Texas A&M Coming To The SEC Could Help Put AU In The East.

but one possibility is playing 9 conference games with each team keeping two traditional east west rivalry’s and one rotating opponent….either way I suspect the SEC will go to a 9 game conference schedule which will make the SEC an even tougher gauntlet and perhaps push D1A one step closer to a playoff. It’s going to be exciting the next few days to watch all of this unfold or perhaps collapse into another failed attempt at expansion. I for one wouldn’t be surprised to see either OU, Mizzou, or TTU bolt with aTm…..IMO it’s a shame that TCU already committed to the Big Least as they would have made a great add on with the Aggies.

linky thingy

Has me all a blush Todd.

you might want to do a little research and find out who AU’s traditional rivalries are and the great games that were played with them…..we’ve only began a consistant rivalry with LSU since going to divisional play in the SEC…..we used to play UT and UF every year…..in fact we’ve played UF more times than we have Bama and we played UT every year, until divisional play began, since WWII. We have lost all of our Traditional rivalry’s with the exception of Bama and UGA since the start of Divisional play….and I for one miss playing UT and UF every year…and while we’re at it I wish we would play GT every year again. There are some great LSU games that have been played over the past 19 years but there are many many more UT and UF games that hold that distinction for those of us who have been around a little longer than the last 19 years…..if that’s your only criteria for not wanting to go to the east.

but I think comparing what the MWC became to what the SEC could become is apples and oranges…..the MWC was full of has beens and never beens…….the SEC could have 9 great conference games and one great OOC along with the two powderpuffs….right now most years it’s one good OOC and 3 not so good OOC games, only occasionally do you have 2 good OOC games and for the past few years AU has only had the one. And I don’t want to see a scenario where a 3 loss East Champ for example beats an undefeated West Champ and the West Champ gets left out of a play off while a powderpuff MAC, USA, MWC, WAC or even Big Least champ gets in.

have finally stubbornly added teams to try the model (and I agree also, they are making a mistake going to a 9 conference game schedule in the future with 8 being plenty especially when your respective division champs have to play a 9th game), but this A&M to SEC thing does not seem to want to go away. 14 is not a good number, but workable—16 just seems impossible, but if everybody goes to it, the SEC will most likely also. If we add A&M to get the Texas market and give us (LSU and I would like to have this rivalry renewed as one of the good things to come out of A&M coming aboard) and Arky another rival, I say add one more (Missouri or WVU maybe) and stay at 14. I really hope the SEC is reactive; letting the other big conferences act first may be the best way to proceed.

I remember Bobby Bowden saying he wasn’t going to throw his team to the dogs everyyear by joining the SEC. But I would rather see D1A pared down to say 98 teams and 7 conferences with 14 teams.

This is supposed to be a place where we can discuss, argue, rehash, and regurgitate our football addiction without repercussion…..so please post repeatedly.

I would also like to see GT rejoin the conference but there are enough bammers and old SEC guys out there that are old enough to remember what the feud was about that I don’t think that would happen (and GT made their bed let’em lie in it)….and as far as that goes what does Tech have to offer the SEC? Basketball? Nope not anymore. Football? No. Bigger recruiting area? No. TV market? No. As much as I would like to see our rivalry renewed with them they really don’t offer the conference much incentive to offer them an “Olive Branch”. Clemson has a Football Program that fits better in the SEC than the SEC as does FSU (although I still think they chickened out 20 years ago).

they (General Neyland) refused to come to the plains to play AU until after Neyland had kicked the bucket….those hillbilly puss sacks are fun to hate and a renewed rivalry with them would be very heated from the start…..and I don’t think OU has the fan base that Texas does (not many schools do). OU couldn’t pull a deal like the Longhorn Network and if they could it wouldn’t be as lucrative and they know it…..OU will have to join another conference if the Big# goes the way of the Dodo…..and no conference would be more lucrative to join from a profit sharing standpoint than the SEC…..the one thing that would keep OU from joining would be either Texas breaking the Redriver Rivalry out of spite or OU not wanting to face the kind of competition every week that they would in the SEC (a’la FSU). And whether you wish it or not if the SEC adds two western market teams such as A&M and Mizzou (a very likely scenario) AU will move to the East.

I don’t think the rest of the league would stand for it. They do not want a scenario where the Championship game in Atlanta might come down to Auburn vs. Alabama.

All of Auburn’s traditional rivalries (except Alabama) are in the East. LSU is a more recent rivalry that came about after divisional play was instituded. Also Auburn fits geographically with the East; but when divisional play was first formulated, the league did not want to split Auburn and Alabama.

Clemson is a good fit program wise but wouldn’t increase TV market area…..so I would think that Clemson would be down a little further on the wish list for those that have have the invitation envelopes.

It’t been all over the net. See:SB Nation’s I am the 12th man.com
http://www.iamthe12thman.com/2011/8/9/2353416/ags-to-sec-in-2012

And last night ESPN had an article on it. See:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6851396/texas-governor-says-texas-considering-move-sec

For AM moving to the SEC, or Auburn going to the East? Texas AM WILL be in the SEC, write it down and take a picture of it. Google about it and read, and you’ll find it’s just a matter of time. As for Auburn moving to the east? There might be reliable sources, but I doubt it… If you stroll through Auburn boards enough you’ll see this topic come up and some of our fans can control their excitement at the prospects of Auburn moving to the East. Some even come to irrational notion that we should just end the Iron Bowl to make it more seamless. Our fans really need to stop and think when this topic comes up, because Auburn moving to another division would be a big deal, and it’s not all rosey. In the end you have an unsolvable scheduling equation with Tennessee/Alabama/Iron Bowl/4th Saturday… and you are trading LSU, with their deep monopoly on in state recruiting and strong teams for Tennessee, who just plain sucks now, and can’t keep Nick Saban out of their already shallow recruiting pond. In short, this is a bad trade in this day and age.

Thanks for the welcomes aubtigerman!

A&M and another team west of the Mississippi comes to the SEC a current western division team would have to make the move to the east……and what team would do that? The only one I know of would be us…..if you can name another I’m listening.

I think expanding will make it tougher for the SEC to win a National Championship in football simply because it may increase the chances for losses. However, that being said, the SEC will be expanding. The only question is will it be now or next year.

the Tennessee rivalry screams “hasbeen” compared to LSU… Even if we just recently started playing LSU every year.

430 miles to Little Rock, AR If your driving, that is a fair sized difference. By plane it’s another twenty minutes or so.

unless some last minute Texas groveling takes place (doubtful) and I agree right now LSU is a much better program than Tennessee….but I don’t expect that’s going to be the case forever…regardless Florida is a bigger rival for AU and is not a has been as some paint Tennessee to be and I would love to get Florida back yearly and I don’t have the love affair with Arkansas and the Mississippi Schools that would keep me in the West.

They have a better chance for supremacy in the ACC. Clemson and Ga, Tech would be natural fits but they probably would not get an invite unless Va. Tech turned us down. Reason; no new TV market with any of those three.

but I actually think the opposite….not only would we still more than not have the opportunity to knock Bama out of the SECCG (and vice-versa) but think of the freaking rematch…..I mean holy cow what a game that would be….one side looking for some payback….the other side having to repeat what they just did…..it would be an SECCG on steroids and huge for the state I might add.

why don’t you think it’s going to happen?

but now that I see how much a diva UT is, heck no to UT ever, and what you say here is perfect. OU even with OSU coming along is the key to maintaining balance between divisions with AU and FSU in the East. With recruiting and influence this is a very strong Texas footprint (with the addition of both A&M and OU who recruits really well there) to South Carolina down to Florida (which really becomes SEC territory with the addition of FSU). Two of the three top states in recruiting and a lot of good ones in between (La., Miss, Ala., Ga. SCar) with the “unmatched level of play” as you say. It will make things tough to remain as successful as we have been in regard to the BCS, but the +1 format could really help with that. Let UT go indy or join the Big 10 and freeze their tails off up in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Columbus, ect. in the mid to late fall—I guess they could go out West and play those left coasters they have so much in common with that a lot of their fans have talked about.