Oh I get it. Both are draws compared to most. But those are ESPN's home games either way.
I get what you're saying but I don't think state lines are as meaningful as some think. The SEC is king and I think it makes sense to have 2 programs in Florida. It has two in Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, and even Mississippi. If it matters, Clemson is better academically than USC, has more applicants, Clemson is the land grant U, and has a bigger football stadium. Clemson has a cool school logo but I gotta give the athletic logo to USC.
Winning winners who want to win
I can't like this enough.
What that model -- maximizing marquee matches -- argues for (only economically of course) is less expanding with good teams and more getting rid of your bottomfeeders. You can add FSU and Clemson, but 'Bama still has to play Miss State, Ole Miss and Arkansas every year.
That was dangerously close to the "winning winners who win" Herbst quote.
I think the opposite. Florida and South Carolina will keep FSU and Clemson out of the SEC.
Ole Miss is damned good (and may have the best uniforms CFB), but aside from that I agree. These super-sized conferences are already at risk of losing some of the key matchups they want. If they add FSU, do they lose the annual Florida - Georgia game? The B1G is about to suffer some buyer's remorse I expect.
I think expanding to the west coast was a huge mistake, but they saw LA and its 18 million population and all those big fat juicy cable boxes ripe to be taken over by the Big Ten Network and the prime carriage rate they get. Probably shortsighted and old school thinking, but the B1G is a conference representing the rusting away stagnant parts of the country that saw their heyday half a century ago, so this approach fits.
Just pointing out that Ole Miss has more market power than people up here probably expect. Most popular team in Memphis and parts of Arkansas. In 2021 they came in 18th most watched, ahead of Clemson, FSU, USC etc. I agreed with your point, they just weren’t an example of it.
I think it was a smart, surgical move. They took the cream and got to Pacific Time. Pacific Time is a big market, but not the best sports-watching area, especially southern California. But it makes them truly national and they added like-minded institutions. The Big Ten might be rust belt, but smart kids from all over the country still want to go to those schools.
I’m sure the ACC knows everything about us already. Bringing in us with those three would be a solid academic add plus be more than on par with Big XII. I’d hardly call two top 20 directors cup schools mediocre sports. Some universities need to have the courage to hold the collegiate athletic mission statement faithfully. The mission is to provide educational opportunities to students from all walks of life.
And part of the reason the Big 12 was the best basketball conference was because it only had 10 teams. None were awful but WVU, K-State, Okie State, Oklahoma were not great.
This may be a job for @businesslawyer
