Talk has arisen again about college conference expansion.

When the Big 10 took Maryland and Rutgers for the millions of eyeballs and a stronger cable network footprint it was discussed on college football on Sirius radio that the ACC may be in big trouble as their schools may be attractive to the SEC and Big 12.

They also said it was all over for the Big Least with Louisville moving to the ACC.

So here is my query:

If the SEC expands to 16 teams which two do you think will be invited to join the conference?

I would think TCU and Baylor would be two to consider.

Virginia and Virginia Tech would be interesting as it opens Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, DC and Maryland to the SEC and a strong cable network geography. You can't have one without the other. And UVA will probably make the call.

I don't believe South Carolina will allow Clepson in or Florida letting FSU or Miami into the SEC. Do you think Georgia can stop Georgia Tech from becoming an SEC member again?

So who do you think the SEC will invite?????

And do you see any other teams that may be interested in changing conference affiliations?

Duke and NC for the basketball ratings. JMO. Not that I agree with them, but that would be my guess.

Jeff

Wow! What a thought.

Duke and UNC would rule the SEC in basketball and UNC has good football teams.

As for Duke, Vandy and Ole Miss need someone to beat for at least one SEC win a year!!!!

Duke & UNC (UNC especially) would never leave the ACC because John Swofford wouldn't let them. He is making sure the ACC is a basketball conference. I wish Clemson, FSU, VT...etc would get out of the ACC with Swofford being so biased for UNC basketball and basketball in general, but for the reasons you mentioned, they would more than likely never get to the SEC because they would bring no new market.

I will say the Louisville move wasn't as bad as the Pitt/Syracuse move for the ACC. West Virignia should have gotten an ACC invite, but apparently academics held that back or something.

The SEC made a brilliant move getting A&M and Missou. I could see TCU/Baylor being possibilities in the future.

By the way, I think you spelled Clemson wrong

Nope. We call them Clepson.

As for the "new market" I totally agree.

But it would be interesting to see UNC and Duke in the SEC basketball although they would certanily be #1, #2 or #3 every year.

And yes, the ACC will be a fantastic basketball conference with the additon of the two basketball powerhouses and Pitt. Can't wait for those wars to start.

P.S. I wonder how much input Virginia Tech had against adding West Virginia?

The Mountaineers would have been a perfect fit to the ACC, bringing some excitement and lots of fans to a dull and boring football conference.

I know my VT friends do not like WVU.

When LSU visited Morgantown they had a great time and said they would love to return to the mountains. Everyone was pleasant to the LSU people and they had one thing in common: You don't ask what they are cooking!

I would love to see Va Tech and OK State.

The SEC needs to bring in a couple of basketball powerhouses since they are typically poor football schools. Easy football victories are going to get even harder to come by and no one cares about basketball wins except Vandy and Ky. Basketball just provides some revenue to the schools and entertainment for the fans while recuiting and strenght conditioning are going on during the football off season. Just jokin'......................But some truth to it....................Al

Al, in this month's New Yorker Magazine, there is an article about the Paul Finebaum show.

The writer was listening to the Finebaum show on the first day of baseball last year and he was shocked to hear the callers talk about spring football and the Alabama running backs.

He could not understand why the callers were not calling in about major league baseball and all of the excitement of opening day.

After the writer investigated southern college football he came to an understanding and his article explains the southern mind set regarding college football.

As we say in Baton Rouge, there are four seasons to the eyear:

Spring - Spring Football

Summer - College Baseball

Fall - Football

Winter - Football Recruiting

If the SEC expands to 16 teams which two do you think will be invited to join the conference?

I would think TCU and Baylor would be two to consider.

I would love to see Va Tech and OK State.

Conference realignment has been a confusing mess for the past few years, but with the new TV deals and a $50 million dollar exit penalty, I don't see anyone else leaving the Big XII.

P.S. I wonder how much input Virginia Tech had against adding West Virginia?

I know my VT friends do not like WVU.

The feeling is very mutual, idk why but there is allot of animosity there. Some historians take it back to when WV wanted to be a separate State. The Michigan Ohio rivalry supposedly goes back to when the two states fought a small battle over control of a port.

Al, in this month's New Yorker Magazine, there is an article about the Paul Finebaum show.

The writer was listening to the Finebaum show on the first day of baseball last year and he was shocked to hear the callers talk about spring football and the Alabama running backs.

He could not understand why the callers were not calling in about major league baseball and all of the excitement of opening day.

After the writer investigated southern college football he came to an understanding and his article explains the southern mind set regarding college football.

As we say in Baton Rouge, there are four seasons to the eyear:

Spring - Spring Football

Summer - College Baseball

Fall - Football

Winter - Football Recruiting

Bruce Pearl actually stirred up some interest in mens basketball at Tennessee for a short time a few years ago but it was short lived for reasons we all know. Womens basketball has a fairly strong following. I saw a bumper sticker about 10 years ago that read "The University of Tennessee, where the men are men and the women are champions".

Although I have never given it a great deal of thought, it appears to me that football in the south is a blue collar sport and the rest of the country is white collar.

Sorry I have wandered a little off topic....................Al

Al, football in the south is like a religeon.

All economic levels enjoy the sport ranging from doctors, laywers, CPAs, business owners down to the receptionsits, truck drivers and delivery guys.

And we all get along supporting our teams.

Just like NASCAR.

The professional sport with the highest grade level is ice hockey. Most college graduates watch and attend ice hockey games along with the rift-raft.

What separates them is that the college guys have seats near the ice and the blue color guys sit in the upper deck!!!!