With the SEC facing a 13-team membership next season, there is some action that could send Missouri heading to the SEC.
Just moments ago, Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart told the AP what everyone already knows—the SEC will expand again beyond 13 teams. Hart said the league would have discussions on expansion “in short order.” (Source)
No kidding.
It appears the mood in Missouri is looking favorably toward the SEC. According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, “Multiple sources have indicated there’s a strong preference for MU to join the SEC — especially from the Governor’s mansion and within the athletic department — but Missouri officials and curators will have to weigh the financial costs and benefits of leaving the Big 12.” (Source)
Missouri’s Board of Curators is expected to meet Tuesday to consider Missouri’s conference affiliation.
It is likely a decision is imminent. Whether Missouri joins the SEC or stays with the Big 12, something will likely be known not too long after the Tuesday board meeting.
Why so soon? This is one of many questions about SEC expansion and conference realignment. Here are a few thoughts on these important conference realignment questions:
Will the SEC stop at 14 teams?
Yes. The SEC will stop expansion once it revisits its television contracts. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive indicated the television contract “look-ins” would be utilized with ESPN. Also, Slive mentioned an important part to the conference expansion story—a fall negotiation with CBS.
During a Tuesday press conference, Slive said: “As to CBS, we are in the process of scheduling a negotiation with CBS sometime this fall. Obviously we will sit down and talk to them about the change in our league and how we believe that impacts the current relationship that we have in all of its aspects.”
Once this discussion with CBS concludes, further expansion seems unlikely. Furthermore, it is unlikely the SEC could expand beyond a team like Missouri or West Virginia before conclusion of the television talks.
Another reason against more expansion, The SEC and its television partners will want stability.
That is unless the SEC is able to land a team from North Carolina or Virginia. Those schools would provide new television markets in states without an SEC presence. The only other scenario I could see with the SEC expanding beyond 14 teams would be another Big 12 implosion that sent Oklahoma looking for a real conference. However, it appears unlikely Oklahoma would ever consider leaving Texas’ shadow. This means it is likely the SEC expands to 14 and then stays at 14 for some time—perhaps permanently.
What will a 14-team SEC look like?
The most likely scenario would be the plan floated in the Birmingham News—shifting Auburn to the SEC East. (Source)
The best way to visualize this divisional scenario is through this map from Mizzou2SEC.com.
Other plans floated on the Internet seem too convoluted. The SEC would likely prefer the simplicity of moving one team to the SEC East. This maintains the most continuity for the conference.
The longstanding rivalry games could be in jeopardy under this type of plan, but such is the price of signing billion dollar television deals. The league could always increase the number of conference games, but who really wants to play another SEC game? Such a move would almost certainly end great out-of-conference games that Alabama has played over the last few seasons—games like Penn State, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson and next year against Michigan.
Why Missouri and not (insert name of some super powerful football team)?
Missouri makes financial and academic sense.
Big markets mean more television dollars. More eyeballs appeal to the people at CBS and ESPN when television contracts are discussed.
Missouri would bring several good athletic programs along with good academics to the conference.
Fans who want a Miami should deal with a simple reality—nobody wants a tainted program like the Hurricanes. Fans who want FSU should consider this—what school would you rather play? A good Missouri program or a juggernaut FSU program?
Would you rather Missouri get a boost to its recruiting from being in the SEC? Or, would you rather FSU get the boost—and remember, FSU is already recruiting at an impressive level.
Fans should also think about other sports. Missouri brings many good programs to the table in sports as diverse as basketball and women’s softball. Missouri is a complete package. While other schools like FSU or another team close to the east coast are also good schools with good programs, it is hard to see a school with more positives.
Ultimately, the conference expansion drama could be drawing to a close at least for the SEC.
34 thoughts on “SEC Expansion: SEC likely to stop at 14 teams this fall”
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harvey updyke – ur a hero – thx for all u’ve done sorry for all the crap u r going through
mo cool for the east but au wants to go east which puts bama tn out of bizness – fight for mo in east – and we r good to go
and we get dorial green beckham and we r really good to go
tino says little bro will not outshine me this week
I just realized something. Vanderbilt is the furthest West which is why they put up such a stink.
East Division:
Alabama
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
South Carolina
Tennessee
West Division:
Arkansas
LSU
Mississippi State
Missouri
Ole Miss
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
There you go.
that would leave the west really, really underpowered. Auburn, tennessee, and georgia are not going ot stay bad. ole miss, miss st, and vanderbilt willl more likely remain doormats. talk about being nice to the new schools, come play in our lame division.
Bravo!
Moving Vandy to the West and Alabama and Auburn to the East solves more problems than it creates…
Tennessee’s permanent West opponent = Vandy
Tennessee still plays Alabama
Alabama still plays Auburn
Auburn still plays Georgia
And Auburn and Alabama can pick up new permanent West opponents in either A&M or Mizzou.
Put me down for a 9 game SEC schedule as well.
Think of this scenario – Alabama plays Aubarn AGAIN for the SEC Title — can you imagine the Iron Bowl and THEN a possible SEC Title game if the barner’s could ever achieve that beating out the teams in the new East? Now that’s crazy!
This is nothing personal Mizzou fans — but I JUST DON’T get why Mizzou?!? Just don’t see how it brings a lot to the table other than a new television market — it’s not like it’s a “hotbed” for recruiting — sure they have their blue chippers, but not like it is in the South South 😉
Any takes?
Some people just can’t get a grip, can’t read, can’t think and can’t reason. Alabama will never be in the East. So ya’ll can go back to smokin’ your dope or whatever gives you those hallucinations. RTR!
Bring on the tigers. If alabama and allbarn go east, that will be the toughest conference in the country. Then the SEC West will be the second toughest.
I’m sorry, but Missouri has no business being in the SEC. They bring absolutely NOTHING to the table. They’re a lower tier program in all sports. West Virginia would be a must better choice. Great academics, sports programs and traditions, not to mention the SEC East and West would stay as is with Texas a&m going to the West and WV in the East. Slive is killing the SEC!!!!
Are you out of your mind? Academics? Mizzou is an AAU charter member and ranks higher academically than 80% of the SEC. WVU isn’t even on the map academically. Mizzou’s football program has produced 40 wins in the last 4 years and their B-ball program would DOMINATE the SEC.
It seems that some from the SEC would dominate Mizzou at one thing: ignorance.
Well lets cove the athletics first, WVU has averages 10 wins for the past 6 years, and is 22-20-2 against the SEC in football. BCS bowl wins over Georgia and Ok. Plus the Basketball team has, a final four, 1 elite eight, 2 sweet sixteens in the past 6 years. womans basketball is a top 25 program, plus the means and womans soccer teams are ranked in the top 15. Not to mention we have 14 rifle national championships. As far as academics…WVU is designated as a Research University (High Research Activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.[49] Funding from external sources for total sponsored programs is $174 million.[7] WVU is affiliated with the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, dedicated to the study of Alzheimer’s and other diseases that affect the brain.[50] WVU is also a leader in biometric technology research and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s lead academic partner in biometrics research.[51] According to a survey by the Wall Street Journal, employers ranked West Virginia University in the top 45 and WVU’s Engineering program 23rd nationally for producing graduates best qualified to enter the workforce.[52][53]
OH, and we have 25 Rhodes Scholars which i believe would be in the top four of schools in the SEC.
O
ne prioblem is that MO is not a southern state!
Forgot to add that it’s all about the mother-f’n money!!!! SAD
bama lsu have to be in same division
b=most sense mizzou to east
west va is small time small market,,,,kick tam out and leave perfection alone
All I can say about all of this stuff is ‘there goes the neighborhood’!!
Just put Auburn in the East and let Bama keep Tennessee as the permanent rival.
Its a win for Auburn. They don’t have to take yearly beatdowns (by a strong Bama team) and also won’t have to to cheat as much to keep up.
Maybe it will knock off that permanent chip they have on their shoulder.
True story…Saturday night after the Arkansas game we are driving home and decide to see how close the Florida Atlantic Auburn score was. We heard the score and then the Auburn announcers decided to give the scores and updates (across the SEC) and the top 25. At this point the Bama/Ark game had been over at least an hour. They NEVER gave the Bama score. Talk about petty.
Oh, while they were sucking it up in the first half, they kept calling the lead ref by name (David Smith), who was a former UA quarterback. You know….just in case they needed and alibi for their pitiful performance.
2 loss (after week 3) juggernaut FSU and “tainted” Miami eh? The author needs to understand that the South’s two biggest TV draws want nothing to do with the mental midgets in the SEC. Miami increased its research intake by US$200M since joining the ACC and is up to #38 in the rankings. Any net revenue the SEC could to athletics provide is chump change esp after the ACC re-opens its TV deal adding NY and PA. Good luck with Mizzou tho.
Since everyone is DYING to watch the ACC game of the week!!!
Yeah, right. The ACC is about as relevant as Big 10 football. Nobody wants to watch that S**t.
Oh, good luck with Syracuse and Pitt. What a steal !!!
Looks like the retard awbys will do whatever it takes not to play big brother anymore. I bet they are lobbying for the series to end because thier egos cant take another loss to the mighty crimson tide! RTR!!
vandy to the west and bama and auburn to the east makes the west to weak and the east schedule will be brutal, tenn is on it’s way back maybe 1 or 2 years away and geogia want stay down. i;m a big vol fan but love watching the sec kick a$$ fo nat championship every year so we would want the conference to stay more level than vandy west scenerio. i don’t think that mizzou is a good fit however, i would rather pick up an eastern school so the division would stay the same. who could see a season without bama/tenn or bama/auburn, don’t think west virginia adds much either. i say we buy florida state, clemson, and virgina tech and go to 16 teams and be the first to do so cause that is where we are headed anyway. mizzou or wv would just dilude the greatest conference.
or we could let boise in for a year or 2 and make them diappear cause i don’t know about ya’ll but im sick of hearing about them
Hey Dead Fred you retarded dumbazz. who the hell is Fla St and Miami anyway? They both had a short lived upsurge right after the NCAA started scolly restrictions and now they’ve both gone back to hell. VT is the class of the ACC and they leave a lot to be desired. You dumbazzes have the footprint of the East Coast – the heaviest populated part of the country but lets just see how many people watch VT-Clemson compared to Alabama-Florida. Even with dumbazz ESPN hyping the Nebraska-Wisconsin game it still won’t have the ratings of the SEC game. What’s more Missouri’s academics make them a member of the Assoc. of American Universities – WVU is not. Missouri has a better Baseball and Basketball program than WVU. And I’d damn sure rather have the Kansas City, Columbia, St. Louis footprint than freaking Morgantown, Pittsburgh. not to mention that Missouri’s fans aren’t racist, inbred, alcoholic, hillbillies who throw beer bottles at fans and beatup pregnant women. If you think that was an isolated incident then go watch the movie “The Express”. WVU has had a reputation for the trashiest fans in the country for over 60 years. We already have 2 fan bases in the SEC with similar problems in Georgia and LSU. We don’t need anymore. And before anybody denies it, yes LSU threw bottles of piss at Bama fans in our own stadium and Georgia fans defecated and pissed in several campus buildings that were left unlocked during game time. Maybe we should send them to the Big east. RTR!
@ Crimsonite: Just for your information, the movie “The Express” is rife with historical inaccuracies. First of all, the scene in the movie to which you are referring, the one that depicts WVU fans as behaving terribly in Morgantown, WV during a 1959 game against Syracuse, never actually happened. In fact, WVU didn’t even play Syracuse in West Virginia that year; rather, the 1959 WVU-Syracuse game was played at Syracuse.
Secondly, there are absolutely no accounts from anyone associated with either WVU or Syracuse regarding any racist incidents from the 1959 game in Syracuse or the 1960 game in Morgantown. “The Express” may have been based on a true story, but it’s still just a movie – and is therefore subject to the gross exaggerations and outright lies perpetuated by Hollywood in order to sensationalize a story. It’s just upsetting to know that many people, including you, are either too stupid to understand the difference between reality and “movie reality” or are too lazy to find the facts.
The second division alignment map at the Mizzou2SEC site makes more sense. It adds Mizzou to the East, grouping them with Vandy, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.
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