In 2030 decide if you want to get bigger by seeing if the market will allow it.

If yes, pick two from the ACC

If not, make your plan for your next media rights deal. I'm assuming streaming will be all in on sports content. Split rights between traditional and streaming. [/align]

SCHEDULING
Schedule the following year-end rivalry weekend games:
Texas-A&M, LSU-Arkansas, Oklahoma-OSU, Missouri-Kansas.

Every school in the conference would have a rivalry game the last weekend. Probably schedule two of the in-conference rivalry games on each of Thursday (Thanksgiving) and Friday that weekend.


POST-SEASON BOWL CONTRACTS
Sign contracts with the Sugar, Cotton, Peach, and Orange Bowls and the B1G, PAC, ACC, B12, and G5.

The bowls rotate to host the following matchups:

1) Sugar or Orange: SEC champ versus highest-ranked between ACC or B12 champ.

2) Sugar or Orange: SEC runner up versus ACC or Big 12 champ that did not reach the defacto semifinal bowl

3) Peach or Cotton: SEC #3 versus B1G runner up

4) Peach or Cotton: SEC #4 versus PAC runner up or best G5 champ

CFP National Title Game becomes a Plus-One of the two winners from the Sugar/Orange and Rose Bowls.

(06-27-2022 03:52 PM)Tigerblud Wrote:  Get Florida State and Louisville

Louisville adds nothing.

Announce plans to leave the NCAA and invite the rest of the P5 to join.

(06-27-2022 04:06 PM)bigblueblindness Wrote:  I think 20 is as large as the SEC can go and still operate like a conference. Football would have to be 10 games with one permanent rival and rotate 9 every other year. Basketball could do one permanent home-home rival and alternate everyone else home/away each year. I don't see them making such a jump until it makes financial and logistical sense, which I would think needs to wait for the ACC media rights deal to end a bit over a decade from now.

A lot can happen and change in that amount of time, so I would prioritize the four new members in this way.

1. Earth-shaking discontent about something knocks loose Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, and/or Penn St. Those are your four in the apocalypse scenario.

2. Whichever of UVA/VT or NCST/UNC shakes out as the most valuable at that time. I doubt there is a compelling reason to take two from the same state if the goal is to lock the gate and throw away the key at 20.

3. The most valuable remaining, available school(s) at the time not in the PAC, most likely from the ACC or a herculean rise from Kansas. In a world that was just about best fit, it would be FSU and Clemson, so they get the tiebreaker.

Actually, four divisions of 6 is still workable. You just have to make the divisions account for annual rivalries.

So, why bring up 24? Because the SEC's next move would not be offensive, meaning more football powers, but rather defensive. The SEC would cut off Big 10 access to the Deep South by (1) taking the schools which could give the Big Ten access which (2) also covers the SEC's main deficit. The likeliest move would be into 3 new states with 4 AAU schools, 3 of which are national brands in basketball. Kansas, Duke, North Carolina and Virginia.

Take those 4 and Southeastern and Southwestern branding is protected from the intrusion of another major brand. In 1990-2 the first such defensive plan was formulated by SEC presidents and Kramer. Now protecting Oklahoma and Texas (the states) will be in order for the SEC and ESPN. And this way of thinking is a real thing. Brand Protection was a big deal in '90-92. It's a much bigger issue now. The paranoia of power almost compels the moves whether now or in 14 years.

What does this accomplish?
1. It closes the acceptable targets and pathway to the Big 10 and FOX.
2. Duke, UNC, UVa and Kansas get a nice payday at SEC pro rata.
3. It creates massive synergy for ESPN's winter lineup when you can see the nation's all time win leaders in hoops playing each other and stalwarts like Oklahoma, Texas, A&M, Tennessee, Florida and other rising SEC programs.
4. It incentivizes breakaway and full monetization of basketball.
5. It frees ESPN to use the football first schools in the B12 and ACC to build a better and more valuable P conference.
6. It provides plenty of scheduling options for an independent Notre Dame and possibly an independent U.S.C.
7. With all of those in place it becomes a lure for the schools BigBlueBlindness suggests. Yes, if you cut off B1G expansion Southward, you ratchet up pressure on the 100k stadia crowd in the B1G.

Is 1-6 likely? Yes. Money makes it so.

Is 7 likely? No. But it enters the realm of possibility.

(06-27-2022 04:08 PM)PeteTheChop Wrote:  

(06-27-2022 03:34 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  My answer to this question is Florida St, Clemson, UNC, and Duke.

20 is a nice even number and this move solidifies the South as SEC territory for television and gives basketball a giant boost.

My follow up move for the ACC would be WVU, Cincinnati, USF, and UCF to restock. Granted, there’s a decent chance that the Big 10 comes in and takes ND and maybe more.

Reality is we're just one move by either the B1G or S-E-C from the ACC as we know it breaking apart and two true super-conferences widening the gap much further:

B1G possibilities: Duke, KU, Mizzou, Notre Dame, UNC, UVA

SEC possibilities: Clemson, FSU, Ga Tech, NC State, Virginia Tech

Don't think Miami is getting in either conference for all of the well-chronicled reasons — and that was even prior to what we're seeing with NIL which is quickly making the Canes (even more of) a pariah to university administrators and athletic directors across the country.

What exactly is Miami doing with NIL that would make them a pariah? They just agreed to pay a high school QB $9.5 million to play for them. He also had an offer from Florida that would have paid him $11 million. Tell me again, which one is the pariah? What is Miami doing that is any different from what countless other P5 programs are doing?

Miami might not be a good fit for the SEC, but it's for reasons besides NIL.

(06-27-2022 04:47 PM)ColKurtz Wrote:  Whatever it is, better do it before the new TV contract. After that, everyone not located in South Bend is almost certainly priced out, even FSU and Clemson. No one else will be able to generate the $80-100M/yr just to break even.

The mouths to feed argument is legit. The conference will not expand to loose money.

But the contention that FSU and Clemson cannot generate $80 -100M is incorrect, not because these two schools are worth that much, but because the SEC could be worth $200M more with them.

Realize the SEC would then be able to claim 11 traditional football powers and about another half dozen quality teams, which includes every national champion in forever not named OSU or USC. Look at it this way, we would not just adding Liverpool and Chelsea, we are becoming Its not he SEC would be the premiere league. The whole would be worth more than its parts.

Stand pat.

(06-27-2022 04:56 PM)PeteTheChop Wrote:  

(06-27-2022 04:06 PM)bigblueblindness Wrote:  1. Earth-shaking discontent about something knocks loose Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, and/or Penn St. Those are your four in the apocalypse scenario.

Why on planet earth — shaking on its axis or not — would those schools join the Southeastern Conference???

They'll make as much (likely more) money in the B1G, so let's throw that out.

Why would those four schools in the Midwest/Mid-Atlantic region join a conference whose geographic center is probably somewhere between Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee?

The BIG poked this type of a beast during 2020 with the lack of leadership to quickly relent instead of exhausting all options to find a way to play. Warren eventually got out of it, but it was a small example of how quickly things can go awry. It definitely had Ohio State's ears perked. In 10 years, the SEC will have at least five top 50 academic schools (UT, TAMU. Vandy, UGA, UF), that many more in the top 100, and, hopefully, a maintained commitment to going to the floor for what's best for their conference members. Yes, it looks different in many ways than the BIG as a whole and most of its individual members. However, a blind taste test would be in the same neighborhood as most SEC schools when it comes to Ohio State and Penn State. Again, highly unlikely, but I put it in there as a compliment to those schools.

By the way, I know it was a passing statement, but having Nashville as the coincidental center of your conference is pretty darn good! That region is on fire right now.

(06-27-2022 07:39 PM)ken d Wrote:  What exactly is Miami doing with NIL that would make them a pariah? They just agreed to pay a high school QB $9.5 million to play for them. He also had an offer from Florida that would have paid him $11 million. Tell me again, which one is the pariah? What is Miami doing that is any different from what countless other P5 programs are doing?

Won't get into a discussion on whether those dollar figures are legit, preposterous or somewhere in between, but the issue for Miami is two-fold:

1) Before NIL was a thing, Miami already was an awkward (at best) fit for the SEC for the reasons mentioned earlier in this thread as well as the relatively unique (and mostly "non-Southern") culture of SoFla.

2) Then mix in — deserved or not — Miami's "renegade" reputation from its glory days and the emergence of mega-booster John Ruiz, who has suddenly become a household name in College Football (and Basketball) circles because of his very public role in NIL as it pertains to The U. The last thing a borderline expansion candidate needs is another red flag or black mark for those conference and school administrators who must sign off on any expansion. When the feckless NCAA sends someone to Miami to meet with Ruiz two weeks ago its pretty obvious those folks in Indianapolis are responding to complaints and allegations from member schools ... and certainly some from the SEC due to the overlap in where the Canes and those schools recruit.

I would go for Duke UNC if I'm the SEC. I think that's way more valuable than FSU Clemson. Honestly, that's the reason why the ACC is currently so impenetrable; it's because they have those strategic counterweights to balance things out. The SEC can lure any of them with money alone, but the ACC does have that whole greater than the sum of parts thing going on so long as they keep those key cogs turning.

Nonetheless, it would be prudent for the SEC to work closely with the B1G to divvy that baby up, but I think the B1G has a slight edge in the pecking order and will be able to dictate a bit more.

(06-27-2022 08:39 PM)RUScarlets Wrote:  I would go for Duke UNC if I'm the SEC. I think that's way more valuable than FSU Clemson. Honestly, that's the reason why the ACC is currently so impenetrable; it's because they have those strategic counterweights to balance things out. The SEC can lure any of them with money alone, but the ACC does have that whole greater than the sum of parts thing going on so long as they keep those key cogs turning.

Nonetheless, it would be prudent for the SEC to work closely with the B1G to divvy that baby up, but I think the B1G has a slight edge in the pecking order and will be able to dictate a bit more.

The SEC did work closely with Delany. Warren blew that up short shrift. The SEC doesn't need any cooperation from the Big 10, just ESPN. And you have no advantage in the pecking order. We make more total revenue and did so before adding UT and OU. We have more viewers, we have more compatible sports offerings in closer proximity, and we win. And the culture for alums is much closer than that of the B1G. But good luck to you!

B- 10 can have Kansas & Duke

Follow up question: If North Carolina says to the SEC they'll join only if Duke comes along, do you take both or neither?

No conference is going to move beyond 16 until that can be proven to be a workable number.

The SEC had a great windfall when Oklahoma and Texas asked to join, but it's going to be a monumental task even for a conference as great and powerful as the SEC. They're not trying to fold in little guys like South Carolina and Arkansas or a willing wannabe refugee like A&M, but two iconic programs that are both top 10 in everything college football including......money.
It will take the better part of a decade before the SEC would be in a position to take on any more partners.

So the answer to the OP is; digest what you have acquired and plan for the future, but no possibility of additional "moves" until the mid-thirties if at all.

(06-27-2022 08:38 PM)PeteTheChop Wrote:  

(06-27-2022 07:39 PM)ken d Wrote:  What exactly is Miami doing with NIL that would make them a pariah? They just agreed to pay a high school QB $9.5 million to play for them. He also had an offer from Florida that would have paid him $11 million. Tell me again, which one is the pariah? What is Miami doing that is any different from what countless other P5 programs are doing?

Won't get into a discussion on whether those dollar figures are legit, preposterous or somewhere in between, but the issue for Miami is two-fold:

1) Before NIL was a thing, Miami already was an awkward (at best) fit for the SEC for the reasons mentioned earlier in this thread as well as the relatively unique (and mostly "non-Southern") culture of SoFla.

2) Then mix in — deserved or not — Miami's "renegade" reputation from its glory days and the emergence of mega-booster John Ruiz, who has suddenly become a household name in College Football (and Basketball) circles because of his very public role in NIL as it pertains to The U. The last thing a borderline expansion candidate needs is another red flag or black mark for those conference and school administrators who must sign off on any expansion. When the feckless NCAA sends someone to Miami to meet with Ruiz two weeks ago its pretty obvious those folks in Indianapolis are responding to complaints and allegations from member schools ... and certainly some from the SEC due to the overlap in where the Canes and those schools recruit.

If they are a pariah for past reputation, that's one thing. But if it's for NIL they will have to join a large and growing list of schools. At this point it would be hard to say with any certainty what P5 schools are not using NIL to buy players, whether high schoolers or transfers.

(06-28-2022 04:49 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Follow up question: If North Carolina says to the SEC they'll join only if Duke comes along, do you take both or neither?

Slive answered that question in 2011. Yes.

To Pete the Chop, The SEC has no ill will towards Miami. Both sides recognize a culture difference but it's no longer 1960, or 1980, and geography will only become more important.

To XLance, it's not about sports. There's nothing to digest and nothing magical or damning about 16. Every demographic, cultural, and economic indicator says all of this is about surviving and adapting to the passing of Boomers and a low birthrate among their middle class children and grandchildren. Add that reality to a major shift away from small and private business, corporatization, a lousy ROI in humanities studies, and solid trend to specialized technical skills, and the fact that it usually takes immigrants 3 generations to produce college students (less for Asians) and what we are witnessing in the guise of sports realignment is a dash to survive and and massive downsize in higher education so the iconic touchstones of higher education can thrive past 2035.

If was only about sports Texas would never have left the Big 12 and Oklahoma would still be there as well. I covered all of the reasons which I could think of for Texas to leave in a thread on the SEC forum, "What if Texas..." There are sports reasons for the move, but they pale compared to the brand protection. UNC, Duke, UVa and some others will all move for the same reasons and the longer they wait the less leverage they will have because you don't have ND numbers, or even USC numbers. This only seems to be about sports revenue. Look around and then tell me with a straight face that we live in normal times. I'd say that this is the most uncertain time of my life and I went through "Duck, and Cover!"

I’ll repeat my apparently minority opinion: absolutely and positively nothing whatsoever. The SEC won the realignment game. Every single possible expansion (even one involving UNC) would pale in comparison to what the SEC just achieved. Any further expansion would be like comparing the original Star Wars trilogy to the prequels: they should have just stopped with the original trilogy. I continue to not understand the the thought of expanding with schools that WILL be less valuable than the ones that the SEC just added (as Texas is the single most valuable school in the country next to Notre Dame) outside of fans’ collective desire to dream about Armageddon scenarios.

(06-28-2022 12:07 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I’ll repeat my apparently minority opinion: absolutely and positively nothing whatsoever. The SEC won the realignment game. Every single possible expansion (even one involving UNC) would pale in comparison to what the SEC just achieved. Any further expansion would be like comparing the original Star Wars trilogy to the prequels: they should have just stopped with the original trilogy. I continue to not understand the the thought of expanding with schools that WILL be less valuable than the ones that the SEC just added (as Texas is the single most valuable school in the country next to Notre Dame) outside of fans’ collective desire to dream about Armageddon scenarios.

Frank, if this was just about sports and realignment I would agree. It's not. You remain homed in on the sports business aspect, and it dictates your position. If it was simply about sports business Texas would still be in the Big 12 with Oklahoma. They aren't going to be. There are a panorama of paradigm shifts outside of sports driving what we are witnessing. Those issues indicate reasons beyond profit for continued movement.

Further to my last point, there is a long list of people that are willing to throw $3 billion-plus each to the NFL for expansion franchises and there are team-less markets that would sell out every game. Yet, the NFL doesn’t want anything to do with expansion. The point is NOT to get bigger just for the sake of getting bigger. It’s about maximizing per team revenue and they’ve reach the size and scope where any additional teams would reduce per team revenue.

The SEC just added the college equivalent of the NFL suddenly adding the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers that they didn’t have before. I know there’s a contingent here that just wants to see all of these leagues blow up, but I think the reaction is instead what we’ve seen from the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC for the past year: complete and utter paralysis. Unless Notre Dame decides to drop independence, get ready for at least those 4 power leagues to have the same lineup for a long time.