[...]Blue Chip Stories | MrSEC.com[...]…

Right on analysis and comment.

BTW, thanks for looking up the Mama Nudos thing the other day.

We're just using easy to find data. It's not skewed. WVU ranks high in a category, I hear nothing from you. The rank low, and boom the data must be skewed and the author biased.

Come on. I don't even know who's going to finish on top of this. As we said from the start, this is just an exercise in showing people what will be important in presidents' decision-making processes. We're using a formula, but we've stated it's just for show and you can build your own. The point is the categories. And WVU scores high in some… low in others.

And you can debate it all you like, but my sources have said repeatedly that WVU is an SEC fallback at best. Not my call. I like WVU. And have stated it would be a good cultural fit. Of course, you've never commented on that, either.

John

That one's impossible to track. First — like home attendance — the bowl's never give out accurate numbers. Many of their tickets are returned by the schools and given to charity. The schools, however, have to buy them… even though many times they can't sell all of them.

The numbers would be really, really inflated and inaccurate. That's why we didn't use any attendance numbers.

Thanks as always for reading,
John

I think putting out info like this helps the average fan better understand what's going on behind the scenes. You keep seeing fans on this site and all the others basing their thoughts on all sorts of irrelevant factors. Putting stuff like this out there gives more people a better idea of what the SEC officials are thinking.

Much to the chagrin of Mama Nudos, this information serves a good purpose and is very helpful.

and if this is only ultimately about football, why spend so much energy looking at all sports – football and basketball – everything else is filler.

the intro to this series sounded promising, but the rankings have shown as much bias but covered by the "mask" of objective analysis.

Three division champs. Throw in a "wildcard" & you can stage a mini playoff. OR, leave out the wildcard and stage 1 play-in game between the two lower-ranked div champs. Personally, I like the wildcard as it gives the #2s something to play for & if 1 play-in game for the SECCG is worth $$s, then two would be worth megabuck$!

If I am counting correctly, that's 8 AAU members, to satisfy the academics

NC, Duke, Kentucky, & Kansas give a solid, top tier in basketball. Recent success with the round ball by Florida, Mizzou, Tam all provide exciting roundball. historical LSU & Arkansas success and programs on the rise like Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama give mens roundball a pretty compelling conference TV lineup. with 18 teams, the conference tourney could just leave out the two bottom-dwellers OR stage 2 play-in games between the bottom 4 OR give the top 4 a first round bye. Either way, you can construct a bracket for basketball. With the prospect of a final four in the SEC tourney consisting of NC, Duke, Kentucky, & Kansas, the question isn't how many cable boxes are in the footprint, the question is will the SEC tourney upstage the NCAA's!

We said in Part One that we were including so many schools just because anyone we left out… we'd get their fans hollering. Sure enough, I've had multiple requests for C-USA teams to be included.

We intend to discuss "fits" in the series and that will cull the herd.

As for being way off-base on these topics, again, I'll trust the network TV executive I've spoken to… the VP of a large media rights group I've spoken to… the sources at BCS schools outside the SEC who I've spoken to… the sources inside SEC schools who I've spoken to… and a couple of sources inside the SEC offices who I've spoken to.

If you don't like this over-simplified look at the areas that matter in expansion, that's fine. But ignore the categories at your own risk. I'll go with the multiple people I've spoken with on this topic.

John

@ MIZ_SEC
1) Mizzou recruuits in Texas and needs the exposure of Texas A&M. This won't happen.
2) This probably will happen, to the disgust of every college football fan.
3) This basically allows KSU to play for the title every year. East is way to powerful with this move.

The only move I see that allows Mizzou to play in Texas, save the rivalries and do minimal damage to the balance of power is Mississippi State to the East.

I also believe that not hiding behind a pay wall leads to open discussion from across the nation, and hopefully a better understanding from folks living in the actual places involved. Having folks from the B1G, B12, PAC, SEC, ACC, and BE on on a single site communicating with each other and exchanging ideas is good for the fans of all schools as a whole. I may be "old school" but I would rather cheer my team than boo yours. This said, the trolls will still come, but fortunately in their arguments they expose themselves for who they are. I will step out on a limb to offer another possible explanation.

Back in 07, 08, and 09 there was already debate in B1G circles about conference realignment, and I read many in that group who believed they would land Notre Dame, Texas, TAMU (as a tag long "little brother" if they had to), UNC, and Duke. I kid you not! They were blind then, and that same group is blind now. Granted they are a minority in my opinion, but they are a vocal lot. Even then their thought was that Texas, TAMU, and OU would wind up in the PAC, and never in the SEC. Now TAMU has landed in the SEC and these folks (mixed in with some Texas fans who felt similar entitlement) are angry and lashing back. It is easier to attack "them" than to see the person at fault is "us". This is human nature in a nutshell so it is not unexpected. Reason does not work, and they are just a minority like an annoying fly in the presence of giants.

Mama Nudos, It would be great if MrSEC or any other site had the ability to track all things, but my guess is that would involve more staff, and more resources than MrSEC has at this time. I still think the Gold Star of stalking goes to the good folks of Oregon for not only tracking the planes, but having folks on the ground to see who was actually getting off. They were lucky tho because it just involved 1 plane, 1 person, and 1 airport. Realignment tracking would involve following at least a few dozen folks, across many states and locations.

HoustonVol, I agree that actual tickets and actual gate attendance are better metrics. It is a very good source of real fan support. Missouri lists 71,000 seats but they never break the top 25 in national attendance according to the NCAA. 95% of 71,000 is 67,450 (almost the exact seating of current SEC member Kentucky) yet Missouri never seems to beat UK attendance numbers. Contrast this with Virginia Tech making the Top 25 when their stadium only seats 66,000 and you can see there is better fan support based on actual ticket numbers, and not just empty seats. I do tend to agree, and stated so in an earlier response, that the Big 12 was really the Big 4 – UT, TAMU, OU, UNL – and now 2 of those 4 are gone.

I still believe the SEC stadiums a decade from now will average close to 90,000 (less Vandy) because small schools like USC and UK have some of the most optimistic fans in the country, as much as teams like Alabama, LSU, Florida, and Tennessee will be able to maintain Top 20 status over time. In any serious debate of future SEC members I still think the ability to seat 80,000 at home and put 10,000 on the road are not unreasonable metrics from the football end of the spectrum. Now that TAMU is SEC bound they are already talking about a 115,000 seat stadium in the near future, and like USC or UK, I have little doubt they will fail to fill it up in victory and in loss (50,000 students a year can put butts in the seats). Granted a school like UNC seating 60,000 could work, but they also bring an elite basketball team, and excellent academics. While I have not been on the road with Tar Heel football fans, I have been on the road with Tar Heel basketball fans. I can say with absolute certainty from firsthand experience that they travel in force.

I've really enjoyed the 8 part (so far) series on expansion. You've collected a huge amount of information from a lot of sources and laid it out very well. Your research efforts are obvious, at least to those not trying to ignore it.

In regards to the SEC, nowhere else can you come to one source and find it all, along with links to see more Thanks for the great job!.

You keep writing these "Dear John" letters, yet you keep coming back and back and back and back.

The only thing more stupid than constantly reading things you don't like is compulsively writing the same criticisms over and over.

What a loser!!!

Hopefully, he gets either Mizzou or FSU. These are the teams that position the SEC best for the next expansion opportunity. They fit neatly into the current format (FSU perhaps best now that Ta&m is on board), will grow revenue appropriately, and will provide some excitement in football & basketball.

The future expansion? well, in another 5-10 years, when it's time to change the world again, hopefully the SEC will have a visionary like Schiller at the helm.

I think Missouri would want to stay West. They recruit heavily in Texas and the SEC would love to add another potential rival for Arkansas as well.

The fact that we've already heard Auburn's president weigh in on a move East suggests that that's the most likely move. From what we've heard from our sources, everyone seems to believe AU would move East and that the league — regardless of what coaches say — would consider going to a 9-game schedule like the other major conferences.

Of course, that's contingent upon Mizzou leaving the Big 12 in the first place.

Thanks again,
John

When we ban people, they change IP addresses and come back and rip us for censorship. I've been called a "communist" more than a few times.

No win. Luckily, the majority of our readers hold college degrees and post-grad degrees. Sharp folks aren't likely to leave rants under every post.

Thanks for reading the site,
John

I understand the media market arguments, but if it was me, I would pick FSU.

1. Move Mizzou to the East

2. Move Auburn East (probably ends annual Third Saturday in October)

3. Move Auburn and Bama East, and move Vandy West (maintains rivalries but may stack the East too much)

I don't understand why Mr. SEC doesn't IP ban some of the constant flamers. It really gets annoying having to wade through this crap in the comments section.

If Mizzou is added, logically a team has to move the the East – most talk has been of Auburn. This kills one of two great rivalries, Iron Bowl or Third Saturday in October. Has anyone mentioned Mississippi St. as a possibility? While geographically it is not "East", its move would not kill these great rivalries. Mississippi St could keep Ole MIss as a cross-divisional rival and I looked at the total travel by road for fans using an online map service – if would be almost exactly the same if they stay in the West.

What is your thought about how to handle division realignment if #14 does come from the West?

Sorry in advance if you posted this before, I'm a new reader. This has become my go-to blog for SEC news. Keep up the great work.

The point of these articles, is to layout information on potential SEC members. I appreciate not having to dig up all of this info myself and put it into spreadsheets! This helps give us insights into potential schools and gives us a basis for discussion, and since this is the SEC, arguments!

Another text wall of public domain data? Do some real investigative reporting and get some real dirt on Team 14. Follow the paths of jet planes, follow Mike Slive, be on the phone 24/7 with lower-to-high level employees of potential expansion candidates ect.

Otherwise, you have nothing to "report".

Thanks,
Mama Nudos

Not surprised at MD with Yow at the helm, and UVA has always been an olympic sports type school. I might scratch the bottom 12 from the SEC, which includes Kansas with an elite basketball brand. KU being out of consideration for the B1G, PAC, and SEC may be the saddest school in conference realignment. The only thing they lack is a decent football team.