Is more SEC re-alignment on the way?
By Danielle
Is there the possibility of another expansion for the Southeastern Conference?
David Sandhop tweeted earlier that Florida State and Clemson are likely to join the Big 12. I can’t say that I am all that surprised. When I think of college football in the ACC, I think of those two schools, Miami, and Virginia Tech. The rest of the ACC isn’t quite on par with the top of the top as far as college football goes. The SEC, according to Sandhop, is going after UNC and either Virgina or Virginia Tech.
Let’s get one thing straight here. Conference realignment, except for the case of the Atlantic 10 has never been about college basketball. It’s about college football. It always has been.
When you factor in the regional networks, this is a great move for the SEC. The conference was able to pickup the St. Louis market when Missouri opted to leave the Big 12 for the SEC. It’s still a matter of which media markets in Texas were picked up with the addition of Texas A & M but it would not surprise me to see the SEC Network airing in several cities in Texas this fall.
FOX Sports South already airs several ACC games during basketball season. I’m not sure about how many games they air during football season. It’s a good bet that North Carolina cable operators already have that channel but I don’t believe that any stations in North Carolina are affiliated with the SEC Network. This is why getting UNC would be a huge get for the SEC.
Forget all the hype about the UNC-Duke rivalry. It would be all about UK-UNC every year, maybe a home and home series every year, unless Coach John Calipari would like the game played in Louisville. Hey, a guy can dream, right?
Going back to the Virginia schools, I would think that Virgina Tech is a better fit for the SEC given their football program. Although if Virginia were to be invited instead, they could start a nice conference rivalry with Vanderbilt!
The SEC should pay attention to what is happening in the Big East Conference. Unlike the Big East, every school in the SEC participates in both basketball and football. This is important when it comes to the very important subject of television revenue.
The Big East is better off just being placed in a sub-regional tournament of the NCAA Tournament at this point. With a probably 19 teams participating, the conference is looking at the idea of having an 18-team tournament. My head hurts just thinking about that.
Whoever gets invited to the SEC, anyone at all, needs to complement the conference but also add TV sets to the picture. Florida State doesn’t add any sets. Neither does Miami. We already have Florida represented in the SEC but we don’t have a school from the states or Virginia or North Carolina.
If you look at a map of the United States, all the states in the Southeast are represented except those two states. It’s up to SEC Commissioner Mike Slive to make the invitation or put the Twitter rumors to rest once and for all. Conference officials are not commenting on the matter but at this point in the game, the rumors will never rest. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the waiting game as conference realignment kills the ACC.