FSU is not ready for the SEC. If they can't keep Winstons crimes hush hush, they have a long way to go to develope the cover up skills that warrant an invite.

 

UNC was close, but they lost their card with the recent happenings. I'm sure the expansion committee in the SEC has removed them. Can't keep something like academic fraud from going public? Nah.

 

Ohio State is intriguing. Throwing the NCAA a bone like tat gate to get rid of Tressel and hire Urban? That was brilliant, and should at least open some eyes.

I think if they try to hold at 10 the league will eventually fall apart which makes it a free for all again. If they expand it will no doubt be teams like UC, UConn or UCF...

 

I would think Houston would be first choice, then UC or UCF.

I would think Houston would be first choice, then UC or UCF.

 

No need for another team from Texas. They have that market cornered...

The SEC needs a N. Carolina team, so maybe the Carolina Panthers.

I thought it would be a good idea to round up the Texas schools and create the Lone Star Conference with the Lone Star Network and I bet you could get some major dollars- Texas, A&M, Baylor, TCU, SMU, Rice, Tech, UH, UTEP, North Texas, Texas State and UTSA.

 

UT screwed that up with their Longhorn Network deal, though.

 

I said the same thing myself when I came down here. You can probably find it in some of my old posts if they are still around.

 

An All-Texas conference would be a marketing dream in lots of ways, IMO.

The SEC already runs college football and nobody else comes close. :lol2:

 

But that gap would only widen if they took the #1 brand in college and a school with the tradition of Oklahoma. Branding keeps expanding into the Midwest and opening up new markets. With a team in each state in the Southeast sans North Carolina, there isn't nearly the value of adding in a Florida State, Miami, or NC State as compared to adding in Texas or Oklahoma, and it's not even close.

 

It'd also be a way for Texas to get schools like TCU (tons of money and starting to spend), Baylor (see the previous comment), and the like from gaining ground on them. If they go to the SEC and the rest holds constant, then they've got a HUGE recruiting advantage.

So which happens first: The league deciding it needs to take two teams to get into the playoff, or the playoff expanding to eight teams, which might make such expansion unnecessary?

 

I think the playoff goes to 8 teams first. The expansion to 4 teams has already made college football that much more exciting, and there's tons of marketing/media to be done with following who is in and who is out.

 

All it's going to take is some controversy between which teams ranked 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 should go (i.e., five teams with pretty good cases for getting those final two spots) and there'll be a huge push to make it 8.

 

Something I've thought of and am surprised that it doesn't get more mention is maybe expanding it to 6 teams. 6 teams, top two seeds get a bye. Do it kind of like the NFL Playoffs where there's a wild card weekend and then the seeds are readjusted to give the #1 overall the easiest matchup. I'm surprised that it's not brought up more in these discussions.

Would anybody outside of Texas watch?

 

Do they really need anyone outside of Texas watching to be succesful though? There's a ton of people in Texas and having the nation's #1 brand alone would give them legitimacy.

^ I don't bring it up because I hate it. :lol2:

 

Sometimes teams don't always look the sharpest after a long break. It's already the problem with the four-to-five weeks off teams were having before the title game. I think we'd end up with a No. 1 or No. 2 team getting beat a lot of the time because they were still trying to get their legs under them from a five-week break while their lesser-ranked opponent is 100 percent focused and in playing form while coming off a big win.

 

I like eight (to begin). It really eliminates -- or at least cuts down on -- the idea that a team that was overlooked for huge chunks of the season but may only have one loss somehow doesn't get to prove their worth on the field.

On some of the comments about the Big XII, I wouldn't be surprised if the teams that eventually get added are Houston (for the moment), and eventually UTSA (University of Texas San Antonio).

 

Before you think I'm off my rocker, or that it's me being a homer for San Antonio, I can tell you that the people here are football crazy, they're an upstart program in a school that's rapidly growing, that San Antonio has the 7th largest population in the United States, there's no pro football in town, so everyone is all about UTSA games, and they are now practically the main permanent tenant in a very, very nice Alamodome facility.

 

I've seen the place with a very good number of fans (lower bowl filled, part of the upper filled, as much as 2/3rds of the way up at midfield... this in a place that seats a TON of fans) for games like Arizona. Being able to sell out the Alamodome for teams like Texas, Oklahoma, etc. and give the conference a whipping boy for awhile makes lots of sense. UTSA themselves are committed to winning, as they've hired Larry Coker from Miami and seem to have the support of administration and the community in building a program.

Do they really need anyone outside of Texas watching to be succesful though? There's a ton of people in Texas and having the nation's #1 brand alone would give them legitimacy.

 

They basically had that once in the old Southwest Conference. A lot of things happened to dissolve that, but a big part of it was that spreading out media coverage made them more valuable as a media property, which is why Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor all went and joined with the Big Eight schools to form the Big XII in 1995.

 

The Southwest had been around for eighty years and it dissolved in less than a decade of TV deals.

On some of the comments about the Big XII, I wouldn't be surprised if the teams that eventually get added are Houston (for the moment), and eventually UTSA (University of Texas San Antonio).

 

Before you think I'm off my rocker, or that it's me being a homer for San Antonio, I can tell you that the people here are football crazy, they're an upstart program in a school that's rapidly growing, that San Antonio has the 7th largest population in the United States, there's no pro football in town, so everyone is all about UTSA games, and they are now practically the main permanent tenant in a very, very nice Alamodome facility.

 

I've seen the place with a very good number of fans (lower bowl filled, part of the upper filled, as much as 2/3rds of the way up at midfield... this in a place that seats a TON of fans) for games like Arizona. Being able to sell out the Alamodome for teams like Texas, Oklahoma, etc. and give the conference a whipping boy for awhile makes lots of sense. UTSA themselves are committed to winning, as they've hired Larry Coker from Miami and seem to have the support of administration and the community in building a program.

 

Zero chance they expand in Texas this time. Zero...

Zero chance they expand in Texas this time. Zero...

 

Where do you think they (the Big XII) will go with expansion? I think they inevitably want to add some teams.

 

I think Houston is a legit possibility if someone leaves them at the altar. In a decade, I could see UTSA being the same.

 

There's already a HUGE UTSA following here, and I could legitimately see them getting to the point where they outgrow Conference USA given that they are a big market team with a nice facility, and they'll have a really good following just because Texas is so football nuts and there isn't really a good chance that an NFL team is here.

 

If nothing else, they can sell a ton of seats for a school who has only been in the game for a couple of years. I don't see schools like Texas State doing it, but I think there's just such a huge market here with an unmet need that it makes lots of sense for them to move up in realignment.

I thought it would be a good idea to round up the Texas schools and create the Lone Star Conference with the Lone Star Network and I bet you could get some major dollars- Texas, A&M, Baylor, TCU, SMU, Rice, Tech, UH, UTEP, North Texas, Texas State and UTSA.

 

UT screwed that up with their Longhorn Network deal, though.

 

Would anybody outside of Texas watch?

 

They basically had that once in the old Southwest Conference. A lot of things happened to dissolve that, but a big part of it was that spreading out media coverage made them more valuable as a media property, which is why Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor all went and joined with the Big Eight schools to form the Big XII in 1995.

 

The Southwest had been around for eighty years and it dissolved in less than a decade of TV deals.

 

Getslow stole my thunder, but the bolded schools along with Arkansas formed the old Southwest Conference for many years. Conference was considered one of the "major conferences" in football with the champion receiving an automatic bid to one of the four New Year's bowl games (Cotton Bowl).

 

On current expansion ideas, personally I don't see anything on the horizon. Big 12 is the most likely to add teams however. If the Big 12 adds two I'd say UC, UConn, Houston, USF, and UCF would be battling for those spots.

 

IF the SEC were to expand, I'd think West Virginia would be the most likely to join. Travel in the Big 12 has to be killing them. Much better fit in the SEC. VPI, and NC State are intriguing. I could see NC State jumping at the chance, if not for the deal they are bound to by the ACC.

 

Again, I can't see the SEC expanding in the near future, unless the Big 12 begins to crumble. Then, all bets are off.

Virginia Tech and NC State would be the next 2 if it happened.

 

Agree completely with these two....these are 2 totally different markets that would be perfect.