[College Sports] Aggy to the SEC

[Crabbs]

Lotta noise tonight that the final hurdle for Mizzou is cleared with the SEC.

Mizzou was originally thought to be headed to the SEC West, with Auburn eager to move to the SEC East. Alabama was deeply upset because it would move the Iron Bowl to much earlier in the season (as their yearly rivalry game) and would end their yearly Third Saturday In October matchup with Tennessee, their current yearly cross-division rival. Today the obvious compromise was worked out. Auburn stays put, Mizzou goes to the SEC East, Mizzou and Arkansas become yearly rivals, A&M and South Carolina become yearly rivals, and the SEC now is ready to unanimously accept Missouri, perhaps as soon as this weekend.

Meanwhile, Louisville holds a Big XII invitation, conditional on Missouri's departure. BYU stays independent.

Things should be done by early next week.

There seems to be a strong consensus that this means an end to the Border War, especially with no real incentive besides history to keep it going. It would most likely cost KU a non-conference Football victory, since they're not on MU's level. Hoops wise it's kind of the flipside, there would be no incentive to play because it would be more likely to aid MU rather than KU.

[Boudreaux]

There seems to be a strong consensus that this means an end to the Border War, especially with no real incentive besides history to keep it going. It would most likely cost KU a non-conference Football victory, since they're not on MU's level. Hoops wise it's kind of the flipside, there would be no incentive to play because it would be more likely to aid MU rather than KU.

Regardless of whether KU football would be making much of a "war" out of it in the near future, that's a damn shame. Say goodbye to the second-longest-running rivalry game in college football history.

[GungHo]

Lotta noise tonight that the final hurdle for Mizzou is cleared with the SEC.

Mizzou was originally thought to be headed to the SEC West, with Auburn eager to move to the SEC East. Alabama was deeply upset because it would move the Iron Bowl to much earlier in the season (as their yearly rivalry game) and would end their yearly Third Saturday In October matchup with Tennessee, their current yearly cross-division rival. Today the obvious compromise was worked out. Auburn stays put, Mizzou goes to the SEC East, Mizzou and Arkansas become yearly rivals, A&M and South Carolina become yearly rivals, and the SEC now is ready to unanimously accept Missouri, perhaps as soon as this weekend.

Meanwhile, Louisville holds a Big XII invitation, conditional on Missouri's departure. BYU stays independent.

Things should be done by early next week.

There seems to be a strong consensus that this means an end to the Border War, especially with no real incentive besides history to keep it going. It would most likely cost KU a non-conference Football victory, since they're not on MU's level. Hoops wise it's kind of the flipside, there would be no incentive to play because it would be more likely to aid MU rather than KU.

I dont know how much control over scheduling Bill Self has at KU(I would assume it's fairly substantial, however) but he was quoted as saying he'd be unlikely to schedule Mizzou if they leave.

It's just example # 38,458 of how all of this conference realignment stuff is about money, money, and more money. Whether that's couched in phrases like 'Building our brand', or 'Conference stability', or 'Cultural fit'...they're all just euphemisms for $$$$.

I wish the people making these decisions were even capable of feeling some shame at what they've done, but I honestly dont think that's possible for them. So we, the fans, get to feel bad for instead of them. Awesome.


I'll actually be rooting for Mizzou in their new digs; I've always enjoyed my trips to Columbia and their fans were always good hosts. But it's obviously gonna be a tough climb.



EDIT:

Say goodbye to the second-longest-running rivalry game in college football history.

And the 3rd: Texas - Texas A&M was at 117 years

Pretty much goes to show the only real winners in all of this are the guys signing the TV contracts.

[Pyperkub]

Lotta noise tonight that the final hurdle for Mizzou is cleared with the SEC.

Mizzou was originally thought to be headed to the SEC West, with Auburn eager to move to the SEC East. Alabama was deeply upset because it would move the Iron Bowl to much earlier in the season (as their yearly rivalry game) and would end their yearly Third Saturday In October matchup with Tennessee, their current yearly cross-division rival. Today the obvious compromise was worked out. Auburn stays put, Mizzou goes to the SEC East, Mizzou and Arkansas become yearly rivals, A&M and South Carolina become yearly rivals, and the SEC now is ready to unanimously accept Missouri, perhaps as soon as this weekend.

Meanwhile, Louisville holds a Big XII invitation, conditional on Missouri's departure. BYU stays independent.

Things should be done by early next week.

There seems to be a strong consensus that this means an end to the Border War, especially with no real incentive besides history to keep it going. It would most likely cost KU a non-conference Football victory, since they're not on MU's level. Hoops wise it's kind of the flipside, there would be no incentive to play because it would be more likely to aid MU rather than KU.

I dont know how much control over scheduling Bill Self has at KU(I would assume it's fairly substantial, however) but he was quoted as saying he'd be unlikely to schedule Mizzou if they leave.

It's just example # 38,458 of how all of this conference realignment stuff is about money, money, and more money. Whether that's couched in phrases like 'Building our brand', or 'Conference stability', or 'Cultural fit'...they're all just euphemisms for $$$$.

I wish the people making these decisions were even capable of feeling some shame at what they've done, but I honestly dont think that's possible for them. So we, the fans, get to feel bad for instead of them. Awesome.


I'll actually be rooting for Mizzou in their new digs; I've always enjoyed my trips to Columbia and their fans were always good hosts. But it's obviously gonna be a tough climb.



EDIT:

Say goodbye to the second-longest-running rivalry game in college football history.

And the 3rd: Texas - Texas A&M was at 117 years

Pretty much goes to show the only real winners in all of this are the guys signing the TV contracts.

The problem is that if you don't take the money you'll be left behind.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

[triggercut]

SEC presidents will be meeting in ATL tomorrow. Mizzou is on the docket--but not so officially. I do not think Mizzou has presented their request to join the conference just yet, but that is because they've been told not to.

Instead, tomorrow the SEC resolves some internal things. Auburn really wants to go to the East. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee really would rather they didn't. Tomorrow will be about smoothing War Eagle's ruffled feathers a bit. Mike Slive will let the rest of the league in on some info:

1. 14 is not the stopping point for the SEC. Hold steady, Auburn, and you'll be taken care of when the SEC goes to Pods (if !5 and 16 come from the East, Auburn will be assuaged by getting a pod with Alabama--inevitable--and the two Mississippi schools, and a yearly game guaranteed with Florida).

2. An SEC Network partnered with ESPN is coming. Thanks to Texas A&M and a team that has expressed interest in the SEC that happens to be the only major program in a state with 6 million people, the Tier 3 rights payout per school per year in the SEC will be $20-30m annually. Just for Tier 3 rights. Could be in place by 2013. Need the right team for 14, with a lot of TV sets. Hint. Hint.

3. Auburn will be told they're staying in the west, and they'll get some make-good when pods come about.

4. South Carolina will be asked how they feel about dropping Arkansas as their yearly cross-division rivalry game and taking A&M in that capacity instead. South Carolina will be *strongly* encouraged to do this. Since travel to College Station is far easier than travel to Fayetteville, South Carolina will be ok with this. They'll also get some sort of make-good promise for when pods come about.

5. That will then leave the SEC needing a team to play in the SEC East. It will also leave Arkansas needing a cross-division rival. Arkansas has been the biggest advocate of Mizzou to the SEC since this process began, but they began barking about Mizzou going anywhere but the West because they desperately want a yearly game with the TIgers--and the feeling is mutual with Mizzou. I'll let y'all go ahead and connect those dots.

If everything goes to script, without formally saying as much, Mizzou will be given that information which moves them to the point of then requesting exit procedures from the Big XII, and then shortly thereafter informing the B12 that they're conditionally withdrawing from the conference.

[Skinypupy]

Chip Brown is saying today that BYU turned down a Big XII invite to stay independent. Their fanbase is in meltdown mode...as they should be. That's f'n insanity.

[Scuzz]

Chip Brown is saying today that BYU turned down a Big XII invite to stay independent. Their fanbase is in meltdown mode...as they should be. That's f'n insanity.

If that is true then BYU is insane.

[GungHo]

Could be posturing for a better deal on BYU's part. Not sure exactly what they'd be looking to get but it's one possibility. The other is that they may not be convinced the conference is yet stable(then again, who is?) and they want to wait it out. Or maybe they just hate Baylor and TCU.

I've got conference realignment fatigue syndrome so I haven't been keeping up this week: any news on Mizzou?

[triggercut]

I've got conference realignment fatigue syndrome so I haven't been keeping up this week: any news on Mizzou?

My best sources on the inside of things who have yet to fail me tell me that things are all wrapped up.

Mizzou is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the (disputed) first Homecoming Game on Saturday, so everything got back-burnered to not steal that thunder. Mizzou has regularly-scheduled Board Of Curator's meetings scheduled on Thursday/Friday of next week. My guy didn't know whether during that meeting the Curator's would vote to leave the Big XII, or whether they'd be voting on something to authorize an official SEC application...but apparently if we've heard nothing by then, we'll hear definitively by that time that the next step is underway.

FWIW: I've never, not ever, heard Mizzou as silent and information-embargoed as they are right now. This is a journalism school, and no one can get an on-the-record quote from anyone with knowledge of the situation, which NEVER happens. Mizzou has said nothing about staying in the Big XII, which is pretty telling in and of itself.

Finally: Clay Travis, who blogs at Outkick The Coverage and has been nails on SEC realignment since it started had a great column earlier this week where he pointed out that NCAA regulations probably prevent the SEC from playing a 13-team schedule next year.

[theohall]

Finally: Clay Travis, who blogs at Outkick The Coverage and has been nails on SEC realignment since it started had a great column earlier this week where he pointed out that NCAA regulations probably prevent the SEC from playing a 13-team schedule next year.

That is a very interesting read. 13 team schedule problem for anyone else interested.

Basically, it would be mathematically impossible to follow the NCAA's round-robin divisional play rule with 13 teams.

[triggercut]

Since I don't think our Google profile is so high that it'll get too much exposure here, I'll share something I was told from a source very high up at Mizzou in all this: "That guy at Outkick The Coverage has been so accurate we weren't sure he wasn't getting information straight from some of our phone calls." What this person does think--and may be true--is that Travis has a source who is either Mike Slive or in Slive's office who intentionally leaks to him with the SEC Commish's approval.

The biggest holdup for Mizzou to the SEC was getting it sorted as to which division Mizzou would play in. I'm told that's taken care of to everyone's satisfaction, and that things are set to roll forward this week after Homecoming.

[Skinypupy]

This new 22 team clusterf*ck the MWC and CUSA are proposing makes no sense to me. I guess it might work if BCS inclusion were involved, but most of the teams that would make a significant contribution to that qualification have either already left (BYU, Utah, TCU) or are seriously thinking about leaving (Boise, AFA, UCF, etc). Without a BCS berth, how on earth would a massive conference like that actually work?

[triggercut]

BTW--watching the Mizzou game online, and just noticed: the Big XII logos have been removed from Faurot Field's turf surface.

They gone.

[triggercut]

Probably just a coincidence, right?

[Crabbs]

I'm sure it was completely calculated. I don't think anyone really thinks Mizzou is staying in the Big12.

I'm just frustrated with their cutsie games... just officially ask the damn girl out and stop playing footsie it's not winning them any friends.

I wish them well, hope it woks out for them in the long run and not just $$$$. Be interesting to see how they compete in the big sports.

[Little Raven]

This new 22 team clusterf*ck the MWC and CUSA are proposing makes no sense to me.

It makes perfect sense to me. The Big East is on the verge of death. In order to survive, it HAS to poach teams from somewhere....somewhere almost certainly including MWC and CUSA. But if those two merge, then they potentially become much harder to poach from, and they get ahead of the coming super-conference wave. And once the Big East dies, which is probably will, they can make an excellent argument for taking it's BCS bid.

Or at least, that's how I see it going down.

[Scuzz]

This new 22 team clusterf*ck the MWC and CUSA are proposing makes no sense to me. I guess it might work if BCS inclusion were involved, but most of the teams that would make a significant contribution to that qualification have either already left (BYU, Utah, TCU) or are seriously thinking about leaving (Boise, AFA, UCF, etc). Without a BCS berth, how on earth would a massive conference like that actually work?

I agree. Without a BCS bid as the carrot at the end of a championship game this is a stupid idea. I think it is just a last ditch attempt to keep teams from bolting the conferences for a AQ berth. Supposedly the MWC schools all voted to approve this, they did not abstain. For whatever that is worth.

[triggercut]

Pete Thamel, NYT: Mizzou to the SEC "Imminent and inevitable".

[Cortilian]

What am i not seeing in that pic?

/crawls back into his bottle of Jack as the Gators' season is down the tubes.

[triggercut]

What am i not seeing in that pic?

/crawls back into his bottle of Jack as the Gators' season is down the tubes.

That patch of brown grass where paint remover/herbicide was spread on the berm is where the Big XII logo normally goes for Mizzou games. It was removed to put a "100" logo for Mizzou's homecoming....but as you can see, it wasn't necessary to do so. The Tigers just wanted to have some fun by wiping out the Big XII logo.

[triggercut]

Oh, and Cort, look at it this way: you Gators just gained a team you'll be able to paste (for a while, anyway) in the SEC East.

Hate losing some of our traditional rivals in the Big XII, but the conference just isn't the same anymore anyway. I can't wait to get swept up in SEC football nonsense smacktalk.

[Pyperkub]

Oh, and Cort, look at it this way: you Gators just gained a team you'll be able to paste (for a while, anyway) in the SEC East.

Hate losing some of our traditional rivals in the Big XII, but the conference just isn't the same anymore anyway. I can't wait to get swept up in SEC football nonsense smacktalk.

Some pretty cool road trips too. I wish I'd made the trip when we played Alabama a while back. I think the next OOC we may look at is Virgina in a couple of years (we have Nebraska coming up, but I've seen a game there before when my Mom was teaching there).

[Crabbs]

Hate losing some of our traditional rivals in the Big XII, but the conference just isn't the same anymore anyway. I can't wait to get swept up in SEC football nonsense smacktalk.

From the comment section at MrSEC.com it sure is a whole different world down in the SEC. Wow! ... I wonder how many Antlers are going to get arrested on visits down south?

[triggercut]

Gabe's a hell of a reporter in his own write, and he just wrote that the momentum to go SEC seems to be building right now. Apparently even Brady Deaton--a staunch supporter of the B12, is "coming around", according to a source with the Athletic Department. Tonight's dueling press conferences with Oklahoma may have been the last straw.

FWIW, apparently this was the straw that broke the camel's back. MU Chancellor Brady Deaton was still convinced that the Big XII was a conference of brothers in arms he could trust implicitly, even though he had advisors, curators--and yep, my source--the Governor of Missouri--(actually someone in Jay Nixon's office who I've known for 20 years) telling him that there was no trust to be had. Deaton didn't want to believe it...but apparently when Boren pulled his little power play by upstaging MU's press conference, the scales fell from our Chancellor's eyes, and the worm turned on all this.

[WYBaugh]

What am i not seeing in that pic?

/crawls back into his bottle of Jack as the Gators' season is down the tubes.

I am right there with you Cortilian....over my 30+ years of watch the Gators the last two have been amazingly odd.

[triggercut]

The Big XII Board Of Presidents has a face to face meeting tomorrow in Dallas.

According to multiple sources, Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton will tell the gathered presidents that Missouri is leaving the Big XII, conditional on their acceptance to another conference. That's pretty much the same wording as A&M used.

One difference: Deaton is going to look every one of these other school presidents in the eye and tell them, instead of sending a fedex package and issuing a press release, which is what A&M did.

Mizzou should be accepted to the SEC no later than Thursday. Saturday's game against the Aggies will be a precursor to both school's new cross-division rivalry game in the SEC next season.

[Baroquen]

The Big XII Board Of Presidents has a face to face meeting tomorrow in Dallas.

According to multiple sources, Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton will tell the gathered presidents that Missouri is leaving the Big XII, conditional on their acceptance to another conference. That's pretty much the same wording as A&M used.

One difference: Deaton is going to look every one of these other school presidents in the eye and tell them, instead of sending a fedex package and issuing a press release, which is what A&M did.

Mizzou should be accepted to the SEC no later than Thursday. Saturday's game against the Aggies will be a precursor to both school's new cross-division rivalry game in the SEC next season.

Or not, huh? ESPN reporting that didn't happen... any reason for the delay? Missouri playing both sides against each other, or truly out and just dragging feet?

[triggercut]

The Big XII Board Of Presidents has a face to face meeting tomorrow in Dallas.

According to multiple sources, Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton will tell the gathered presidents that Missouri is leaving the Big XII, conditional on their acceptance to another conference. That's pretty much the same wording as A&M used.

One difference: Deaton is going to look every one of these other school presidents in the eye and tell them, instead of sending a fedex package and issuing a press release, which is what A&M did.

Mizzou should be accepted to the SEC no later than Thursday. Saturday's game against the Aggies will be a precursor to both school's new cross-division rivalry game in the SEC next season.

Or not, huh? ESPN reporting that didn't happen... any reason for the delay? Missouri playing both sides against each other, or truly out and just dragging feet?

Apparently Deaton pressed the flesh and thanked the other university presidents yesterday, recused himself from all votes, and then when he landed at the small airport in Columbia, MO last night told a reporter in an unguarded moment: "They (the Big XII) are making the changes they need to make. We wish them well and all that."

Hold up at this point is schools in the Big 12 upset about scheduling next season if Mizzou leaves now, and obviously the exit fee.

[theohall]

The Big XII Board Of Presidents has a face to face meeting tomorrow in Dallas.

According to multiple sources, Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton will tell the gathered presidents that Missouri is leaving the Big XII, conditional on their acceptance to another conference. That's pretty much the same wording as A&M used.

One difference: Deaton is going to look every one of these other school presidents in the eye and tell them, instead of sending a fedex package and issuing a press release, which is what A&M did.

Mizzou should be accepted to the SEC no later than Thursday. Saturday's game against the Aggies will be a precursor to both school's new cross-division rivalry game in the SEC next season.

Or not, huh? ESPN reporting that didn't happen... any reason for the delay? Missouri playing both sides against each other, or truly out and just dragging feet?

From that article, it certainly never indicated Mizzou has any intent of staying other than the headline and vagueness. Meanwhile, from the very same article:

But late Monday, Deaton gave some clue as to Missouri's intentions, giving a statement to KOMU-TV in Columbia, Mo. in which he wished the Big 12 "the best and all of that.

"There's no delays here at all," he said, referring to the school's step toward leaving the Big 12. "There's some very specific things that have to be addressed. We want to address those. We really can't rush these things. These are things you can't rush."

Interesting that all it says is all 10 members of the Big XII attended the meeting and the board reaffirmed the tv rights thing, but it never says any committed to anything. More is being said by what is not stated in that article.

[triggercut]

Thanks to Pete Thamel's story in the NY Times this morning on West Virginia's imminent departure from the Big East, I think we now know what the holdup for Mizzou is, and it seems pretty significant.

The key grafs:

"Legal problems are holding up Missouri’s move, as it has to negotiate an exit fee, and there is a concern among Big 12 teams about how to fill the void in their schedules that Missouri would leave. That creates two problems, as universities will have to scramble to find another opponent, perhaps from the Football Championship Subdivision. A victory over a team from that level would not count toward a Big 12 member’s bowl eligibility. It will also cause the Big 12 to fall short of fulfilling its television contract. Both could be costly for the league.

The SEC made it very clear during its courtship with Texas A&M that it would only accept the Aggies without legal issues, so Missouri must take care of those before joining. "

[triggercut]

WVU gets their official invite to the Clown Car Conference today.

and shhhhhhhh......


.....keep this under your hat, but Mizzou at least makes it official that they won't be in the Big XII in 2012, and that happens today. Shhhhh.

[triggercut]

And Big XII announces West Virginia as newest member--and for Mizzou, this is important--with the Mountaineers to play in 2012.

That's the last hurdle. All paperwork is signed for Mizzou. Legally, they're in the SEC now.

Official announcement may not happen until Monday if they want HCGP present (he's in College Station with his team for tomorrow's game), but now realignment follies turn to the Big East and the fate of the 5 remaining football teams there.

[GungHo]

And Big XII announces West Virginia as newest member--and for Mizzou, this is important--with the Mountaineers to play in 2012.

That's the last hurdle. All paperwork is signed for Mizzou. Legally, they're in the SEC now.

Official announcement may not happen until Monday if they want HCGP present (he's in College Station with his team for tomorrow's game), but now realignment follies turn to the Big East and the fate of the 5 remaining football teams there.

*Hopefully* this is over.

On a side note, I like the WVU pickup from a competition stand point: very good in both hoops and football. Obviously the travel and small markets dont do much for the conference on the 'big picture' front, but as a fan I'm excited by the addition of a quality program. BUmmer to see Mizzou go, but it was obvious they wanted out for awhile and that being the case, it's best for everyone that they've made their exit.

[noxiousdog]

If you notice in the big XII press release they run down every team except missouri.

Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

[Skinypupy]

So the Big East basically has 5 teams in it right now. Yet they still have a automatic BCS bid...and all the $$ that come with that.

[ImLawBoy]

Won't they lose that bid next year? I thought you had to have a minimum number of teams to keep the automatic bid.

[theohall]

Won't they lose that bid next year? I thought you had to have a minimum number of teams to keep the automatic bid.

This is correct, although I can't find anything to support it. Heard this reported before, but can't find the reference.

[Isgrimnur]

Big East gets an AQ through 2013-14, straight from the BCS on 4/22/10. No idea if they'll change it with the modifications, but the wording suggests it's contractual.

Under the terms of the agreements with the bowls and television rightsholder, the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC will have annual automatic qualification for their champions for the 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Oh, and ... BAM!

[triggercut]

Yep, they keep their bid, which makes them a nice draw for teams like the service academies, Memphis, Houston, SMU, etc.

Also not to be overlooked: I suspect that in exchange for the Big East allowing WVU to waive the 27-month thing, the SEC and Big XII will vote for them to keep their BCS bid the next time that comes up.

[ImLawBoy]

Doing a little digging, it looks like you have to have a certain number of members (maybe 8? I've already forgotten!) to be recongized by the NCAA for governance purposes, but you also get a two year grace period to make up for lost membership. I also don't know if they'd stay above the limit because of all the basketball schools. Anyway, even if the BCS wanted to use lack of recognition of the conference to kick them out of the BCS, it doesn't appear they'd be able to do so before the Big East regrouped.