UNC "aiming for" move to the SEC?

No more expansion, please.

 

Before adding Oklahoma & Texas, it would have made sense for the SEC to add teams like Virginia & North Carolina to expand their foothold.

However, it may still happen as the Big Ten swallowed up former PAC-12 teams Southern Cal, Oregon, UCLA & Washington. The SEC only expanded by two compared to four by the Big '10'.

 

I would have liked it too, we could have controlled the east coast up to DC, great academic names, basketball would be better…but football is the primary driver of expansion and UT and OU are light years bigger names than UVA and UNC. The chance to grab two of the biggest names was a no brainer. Back in the last round of expansion it was cable boxes, now with cord cutting it is names who will get people to pay to watch or watch over air. If the ACC does break up though UNC would be a top 3 name to grab. UVA is still mid on almost everything outside of academics, swimming and helping us penetrate the DC market more.

 

I say grab them and Va Tech. Expand our conference footprint and recruiting territory.

To hell with the Holes, Clemson, and Miami.

 

The whole Clemson thing baffles me. 10 years ago they would have been an afterthought, one good coach and now they’re a hot property?
When Dabo leaves they could very well fall right back into mediocrity and they bring little else athletically, heck they are almost back to mediocrity now, nor do they move the needle academically, eyeball wise (it’s a small state they split with USC) etc. picking them ahead of some of these other schools just seems myopic to me.

 

At one time long ago conferences were not just built on athletics but also academics.

No longer.

Maybe that started down a slippery slope when U Chicago left the Big Ten.

As a great academic institution UNC is up there in spite of fake classes for athletes.

 

Yep. Klimpsum has traditionally been a good football program, I'll give them that, but the reality overall is that the state of South Carolina is a weak market. They bring little to the table monetarily, and we already have our token program from that state. Why, I don't know.

 

Trade em, send the Chickens back to the ACC and bring in Clemson, after all the SEC is home to the most Tiger mascots, lets get one more in here.

 

This

I would rather it be State though. Better football fans equally rabbit hoops fans ...and Raleigh is a little closer for me than Chapel Hill.

 

Same old take:

It is compelling to think adding a NC and Virginia team to the SEC means better revenue. And I would agree with the philosophy. It is like saying the NFL is in Miami because there are plenty of people to pay money to the league whereas Birmingham does not. And then there is the prestige factor, where a Walton or a Pickens could fund a team in Arkansas or Oklahoma, but no one thinks the fans are "their kind of people".

Anyways, what I still believe is in play isn't so much that we add media markets where we don't as much as 1) how many teams in a so-called league are enough to support the concept, that concept being AAA minor league football, and 2) does the model have to apply to all sports funded/ sponsored by universities? Once you divorce yourself from the old model - as it already is - and look at more prudent ideas, why does a woman's golf team have to travel across the entire country in order to play in a conference event? It makes absolutely NO sense. And so, there are two tiers; football and the rest of the sports. And it also presumes that any Title IX mandates are removed as football would have an independent revenue stream.

And so, what I believe will happen eventually, once the divorce is final, is that a NC and a VA team will be adsorbed but at a cost, IF the football setup remains at an efficient 16-teams for two conferences. What is the cost? Look at the professional sports, as that IS what we are witnessing. If eyeballs are the main goal, how can an Alabama or a Mississippi or a South Carolina or a Tennessee (potentially) support TWO AAA level teams? Texas can pull it off, but these states are NOT a Texas. Not even close.

And so, build the model that works the best for AAA football, leave the NCAA to administer the remaining sports and make the conferences compact and energetic - you WANT to play certain teams - and then decide who stays and who goes. My take is that with the addition of UNC and say UVa, Auburn and Miss State are relegated to AA status. And unless Clemson can make a strong argument - and financial windfalls to the league - they remain on the outside. Now, is there an outlier team who would be preferable over Vandy? Not sure there is, unless we decide to go to the Northeast. Methinks that would have to be Maryland. And then they would open up a position for ND to join and keep their league efficient. And yes, some teams like Northwestern or Illinois won't make the cut either.

Don't like this take? Stop living in the past and realize it is ALL about the TV money. And how to distribute it in an effective way to keep it coming. It is what it is.

 

Great for UNC and great for the Conference. Add Clemson while you are at it.