ACC SEC Merger

[Apoplectic_Objurgator]

I don’t think a full merger makes sense but adding all southern teams would be a strong play and indication of a breakaway. I wouldn’t add Pitt cuse BC or ND. If my math is close by adding OSU then that puts the new SEC at 28 and a challenger for NFL type money for streaming for all sports. Also triggers a big pac merger

 

[Cooterpoot]

SEC would absolutely take Notre Dame if they want in.

 

[philduckworth]

The only schools the SEC should consider at this point are: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. Then maybe you could talk me into Clemson, FSU, Oregon, Nebraska and USC. There's not another program I would want to add.

 

[patdog]

I don't see anyone leaving the Big 10, and Notre Dame is going to be committed to being independent in football. I really don't think anything else is going to happen right now other than a Big 10 - PAC-12 scheduling arrangement to get more OOC games between the 2 conferences.

 

[Dawgg]

SEC would absolutely take Notre Dame if they want in.

The problem with Notre Dame is NBC. They have an entire network (a real network, not like LHN) to themselves on Saturdays.

Whatever deal ESPN comes up with would have to be big enough to accommodate the $15 million they make from NBC PLUS what they get from their portion of the ACC media contract PLUS the pay for the ego trip of sharing Saturdays on a nationwide network.

 

[Dawgg]

The only schools the SEC should consider at this point are: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. Then maybe you could talk me into Clemson, FSU, Oregon, Nebraska and USC. There's not another program I would want to add.

You could talk me into UNC & NC State as a package deal.

Same with Michigan State if it came along with Michigan and Ohio State.

The hurdle I see for Penn State and Michigan is non-revenue sports. That’s going to be expensive travel. At least with UNC, NC State, Notre Dame and Ohio State, they at least border a current SEC state.

 

[MidsouthDawg]

Mega conference is definitely on it's way
BREAKING: Clemson and Florida State have reached out to the SEC about joining the conference, per @MarcRyanOnAir https://t.co/k7j4JDBPQq

 

[philduckworth]

I don't see anyone leaving the Big 10, and Notre Dame is going to be committed to being independent in football. I really don't think anything else is going to happen right now other than a Big 10 - PAC-12 scheduling arrangement to get more OOC games between the 2 conferences.

I agree.

 

[philduckworth]

You could talk me into UNC & NC State as a package deal.

Same with Michigan State if it came along with Michigan and Ohio State.

The hurdle I see for Penn State and Michigan is non-revenue sports. That’s going to be expensive travel. At least with UNC, NC State, Notre Dame and Ohio State, they at least border a current SEC state.

I don't see NC State as adding much value. I'm hoping we stay at 16 for now unless Notre Dame reached out.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I don't see anyone leaving the Big 10, and Notre Dame is going to be committed to being independent in football. I really don't think anything else is going to happen right now other than a Big 10 - PAC-12 scheduling arrangement to get more OOC games between the 2 conferences.

Agree. The rest of this is just foolishness.

They ought to do a Rose Bowl Classic type game in Game 1 of the following season, that pits the previous years’ champs, since they don’t really play anymore.

 

[Apoplectic_Objurgator]

Merging with geographical ACC teams makes a lot of sense with the natural rivalries. It also add an untouchable basketball schedule. Maybe you add Kansas instead of OSU to help with the oddball Missouri. If I had my pick
I would remove Missouri and replace with WV.

 

[philduckworth]

Merging with geographical ACC teams makes a lot of sense with the natural rivalries. It also add an untouchable basketball schedule. Maybe you add Kansas instead of OSU to help with the oddball Missouri. If I had my pick
I would remove Missouri and replace with WV.

West Virginia? LOL, heck no.

 

[GloryDawg]

I know it's unpopular but NC State kind of feels like Miss State. I like them.

 

[fishwater99]

Mega conference is definitely on it's way
BREAKING: Clemson and Florida State have reached out to the SEC about joining the conference, per @MarcRyanOnAir https://t.co/k7j4JDBPQq

It’s happening.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

It’s happening.

Bet we say no thanks unless they get NC and NCS to come as well.
We would own almost every rivalry that is important which is more than just one or two games a year.

 

[Allday.sixpack]

If the SEC continues to add teams, especially teams from the northern section of the ACC,, it will no longer be the SEC. Therefore Mississippi State’s charter membership status holds less value to whatever this new super conference is called.
We should invest every penny of dividends in facilities and fan infrastructure to maintain our seat at the table.

 

[Junction John]

I talked to several in Omaha and we had the same discussion. They mentioned to me that we seemed like a similar fanbase to them, while their instate rivals in powder blue were arrogant jerkoffs. Their words, not mine**

 

[Dawgg]

If the SEC continues to add teams, especially teams from the northern section of the ACC,, it will no longer be the SEC. Therefore Mississippi State’s charter membership status holds less value to whatever this new super conference is called.
We should invest every penny of dividends in facilities and fan infrastructure to maintain our seat at the table.

Even at 20 teams... we just have to get 6 more teams vote against removal.

 

[johnson86-1]

The only schools the SEC should consider at this point are: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. Then maybe you could talk me into Clemson, FSU, Oregon, Nebraska and USC. There's not another program I would want to add.

If it's just about money, you have to have a really strong following to justify an add. So I think your first four would at least move the needle in the right direction. I think FSU wouldn't hurt, but wouldn't really move the needle. Same with UNC. I think geography would put Oregon out.

But at this point, the ocnference is already at a size that adding more teams doesn't make sense unless you are trying ot create a dominant league that separates from the NCAA for football and basketball. In that case, you really need at least OSU. Probably need OSU, Notre Dame, and Clemson. At that point, you could basically declare the league championship the national champion and people would know it's true.

They'd probably want those teams, plus Michigan, UNC, UVA or Va Tech, Might as well get a footprint in every state that makes sense geographically since you are essentially going to have difference conferences/divisions within the mega conference.

 

[patdog]

If a 20-team SEC decides to kick out 4 of MSU, UM, Vandy, Kentucky and Arkansas for a 20% revenue boost, good luck finding enough votes to kill it.

 

[40 acres and a mule]

If a 20-team SEC decides to kick out 4 of MSU, UM, Vandy, Kentucky and Arkansas for a 20% revenue boost, good luck finding enough votes to kill it.

That one of my worries. The biggest worry for me is if they decide carrying 2 teams having one of the smallest media markets is too much for them. They decide they carry one Mississippi school, but not both. So who do they choose: MSU the largest university with the largest alumni base, National champion caliber baseball, respectable other sports, or UM with their crooked pay-under-the-table lawyers, slick press, and old but nearly gone money? It seems simple to me but you know how we usually come out when politics plays a role. I don't want to find out.

 

[wsjmsu75]

That one of my worries. The biggest worry for me is if they decide carrying 2 teams having one of the smallest media markets is too much for them. They decide they carry one Mississippi school, but not both. So who do they choose: MSU the largest university with the largest alumni base, National champion caliber baseball, respectable other sports, or UM with their crooked pay-under-the-table lawyers, slick press, and old but nearly gone money? It seems simple to me but you know how we usually come out when politics plays a role. I don't want to find out.

Cannot believe the paranoia here. Chill out, people. We are not going to get kicked out of the SEC.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

It's clear,

The SEC should NOT let so many in that our vote gets diluted.


Simply put, we are not going to lose control of the Goose that lays the golden eggs. (the SEC)

We are talking about College Football here. There are limits.

 

[FQDawg]

If a 20-team SEC decides to kick out 4 of MSU, UM, Vandy, Kentucky and Arkansas for a 20% revenue boost, good luck finding enough votes to kill it.

The concern isn't really that the SEC would kick us out. The concern is that the bigger schools would themselves leave by creating a new affiliation and leave us behind. At that point, we might still technically be in the SEC but all the big schools would be off somewhere new doing their own thing with all the money.

 

[40 acres and a mule]

Call it paranoia if you wish. I certainly hope you are right. The biggest thing we have to offer is an easy win for those whose heads have been anointed with oil. That said, it doesn't keep me awake at night.

 

[Go Budaw]

If a 20-team SEC decides to kick out 4 of MSU, UM, Vandy, Kentucky and Arkansas for a 20% revenue boost, good luck finding enough votes to kill it.

First off, that list is ridiculous. Kentucky is top half of the league in revenue (and 15th nationally) largely due to basketball. They aren’t going anywhere for the same reason that the ACC isn’t about to kick out Duke or UNC, who both have similar football programs to Kentucky. Arkansas is also Top 20 nationally. Vandy isn’t going anywhere either due to the academic facet and because having a private school is a big asset for reporting disclosure requirements (provides a much bigger legal shield for the whole league). You’d need to remove the teams above and probably add Missouri. Their revenue numbers are even lower than us and OM.

Secondly, you aren’t going to ever get a 20% revenue bump from removing 20% of the content (games played by teams in the league on television), so the whole proposition is flawed, anyways.

Third, it would be no problem at all to find other votes, because voting to remove teams from the conference for no other reason besides additional revenue is a massive slippery slope. The teams that are one rung above the bottom would band together with the revenue bottom feeders to block it, because they know they would be on the chopping block the very next year.

We aren’t getting kicked out of the SEC....period.

 

[Go Budaw]

The concern isn't really that the SEC would kick us out. The concern is that the bigger schools would themselves leave by creating a new affiliation and leave us behind. At that point, we might still technically be in the SEC but all the big schools would be off somewhere new doing their own thing with all the money.

So Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida State, Washington, USC, and maybe one or two other teams form Greatest Conference Evah. Then what? You still have a massive voids of viewers and geographical black holes with no teams, and a lot of interest in the remaining Power 5 conference teams. You’ll have a few teams go 12-0 of the remaining teams, and probably rarely have a team from the GCE do better than 9-3…they’d be blocking themselves out of both the national title hunt and the revenue that would be offered under the current format. It’s just not realistic. The set up as it is right now still greatly favors the old blue bloods….probably now more than it ever has. They have no reason whatsoever to blow it up.

 

[wsjmsu75]

Call it paranoia if you wish. I certainly hope you are right. The biggest thing we have to offer is an easy win for those whose heads have been anointed with oil. That said, it doesn't keep me awake at night.

A national championship in baseball should help a lot too. Oh and, about those "easy wins" (I assume you mean in football), ask LSU and Georgia about that.

 

[patdog]

Ha. That won't help at all. You're probably right, and I don't think we're in any real danger of getting kicked out of the SEC in the near future. But we need to make sure our football program is in as good shape as it can be.

 

[FQDawg]

So Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida State, Washington, USC, and maybe one or two other teams form Greatest Conference Evah. Then what? You still have a massive voids of viewers and geographical black holes with no teams, and a lot of interest in the remaining Power 5 conference teams. You’ll have a few teams go 12-0 of the remaining teams, and probably rarely have a team from the GCE do better than 9-3…they’d be blocking themselves out of both the national title hunt and the revenue that would be offered under the current format. It’s just not realistic. The set up as it is right now still greatly favors the old blue bloods….probably now more than it ever has. They have no reason whatsoever to blow it up.

I'm not saying it's definitely going to happen, just that if it does, the blue bloods leaving for a new group is the way it would happen - not by them kicking us out.

And if they did move on to something new, that's where the revenue would go. TV - where all the money comes from now - doesn't care about geographical black holes. They only care about eyeballs. And way more eyeballs are going to be on the Greatest Conference Ever than any other collection of teams that are left. And I don't think there'd be any concern about the Greatest Conference Ever being locked out of the national title conversation. With the existing setup, there's already the belief that a 10-2 SEC team is better/more deserving than some other conference's 11-1 team (just to make up a general example). That type of argument would still exist with (hypothetically) a 10-2 Georgia from the Greatest Conference Ever when compared against say an 11-1 Wisconsin from the Conference of Leftover Teams.

 

[GhostOfJackie]

If this happens I'm giving up on college football to be honest. This will be so far away from traditional college football, it will turn off a lot of people. What would even make this the SEC anymore?

They need to be careful what they wish for, as this is not the NFL.

 

[johnson86-1]

So Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida State, Washington, USC, and maybe one or two other teams form Greatest Conference Evah. Then what? You still have a massive voids of viewers and geographical black holes with no teams, and a lot of interest in the remaining Power 5 conference teams. You’ll have a few teams go 12-0 of the remaining teams, and probably rarely have a team from the GCE do better than 9-3…they’d be blocking themselves out of both the national title hunt and the revenue that would be offered under the current format. It’s just not realistic. The set up as it is right now still greatly favors the old blue bloods….probably now more than it ever has. They have no reason whatsoever to blow it up.

The risk is not that they form some super conference. The risk is that they form a competitor to the NCAA for football with an eye towards revenue. You still have blue bloods and some non-blue bloods for wins, but even the non-blue bloods bring a lot of money to the table.

Just looking at it by state population and caring about football, West Virginia would be a P5 school potentially on the chopping block, or it might be the last school in. Kansas would probably make it; KSU not. One of State or Ole Miss would. Iowa would make it, Iowa State wouldn't. Could give an invite to a Nevada team. You'd have some schools not make it despite population because of lack of interest in college football (e.g., UConn; presumably Rutgers would make it for eyeballs and to provide a bottom feeder). Oklahoma would make it but not Ok St. Oregon but not Oregon St. Not sure who would get the nod between UK and Louisville (I assume UK?). Both Alabama teams would make it because they would politically stick together I think and you need one of them. I think USCe and Clemson would make it. Probably pick one Indiana school besides Notre Dame. Boston College. Could take both Arizona teams or just one. Just Washington, not WSU. Could take UVA and Va TEch or just one. Both Michigan and MSU or just one. Etc.

If you did that, you'd end up with a league that leaves some states uncovered and rarely takes more than one and probably never all the public schools in a state, so there isn't a great claim that they're a monopoly. That would be a way to put some controls on player compensation and also increase the payout per school significantly. And that would also be enough teams to form Divisions/conferences that still let multiple blue bloods claim championships each year.

 

[patdog]

I think if the breakaway does happen, it will probably be about 60 or so schools and almost everyone in the current P5 will make the cut. But if it's only 40, we're gonna be on some pretty shaky ground. Might still make the cut, but it'd be close if we did.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

If this happens I'm giving up on college football to be honest. This will be so far away from traditional college football, it will turn off a lot of people. What would even make this the SEC anymore?

They need to be careful what they wish for, as this is not the NFL.

I'm right there with you. I hope this doesn't royally screw college baseball as collateral damage.

I agree with your second statement as well. There's a reason most NFL stadiums are smaller than the top 25 college stadiums.

ETA: I just looked up the NFL stadium list capacities, for I realized that many have been built since I followed the NFL more regularly. So, editing my previous statement.