(05-07-2015 10:22 AM)Lou_C Wrote:  

(05-07-2015 09:51 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(05-06-2015 05:16 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(05-06-2015 08:17 AM)ren.hoek Wrote:  

(05-05-2015 11:50 PM)JRsec Wrote:  I agreed with your view of N.D.'s relationship. And I was merely stating that should Texas or Oklahoma choose to leave it would be better for the remainder of the schools if they did it sooner and used their weight to leverage some of them a new home as well. The irony is that the closer they get to the end of the GOR the more precarious it becomes for the non brands. So essentially we assess their situation similarly. If one of the top two brands leaves, particularly Texas, it's over. I merely added that sooner would actually be better for the rest than later would be.

here's how it could work...

The ACC takes 6 from the Big12: Texas, TCU, Baylor, OSU, KState and WVU. ND keeps its 5 game deal with the ACC. The 5 team pods work out very neatly and logically. The ACC's footprint is monstrous and the ACCN will be a rou$ing success.

The SEC takes OU and KU, two highly desirable schools in two new states to the SEC. Basketball improves a good bit with this move.

New ACC-SEC matchups - Texas - aTm, KU-KSU, OU-OSU.

That is 8 schools, enough to dissolve the conference. Sorry TTech and ISU.

I could live with that.

Another way to get 8 schools for dissolution:

Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor and TCU to the ACC for a total of 18 teams.

Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Kansas and West Virginia to the SEC (18 also).

Now there are no schools left that the Big Ten would be interested in. The ACC has shored up its football cred, while the SEC significantly improves in hoops. Combined they have all the major programs in Texas, while the SEC adds Oklahoma, Kansas and West Virginia to its footprint. ESPN is happy. The Big Ten is sad.

Love that plan...then you add a round of conference semi-finals on home fields featuring division champs (3 divisions of 6) + a wild card.

You play 5 in your division every year, and 3 of the other 12. That is already an improvement (2x every 8 years) over how often the ACC/SEC sees cross division opponents now (2x every 12 years), BUT you could drop the home+home in consecutive years requirement, and cycle through all opponents in a four year career.

The thing is...that slate for the SEC, if you're an SEC fan, is mighty underwhelming and doesn't add a huge amount of population footprint...I'm guessing you might have to flip OU and OSU, although that ruins one of the main attractions, getting Texas-ATM going again last game of the year. If TX-OU becomes a non-conference game, any Texas-ATM game is going be occasional at best, like Clemson-UGA.

But that would be brilliant.

My thinking here is that the SEC doesn't need any more powerhouse programs. They have plenty already. By adding respectable but not dominant programs, you still allow the Alabamas of the league to pile up 11-12 win seasons and qualify for the CFP. As for footprint, the only avenue for the SEC to improve significantly here is to poach one NC and one VA school from the ACC. Since ESPN already controls all these properties, there is nothing in it for them. Between the two leagues they have all the footprint they're going to get.