OSU President suggests growth "further south in the East and...Midwest

[HungaryGator]

IMO the Big 10 could cause the last dominoes to fall with a further raid on the ACC (the targets would obviously be from among Ga Tech, UVA, Duke and UNC). The SEC will respond by moving on its targets in the ACC (Va Tech, UNC if possible, NC State if UNC is not available). The ACC would then be holed below the waterline and whatever desirable properties remaining (sow, KliemPson, scUM?...do they make the cut?....Louisville?) and Bevo will probably shack up.

Much as some people dismissed it and said others were acting like it was a game of risk/monopoly...it does appear to be happening after all. The "big bang" all at once didn't happen but instead the big dogs have taken a series of bite sized chunks over a couple years.

PS. the upshot of all of this is that the PAC is screwed. They probably should have rolled over to Bevo a year ago. They said no and now could be stuck permanently as the smallest and weakest of the final 4 conferences.

Teams "further south in the East and possibly a couple Midwest universities."
16 to 20 teams.

Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee told the school's Athletic Council in December that discussions about further expansion for the Big Ten conference are "ongoing."

It doesn't appear that the Big Ten necessarily is content to stay at 14 members. According to the minutes of the Dec. 5 Athletic Council meeting obtained by The Dispatch, Gee said "there has been ongoing discussion" about expansion and
"believes there is movement towards three or four super conferences that are made up of 16-20 teams."

When a student member of the Athletic Council asked Gee what direction the Big Ten might take, Gee said "there are opportunities to move further south in the (E)ast and
possibly a couple of Midwest universities." He did not specify any potential targets but said they will make sure any new school has "like-minded academic integrity." (ie not you sow)

http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/cont...expansion.html

[WarDamnGator]

If the ACC falls apart, do you think there will be political pressure from Tallahassee to force UF to back FSU coming to the SEC?

[HungaryGator]

Originally Posted by WarDamnGator

If the ACC falls apart, do you think there will be political pressure from Tallahassee to force UF to back FSU coming to the SEC?

They'll try of course....and UF may openly say they support fsu's application while quietly telling everybody else in the SEC that we don't really......its obvious that what would be best for the SEC is to expand its footprint into two good sized Southern states like North Carolina and Virginia.

[fubar1]

Hope not. We should tell fsu to go pound sand and join the Pac-12.

Cross-country flights for every sport would offer opportunities for team bonding.

[atlantagator86]

Nothing is guaranteed, but more than likely the next step is GT and UVA to the Big-10 and FSU and Clemson to the Big-12. I believe everything hinges on the UMD lawsuit.

What happens after that's what is really in question. My guess is short term, that may be all that happens. I don't think the SEC or Pac-12 have any major desire to expand until they have to. So the ACC grabs UConn and Cincy (plus Pitt and SU) and that may be the end of things for a while.

[GatorNorth]

They should bring in 6 Big East team and start a Losers division........

[gatorev12]

All of this smacks of a conference trying to desperately become relevant again. Adding Maryland and Rutgers might (in theory at least) deliver the tv markets of NYC and DC--but the reality is, it won't make them any more competitive on the field since both schools are terrible.

[atlantagator86]

Originally Posted by GatorNorth

They should bring in 6 Big East team and start a Losers division........

So are you suggesting that the ACC split into 2 divisions - The Losers and the Worthless Losers?!?!

[KronoGator]

Not the first time we've heard the big10 talk more then 16 teams, the mythical cut off point, them taking GT, NC, Duke and Virginia makes a ton of sense, it decimates the ACC, puts them firmly in southern TV and recruiting markets and leaves everybody else scrambling.

[rpmGator]

20 teams are too many teams for football. Ten teams in a division means 9 games inside the division. Which leaves little room to play any/many good games against the other division.

That lowers the qualtiy of the games in the conference and tv sets won't be changed to crap.

16 teams is about it, or you never get to see the best teams in each division play one another. Hard enough as it is.

[mh2os]

IMHO, it's too bad everybody couldn't stop at 12. With the first year's football schedule just completed in a 14 team conference, my impression is that 14 is too large unless you want nine conference games. With eight conference games and one permanenet opponent in the other division, it'll take six years to play the other division fully, and that's too long. On the other hand, adding another conference game in the most competitive conference in the country doesn't make sense. Since I see these as drawbacks to a 14 team conference, similar issues in a 16 team league would be an even larger problem sufficient to have gone beyond the point of diminishing returns.

[Matthanuf06]

Originally Posted by rpmGator

20 teams are too many teams for football. Ten teams in a division means 9 games inside the division. Which leaves little room to play any/many good games against the other division.

That lowers the qualtiy of the games in the conference and tv sets won't be changed to crap.

16 teams is about it, or you never get to see the best teams in each division play one another. Hard enough as it is.

There is no need to just have 2 divisions.

We are fast moving to a super conference structure with pods, resulting in conference playoffs feeding into a national playoff.

[TheRaid]

They would be after in order UVA, UNC, Duke, Ga Tech and then Mizzou. This would cause Notre Dame to join also.

The SEC would be compelled to pursue Texas and OK but will not get them. We would end up with FSU, Lousville, Clemson, Va Tech, NC State, and another 2 among who is left, and it could include Miami if they get off scott free.

The SEC will have to strike first in the nuclear war so expect Slive to complete this before he steps aside.

[HungaryGator]

Mizzou ain't goin' anywhere.

20 teams might well be too much but 18? If they were they right ones I could see it happening.

16 teams would be find if we added a 9th conference game and went to pods. We would cycle through the whole conference faster than we do now and it would create more inventory for the SEC Network thus making it more valuable. If it would come at the expense of the 3rd cupcake we play most years, I think 99% of Gators would be more than fine with that.

[Minister_of_Information]

What about 18 teams in three divisions with an at large slot for a four team conference playoff? Just thinking off the top of my head.

[Matthanuf06]

Originally Posted by Minister_of_Information

What about 18 teams in three divisions with an at large slot for a four team conference playoff? Just thinking off the top of my head.

I think the end game is 4 super conferences between 16-20 teams.

Pod structure each conf has a 4 team playoff.

Nationally a 6 team playoff, 4 conference champions, and 2 at larges (doesn't have to be from super conference). Top 2 teams (must be conf champions) gets a bye.

Now I doubt they'd get approval for that many extra games so I bet they build the conference semis into the schedule. For example first weekend in Dec is the SECCG. Last weekend would be the semis. Every SEC team would play a conference game that weekend, but you wouldn't know who you would be playing until the week of. Two divisions would be home and two away. An example would clear it up.

Our last SEC game would just be last weekend in Nov at home. The week prior, give or take, we'd know if we won the pod. If we won, we'd play another pod winner (the pod that is "away") at home. If we didn't win the pod, we'd be matched up with an "away" team in another pod based on matchups. Not ideal, but it would limit the # of games while still having the conference playoffs.

[ACCecil]

If the magic number 16, the SEC only has two slots left and they should take UNC and VT or NCST and VT plain and simple.

If it is 18 or 20, then that really opens the door to all kinds of possibilities. One thing is obvious and for sure, at least to me, if FSU ends up in a conference with Baylor, K-St and Kansas then FSU is pretty much doomed.

I am sure that is what many people want.

I'm hopeful but obviously worried.

[KronoGator]

18 teams can work just as easily as 16, 3 pods, play the 5 teams in pod every year, 2 from each other division, take the best two for your conference title game.

Of course the playoffs won't have conference champions as automatic qualifiers, meaning they may just disappear unless they are absorbed into a 1st round type thing.

[1984Gator]

Originally Posted by TheRaid

They would be after in order UVA, UNC, Duke, Ga Tech and then Mizzou. This would cause Notre Dame to join also.

The SEC would be compelled to pursue Texas and OK but will not get them. We would end up with FSU, Lousville, Clemson, Va Tech, NC State, and another 2 among who is left, and it could include Miami if they get off scott free.

The SEC will have to strike first in the nuclear war so expect Slive to complete this before he steps aside.

These are the ravings of a lunatic. The B1G may want these teams but there are very sound strategic reasons why they will fail for the most part. The SEC will expand its footprnt into North Carolina and Virginia. UNC and Va Tech will be the targets. The B1G can have UVA and GT, they are not worth much anyway. The SEC would gain nothing from adding FSU, Clemson, Louisville. NC State is a possibility of UNC swings to the B1G but that again is unlikely. Mizzou will never leave the SEC. B1G fans have become unhinged with their recent acquisition of Rutgers and maryland. rutgers is treated like a HS team in NY. maryland has been terrible for years and needed to jump to the B1G because its athletic program is bankrupt. The SEC will take 2 premier teams to expand its footprint and stop at 16. The B1G will apparently destroy its traditon through expansion. The BEast already tried this and failed!

[WarDamnGator]

I'd love to Have UNC and Duke in the SEC. We'd be the best football and basketball conference.