I think WVU will be gone within a week, then what?

[Hoophound]

If WVU does in fact have an invite to the SEC and Missouri goes to the SEC, that likely means the SEC needs one more team. That team would have to be VTech, FSU or Louisville. VTech probably stays in the ACC because they are tied to UVA politically. FSU probably gets the veto from Florida. This makes WVU and Ville prime for the picking.

Does the conference still add football teams at that point or do the football members disband and find new homes either with a major conference or Conference USA?

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

The SEC has 13 currently. Missouri would make 14.

 

[Hoophound]

The SEC has 13 currently. Missouri would make 14.

Right, but there is an awful lot of smoke around WVU having an invite.

 

[RS9999X]

If Missouri goes to the SEC then the B12 will offer WVU and BYU.
If Missouri stays the SEC might offer WVU as #14.
If Missouri stays the B12 might offer WVU as #10 (0r #11 if BYU accepts as #10)

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The "smoke" is all coming from WVU posters pretending to know an insider. WVU has been 48 hours from a SEC invite for about 2 years. I think WVU is about #6 on the SEC's list, maybe lower, behind Missouri, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson and maybe even Louisville.

Louisville is a much bigger flight risk, followed by TCU and Cincinnati IMO.

 

[Hoophound]

The "smoke" is all coming from WVU posters pretending to know an insider. WVU has been 48 hours from a SEC invite for about 2 years. I think WVU is about #6 on the SEC's list, maybe lower, behind Missouri, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson and maybe even Louisville.

Louisville is a much bigger flight risk, followed by TCU and Cincinnati IMO.

I would agree with this, though I think I have seen more WVU/SEC chatter in other places in the last few days. The SEC wish list you have above is probably accurate, but FSU, GTech, Clemson and Louisville could all be scuttled by their instate counterparts. WVU and Missouri are clean deals.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

How is WVU a clean deal if the report that they were already rejected by the SEC is true, which no one other than Oliver Luck has refuted.

 

[Hoophound]

I doubt they were ever rejected by them, I don't think it got that far.

It is a clean deal in the sense that there isn't any SEC member that will be dead set against WVU for reasons of self preservation. There is no other West Virginia school in the SEC to object to it. FSU etc will probably have resistance from their instate rivals.

 

[junglehusky]

So we have to hope for VT or the darkhorse NCSU to the SEC before WVU, right?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I doubt they were ever rejected by them, I don't think it got that far.

It is a clean deal in the sense that there isn't any SEC member that will be dead set against WVU for reasons of self preservation. There is no other West Virginia school in the SEC to object to it. FSU etc will probably have resistance from their instate rivals.

Nevermind the CBS reporter, as well as other outlets, who reported WVU was rejected: https://twitter.com/#!/McMurphyCBS/status/116175835815350272

 

[RS9999X]

How is WVU a clean deal if the report that they were already rejected by the SEC is true, which no one other than Oliver Luck has refuted.

It read more like Missouri is our first choice rather than a rejection. We'll know soon enough unless Missouri comes up with some vague non-committal process statement tomorrow.

One thing about the SEC; once the lawsuits started flying they didn't talk to anyone. Ever. Texas A&M saying Missouri will be in the B12 for a long time is all they could say after their mess. They weren't going to say "There's been ongoing discussions with the SEC and Missouri for months! The SEC solicited them! It's just a matter of time Bevo Boy-o!"

 

[businesslawyer]

So we have to hope for VT or the darkhorse NCSU to the SEC before WVU, right?

We are rooting for Mizzou to turn down the SEC and for the SEC to raid the ACC for #14. Don't rule out FSU or Clemson as candidates. I know no SEC school wants an additional member in their state but there may be too much money at stake for them to be able to stop it.,

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

We are rooting for Mizzou to turn down the SEC and for the SEC to raid the ACC for #14. Don't rule out FSU or Clemson as candidates. I know no SEC school wants an additional member in their state but there may be too much money at stake for them to be able to stop it.,

I agree, there seems to be a faction in the SEC that does not want WVU, if Mizzou turns them down, is the faction who doesn't want WVU bigger than the faction who doesn't want FSU?

 

[businesslawyer]

I agree, there seems to be a faction in the SEC that does not want WVU, if Mizzou turns them down, is the faction who doesn't want WVU bigger than the faction who doesn't want FSU?

There is only one school that doesn't want FSU -- florida. The Gators are being supported by Georgia and USC with an agreement not to allow the competitive ACC school for any of them to join the SEC. However, when Georgia and USC are told how much money they will lose by not taking FSU, and are guaranteed that they don't need Florida's vote to keep Georgia Tech and Clemson out, I think there word will prove to be as good as the words of all other university presidents on these matters.

 

[ctchamps]

We are rooting for Mizzou to turn down the SEC and for the SEC to raid the ACC for #14. Don't rule out FSU or Clemson as candidates. I know no SEC school wants an additional member in their state but there may be too much money at stake for them to be able to stop it.,

If the ACC loses Clemson and FSU and invites UConn and Rutgers this would give them 14 teams. Who would be 15 and 16? And would this conference be better than a 10/20 version of the BE?

 

[businesslawyer]

If the ACC loses Clemson and FSU and invites UConn and Rutgers this would give them 14 teams. Who would be 15 and 16? And would this conference be better than a 10/20 version of the BE?

1. They would stop at 14 unless outside events forced them to expand further one day.

2. Better than today's Big East or a future one? Let's be clear -- for all the struggles the Big East has had on the football field this year, it is ahead of the ACC, today, in the Sagarins. So if you're asking whether Pitt, Syracuse, UConn and Rutgers will have placed themselves in an actually better football conference, the answer is absolutely not. But, unfortunately, that is not the only point. They will have placed themselves in a more stable football conference, a more prestigious football conference and a football conference that generates more fan interest and revenue.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

If the ACC loses Clemson and FSU and invites UConn and Rutgers this would give them 14 teams. Who would be 15 and 16? And would this conference be better than a 10/20 version of the BE?

Don't know who'd be 15 and 16. In this scenario, the ACC would be foolish not to take WVU. And yes, it would be better than the 10/20 CUSA version 2.0. Far and away better. If for no other reason than the BCS bid would be 100% solid and the TV deal would still be huge.

 

[ctchamps]

1. They would stop at 14 unless outside events forced them to expand further one day.

2. Better than today's Big East or a future one? Let's be clear -- for all the struggles the Big East has had on the football field this year, it is ahead of the ACC, today, in the Sagarins. So if you're asking whether Pitt, Syracuse, UConn and Rutgers will have placed themselves in an actually better football conference, the answer is absolutely not. But, unfortunately, that is not the only point. They will have placed themselves in a more stable football conference, a more prestigious football conference and a football conference that generates more fan interest and revenue.

I guess I would think the loss of FSU and Clemson would alter the latter part of number 2. Particularly if Miami is gutted.

 

[businesslawyer]

I guess I would think the loss of FSU and Clemson would alter the latter part of number 2. Particularly if Miami is gutted.

No. That conference, with the rest of the ACC and Pitt and Syracuse, will still be more "prestigious" to the outside world than anything we can cobble together. Whether or not it's actually better. More history, more buzz, bigger stadiums -- more prestigous.

I don't like it but that is the way it is.

 

[HuskyHawk]

1. They would stop at 14 unless outside events forced them to expand further one day.

2. Better than today's Big East or a future one? Let's be clear -- for all the struggles the Big East has had on the football field this year, it is ahead of the ACC, today, in the Sagarins. So if you're asking whether Pitt, Syracuse, UConn and Rutgers will have placed themselves in an actually better football conference, the answer is absolutely not. But, unfortunately, that is not the only point. They will have placed themselves in a more stable football conference, a more prestigious football conference and a football conference that generates more fan interest and revenue.

It's also academically more prestigious (especially compared to the ugly "future" versions of the BE), would be the best basketball conference in the country, would be an excellent baseball conference, and soccer as well. It would consist of schools from contiguous states that largely share natural rivalries. All those things are far more important that the Sagarin rankings.

I think Missouri is staying put. So the SEC needs one school. FSU is a likely candidate. If UConn replaces them, GT and Clemson stay, ACC football remains decent. It has never been as good as the SEC, Big VII or Big Ten. I don't expect that will change.

 

[SAMCRO]

It has never been as good as the..., Big VII .......

Big XII - sorry, had to correct it.

 

[mattp]

i haven't heard anyone with any credibility at all say anything about the SEC being interested in WVU. while WVU would be a good fit in terms of culture and being competitive, they provide basically nothing in terms of additional TV eyeballs and that's all anyone cares about anymore. think that is the main reason we won't see FSU, GTech or Clemson joining the SEC, moreso than the other school in their state forbidding it. expansion is being driven by TV footprints, which is why Western PA and upstate NY were more attractive to the ACC than NE and NJ. they expanded the ACC's footprint, while we merely filled it in. that's another reason i think we might be more attractive to the Big10 than ACC. if they want to make a play at NYC, picking up UConn and Rutgers is pretty much their only option. i think Mizzou would be crazy to stay in the B12 if they have the option of going to the SEC so that's where i see that going.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

we are not going to the big 10! please stop this madness!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Big XII - sorry, had to correct it.

Ack. Lazy on my part.

 

[mattp]

we are not going to the big 10! please stop this madness!

i don't think we're going anywhere for a while,if ever, but i think we're more attractive to the BigTen from a TV market standpoint than the ACC. i don't have any notions that we'll ever actually end up in the Big Ten, i just think w' could potentially fill a void for them, whereas we don't really bring more TVs to the ACC.

we make more sense to the ACC for the same reasons WVU makes more sense for the SEC, but now these decisions seem to be driven purely by number of potential TV customers added.