Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

[untrugby]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

I was actually thinking that before. That ESPN's coverage of this cannot be unbiased, because they have a vested interest in A&M staying in the Big XII.

i agree i read the espn article and they made it seem like the SEC said no and it wasnt going to happen until some time in the distant future, next year at the earliest. The i read the other articles and they made it clear that not right now means not this week and that it still was going to happen in 3 weeks or so. and just reading the comments on the story it seems like everyone else got just as confused. Im starting to see the problem with ESPN becoming so big, they definitely seem to be holding back some stories. Fox, yahoo and even orangebloods seem to be routinely scooping them now.

[Bondgirl0072]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

i agree i read the espn article and they made it seem like the SEC said no and it wasnt going to happen until some time in the distant future, next year at the earliest. The i read the other articles and they made it clear that not right now means not this week and that it still was going to happen in 3 weeks or so. and just reading the comments on the story it seems like everyone else got just as confused. Im starting to see the problem with ESPN becoming so big, they definitely seem to be holding back some stories. Fox, yahoo and even orangebloods seem to be routinely scooping them now.

Yahoo never holds back when they report on sports stories.

[tHurley2010]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

The SEC could face potential lawsuits if they appeared to be poaching a team from the Big XII. It has to look like Aggie is courting the SEC, not the other way around, otherwise the Big XII could sue the SEC much like the Big East did when the ACC raided them. Legalities take a while, but this move is still more than likely going to happen.

The deal ESPN has with the Big XII, oddly enough, becomes void should the conference fall below 10 teams.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

The SEC could face potential lawsuits if they appeared to be poaching a team from the Big XII. It has to look like Aggie is courting the SEC, not the other way around, otherwise the Big XII could sue the SEC much like the Big East did when the ACC raided them. Legalities take a while, but this move is still more than likely going to happen.

The deal ESPN has with the Big XII, oddly enough, becomes void should the conference fall below 10 teams.

Big XII deal becomes void, they have to pay the SEC more money, and A weakening or dissolving Big XII has serious repercussions on the massive investment ESPN is sinking into the Longhorn network.

[Redacted01]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

Big XII deal becomes void, they have to pay the SEC more money, and A weakening or dissolving Big XII has serious repercussions on the massive investment ESPN is sinking into the Longhorn network.

A larger SEC payout - Big 12 deal (don't know why everyone puts XII, it has nothing to do with the name) is less money than a 12-team SEC deal + Big 12 deal. I doubt the Longhorn network is hurt at all, no matter where Texas is. They could join the Sun Belt and it's still Texas.

[ZB9]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

Wish they cited some 80's/90's info as to why Texas is a conference killer. Too many people I don't think even know a SWC existed and why it died. SMU's death penalty helped it along, but it certainly wasn't the big reason.

surely it had to be Texas' fault somehow right, everything is lol

[TDenverFan]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

The big 12 commissioner said the remaining 9 teams are fully committed to the Big 12... Didn't he say the same thing when there were 10 teams left?

[KSUowls]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

So do you think that South Carolina and Arkansas should just leave the SEC? I mean, they weren't there in the conference since the Second World War, so they have no business because they don't have any rivalries, right? Yeah, that's a bit extreme, but times do change. What I'm saying is that if you want your product to be televised and watched by a majority of Saturday viewers, you have to keep the product fresh.

If all you get is the same eight teams per year, it's going to get real boring, really fast. And while people who are part of Georgia would love to see their rivals year in and year out, it doesn't provide other viewers with the best football. People who normally root for other teams will watch New England play Pittsburgh or Dallas play Green Bay. It's not as likely people will care if the Patriots play the Jaguars or the Packers against the Lions. The same goes for SEC football.

The Razorbacks had zero rivalries with SEC teams when they came in. Now, they have two and have the potential for more. With time comes new rivalries, and I'm sure that when the SEC does expand, there will be more teams to hate. Don't give up on great football week in and week out just because you're afraid of change.

As for the news about the SEC and Texas A&M; that's why I always said "if" they join. I still think it's going to happen, they just have to find the 14th team.

I know you admitted it was extreme, but when Arkansas/South Carolina joined the SEC like 20 years ago they didn't do anything to screw up the tradition already in place, whereas the 4 team divisions would make the SEC a league of 16 loosely affiliated teams with the same brand on their jersey playing for the same championship. That scheduling variety would be fun, but it doesn't necessarily bring what is, imo, the most exciting part of college football (passion). I mean why does someone like me, who has never even been to either state, bother tuning in to something like the red-river shootout?

Also, it wouldn't be the same schedule every year. 8 teams per division means each team will have 7 divisional games. I would imagine at that point they would go from 8 conference games per year to 9 leaving 2 rotating teams every year which is the same set up that the SEC currently has with 6 teams per division (5 divisional conference games + 1 protected rivalry leaves just 2 rotating games every year).

I'm not saying that rivalries can't develop, but they take time and they have a long way to go to reach the 100 year histories that many of the current SEC rivalries have now. Regardless of that fact though Arkansas developed these rivalries in the SEC by playing Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, and Miss St every season for the last 20 years. In the 4 division layout the only teams Arkansas has a chance at developing a rivalry with are Texas A&M, LSU, and Mizzou (current history between any of those matchups notwithstanding) because they are the only 3 teams Arkansas will ever see on a consistent basis. I could agree with you that the scheduling variety would be fun, except for those reasons mentioned earlier in this post, but this format is not one that has much hope of leading towards a bunch of new rivalries.

[legendkiller5]

Go Independent maybe.

...A&M...go independent...?


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- Sent from Tapatalk using my iPad

[fsquid]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

Orangebloods.com: House hearing on Texas A&M and the SEC slated for Tuesday has been "postponed" because SEC took no action on A&M Sunday.

[coogrfan]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

Interesting. Could the Ags have decided things were moving a bit too fast? After all, the earliest TAMU could start play in the SEC is 2012, so there's no real hurry here.

[Murph]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

The big 12 commissioner said the remaining 9 teams are fully committed to the Big 12... Didn't he say the same thing when there were 10 teams left?

So true. If Mizzou got nabbed to be #14, I guess the 8 remaining teams would be fully committed too.

[fsquid]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

Breaking news ... Aggies approved president taking action with issue of conference alignment

[doom41]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

In their meeting this afternon, the Texas A&M Board of Regents gave the A&M President, full authority to make moves in regards to A&M's athletic conference affiliation.

[fsquid]

Re: A&M to the SEC starting to blow up again on Twitter

And there was no discussion on alignment issue in aggie open session. Just a quick motion and second