Missouri Moves Closer to Joining S.E.C.

[bevosu]

Thamel...

The University of Missouri is heading down a path to join the Southeastern Conference, said a college official with direct knowledge of the situation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/s...ouri-moves-closer-to-joining-sec.html?_r=1&hp

 

[Toga]

Good news for the ACC. Would likely take Clemson or Fla State off the SEC radar.

 

[EastCoast2]

Mizz just delaying the inevitable

 

[TexanMark]

http://www.ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=523212

BE Fans reacting

 

[Jake]

And Boom goes the dynamite. The Big East is in a rush to add members, but this report will put a halt on everything they try to do. No one is accepting an invite to the Big East until Missouri goes to the SEC (2-4 weeks from being official), and the Big 12 decides on a replacement (likely very soon after). WVU must know that Louisville is going to make 10 for the Big 12 and the league may stop there...otherwise, I don't see WVU voting yes to the exit fee with a possible escape route looking less than 2 months away.

 

[sufan]

And Boom goes the dynamite. The Big East is in a rush to add members, but this report will put a halt on everything they try to do. No one is accepting an invite to the Big East until Missouri goes to the SEC (2-4 weeks from being official), and the Big 12 decides on a replacement (likely very soon after). WVU must know that Louisville is going to make 10 for the Big 12 and the league may stop there...otherwise, I don't see WVU voting yes to the exit fee with a possible escape route looking less than 2 months away.

------------------

Meanwhile if Boise is invited, according to this aricle, they could take weeks to reply:

Brian Murphy: Boise State plans to take its time in conference realignment:

“If by some strange chance somebody came to us and said we’d like to invite you to join our conference, I’d have to say, ‘Well, you’ll have to give us time to do our due diligence and really spend the time on it.’ We’re not ready,” (Boise State President) Kustra said. “I have no idea how fast or slow this whole process is going to move.”

 

[orangephan]

I don't think most will buy into this, but BYU is the wild card here. They've been mentioned as an option for a while now. I think WVU or UL would jump in a heartbeat to be #10. Cinci is the lesser option, but if they expand back to 12, who knows. Poof, there goes BE FB as we know it.

 

[arbitragegls]

...deep breath...if there is no vote tonight or tomorrow or wednesday...then we know it is not in the bag...and all wait until Big 12 moves once Mizzou decision made. This is a real soap opera.

 

[Cadillac]

Thamel...

The University of Missouri is heading down a path to join the Southeastern Conference, said a college official with direct knowledge of the situation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/s...ouri-moves-closer-to-joining-sec.html?_r=1&hp

Only guy you can trust IMO.

 

[kingottoiii]

I wonder how the SEC will do divisions. Personally I would redo the whole setup to be

LSU, Fla, UGA, Ark, Mizzou, Miss, Miss St
Bama, Aub, Tenn, A&M, SC, UK, Vandy

Those are fair and keep rivalries.

As to the BE, does the Alliance take a shot at bringing in the BE teams for FB only? I am sure the peeps in Providence wouldn't really mind. If the Alliance keeps a united front couldn't they persuade the 6 BE schools to join it?

Alliance

East- UConn, RU, WV, Marshall, Louisville, Cincy, Memphis
Southeast- USF, UCF, ECU, UAB, USM, Tulane, Tulsa
Southwest- Rice, HOU, SMU, UTEP, Wyoming, CSU, Air Force
West- Hawaii, SD St, Fresno St, Boise, UNLV, Nevada, NM

Winner gets BCS bid. Play 6 division games then 1 game vs each of the other divisions. This keeps rivalries and outside of Tulsa is geographically sound.

That spans 20 states and 13 of the Top 50 markets. The inventory would be 126 games plus 3 playoff games. Its appeal would be about being quirky and offering the only playoff in D1A.

For BBall the BE can go into two divisions of 7 playing 19 games in conference.

UConn, GTown, Nova, St Johns, Seton Hall, PC, RU
Louisville, ND, Marq, WV, Cincy, DePaul, USF

 

[Alsacs]

Dumb decision by the SEC, but good for Syracuse and the ACC. Adding Missouri is going to force either Alabama or Auburn into the SEC East unless they ignore geography and put Missouri in the SEC East. It honestly makes no sense Missouri probably becomes rivals with Arkansas and LSU rivals Texas A&M during rivalry week. Other remedies could be putting Alabama and Auburn in the SEC East and moving Tennessee in the West to preserve the Alabama-Tennessee, Alabama-Auburn, and Auburn-Georgia games.

 

[Jake]

This might be the best news if you're a UCONN fan. If Lville goes, I think the BE hoops teams jettison the FB schools, which might force ND to take a stand in either the ACC or B1G. If its the B1G, UCONN and Rutgers likely land in the ACC, if its the ACC, UCONN will follow.

 

[Boston Tiger]

Dumb decision by the SEC, but good for Syracuse and the ACC. Adding Missouri is going to force either Alabama or Auburn into the SEC East unless they ignore geography and put Missouri in the SEC East. It honestly makes no sense Missouri probably becomes rivals with Arkansas and LSU rivals Texas A&M during rivalry week. Other remedies could be putting Alabama and Auburn in the SEC East and moving Tennessee in the West to preserve the Alabama-Tennessee, Alabama-Auburn, and Auburn-Georgia games.

The fly in the ointment is the need to preserve the "can't touch" rivalry games: Bama-Auburn, Bama-Tennessee, Auburn-UGA and UF-UGA. The problem is that the divisions would be awfully unbalanced if you put five of the power programs in one division. The speculation on the LSU board is that UF moves over to the West if the two Alabama teams head east. That would still require permanent cross-division opponents to protect the world's largest cocktail party, but those could be set up to maintain some sense of balance.

It won't take much for the LSU-eATMe rivalry to heat up again, since those two schools have a history of hard fought battles over the years, dating back to the time when the Aggies made trips to Death Valley for 25 consecutive years.