I actually would love to see VT replace Vandy in the SEC. I love my trip to Nashville every other year, but the quality of ball at VT is much better. What the ACC is missing in its expansion quest is the passion of the fans and proximity of members. In Boston, no one cares about BC. It is a pro sports town. How many ACC schools (with the exception of FSU and Clemson) can even fill up their home stadium, much less travel to Boston or Syracuse. The will completely miss the boat on VT.

Although it will never happen, I would not mind terribly if Clemson were in the league. Although I think that their 'tradition' is somewhat overblown by having played in the ACC w/o FSU for many years and they have stumbled ever since they entered, their fans are passionate about football. Their facilities are much more aligned with an SEC type school than the high school mentality towards football that some of the ACC schools have.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a Clemson fan, but I would really like it if SC and CU could into our season finale with a top ten ranking on the line every year.

Lots of neat ideas here, some others with a little less merit. Safe to assume NCSt won't be leaving the ACC. And I don't see Clemson and/or Louisville being invited for the sake of 1) no new TV markets and 2) their existing SEC rivals don't need or want them intruding on their turf.

And while VT would be a great fit for the SEC, I question whether or not their renewed committment to the BE (in order to try and keep Miami, et al.) has locked them into something they may regret. Can't say I'd blame them even if they did leave, though.

With all these discussions about conference realignment, one theme has been alluded to but never really pinned down; the idea of these conferences actually cooperating! (If someone did mention it and I missed it, my apologies)

Granted, this may actually work out to collusion, given all the $ involved. However, if certain versions of super-conferences are indeed the way to go for the financial health of all involved, than it seems that somebody should lead a formal discussion among more than just one, two or three conferences.

What are the chances that the SEC approaches the ACC about a move by Vandy? (Current ACC expansion plans excluded, here) Few would argue that it's a better fit, and apart from the few rivalries which could be preserved out of conference, this seems quite logical. I'm sure there are similar ideas for western conferences, and you can see the consequences of one conference (BE) not having pro-active discussions about this. I wonder if there has ever been formal discusson about such issues among people with actual powers to make things happen. Perhaps the SEC should lead the oft-rumored charge towards 4-6 mega-conferences.


As for my personal grand designs, I'd love to see VT, USF and ECU added to the SEC, with Vandy, Louisville and Miami added to the ACC. Lets stoke that conference rivalry a little more, shall we!

Hmm, that could be a good backup plan for the ACC about approaching Vandy, especially if Syracuse should turn down the invitation. No question Vanderbilt feels very out of place in the SEC and would love to get out, given the right circumstances. This move would also allow the ACC to go to 12 as well. hmm. 8-)

I concur with Arbitrage97 about the booting talk. The BE voting out Temple was a factor in the appearance of the BE being vulnerable (along with this associations for only particular sports). If booting becomes a norm, conferences start to lose their stability and bonding. Rather than booting, conferences could focus on attainable and reasonable standards for their members to meet (attendance, scholarships, and facilities). If won/loss records were the primary factor, shifts would be going on all the time.
While Temple had its problems, they really were not much out of line with the others in the easternsector of the BE, and they play football at the Vet and Franklin Field. A replacement was selected for them in UConn, who at the time, had not moved yet to 1-A. Further, Temple was the one BE school not playing BE basketball. Though some don't like Cheyney's BB program, Temple has been prominent in the sport.
In the SEC, Vandy, MSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Kentucky somewhat, do not have the stadium sizes or the quanity of football fans drawn by LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn. (As for South Carolina, they can match the latter in fan support). To suggest that any of the former be booted to make room for a big Texas state school or Oklahoma is a scenario that could be made with the Big 10 or PAC 10 as well. It could work the other way, one could advocate for the Big 12 to boot Baylor and Iowa State and take LSU and Arkansas (oh! the Southeast media markets). The scenarios can be extensive and quite ridiculous.
Vanderbilt is one of two SEC schools that have not been under scrtiny recently for rules infraction. Also, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Alabama have strong traditions in playing them. Maybe Georgia would rather play Clemson instead, but not so sure about that.

Hey got an idea add Virginia Tech and West Virginia in the East, then add Texas and Texas A&M to the west make it a Super Conference of 16.

_________________
The Bear may be dead but he still hates Tennessee. Roll Damn Tide

I don't think this move is necessarily gonna happen. Even if it does, its a ways off.

The Big 12 is pretty stable and Texas is making good money. I think Big 12 football is the best product out there for pure viewing pleasure. Their title games, even if they are blow outs, are usually very entertatining, and most have been nail-biter classics. Definitely a better product in most cases than the SEC title game, even though the latter makes more money.

But there is so much money to be made, and there are some folks in the SEC who are already prepared to expand and/or contract. Either way, that'd create at least two spots for Texas and Texas A&M, and with the kind of money they could make by brining them in, there will be some pressure to make it happen. Not necessarily a good thing for football, but definitely a money-maker.

If the SEC really did go to 14, with so many mouths to feed, it would HAVE to be for the Texas teams. There's not enough money in going to 14 for Va Tech, even though they'd be a nice addition. If they trim down to 10, that means they're willing to boot some people, and even if it's not actually on the table, the media will be talking about when the SEC will go back to 12 and who they will invite.

Combining SEC and Texas football fanaticism with Texas tv markets would equal unheard of amounts of money. The gate (if there's enough room) would go up at nearly all of the games. SEC West attendance would probably improve with nothing but big games on the schedule, and in the East appearances by USC would be replaced by Auburn and Bama. The title game itself, already a top earner, would climb even higher, with a major Texas team or Oklahoma being the odds-on favorite to play for the West in the title game every year against the likes of UGA, UF, or UT. More importantly, the SEC could EASILY lock down an additional BCS (or whatever they call it then) bid. Hell, they'd probably deserve 3.

Taken altogether, that's a higher order of money-making than anything we currently see. The only thing in that ball park would be the Big 11 if they pulled in Notre Dame. As a nice bonus, there'd be better basketball money too. UK or UF vs. Texas or Oklahoma would be quite a draw. And they'd add two more bids to the NCAA tourney most likely.

With that kind of money at stake, then new arrivals like USC and relatively small schools with NCAA problems like Miss St. could be on the chopping block.

I very seriously doubt of the SEC booting schools out. I could be wrong when the SEC first expanded Texas,Texas A&M,FSU and Miami was on there wish list.Bobby bowden told his school no way because they couldn't win the SEC year in and year out nowadays it could be different.

_________________
The Bear may be dead but he still hates Tennessee. Roll Damn Tide

The SEC will NEVER force Vandy out. NEVER. They are a charter member and by far the best academic school in the conference. Also, the SEC is full of middle fingers to give out to Sewanee, Georgia Tech, & Tulane for leaving. Keeping Vandy in says that the SEC is loyal to those who are loyal to them. VANDY STAYS.

About Clemson, forget it--they don't give the SEC anything they don't already have. What the SEC doesn't have that it probably wants are a) a Texas market, b) a Virginia market, c) a North Carolina market, and d) another Florida market. If the SEC is to go to 16, they should fill those four needs.

Texas, Texas A&M, and TCU could all bring in more $$$ than the avg SEC team (TCU is a maybe).

Virginia Tech would bring in more $$$ than the avg SEC team, given that it was in the SEC.

Central Florida or South Florida within 5 years would be one of the biggest moneymakers in the SEC.

North Carolina is a tricky state. There's Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, & UNC, along with East Carolina. North Carolina State is the only one who could definitely make the SEC lots of $$$, but ECU is the only one who would definitely accept an invitation.

Apart from the two big Texas teams and Oklahoma (I think they'd come if their conference fell apart), I think Va Tech is the only other squad the SEC should try to snag.

They're a power program--not yet a top 5 program like OK, FSU, (who may be falling off) Miami, etc., since they haven't won any huge games (beat FSU or Miami during a top 5 year and then they've arrived), but they certainly have that potential. Right now they're more like a Kansas State, they can beat lesser top 10 teams convincingly and they can expose a top 5 team that's overrated. They're a couple of big wins away from being a perennial power, but they're definitely a very strong 10-15 team every year, sometimes a bit higher.

Apart from another quality football team and great fan support, Tech would bring a new state and a portion of the DC metro market into the SEC, something they've never really had. And they'd travel like crazy to every game. I think they could win the SEC East this year. And they wouldn't pose a threat to anyone's recruiting inthe SEC...except maybe fighting for one or two guys with UF and/or USC.

Update on SEC expansion:

I saw on Techsideline.com there was some discussion about the president of Tennessee going to bring up the issue of expansion at the SEC conference meetings in Destin, Florida. At first, I thought it was just a rumor like all the other Hokie fans said it was, but a little discovery I made the other day told me this was not the case, and it is indeed true that the UT president will bring up expansion in Destin.

I was checking Rivals.com's main page, when I saw an interesting article on Frank Beamer. It was a premium content article which I technically did not have access to (I do not have Rivals.com premium membership in my name), but was able to access this article using a friend's name & password that he let me use to read premium membership articles (no joke!!). The article talked a lot about Frank Beamer, but near the bottom of the article, there was a small blurb about the rumor of the UT president bringing up expansion. I cannot give a link to this article because it is Rivals.com premium content, but I can tell you that the rumor looks to be true.

Ok, from talks I've had with Horn fans over on www.hornfans.com, I gather there is zero interest in joining the SEC. Remember the academics argument? It definitely plays a role here. Also, TAMU is big into academics also, apparently, according to what one Ag told me. Think of UT & TAMU like UNC & NC State. Very big into academics.
Also, I have my doubts about the Big 12 pursuing Arkansas, should they lose anyone. Texas & TAMU won't play Arkansas right now, because both claim they would have everything to lose & nothing to gain from it, plus they would give Arkansas some serious inroads into Texas recruiting. ::) (Arkansas already recruits in Texas) If Big 12 can pick between a BYU & an Arkansas, it will go for the BYU, because BYU recruits California heavily, whereas Arkansas recruits Texas heavily. Recruiting is very big in the Big 12. UT & TAMU fans also believe that Arkansas has subpar academics. ::)

DNDF, Texas & Arkansas are scheduled to play September 13 in Austin--don't know how long their contract is. True, BYU would be a better choice, but Arkansas shouldn't be ruled out--they were in the same conference as the Texas schools for 77 years.

Besides, I think most of us are blowing this academics thing out of proportion. These are athletic conferences, not academic conferences. Does Vanderbilt hate being in the SEC with Mississippi State? No--money is the alpha and the omega. At this point in time, BYU will make the Big XII more $$$ than will Arkansas.

An echo from one of my BE/ACC posts -

While no one expects Vandy to be booted out, do you suppose the conference and the school would be open to a move if proposed to and agreed upon by all parties in one action?

If the ACC is still gunning for 12 but does not get BC and/or Cuse, I assume the conference would still prefer to attract a small/private school. Details aside, does it seem unreasonable to work with everyone to arrange a "swap" - Vandy to the ACC, VT to the SEC?

Until this thing is finalized, I'm just exploring options.

gunnerfan, see my ACC Expansion: Take 2, post on the ACC/BE boards. :) There is your answer. ;D