban turning around Alabama after NCAA issues). That conference is so deep that I don't think it is that much to worry about.

It is pretty clear that ever since last summer there has been a strong SEC support movement on their message boards. That said it was equally as clear that their administration, AD, and likely ultimately their boosters (as the admin and AD answer to them) weren't as enthralled with the notion. A&M benefits from quite a bit in the Big XII. Quite a few games in the state of Texas, natural rivals, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they rode it out there until the end. It is quite possible that Texas, Oklahoma, or A&M makes a first strike move at some point, but in many ways those schools might be less likely to act. The two have strong ties to UT, and all 3 are guaranteed to find a spot in a solid BCS conference should it hit the fan in the Big XII.

I?m still not convinced that A&M has a standing standalone invitation to the SEC or that the SEC is even interested in expanding right now. Slive was no doubt exploring options last summer. That said, what we thought was going to happen last summer and what actually happened are quite different. It was the general consensus that the Big Ten wouldn't stop with one team, that they'd go to 14 or 16 for the Big Ten Network and if that happened the Pac-12 and the SEC would likely need to act quick and lock up the solid teams out there. Conference Armageddon was obviously averted for now. Despite what happened with the SEC and their last television negotiations, (and actually nothing bad happened they got paid a record amount. Others just happened to get paid more lately) that conference is arguably still the most preeminent conference in college athletics. It isn't like the Big Ten who had a crooked number and was one short of a conference championship game. http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=1954793

 

[Darkmyst]

The SEC really really wants Clemson if expansion were to go to 16. That said, the individual ACC schools are extremely committed towards sticking together and not letting expansion take any of their teams. They're going to be a tough nut to crack.

If A&M jumps first though, no telling what happens with the ACC and the rest of the conference arms races.

I don't understand why the SEC would want Clemson. They already have USC so I just don't see what Clemson would add. Any future expansion is going to be looked at from a television demographics, market size first, football prowess second standpoint. It's all about how much additional revenue a team can bring in.

Obviously the crown jewel any conference would like to add is Texas but they aren't going to join any conference where they would be mere equals to the other members - and the SEC is not going to kiss their arse. Same argument holds for Free Shoes U - the SEC already owns that market.

A&M would be a no brainer add to the SEC and I think they say yes if asked.

When you look east I think the SEC would say UNC would be their first choice but the reality is that the NC Legislature won't let UNC and NC St get split up. You could poach Duke I suppose but I think the SEC probably thinks one Vanderbilt is enough.

The ACC school I think the SEC would try to poach is Maryland - the Washington/Baltimore market is huge and and having a team there would bring in tons of revenue for the conference.

Ideally I think the SEC would like Texas, A&M, OU and Maryland but for various reasons that will never happen. T Boone Pickens will drop billions to make sure OU and Ok St don't get split up. And we've already covered Texass. What I could see happening for a 16 team SEC is A&M, TCU or SMU (Massive Dallas market), Maryland and some 4th team

You could make good cases for a lot of schools as that 4th team
Missouri makes a hell of a lot of sense for the SEC for a lot of reasons - KC & St Louis markets. School in B10 territory. But would they say yes?

Virginia has a lot of the same things going for it that Maryland does.

Miami - I just have a hard time picturing Miami being in the SEC.

 

[BuckTwenty]

I know it seems odd that Clemson is the SEC's first choice if they were to continue expansion, but it's always the first team out of Gatorubet's mouth. Always thought FSU and Oklahoma/Texas would be their first 2 choices. I know they've looked at North Carolina as a first choice as well, but sounds like NC wants nothing to do with SEC expansion... at all.

As for Big Ten expansion, my ideal list would be:
Missouri/Maryland/Syracuse -- The only one of the 4 likely to happen. In order of preference. If we can get the east coast market with ND, I'd be happy to not take a Big East school who would be middle of the road or worse in football.
Texas A&M -- MAJOR research dollars, gets us into the huge Texas market, perennially ranked football and occasionally basketball, school is not happy with its current situation, land grant university of Texas, big stadium, lots of tradition
Georgia -- Getting into the Georgia/Atlanta market as well as getting into the South, powerhouse football program, great academics and research dollars, land grant college of Georgia, doesn't fit into the traditional SEC (like Florida and Vandy- has morals, really good academics), big stadium ("Between the Hedges"), tradition rich, their fans are CRAZY about their football (on par with Ohio State fans)
Notre Dame -- Gets us into the east coast market and has interest all over that will get B1G subscriptions all over the country. Also has tradition and existing rivalries with B1G schools. Would get in as the 16th team, if they choose to join the conference at all.

 

[jlb1705]

I don't understand why the SEC would want Clemson. They already have USC so I just don't see what Clemson would add. Any future expansion is going to be looked at from a television demographics, market size first, football prowess second standpoint. It's all about how much additional revenue a team can bring in.

I don't think that's necessarily true for the SEC. That's the lens that the Big Ten has to look at it through because our region isn't growing - the nation's population is shifting to the south and west. That issue is more acute because the Big Ten is operating its own cable network so it has to drum up much of its own viewership.

The SEC is in an advantageous position when it comes to expansion. They have plenty of moves at hand, but don't need to make one yet. Their region is experiencing population growth. They have sweetheart deals with major broadcast and cable partners that have an established, superior presence in the market compared to the Big Ten Network. Because of that they can approach it from the standpoint of quality rather than location if they so choose. If they choose the right schools, they could expand to 14 or 16 teams and increase their interest and viewership nationally even by adding teams already in or near their footprint.

I already watch all of the college football I can get access to - all the way down to those super-late west coast WAC matchups, so it's not as if the SEC product fails to interest me as a viewer as it is right now. If they added four teams - say, Clemson, Texas A&M, Florida State and Virginia Tech - that would be a pretty damn compelling football league and would demand viewership and fat TV contracts for many years to come.

 

[Nicknam4]

I Love how that state up north is the only one with a population decrease.

 

[muffler dragon]

Notre Dame -- Gets us into the east coast market and has interest all over that will get B1G subscriptions all over the country. Also has tradition and existing rivalries with B1G schools. Would get in as the 16th team, if they choose to join the conference at all.

May they never get an invite. Forever and ever, Amen.

 

[Muck]

I know it seems odd that Clemson is the SEC's first choice if they were to continue expansion, but it's always the first team out of Gatorubet's mouth. Always thought FSU and Oklahoma/Texas would be their first 2 choices. I know they've looked at North Carolina as a first choice as well, but sounds like NC wants nothing to do with SEC expansion... at all.

I've always felt FSU was #1 as well. Especially since they're the one team out of the group that has had an actual invite.

While their star has fallen quite a bit since the 90's I'd think that locking up two of the big three in Florida still has greater value than adding another SC team.

 

[JCOSU86]

Missouri and Kansas bring a good balance of academics and sports to the picture as well as being traditionally "Midwest" states. Iowa State and Kansas State don't bring much, if anything, but I'd take them over Ntre Ame.

 

[BigWoof31]

I've always felt FSU was #1 as well. Especially since they're the one team out of the group that has had an actual invite.

While their star has fallen quite a bit since the 90's I'd think that locking up two of the big three in Florida still has greater value than adding another SC team.

I think it's a matter of it being easier really. I don't think Slive would have to work to hard to get them so say "yes." Clemson is a natural fit and is geographically closer to most SEC schools than most ACC schools.
Hell, they already play teams from both the east and west (Auburn 2010 and 2011, UGA 2013,2014).

They're very competative in baseball and above average in basketball too. I don't know too many Clemson alums (thankfully) so I have no idea if they'd even be interested.