SEC Meetings begin: Think expansion will come up?
Five Burning questions as we begin the annual SEC Spring Meetings this morning in Destin:
1. Do you think expansion will come up? It’s not on the agenda but it will be the 800-pound gorilla in the room. This will be Commissioner Mike Slive’s first opportunity to meet with his athletics directors, presidents, and coaches face to face and bring them up to date on what the conference is thinking. I met with the Commissioner last night and he said he would have no specifics coming out of these meetings. “What I will say is that if the paradigm in college athletics shifts (i.e., massive Big Ten expansion), we will be prepared to maintain our place in college athletics,” he said. So you can expect the press corps to ask it a bunch of different ways but the answer will not change this week.
Still, there is no question that the SEC has been doing its homework and will have a plan in place should the Big Ten expand to 16 teams later on this year. There was a report that the SEC has had conversations with CBS about specific teams it would invite, a report that the conference denied and my CBS sources denied. Hey, it’s a nervous time. Nothing will be done on expansion here, but it will sure come up.
2. Will the football coaches finally approve an early signing period? This is one of the things the football coaches bring up every year, get excited about, and finally can’t agree upon. College basketball has an early signing period in November for guys who know where they want to go to school and want to get the recruiting process over. There has been talk for years about creating one in December for football that mirrors the junior college signing window. This week it might get done. “So many schools are having guys graduate from high school early and come in January there is really no reason not to do it,” an SEC head coach told me last night. “It just makes too much sense.” The biggest plus to an early signing period is that schools don’t have to keep spending money in January just to “babysit” players who already want to sign. A ton of money is spent just making sure guys who have committed don’t change their minds or have their minds “changed” for them by aggressive recruiting down the stretch.
3. Is Mississippi State’s cowbell going to be banned? The SEC has long had a policy on artificial noisemakers at events but Mississippi State’s cowbell is such a tradition that the league not has cracked down hard on it. That might change this week. Kyle Veazey of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger wrote a great piece about the cowbell and its history.
How would you like to be Scott Stricklin? Stricklin, 40, was just named the athletics director at Mississippi State. He’s a Mississippi State grad. And now he has to walk into a room with his fellow athletics directors and fight for his school’s beloved cowbell.
4. Will basketball eliminate divisional play? Nope but there may be a change in the way the SEC Tournament is seeded. Last season the top four teams in the SEC East went 24-0 against the six teams in the SEC West. But when the conference basketball tournament began in Nashville, Tennessee and Florida had to play on the first day while Ole Miss and Mississippi State, who had lesser records but finished 1-2 in the West, got byes in the first round. That ain’t right. The SEC could solve this problem by following the Big 12 and ACC model and eliminating divisional play for basketball. But a head basketball coach told me yesterday they are going to consider seeding the conference tournament by picking the teams with the best four records regardless of division and awarding them byes in the first round. I personally believe that divisional play, which works well for football, does not translate for basketball because there are so many games, should be eliminated. I don’t think anybody is hanging an “SEC East Basketball Champions” banner in the rafters. It’s just a different sport.
5. Will Alabama get any relief in its football schedule? By now it is a well-known fact that Alabama’s last six SEC opponents in 2010 all have open dates before they play the Crimson Tide. The SEC has not released its official schedule yet because it has been trying to give Alabama some help. But in order for that to happen other schools in the league have to be willing to change THEIR schedules. Maybe one game gets moved but certainly not more than that. The SEC can’t go very far into June without its football schedule being set.
Please follow me on Twitter:
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
201 comments Add your comment
kgator79
June 1st, 2010
11:49 am
when your one of the top programs in the country, people are always going to try and find a flaw. And if non tough ooc scheduling is the best they got at Florida, then life isnt all that bad for the Gator Nation.
kgator79
June 1st, 2010
11:55 am
Every time I write a comment on here it bolsters the opinion that most if not all Gator fans are mouth breathing, GED diploma carrying jorts wearers.
kgator79
June 1st, 2010
11:56 am
I wish I knew when to use the words your and you’re in a sentence.
kgator79
June 1st, 2010
11:58 am
Life IS good in the Gator Nation. Football wins almost make me forget how miserable my life is February through August.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:00 pm
Heres the basic difference between winners and whinners…and it’s more than just the “h” in the word….When Bama beat Florida in the SECCG this past year, Gator fans acknowledged that Bama was the better team and did a great overall job in that game, which they did. The previous year in the SECCG when UF won, I pretty much heard the same sentiments and praise, particularly towards Tebow, coming from the Bama fans. Yet why is it when Georgia loses it’s the refs fault, or a Mike Slive conspiracy or bad luck or a dirty play or the dawg ate the playbook. That’s what makes UGA fans the biggest bunch of whinning excuse makers in the conference.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:03 pm
kgator79…don’t worry…imitation is the highest form of flattery. Although stealing someones name here indicates lack of wit or intelligence.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:06 pm
My days as the fair haired child of the SEC have finally come to an end. Without Tebow we will finally see if this a team or a cast of athletes. Remember, teams don’t attend parties thrown by agents the Monday before the SECCG. Shame, shame on you Billy Gonzales.
Football Folly
June 1st, 2010
12:10 pm
If I were Slive & company I would shock everyonre and go ahead and expand to 16 by raiding the ACC (Clemson, Ga Tech and FSU) and C-USA (ECU). Move Tennessee, Kentucky and Vandy to the West and add these 4 to the East. Why? Because it would force the ACC’s hand and they would be raiding the Big East and C-USA to remain alive, which in turn would directly impact what the Big Ten would HAVE to do.
You also sew up the second largest state (in terms of TV eyes) in the SEC (Georgia), lock-down South Carolina, make in-roads in to North Carolina [which the league has wanted for years] and bring in a hated rival for UF in Florida State. The other thing is 3 of the four (Clemson, Florida State & Ga Tech)are SEC ready now, as far as being able to put a worthy product on the field, and East Carolina is an up and coming program which should only get better with inclusion to the SEC. This would be a win/win for everyone and a real shaft to the Big Ten and ACC!
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:14 pm
Per the imitation 12:03 post, I rest my case. The only reason people steal another persons user name is because they lack the skill of the comeback…so they try sophomoric style redicule instead.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:15 pm
Correction: imitation 12:06 post.
mixed metaphors
June 1st, 2010
12:17 pm
There is an 800 lb elephant in the room to be dealt with……ROLL TIDE!
RxDawg
June 1st, 2010
12:17 pm
Gator Nation, what if you’re just pretending to be imitated. That the “fake” you is really you just pretending to be “fake”.
That’s deeeeep man.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:20 pm
Man that IS deep. Even for a dawg!
RxDawg
June 1st, 2010
12:20 pm
mixed metaphors, than your basicly saying the Tide are a bunch of baby elephants. hehe
Sorry folks, just a little bored at lunch eating my sub.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:25 pm
THAT was even deeper!
Poker in the front
June 1st, 2010
12:30 pm
Gators will come back down to earth after TT. Meyer is simply Zook with more style. He damn nera had a heart attack because he realized that without Timmy his absence of clothing will seriously cut into his emperor image.
CalGatorBrotha
June 1st, 2010
12:30 pm
1. Of course it will, but will it happen dont count on it.
2. I am not sure how this works….I think NSD is a major hit and look forward to it..early signing periods should be reserved for early entrees imo.
3. I love the noise makers…hey once you on the other team home turf all is fair game to distract leave the bells alone…..
4. Another head scratch…take the top records irregardless of which division and seed them.
5. Who cares about Bama’s troubles with schedules….tough luck deal with it Bama
Liquor in the rear
June 1st, 2010
12:32 pm
We can all laugh at the Bammers when they realize that their defense, like Elvis, has left the building.
OB-1
June 1st, 2010
12:34 pm
CanadianWolf; Ban the cowbells at Mississippi State unless they are attached to cows.
If they are atached to cows you may only bring them as dates and yes you could then shake the cows. LOL
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:44 pm
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:14 pm
Per the imitation 12:03 post, I rest my case. The only reason people steal another persons user name is because they lack the skill of the comeback…so they try sophomoric style redicule instead.
Link Report this comment Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:15 pm
Correction: imitation 12:06 post.
Link Report this comment
Correction Ridicule.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:44 pm
Typical Georgia fan…Bama and Florida may win championships but they’re all mythical anyway (now that championship in 1980 was real!), the only reason Meyer and Saban win is because they’re jerks (and our coach is such a stand up guy), if only Richt could get lucky like Meyer, he would have won several national championships (not mythical ones either!), the only reason we lose to Florida practicaly every year is that we play in FLORIDA (has nothing to do with the coaching, preparation or the team talent and besides, it’s just plain HOT there), we’d get more of those five star guys that Florida and all the rest get but our academic standards are too high (those US News college ratings are mythical too)……………………………………etc etc etc
Question Still Needs an Answer
June 1st, 2010
12:45 pm
Miami has an overall winning record against both Florida and F$U.
Why did Florida drop Miami from their regular season schedule,
while F$U has kept Miami on the schedule.
F$U & Miami have played continually regardless of conference affiliation.
Correction
June 1st, 2010
12:45 pm
Stop imitating me, Gator Nation!
Coach Meyer
June 1st, 2010
12:49 pm
I resent the implication that when I called three timeouts in the SECCG against Arkansas and then punted and we recovered the muff in the endzone that great coaching wasn’t the reason. I also used great coaching that same day when UCLA upset USC.
OB-1
June 1st, 2010
12:55 pm
Football Folly
Why would the SEC expand into territory they are already in, and if the ACC sucks sooo badly why does everyone want to raid them, The SEC with Clemson, GT, FSU, and I’ve heard VT and Miami also, and I read where they might want just the NC schools. I’ve heard that the Big 10 could be interested in Maryland, UVA, and GT. Let’s see, have I left anyone out. Oh the Big East wanting BC and Miami back. That covers every school in the ACC.
How long has Clemson been SEC ready? Last year that’s it since the 80s. FSU is making a comeback but hasn’t been the dominate team in the ACC as you think since 2005. GT until last year hadn’t done much since being co-champs in 98. It’s been BC and VT as the class of the ACC for most of the leagues past 6 years.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
12:56 pm
Hey, we play Miami (Ohio) our very first game this year!! They are almost as relevant as that other Miami nowadays!
Mitchell Gantt
June 1st, 2010
1:06 pm
Here’s one: When is Slive going to admit that Alabama has been under NCAA investigation for going on three years now? He gets regular reports from the school and the Enforcement staff, but to date hasn’t made anything public.
joe
June 1st, 2010
1:07 pm
6. Will UGA fans decide to stop attending home games after a 30th year of thinking they’ll win the national championship, only to have their hopes dashed when the wheels fall off…again.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
1:12 pm
More typical Georgia fan…Nick Saban will bolt any minute and Urban Meyer will have a breakdown on the sidelines (our only hope), Meyer 0-2 vs Auburn (hey if we can’t beat ‘em, have someone else do it for you), when’s the last time Florida played Miami?? (I know it doesn’t have anything to do with us, please refer back to Auburn), Tebow and eight other guys took off to the NFL so Florida is finished (certainley they haven’t recruited anybody else lately, have they?), we OWN the series against Florida (at least that’s what my great grandfather tells me!)………..
New Gator Fan
June 1st, 2010
1:20 pm
Some of these comments make me embarrassed to be a Gator fan.
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
1:42 pm
You mean comments like implying that you’re a “new” Gator fan?? Cute.
Old Bulldawg Fan
June 1st, 2010
1:45 pm
Some of these comments make me embarrassed to be an old Dawg. Dooley would have never put up with these excuses.
New Gator Fan
June 1st, 2010
1:47 pm
I was just tired of having to explain why anything before 1990 didn’t matter to me.
Ormewood
June 1st, 2010
2:14 pm
Football Folly,
East Carolina? Are you kidding? What on earth would they bring to the SEC? They play in an outpost of a town that’s very difficult to get to. They don’t control or dominate a single TV market. They’ve been respectable on the field the last few seasons, but that will likely change with Skip Holtz’s departure.
If you want to expand the footprint into a virgin state, that’s fine. It’s a good idea actually, But that’s like going into Texas and asking SMU or Houston to join. Why bother?
Gator Nation
June 1st, 2010
2:17 pm
Sarcasm noted. Look at it this way, all the championships since 1990 including 3 BIG ones. More than most schools do in a hundred plus years. There, that’ll make you feel worse.
Tide4u2c
June 1st, 2010
2:36 pm
We Bama fan are not whining about how all 6 of our SEC opponents have bye weeks before they play Bama in order to watch tape and prepare to beat the national champions, even last year both of our rivals Tennesssee and Auburn had bye weeks before they played Bama, both of them teams had two weeks to figure out what Bama does, them were close games too, before the Iron bowl last year Bama only had 4 days to prepare for Auburn, Bama won but it was a close game.
Now we are not whining but it does seem someone is at the very least trying to make it harder on Alabama eventhough it has’nt worked yet, they seem hell-bent on it working this coming year. That’s OK when Bama beats your team this year just know that you had two weeks to prepare and still could’nt beat the national champions.
Anti-alternative
June 1st, 2010
2:36 pm
MSU, the solution is simple, you can have your cowbells if the rest of the SEC is allowed artificial noisemakers. And I’m thinking everywhere but Vandy that’ll mean guns…
Anti-alternative
June 1st, 2010
2:37 pm
Maybe black powder muskets for Ole Miss…it’s more classy, I hear….
New Gator Fan
June 1st, 2010
2:40 pm
I think you’re missing something. I AM a Gator fan and have been since 2005. I couldn’t possible feel any better about that than I already do. Go Gators!
OB-1
June 1st, 2010
2:41 pm
Anti-alternative: Ban the cowbells at Mississippi State unless they are attached to cows.
If they are atached to cows you may only bring them as dates and yes you could then shake the cows.
Anti-alternative
June 1st, 2010
2:45 pm
Cow-tipping at half time! WOOOOO!! Go State!
Kiss me, Bessie…I’m drunk and we’re down by 50….
Tide4u2c
June 1st, 2010
2:52 pm
As much as I hate to hear them MSU cowbells I don’t think they should be banned.I might hate that but they have chose to ring them cowbells this long, might as well let them continue to annoy us some more.It is part of their tradition.
OB-1
June 1st, 2010
2:53 pm
Anti: there you go two for the price of one, MSU gets their cowbells and you have a free half time show.
Anti-alternative
June 1st, 2010
3:01 pm
I doubt I’d stay to watch it…halftime at MSU is traditionally a time for water breaks and gearing up the third string to take some reps. That’s if I’m even there at all…Starkeville and MSU fans are both on my list of “things that give me that awkward shiver and throw up a little in my mouth”…
74 Dawg
June 1st, 2010
3:07 pm
Poker, I think you are a little confused….
74 Dawg
June 1st, 2010
3:08 pm
Are you perhaps from Alabama?
Reality
June 1st, 2010
3:23 pm
@Barnhardt
GROAN! When will the ajc get off of this ‘expansion’ crap? It seems that you guys are pushing this agenda for some unknown reason. Get over it!
SEC FAN
June 1st, 2010
3:42 pm
Big Surprise, the SEC is going to help Alabama….Mike Slive basically works for bammer
Anti-alternative
June 1st, 2010
3:52 pm
SEC Fan, we in the ACC have the same problem with our commissioner. “Extra money? Oh, here ya go, Any School in the State of North Carolina!”
Shook Ones, part II
June 1st, 2010
4:13 pm
Why is Alabama playing at Duke? That is bizarre.
Go Dawgs.