With the unanimous decision by ACC presidents to raise the buyout, we can forget about any ACC teams joining the SEC. Any additions will be from the Big East and Big 12. If the SEC goes to 16, I believe it will be A&M, MO, WVU, and (not sure about this one) Louisville. I realize Louisville would give us another team from KY, where we already have a team. But, I can't think of another team instead of Louisville (again, if the SEC goes to 16). Texas doesn't want the SEC, Oklahoma wants to stay with Texas, and Oakie State is staying with Oklahoma. Kansas is too far, so there are no other Big 12 teams available. In the Big East, USF is the only other southern school, and I don't think the SEC would take it. I guess it's possible that TCU would be interested. I don't know enough about the advantages if Louisville vs. TCU, but Louisville would up SEC basketball.
Kinda feels like we are fighting for scraps, but let's face it, the other conferences are doing this to knock the big dog down (us). So we are late to the party and probably have seen the whole thing as unnecessary. I'm not a big fan of the teams you throw out there joining the conference - USF, Louisville? If we have super conferences of 16 teams, I think we are going to see each conference have a number of basement-dwelling teams who share that basement year-over-year. I don't like it. The gap will widen just inside the conferences. I am skeptical of all of this and not really a big fan of it.
As several others have said, I don't want any more powerhouses in the conference. Respectable "also rans" is just fine.
I can respect that, but when I think about why people currently say that the SEC West is the best division in football, it isn't hard to see why. Other than the disappointing start of Ole Miss, the division is just stout and the schedule to get through it is murderous. I enjoy watching it week in and week out. Would I still enjoy it? Sure, but I worry about the conference being diluted. By way of example, the Pac-10 adding Texas and OU substantially strengthens that conference. Good for them, although it smacks of desperation to me. The question we have to ask ourselves is whether the SEC is strengthening the conference by adding certain teams or is it something else? If we aren't strengthening it, why do it? Because we have to in order to keep up? I am seriously asking this question because I don't know and am skeptical.
UCLA and USC were given incentives to agree to the PAC12 setup. More money for them if their share of TV money was below a certain amount, the point was made moot by the new TV contract. Basically the PAC is a level playing field now, Texas would have to make concessions to join. I don't hear much complaints about bringing in the 4 mentioned schools. Except for a general unease regarding nasty ol Texas. I think most Duck fans would welcome the upgrade in competition. It would be a great conference.
You are right about Texas. They have their Longhorn network and always fancy themselves as the Big Daddy of the conference. Don't see how that continues in the Pac-10. They have zero history in that conference and look like a bandwagoner going in. It's kind of pathetic in my mind, but that gets into a discussion of Texas football and the stature of Texas programs. If this comes to pass, I think Oregon will come to regret the decision, as will some other programs in the existing conference, but you are right in the sense that this is a high-risk, high-reward proposal for some programs, yours included. I think Chip Kelly was right when he said after the LSU loss that the kind of players we have are the kind of players you don't see on the west coast. I think you'd face a fair amount of that with these proposed schools coming in right now. I am not even sure you guys could beat Oklahoma State right now. They look as good as I've ever seen them. And Texas, in a down year, just destroyed UCLA. Sure, it is UCLA, but I am not sure Texas would ever have a truly down year in the pac-10. Of course, I could be wrong, but I have followed the Pac-10 for a long time and this move really has me scratching my head. But the SEC adding the likes of Missouri and WVA would also have me scratching my head.
WVU seems obvious now with Pitt and Syr bolting to the ACC. If the SEC goes to 16, don't look for an ACC team. MO is likely, but I am stumped on number 16. It has to be a team that brings in a new market. How about Tulane? Calm down, it was a joke!
We all assume that no ACC team would leave, but is that correct? Even if you are lesser tier, can you recoup that money in fairly short order by being associated with the SEC and their run of BCS Bowl games? Maybe so. Seems to me that if someone in the ACC wants to leave bad enough, they can structure such a deal to make that happen. If there was only one team to bring in, I'd look at FSU, but if you want a new market, maybe UNC???
