The SEC is stronger by getting Texas and Oklahoma a year early

The 14-team Southeastern Convention has one other yr on the open circuit. The baker dozen plus a variety of full-time members lasted 12 years, as Texas A&M and Missouri left the Massive 12 for the SEC. Previous habits are arduous to interrupt, and as an alternative of looting colleges that already felt like outsiders of their very own convention, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey oversaw the inclusion of the The Massive 12’s Two Strongest ManufacturersTexas and Oklahoma, to carry their league to 16 groups beginning in 2024.

That is proper, as an alternative of ready 4 years as initially agreed to 2 summers in the past, the Sooners and Longhorns will hit the SEC subsequent yr. That is so quick, however actually, who anticipated them to remain in a secondary firepower league? These strikes should do with soccer and look to the nationwide championship sport for proof for those who doubt how far forward the SEC presently is of the Massive 12. And that distance is prone to solely develop. It says nothing concerning the long-term well being of a convention in its greatest sport to have 4 additions and none come from different Energy 5 conferences. you understand how unhealthy should you wish to stroll out of a convention to surrender $50 million every? Provided that the SEC’s anticipated annual funds to colleges are anticipated to rise to shut to $70 million with its new TV deal, that price ticket is unusually silly commerce for these colleges and a obligatory expense.

A 16-team FBS convention is uncharted territory, particularly with the possible nationwide champion amongst them. Think about if they’ll safe Clemson and Florida State for years to return. The SEC may break free and begin its personal playoff. It stays unknown how the convention will probably be divided into divisions, what number of convention video games every crew will play, and what assured matchups we’ll see annually. Let’s face it, there is no such thing as a future SEC interplay the place the Iron Bowl and crimson river showdown No happen yearly. When the addition of Texas and Oklahoma had been initially reported, smack dab in the midst of SEC Media Days the place it went from being a bullshit rumor dismissed by Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork coming to phrases with the very fact later that night time, hypothesis ran rampant about how the convention could be reorganized. Whether or not it is 4 teams of 4, including Oklahoma and Texas individually to the SEC East and West, or an entire reimagining of the two- to eight-team divisions, every have their professionals and cons for the way the longer term greatest convention in soccer and most sports activities, it’s fashioned.

To hell with geography at new look conferences

The ability shift that comes together with Texas and Oklahoma transferring to the SEC, together with USC and UCLA transferring to the Massive Ten, provides a transparent prime two within the Energy 5 Convention system. Geography is about to be doomed in faculty athletics. The Massive 12’s addition of West Virginia signaled {that a} decade in the past, however that can look bland in comparison with a midweek volleyball journey from Los Angeles to New Brunswick, New Jersey. The closest journey for UCLA and USC, one past the opposite, could be to Lincoln, Nebraska. I am guessing somebody in these athletic departments will probably be utilizing a whole lot of airline miles.

The Oklahoma and Texas change conferences a yr earlier didn’t Looks like it ought to change so much in faculty athletics by having completely different affiliations for 12 months. That thought could be fallacious. For instance, the SEC would declare any championship the duo wins. Jocelyn Alo would have been hitting house runs within the Ladies’s Faculty World Collection for an SEC college, not one of many Massive 12. That thrilling soccer sport between Alabama and Texas in September would have had extra drama as a result of it might have been a convention matchup. And whereas Texas and Oklahoma did not come near successful a convention championship this season, which does not bode properly for successful one in a greater, deeper league, Massive 12 sports activities with no video games in Austin and Norman will probably be unusual in some methods. Columbia, Missouri and Faculty Station, Texas do not evaluate. Shedding these marks was arduous, however not irreplaceable. The departure of Oklahoma and Texas will both be the start of the top for the Massive 12 or a terrific blessing in disguise. We will solely see the primary a part of no matter that journey is three hundred and sixty five days earlier than. And I am prepared to guess the Sooners and Longhorns will not be the final to leap ship.