In light of Vanderbilt's new policy eliminating their athletic department the Commodores will not even remotely be able to live up to their obligations as a member of the SEC. Whether they voluntarily withdraw from the conference of whether they have to be expelled on way or another the SEC will need to replace them with another school. Who would you like to see join the SEC to replace Vanderbilt?
My choice would be Georgia Tech - Academics rivaling Vanderbilts and the biggest TV market. I'm sure Georgia would love to see either G Tech or Clemson enter the SEC since they already play both teams every year and if one of them were a conference game it would free up Georgia's schedule for another opponent.
Hey, Southlink having G Tech in the SEC would be a good thing for your Georgia Bulldogs. Since UGA plays them every year anyway, having G Tech count as one of the 8 conference games would free up the UGA schedule to play either a rent a win game or to schedule a major power. Maybe they suck this year or maybe they don't but G Tech has had its moments of glory in the not too distant past including a National Championship in the early 90's. Right now Vandy is in the biggest TV market in the SEC in Nashville but since the have sucked so badly for so many years that does nothing for the SEC. Having G Tech back in the SEC in the huge Atlanta media market could mean nothing but positive for the SEC.
First off, everyone on this board needs to heal back a little. Vanderbilt University is NOT leaving the SEC voluntarily ANYTIME SOON, nor can they be voted out. They are protected against such a move by conference by-laws. A change in conference by-laws, IIRC, requires the UNANIMOUS vote of all 12 conference schools. No way Vanderbilt bends to that, or even other SEC weaklings, such as Kentucky. The 'Cats know that if Vandy goes, they are most likely next. Their great basketball tradition won't mean jack, because football is driving everything in major college athletics these days. Second, even if it COULD happen (which it can't), realize that the only thing keeping the SEC respectable in the academic arena for the last decade has been Vanderbilt. For years, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, and yes, even LSU from time to time, have been putting forth pathetic graduation rates. LSU has recovered (THANK GOD!) and now has a respectable graduation rate that is #2 in the SEC. But just three years ago, LSU was one of 36 Division I men's basketball programs to post a 0% six-year graduation rate. Yep, that's zero, nada, zip, zilch, squat. That is absolutely embarrassing and absolutely unacceptable, and every Tiger fan should say so. The fans at Arkansas and Tennessee should be saying the same thing about their football teams pathetic graduation rates and disciplinary problems. I don't see it though, and that's sad. Vandy is one of those precious few institutions where 90%+ graduation rates for scholarship athletes are not only expected, but demanded. They have become the norm there. We should all be striving for that. At the end of the day, we are talking about "student-athletes," kids who are supposed to be in college to learn and get a degree. Even in the SEC, a very precious few of these young men and women are headed for stardom in the professional sports arena. They had better have a Plan B in case the NFL, NBA, baseball, etc., doesn't work out (and 95% of the time, it doesn't). Now, I'm not saying we should all follow Vanderbilt like lemmings off a cliff. I think their decision to consolidate their Athletic Dept. with their Rec. Sports/Student Intramurals/Phy. Ed. Depts. is ABSOLUTELY INSANE! The problem with Vanderbilt is the same problem that exists at Tulane; there exists on both these campuses an elitist group of professors, administrators, and academians who DESPISE major college athletics in general, and football in particular. So what, anti-football snobs are on every campus, even LSU and Alabama, right? Well, the difference is, at Vanderbilt, this faction is large, powerful, well-monied, and in total control of the university. And as long as they are, the Vanderbilt athletic program will never be allowed to reach it's full potential. Some people say small, private, academically elite colleges just can't compete in big-time college football, while others say that schools who hope to be big-time national contenders in football and men's basketball can never become outstanding academic institutions. To both parties, I scream at the top of my lungs, BOVINE FECAL MATTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :angry: :cuss: :angry: :cuss: :dis: :dis: :dis: If Notre Dame, a small, Roman Catholic, liberal arts and religious studies college, can become the most storied football program in all the land; if Stanford, a fixture on the U.S. News & World Report elite college list, can go to a Rose Bowl; if Duke, home to arguably the greatest medical college in the WORLD, can become a dynasty in men's basketball, why in the heck can't Vanderbilt go to a bowl game?! If Notre Dame can do it, if Stanford can do it, if Duke can do it, if Miami can do it, if Syracuse can do it, if Boston College can do it, if Rice can do it, why can't Vanderbilt and Tulane? Because the upturned-nosed, pencil-necked, shrively-faced, shrunken-muscled, angry-at-all-jockdom-because-the-big-mean-football-players-picked-on-them-in-high-school SNOBBY DWEEBS in charge of both schools aren't willing to admit that they are as incompetent as they are arrogant. Their belief that championship caliber athletics (football especially) and top-notch academics cannot co-exist on the same campus is a bald-faced lie. The people who say that on both sides are lying through their teeth because they see the other side as a threat and they don't want to share any power or limelight. Just like LSU should not resign itself to sub-par graduation rates in it's quest to become a football dynasty, Vanderbilt athletes, coaches, fans and alumni should not accept the fallacious argument that permanent doormat status in the SEC is the price they must pay to maintain academic excellence. It is absolutely ludicrous to say so. My message to Vanderbilt is simple; Vandy fans, I KNOW you are tired of seeing your teams lose and lose and lose some more; tired of seeing any coach who wants to change course and build a program (DiNardo, Widenhofer, soon Bobby Williams) run off; tired of playing in an ancient, undersized dump of a stadium; tired of watching the academian snobs in their ivory towers shortchange and openly sabotage the program; tired of seeing your share of the SEC's bowl money confiscated to build more ivory towers and pacify the Title IX feminists instead of being invested back into the program where it might do some good; tired of the mismanagement and marginalization, tired of the excuses, just plain TIRED! It will only stop when you rise up and say no more. Take control of your university and your athletic department! Call, fax, e-mail, or write the President's office and tell him you will not be giving another DIME to Vanderbilt until you see a commitment to winning. DEMAND that the university commit to achieving excellence on the playing fields just as they have in the classroom. The SEC needs your academic prowess and sees your potential, but we are losing patience. We need you guys to put pressure on your leaders and force them to live up to their commitments to the SEC. If you can't get them to do that, then neither you nor we as a conference will move forward. And it will be your fault, because every other school in the conference is trying to get there. You have some catching up to do. Sorry to go off like that, but people who say "you have to choose between academics and football" really chap my hide. I have a lot of negative things to say about people like that. And that includes LSU fans who say low graduation rates don't matter as long as we win. I hate them, just as much as I hate the snobs at Vandy and Tulane who are on the oppostite side of the spectrum.
I don't want to go off on a rant, as Dennis Millers says but Jetstorm that was one hell of a rant. You made some very good points. There is no reason why Vanderbilt or Tulane CAN'T elevate their major sports programs to the same level as a Notre Dame, a Stanford, a Duke or even a Rice who won the College World Series recently. BUT there are lots of reasons why they WON'T do it. Notre Dame, Stanford and even Duke with their crappy football program all have a long history of a commitment to excellence ( to borrow a phrase from Al Davis) in the sports they have chosen to emphasize. They have achieved the status they now enjoy because they have been willing to commit whatever resources that were necessary to not only hiring the best coaches and commiting the necessary financial resouces to keep their athletic facilities at a top notch level but they gave gone the extra mile to recruit athletes who are gifted not only with their physical skills but who also fit the academic profile of the university. The only reason that Vanderbilt and Tulane haven't elevated their athletic programs to the same level as a Notre Dame or a Duke is because they are not willing to make the committment to do it. Maybe thats the right decision for their programs. Notre Dame has a national fan base and a big time Television contract that pays them a lot more than even the money that the SEC, Big 10 or the Big 12 is able to share with their members. Tulane dosen't have a big group of fan support and they draw what? 20,000 fans to the Superdome for even their biggest games. If Tulane was back in the SEC and kicking ass on the Alabama's, Florida's and Georgias of the world they sill would be lucky to fill 40,000 seats.
