AgStuckInNC
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It's sad when someone takes pride in mediocrity. The Sooners aren't as strong as they think and t.u. is stuck in a rut of sub-par performances. So instead of owning up to the faults of their top teams, they are taking pride in their parity. Basically, "Our conference is so strong top to bottom, there's not much difference between one and eight or nine." When A&M was in the Big 12, I knew the SEC was far better. It's obvious. I was just happy that the Big 12 was stronger than the ACC so I could give friends on Tobacco Road grief. Obviously, saying my conference is better than the ACC is pretty pathetic. Glad we're in the conference of champions now.
Has anyone asked Spurrier yet? That's the SEC coach I want to hear from. :-)
According to Rivals and 247Sports, Otaro Alaka committed to the t-sips this past Monday.
What I find interesting is the comments to the article. This is from the t.u. flagship newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman!!! The t-sips get it. Guess losing is getting to them. Hopefully DeLo$$ and Mack will be there for a while.
I'm all in w/the SEC and was happy to see the Tide rolling big over the Irish last night. Glad we can say we are the only team to beat them this year, too. Gig 'em, Aggies!!!
John,
Once again, kudos on the series. I love your analysis and data.
You mentioned baseball in the article. How much does the competitive level of the non-revenue sports drive things. If you look at baseball, softball, and track and field the SEC rules. IMHO, the ACC is the second best baseball conference and most of the ACC teams on the table are strong in baseball. The ACC is very strong in men's and women's soccer and lacrosse. Would the SEC expand their sports to include men's soccer and men's/women's lacrosse or have them compete independently.
Thanks,
Darrell
Before we seriously start talking about picking apart the ACC, don't forget the $50M exit fee. It's going to be interesting to see how the suit filed against Maryland by the ACC plays out. The four schools that exited the B12 in the last three years all negotiated and paid reduced fees. My gut is telling me the ACC is going to play hardball with MD. They are fighting for their survival and making it hard for anyone to leave.
If the ACC does start crumbling, I would say the B1G makes the first move on Virginia, Duke, UNC, and GaTech. Probably toss GaTech if they can talk ND into (finally) joining the B1G. VaTech and NCSU are better cultural fits in the SEC. Stop there. As I said in my comment after Louisville joined the ACC (http://www.mrsec.com/2012/11/louisville-to-the-acc-but-whats-that-aftershock-mean-for-the-sec/), I really think the NC schools are a three pack. But...I think Debbie Yow, AD @ NCSU would jump to the SEC over B1G, if UNC takes the first move to the B1G. UNC is the tail that wags the ACC dog. Remember that the ACC commish is a former UNC football player and AD. He's going to take care of them first and foremost. See how fast that $50M exit fee gets dropped in that situation!!! In this scenario, FSU, Clemson, Miami, Louisville, and maybe GaTech and/or Pitt move to the B12. BC, Syracuse would probably fall back to the Big East. I'm not sure what the Pac-12 would try to do, but Boise and UNLV makes sense. Preliminary talks have probably already taken place.
It was a violent hit, but as a football play it wasn't a dirty hit. You might can argue that Dial took the opportunity to "aggressively block" the QB where physics took over. Dial (6' 6"/304) led with his right shoulder right into Murray's (6' 1"/210) chest. The force of the hit snapped Murray's head forward into Dial's. If that was a block on a punt return we wouldn't be having this conversation. How many times to you see a wicked block on a return? The fact that it's a star QB shouldn't matter. The QB has to be aware that he becomes a normal player once the other team has the ball. If Murray didn't know that then, I bet he does now.
Let's do it big and lock up the Southeast. The SEC needs an NC and VA presence and because of the reasons I outline below, you need one more school. Take FSU, UNC, NCSU, Duke, VaTech, and UVA and move up to 20. Expansion now is about marketshare and money. The ACC had to add Louisville to get balance in the conference vs. the academics they would have preferred to get. From the academic perspective that the university presidents like to talk about, you can't go wrong with the six I select.
- UNC, NC State, and Duke are be a package deal. I don't think you can pick one or two of them. UNC and NCSU are tied together at the state governmental level. It will be hard to split UNC and NCSU. At least that is what NC State fans tell me when I talk to them about joining the SEC. UNC and Duke are tied together emotionally so take all three. UNC/Duke basketball is equal to the football rivalries of the SEC. It would move the SEC to the top in basketball and the competition of baseball in the SEC would certainly go up. The women's athletics at those schools (not usually talked about here) is top notch, too.
- With an odd number from NC, you need another school. FSU seems to be more SEC-like than ACC-like anyway and they gives the SEC more eyeballs in the 4th largest state. Florida has around 20 million people. Sorry, Gators, but the entire state is not watching you. Get more.
- UVA and VaTech would probably go together as well and garner the Richmond, Norfolk, and DC markets.
Sorry Clemson, you are more SEC-like than anyone other than FSU in the list. However, you just don't bring enough value to the table since the SEC already has a presence there. There are almost as many people in Houston as there are in all of SC.
Put them in regional pods to maintain build those rivals. Someone smarter than me can figure out the scheduling to maintain the traditional SEC rivalries like Georgia/Auburn and Tennessee/Alabama. Lots of options though.
SEC-Atlantic: Virginia Virginia Tech Duke North Carolina North Carolina State
SEC-South: South Carolina Georgia Tennessee Florida Florida State
SEC-Central: Kentucky Missouri Vanderbilt Alabama Auburn
SEC-West: Arkansas Ole Miss Mississippi State LSU Texas A&M
When I saw Clear was visiting A&M a couple of weeks ago, I did a little research and found the theft in his past. He may be an awesome player, but his character concerns me. Hopefully he'll take advantage of a second chance and the past is the past. I do get the impression that Sumlin is a stickler for discipline. Sticky fingers are good on the field for a TE. Maybe that's where they'll stay while in College Station. We'll see.
I saw that clip on the Texas A&M Football Show yesterday. Thought it was great and found it odd when I saw he had banned the cameras. Sports are emotional. The victors celebrate and the vanquished wrap their wounds in the immediate aftermath. Maybe he doesn't want stale, 12 month old bulletin board material for next season. Who knows, but I agree with the lighten up message.
This is one Ag that has your back, John. Been following your objective reports since 2010 when we almost left the B12 along with Colorado and Nebraska. OK, Ags get over it. I think this is the first major ruckus that there's been an opportunity to report on A&M since we joined. Seen the same type of flames when there was a perceived slight to other schools. Everyone has their own opinion. I'm just glad Sumlin has a muzzle on the players so there's no real bulletin board material Excited and anxiously awaiting 3:30EDT for our first taste of the SEC. Win or lose, glad to be here.