SAT Conference should have its own football concept
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HOOVER, Ala. - It ain't easy, being a Vanderbilt Commodore. Or, for that matter, a Wake Forest Demon Deacon. Or, a member of the Tulane Green Wave.
Not if you're playing football.
Basketball? Kevin Stallings has made the Commodores a respectable SEC squad. Plenty of tradition in Nashville. Tim Duncan played college ball at Wake Forest before becoming an NBA champion in San Antonio.
Baseball? Tulane's got you covered. Went back to the College World Series in the spring, but happened to lay an egg when they got there. Vandy usually wins plenty of games on the diamond. But football? Well, it's been tough sledding for Vanderbilt, Baylor and the like.
Real tough.
Private schools trying to compete against schools with the resources available at LSU, Florida and Tennessee.
Vandy hasn't played in a bowl game since Ronald Reagan's first term in the White House.
All of which got three of us thinking during the recent SEC Media Tour - the too-much-free-time-on-our-hands trio of Mark Wiedmer of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal's Ron "Mad Dog" Higgins and my own self - that something should be done about it.
Make it a level playing field. Let Vandy pick on somebody its own size. Give Wake Forest and Duke a shot. Put Tulane, Northwestern and Baylor in its own league - for football only, mind you.
The SAT Conference was born. Higgins' noggin, to say the least, was working overtime. Wiedmer and yours truly quickly jumped on board.
Put Vanderbilt, Baylor, Tulane and Wake in the league's Southern Division.
Throw Northwestern, Army, Navy and Duke in the Northern Division. (Dookies the world over would appreciate the New York City shopping on a road trip to West Point.)
Play the SAT Conference championship game in the Yale Bowl.
This idea has possibilities.
The NCAA dropped the hammer on the 500- and 600-page media guides put out by the likes of Texas, Florida and LSU. They limited them to 208 pages for the 2005 season, which is actually more than Vanderbilt's press guide this year.
Under the SAT Conference logo, give the world a dose of reality with the slogan, "We don't need no stinkin' APR."
The Academic Performance Rate doesn't apply at prestigious academic institutions like Vanderbilt and Northwestern. These guys have been solving logarithms since they were in knee pants.
This concept might have a shot.
Alex Trebek is the obvious choice for commissioner. If the score as tied after regulation, bag the overtime and send the respective captains out to midfield for a lightning round. No one gets to major in public recreation, general studies or public drunkenness.
Wiedmer was so impressed with the boredom-addled brainstorm that he actually broached the idea with Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler.
Cutler just likes the idea of playing at Neyland Stadium, The Swamp and Death Valley.
A tussle with Tulane in front of 15,000 fans in the vast Louisiana Superdome isn't going to cut it.
"You come here to play with the best," Cutler said. "I'd rather lose every game here than play in a weak league."
Vandy's coach, Bobby Johnson, agrees.
"We're in a conference with a lot of sports, and we're very competitive in basketball, baseball, tennis, golf," he said. "I don't listen to people (who think Vanderbilt doesn't belong in the SEC), to tell you the truth. It shows they really don't know what they're talking about.
"Vanderbilt has a lot to sell to the prospective student-athlete."
Maybe, but the SAT Conference still offers some intrigue. Now, I know what you're thinking. If Vanderbilt splits the SEC during football season, the league would have 11 teams instead of 12. Somebody's got to make it an even number.
Two words:
Notre Dame.
Link: <a href='http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/sports/colleges/12334163.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/spo...es/12334163.htm</a>
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SAT Conference should have its own football concep
