Texas A&M to the SEC

Team Speed Kills disects the rumour mill. It all comes down to this:

The SEC is a great conference the way it is and should not expand just to expand. But if the Big XIIish is going to spin apart -- and it eventually will -- the SEC has to get Texas A&M.

While I think this probably means things will happen sooner rather than later, I still come back to the same question I keep thinking of: what other team gets the invite?



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The SEC Year in Preview

By Spencer Hall, can be found here.



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SEC Expansion (Again)

Should Missouri join the SEC? Some folks think it would be a good fit. Others don't.

Why is this even a topic of discussion? Because last year's conference realignment talk featured a few good moves, a lot of bad ideas, and one line of thinking that refuses to die: "Texas A&M should be in the SEC."

As one of the folks who thinks Texas A&M would be a good fit, let me start off with this: the SEC does not need to expand right now. The brand is strong, the sports are strong, and the money is strong. Any moves made should be decidedly win-win moves, or they aren't worth it, from a conference standpoint. Unless the additions verifiably increase the conference's worth, they are not worth making.

I can see what TAMU brings to the table. I can also guess that, if they are invited, they will not refuse the SEC a second time. And in the land of narratives and memes the TAMU to the SEC is a strong one.

Missouri is only present in the discussion because of the question "what school would the SEC take to balance the numbers, if TAMU gets an invite?" First of all, I don't think that's a good enough reason.

While I don't think Mizzou would be a detriment to the SEC, I don't see them bringing a whole lot to the table. I don't think they fit the win-win mold that the SEC needs to be looking for when considering targets for expansion. Because of this, Mizzou becomes part of a growing list of schools that would love an SEC invite, but probably won't get one because there just isn't enough brought to the table to make it worthwhile, or there is already an SEC school that is a rival of the invitee who isn't ready to deal with that rival in-conference.

That list includes, but is not limited to:

Georgia Tech - a school that would bring absolutely nothing to the table for the SEC.
Tulane - see Georgia Tech
Clemson - a good cultural fit in a terrible television market.
Florida State - see Clemson.
Virginia Tech - see Clemson.
West Virginia - a less than appropriate cultural fit, less potential, and a less valuable television market than Clemson.
Oklahoma - more tied to the success of University of Texas sports than Texas A&M
Texas - will never join the SEC, and might destroy the conference from the inside if they do
Louisville - interesting opportunity, but a risky bet
North Carolina - DO WANT, but Kentucky basketball is not going to let the Tar Heels into their division

Missouri is different enough from most of those to understand why the idea might grow legs. It doesn't own any TV market, but is close to two big ones. It isn't a cultural fit, but isn't a cultural clash. Their athletic programs aren't big brand names, but they've got a lot of potential in several sports.

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How Do You?

Dump on USC and Auburn University at the same time?

This.

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$400 Million Dollars

We've been hearing about it for years, but the voices demanding a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons continue to rise in volume, and look more and more serious. The whole pricetag would be north of $700M, of which $400M would be on the taxpayers. And (unlike Dallas) the plans for the new Bird's Nest would be an uncovered stadium with less seating capacity.

Meanwhile, real conservative Kyle Wingfield of the AJC goes over all the other things Atlanta could do with that stadium money.

Hell, he even includes streetcars, mass transit, and trains on his list.

Of course, if Atlanta does build a new Falcons' stadium, they might get rid of the Georgia Dome, even though they say they want to keep it. The reason to keep it is pretty solid: the Georgia Dome hosts the Chick Fil-A Kickoff Classic, the Peach Bowl, the Georgia State Panthers regular season and OH YES THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. But how long do you think two NFL sized football stadiums will last a few parking lots away from one another?

Maybe the SEC could just buy the facility outright, which wouldn't be a bad idea, actually. Atlanta is, primarily, a college football town. The move could make economic sense for both the conference and the city. But such manuvering might not pan out, and who knows what will happen in 6 years?

This tells me one thing: New Orleans needs to have a 5-year bid to host the SEC Championship Game ready to roll before 2017. That's one of the only games on the planet more valuable than the Sugar Bowl. If there were ever an opportunity to get that game out of Atlanta, this would be it.

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Chemical Weapons

The 130+ year old live oak trees at Toomer's Corner in Auburn, Alabama have been poisoned with massive amounts of herbicide.

Let me say, first of all, that this crosses the line of college prankery in the worst sort of way. Especially considering the lethal doses of poisonous herbicide used on a landmark where Auburn fans doubtless take pictures with their young children.

When they catch this guy or guys, I hope the full force of the law is brought down against them.

Update: Looks like they have a suspect in custody.

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Somebody Your Mama'd Be Proud Of

Oh, to have a chunk of one's philosophy summed up by a comment on a thread dedicated to SEC fan zealotry that gets into a conversation about the Rebel flag. I know what you're expecting. But check this out from "haveagreatday":

This is quite a robust conversation. here's my take on the flag

we don’t need to fly the battle flag to celebrate our Southern heritage. As many here have pointed out, the battle flag is too bound up in the problems of slavery and the subsequent intolerance of Jim Crow to be flown without referencing those evils. They cannot be effectively separated and the battle flag is lost to history. Let it stay buried there.

The way you celebrate your Southern heritage, that is, what separates this region from the rest of the country, is by living out those values that make the South special. Cherish your family, spend time across generations, stay rooted in a place (I am the 7th generation of a group too foolish or proud or both to leave to Natchez, MS. My daughter represents the 8th generation of my family to be born and raised in here. We have lived in this county for 225 years, some in the same houses for over 100 years), recognize the romanticism of history but do not be fooled by it, help out your neighbor, go to church, give when you can to those who need it more than you do. I’ve said this before in a similar thread, that although the South has much to atone for, the good things of the South make it great. The good things about the South are why we are proud to be Southern. And that’s how you celebrate it, by exemplifying the good things. By being somebody your mama would be proud of. You don’t need a flag for that.

Recognize the romanticism of history but do not be fooled by it. We could all use a dose of that once in a while.

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New Seasons

NFL Playoffs begin next week. Saints are in. Falcons are in. Patriots and Ravens await at the end of any road to the Superbowl. Playoffs rarely get better than this.

A host of college teams have yet to play. Even with TCU's epic Rose Bowl win, Auburn & Oregon are still on tap to light up a scoreboard down in the desert. The Bayou Bengals and the Aggies are still on stage in Dallas, and there is a game still to be played in the Superdome.

But football season ended in sackcloth and ashes for my beloved Georgia Bulldawgs. As DADvocate mentioned in an earlier comment, both of the previously elite SEC programs that each of us hold dear have finished this season with more losses than wins.

And if you had told me any time since 1997 that Georgia AND Tennessee would have losing seasons AT THE SAME TIME, I'd have told you how much oceanfront real estate I could sell you in Oconee County, Georgia.

At least DADv gets to enter the new season knowing his team was legitimately robbed of a winning effort by a rule loophole. His team was overmatched in Nashville and still had enough in the tank to notch a win, barring the official buffoonery. His team has a solid coach that got more effort out of that group of players all year long than could reasonably be expected, considering recent events at the flagship university of the Volunteer state. Those players wanted to win that game.

Contrast that to the Georgia Bulldawgs, who obviously had something else on their minds, as they have seemed to so often in recent history. In the past, I have called the 2009 and 2010 seasons of UGA football "rebuilding years," meaning 2010 is the rebuilding year we should have undergone in 2009. But that doesn't seem to be the case. "Rebuilding" at least suggests that there is a blueprint, or a plan of some type; perhaps the laying of a foundation for later success. I'm not sure if our current architects actually have such a plan, or are just winging it as they go along.

This is a significant change from all my earlier opinions, save one. Though he WILL be coach of the Georgia Bulldawgs in 2011, I wonder if Mark Richt WANTS to be coach of the Georgia Bulldawgs in 2011. The new season will answer that question, finally.

And it will do so rather swiftly. Georgia's next opponent is Boise State, in Atlanta, for the Chick-fil-a College Football Kickoff Game.

Not only will we know the answer, swiftly, so will the rest of the college football watching public.

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