SEC Expansion Candidate Updates

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Thought it might be fun to run through the list of potential SEC expansion candidates and see how smoke swirls around each.

And I do think it’s funny to be talking about “candidates” when the SEC hasn’t publicly said it’s planning to expand in the first place.  Still we know that Mike Slive — if he’s doing his job — has talked in some form or fashion with representatives from a number of different schools.  So who should you keep your eye on?


Texas —
The Longhorns have been rumored to be looking at the Pac-10 and the Big Ten.  There are also whispers that they’re not thrilled with the SEC’s current academic standards.  However, the SEC would allow Texas to control its own local media rights which means the Horns could start their own network AND keep their share of the SEC’s network revenue split.  That’s the kind of uneven deal Texas loves.  When UT joined the Big 8 they requested that the league raise its academic standards.  Only Nebraska voted against the plan (no wonder they never liked Texas).  Would the SEC’s presidents be so in love with Texas’ value that they would agree to up their own academic standards?

Verdict:  I don’t think this will happen, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it did.  It bears watching.


Texas A&M –
The Aggies almost joined the league 20 years ago.  They have ties to Arkansas and LSU.  They are a perfect fit in just about every way.  Athletic director Bill Byrne didn’t shoot down SEC talk last week when it came up.  Sports Illustrated has reported that A&M and the SEC started talking months ago.  Of course, there are also reports that A&M is eyeing the Big Ten and Pac-10.  And despite the fact that Byrne says Texas and A&M could part ways, it’s hard to imagine that happening.  (Then again, 15 years ago, who would’ve guessed Oklahoma and Nebraska would go in different directions?)

Verdict: The smoke alarm is ringing loudly.  Too many things seem right about an A&M / SEC marriage.   Gene Stallings is on the A&M board of regents… where do you think he’s pushing the Aggies?  Keep a close, close eye on A&M.


Texas Tech and/or Baylor –
Reports have Texas and Texas A&M splitting off from each other and from these two. 

Verdict: If Texas lawmakers don’t chain Tech or Baylor to UT or A&M, then there’s no way either even gets an SEC look.  They probably wouldn’t get one anyway.


Oklahoma –
A television station reported today that Oklahoma is petitioning for entry into the SEC.  But just Wednesday, AD Joe Castiglione said “I think it would be a horrendous decision for OU and Texas to break up.  We’re going to stick together if it’s at all possible.”  So does that mean Texas is looking at the SEC, too?  Or if Texas is looking elsewhere does that mean that today’s OU report — as we suspect — is flimsy?  The Sooners are a huge brand and would be great from a sports perspective, but they also bring a lot of recent NCAA baggage.  Would SEC presidents and Slive look the other way on that stuff?

Verdict: I’ll believe it when I see it.  And don’t forget, there are still some who say the Big 12 is trying to hang together.  I’ll believe that when I see it, too, but I needed to at least point out the possibility.


Oklahoma State –
Everyone assumes that OSU and OU will be a package deal.  Politicians are already barking all over America, so it would be no surprise if some Oklahoma politico got mad about these schools making separate plans.  There hasn’t been much OSU-to-the-SEC talk, so this would likely have to be a package deal.

Verdict: Not much smoke, probably very little fire.  Unless Oklahoma is really eyeing the SEC.  Then T. Boone Pickens and the Oklahoma legislature might push for a Cowboy bid, too.


Virginia Tech and Virginia –
Tech is popping up in a lot of rumors while Virginia is not.  UVA is one of the nation’s best schools, has a great all-sports program and spends big money.  Tech has a helluva football team and would be a good fit with the SEC.  But there’s a catch.  Half the people in the Commonwealth of Virginia say these two teams would have to be a package deal.  The other half say they would not.  So which is it?  And would Tech want to pay more conference exit fees just seven years after paying them to the Big East?

Verdict: Keep an eye on Tech.  Personally, I think a package deal for both schools should very much be considered as an SEC option, but there’s not a lot of talk leading in that direction.  If the two aren’t tied together, Tech bears close watching.


Florida State, Miami, Clemson and Georgia Tech –
These four schools have been the subject of the most SEC rumors.  That’s probably because they’re the closest to the current SEC footprint.  Heck, they’re inside the current SEC footprint.  FSU athletic director Randy Spetman has admitted to talking to Jimbo Fisher about the possibility of moving to the SEC.  Fisher has said he’d prefer to stay in the ACC.  All four schools might be harder to land now that the ACC has doubled its TV revenue with a new ESPN contract.

Verdict: FSU deserves to be looked at.  There’s a lot of smoke there.  But there was a lot of smoke there in the early 90s, too, when the ‘Noles chose the ACC.  Georgia Tech and Clemson make sense in that they’re close.  They don’t make sense in that they offer nothing new.  “But you wrap up South Carolina!”  And?  Miami is the longshot of this bunch.  UM officials have said they fit perfectly with the ACC academically and athletically and if you look at the research we did in our “Expounding On Expansion” series, they simply aren’t a good fit with the other SEC schools.


Missouri and Kansas –
Missouri was expected to be an early invitee to the new and improved Big Ten.  Not so.  They’re still waiting for an offer.  They have to be sweating the possibility of landing in a revamped Mountain West without a BCS bid.  Ditto Kansas which appears to be on the outside looking in.

Verdict:  I believe Missouri, if partnered with the right combination of schools, would be a good fit for the SEC.  I also believe there’s little chance that Slive agrees with me.  I don’t think there’s much talk between these schools and the SEC.  And there isn’t likely to be.


West Virginia, Maryland and Louisville –
There’s simply no talk at all about these three schools.  Maryland brings academic clout, the DC and Baltimore television markets, and a lot of recent bowl and NCAA tourney bids to the table.  West Virginia brings great football and basketball and a wild fanbase.  Louisville is known for basketball. 

Verdict:  Prognosis Negative, Seinfeld fans.  Maryland doesn’t seem like a cultural fit.  West Virginia and Louisville don’t have strong academic reputations (not that that’s stopped the SEC in the past).  Still, if one of these schools winds up in the SEC it would be true shocker.


All Other Schools —
I don’t think a South Florida or a North Carolina is coming from so far off the radar.  If the SEC grows, it’ll likely be with some of the schools mentioned above.