The SEC needs Missouri more for image than for football
Former Mizzou man Sean Weatherspoon, now a Falcon. (AP photo)
Missouri’s curators voted Tuesday to ponder the school’s Big 12 exit. Put simply, Missouri’s curators voted — unanimously, FYI — to bail on the Big 12. At issue now is what the school would bring to its new home, which is apt to be the SEC.
Here were pause to note that some folks see Missouri as a better fit in the Big Ten — the Tigers already have a heated basketball rivalry with Illinois — but the Big Ten hasn’t been overt in its ardor to expand. The Big Ten might be happy as is. The SEC needs a 14th member to offset Texas A&M.
The SEC also needs Missouri for another reason: This whole round of conference-hopping has given big-time college sports the look of me-first-and-everybody-else-last Wall Street, and that’s not the look you want in the year 2011. (It’s reality, but it’s still an unseemly image for institutions of supposed higher learning.) Missouri plays pretty good football and good basketball, but that’s not its greatest lure for the SEC.
Missouri is a state school in a state — heck, a region — where the SEC doesn’t have an outpost, and it would also deliver the St. Louis and the Kansas City television markets. (That’s an upgrade over A&M, which delivers the less-prestigious College Station market.) Those are nice things to have, but they’re not essential. Of greater importance: The SEC views Missouri as another vehicle in its quest to spruce up its academic image, which could use sprucing.
If it adds Missouri, the SEC will count four schools among the high-minded Association of American Universities. That’s double from a month ago. Texas A&M is an AAU member, and so are Florida and Vanderbilt. Both the Aggies and the Tigers play good enough football that they won’t sully the SEC’s brand, and the SEC doesn’t need an Oklahoma or a Texas to burnish its standing as the best football league. (Check the latest Associated Press poll: SEC teams are ranked first, second, 10th, 15th, 17th and 18th.)
The SEC has been measured in its approach to School No. 14. It didn’t fall over itself when Texas and Oklahoma were making eyes at the Pac-12. It didn’t so much pursue Texas A&M as it allowed itself to be pursued. Adding a 13th member just sort of happened. Adding a 14th will be a considered choice.
Adding Missouri would do more for the SEC’s image off the field than on, and that’s a consideration a lot of us missed when this whole round of choosing-up got going. The SEC is often regarded as the root of all collegiate evil, but this is one time when the league ruled by football is trying not to act as if football is the only thing that matters.
By landing Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the ACC all but destroyed the Big East. The SEC doesn’t need to destroy anything to ensure its survival; it’s the biggest conference today, and it’ll be the biggest 20 years from now. Mike Slive, the SEC’s commissioner, didn’t always carry water for King Football. He was the AD at Cornell and assistant AD at Dartmouth; he was also commissioner of the Great Midwest and Conference USA.
Slive is 71. He’s at an age where thoughts of legacy loom largest. (Indeed, at the SEC Media Days in Birmingham this summer the hot rumor, quickly refuted, was that Slive would announce his retirement.) He has presided over a decade of massive SEC growth, and now he wants to make sure that growth won’t be regarded, in the cold eye of history, as rampant pillaging.
When Mike Slive leaves this conference, he wants to be able to say, “We tried to do it the right way.” Others will quibble over the definition of “right,” but if the SEC pairs Missouri with Texas A&M it will be harder to make the case that the biggest league was utterly craven in its desires. Those are two good schools. They’ll broaden the base without rendering the league top-heavy. They’ll make the SEC not just bigger but better.
And that’s the key. As fascinating as the notion of the SEC with Texas and/or Oklahoma would have been, it would also have given rise to the charge of overkill. At some point the best league has to realize, “We’re good enough.” Slive and his associates have come to that quiet conclusion. If Missouri is indeed No. 14, the SEC will have done something the SEC doesn’t often do: It will have made a subtle splash.
By Mark Bradley
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506 comments Add your comment
GTBob
October 5th, 2011
11:04 am
I don’t think any SEC fan cares about the image of their school or conference as long as they play good football. Adding a school that doesn’t fit like Missouri won’t change that. They should just add West Virginia and be done with it.
blazerdawg
October 5th, 2011
11:06 am
It Dawg – UGA and Notre Dame are rumored to be at the top of the list for future AAU membership. UGA needs to generate some more med research funds with the new med school. So far this year UGA is doing a great job obtaining research grants/funds.
falcon fred
October 5th, 2011
11:07 am
bad moon, missouri has about as much tradition as uga, minus the idiot fan base…that includes geoffdawg and anyone else with the stupid “dawg” attatched to their blog name…
Atlanta Gator
October 5th, 2011
11:08 am
“take your own advice, atlanta gator”
Ah, but I do, Fred.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
October 5th, 2011
11:11 am
says the guy who is named Falcon Fred…..
falcon fred
October 5th, 2011
11:13 am
if the “dawg” fits…
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
11:14 am
Wow, West Virginia rated #164 in US News ratings, and Barney Fife (Don Knotts) is listed as one of their notable alums……..nice.
falcon fred
October 5th, 2011
11:14 am
Enter your comments here
blazerdawg
October 5th, 2011
11:15 am
Thanks Fred! Have a great day!
GeoffDawg
October 5th, 2011
11:17 am
Ha ha…but adding “falcon” gives you a sense of sophistication?
GTBob
October 5th, 2011
11:18 am
can anyone please tell me how Georgia is not an AAU member and it is the oldest public school in the United States? and I just checked the ranking and it is ranked higher than Missouri and Texas A&M
The AAU is mostly about endowments and research funding. UGA is not very strong in either. Plus the AAU does not invite new members very often. Only one in the past 10 years. They kicked out a school in the same time frame.
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
11:18 am
Falcon Fred may have met with fowl play
GeoffDawg
October 5th, 2011
11:25 am
GTBob, the AAU selection process seems a bit capricious and northern centric to me. Why else would Tech have only been invited to join last year? Surely you can agree that they’ve been funding advanced research longer than some of the existing institutions. Like Nebraska for instance, which like you alluded to, just got kicked out.
Lol @ Browncoat.
Mizzou
October 5th, 2011
11:26 am
For all you Southerners characterizing Missouri as a “yankee” state, you need to bone up on some Civil War history. My ancesters in Missouri would have been surprised (and unhappy) to be called yankees. And when I attended Mizzou several decades ago it was regarded as pretty Southern in character.
In any event, none of that really matters anymore. It’s about the markets.
The Most Interesting Man in the World
October 5th, 2011
11:28 am
Missouri to the SEC = watered down league. What a waste of an opportunity to maintain SEC supremacy. Texas A&M can probably make a significant contribution with a step up in recruiting, but Missouri is a mediocre program that will win in the SEC about as much as Ole Miss or Miss. St. Traditional rivalries such as Bama/UT are going to be ruined for this garbage? If the SEC is going to add somebody, make it a program that’s committed to winning.
Rob
October 5th, 2011
11:29 am
UGA has been hurt in the AAU evaluation process because it does not have a medical school, and all the resulting research money, on campus. I also think that GeoffDawg is right about the AAU being a bit northern centric; in particular, I’m not sure it places enough value on the agricultural research done at schools like UGA and Nebraska.
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
11:30 am
Mizzou, I have met many Georgians who have their doubts about people from Tennessee. Don’t let it bother you.
Atlanta Gator
October 5th, 2011
11:30 am
“can anyone please tell me how Georgia is not an AAU member and it is the oldest public school in the United States?”
Italian Dawg, Georgia is a likely candidate for future AAU membership. Georgia Tech was only recently admitted, and Syracuse and Nebraska were recently booted. It’s no slam on UGA, but your alma mater historically has not emphasized graduate research to the same degree as most AAU members, including Florida, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, all of whom are ranked among the top 30 research universities as of 2010. By comparison, Emory was ranked in the top 35 and Georgia Tech in the top 40. Georgia was ranked among the top 65 in 2010, and there are now 63 AAU members after Nebraska and Syracuse are no longer members. It’s that close for UGA.
Here’s a link that should give you some insight;
http://mup.asu.edu/research2010.pdf
KR
October 5th, 2011
11:33 am
One “problem” with Auburn moving to the East. Try this scenario on for size:
Auburn is the SEC East Champ and 11-0 going into the Iron Bowl.
bama is the SEC West Champ and 11-0 going into the Iron Bowl.
Are they going to play the Iron Bowl and then a rematch 8 days later in the SEC Championship Game? What if they split the games, each ending up 12-1 with a loss to the other?
Think it couldn’t happen?
jack
October 5th, 2011
11:33 am
what they need is Georgia Tech, the story is right under your nose but naturally you know nothing
Atlanta Gator
October 5th, 2011
11:36 am
“in particular, I’m not sure it places enough value on the agricultural research done at schools like UGA and Nebraska.”
Nebraska was an AAU member until this year, when their membership was revoked based on objective criteria. It’s more than a little ironic, because Nebraska’s AAU membership was a big selling point when Nebraska was selected over Missouri to become the twelfth member of the numerically-challenged Big Ten.
BTW, most of the public universities that are AAU members are also land-grant institutions, so a bias against agricultural research is not the problem. UGA’s lack of medical and engineering schools has hurt them the most, because that’s where a high percentage of graduate research dollars go.
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
11:37 am
GT doesn’t expand the SEC into new markets. That is all this is about. Anyone focused on level of competition or even academic rankings as a basis for SEC admission is missing the point. The SEC would jump at West Virginia if it provided a large number of homes to show up in TV ratings.
Rob
October 5th, 2011
11:38 am
I think Missouri goes to the West and Auburn to the East.
That said, Missouri to the East isn’t as crazy as it sounds at first. You have to remember that the East also includes the more northern schools. Mizzou is closer to Nashville and Lexington than anywhere in the conference other than Arkansas. It’s closer to Knoxville and Athens than it is to Baton Rouge and College Station. The schedule could be set so that Missouri doesn’t travel to SC and FL in the same year.
UGA Insider
October 5th, 2011
11:39 am
Bama is balking hard about being put in the SEC East so therefore it won’t happen. Auburn will probably move although I heard MSU might move first which is crazy. Saban is everyone’s biaaatch right now.
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
11:40 am
And Missouri provides larger TV markets, while giving the SEC cover that it is interested in academics.
murfdawg
October 5th, 2011
11:40 am
Mark,
Here is a scoop for you. When GT is playing for the ACC championship with a 3.2 tv rating and FSU and Clemson are sitting home thinking about how much money they could make playing with the big boys, there will be an earthquake from Carolina to the Panhandle. This earthquake will shake FSU and Clem to the SEC. They will go to the east and MO and TA&m will go to the west. Slive will announce a four team SEC playoff for the championship.(#1 E vs #2W etc,etc) with the winner getting an automatic birth in the MNC.
Slive will announce this after the bowl season and then retire.
p.s. The MS schools and Bama will never let GT back in the conference. Bobby Dodd burned those bridges beyond repair.
Bark Madley
October 5th, 2011
11:42 am
The SEC doesn’t “need” to add anyone. The chatter regarding academics is nonsense propaganda. We are discussing an athletic conference, not a research cabal.
That said, whether the fans like it or not, Mizzou will probably be on the SEC football schedule next season, because it is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. Understand that simple fact and you will then understand what has been happening with this whole conference realignment brouhaha for the past two years.
I would have preferred to see the SEC remain at 12, but I don’t view this expansion with trepidation. The SEC will still be the premiere CFB conference in the nation. Missouri is not a CFB state, but playing in the SEC will only enhance the market for college sports in a state that currently devotes the lion’s share of it’s athletic interests to professional sports.
Auburn will most likely move to the Eastern Division, and that will help to shore up what has recently become the weak sister in the conference following the collapse of the Big 3 football programs in the East. This move should be followed with rule changes to allow 2 permanent cross division rivalry games for each SEC team. I would rather not see 9 conference games per year, simply because such a move will inevitably lead to calls for a 14 game regular season to allow for more OOC games.
There is a delicate balance between preserving tradition and changing with the times. I hope that the appropriate balance can be found, because change is coming — whether we like it or not.
shankit
October 5th, 2011
11:43 am
Georgia moves to the Big Ten where they will dominate as they
have in all prior bowl and regular season games against the likes
of Purdue, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, etc.
Then the SEC would be balanced with 12 teams including A & M
and the Dawgs would be perennial favorites for the Rose Bowl or
BCS Bowl every year replacing the Buckeyes.
Rob
October 5th, 2011
11:43 am
http://chronicle.com/article/Ouster-Opens-a-Painful-Debate/127364/
“What particularly hurt Nebraska in those metrics is that as a land-grant institution in a farming state, it gets a large share of its research dollars for agriculture. The entire University of Nebraska system had $13.2-million in federally financed farm-related research in 2008, or about 10 percent of its total federal research dollars, as compared with a nationwide average of about 3 percent.
The AAU, however, does not give such research the same weight in its membership criteria because much of federal support for agricultural work is awarded through formulas and earmarks rather than peer-reviewed grants. As a result, presidents of land-grant institutions say that the AAU metrics are stacked against them. They maintain that differences between states in climate, soil, and crops necessitate formula-driven funds.”
shankit
October 5th, 2011
11:44 am
and we wouldn’t have to put up with the likes of “Tide Roll”
and all of Paul Fienbaum’s other cronies.
MOman
October 5th, 2011
11:44 am
For all of you that think Missouri is a Yankee state…. Go get a history book. We were a member of the Confederate States of America. Missouri fought 10 years prior to the Civil War on the border of Missouri and Kansas.
We border 3 SEC states, how are we not southeast??? We are more midwest, but Kentucky? are they really southeast? You can look across the river and see ohio? that’s not very south to me. Missouri borders Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas.
Atlanta Gator
October 5th, 2011
11:46 am
“what they need is Georgia Tech, the story is right under your nose but naturally you know nothing”
Jack, for better or worse, the perception is that Georgia Tech students and alumni do not support the Yellow Jackets sports programs to the same degree as other SEC institutions support theirs. Georgia Tech only averaged 46,449 for home football game attendance in 2010, and has actually reduced its stadium capacity twice since 1987.
Of course, that’s partly a function of the size of the student body. If Georgia Tech rejoined the SEC, Tech would only have a bigger student population than Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt; the other ten SEC members are all bigger.
David Granger
October 5th, 2011
11:46 am
I would prefer one of the teams in the east that have been mentioned…VT, WV, Maryland…over Missouri. If they did join, the SEC would have two of the nation’s top journalism schools.
GTBob
October 5th, 2011
11:47 am
GTBob, the AAU selection process seems a bit capricious and northern centric to me.
There may be a little something to that. Although, most of the recent members have not been northern schools and they booted Nebraska and would have booted Syracuse had they not left voluntarily. None of the founding members of the AAU were southern schools which probably hurt them for a while, considering membership is voted on by the members themselves.
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
11:47 am
murfdawg, it is a two way street. If the SEC came to GT begging them to join, the animosity against several schools, including the Miss schools and Bama, run so deep that I think GT would turn them down.
shankit
October 5th, 2011
11:50 am
@ Browncoat, I can’t believe there is any animosity between the two Bama schools.
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
11:51 am
Atlanta Gator, you neglect to mention that it expanded back up to 55,000. Of course many of those new seats are empty gamedays for the reasons that you mention.
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
11:54 am
Bottom line is that the SEC doesn’t want Tech and Tech doesn’t want the SEC.
Tech '10
October 5th, 2011
11:54 am
A&M won’t bring the Dallas market to the extent that you guys are hoping. I live here and you are a Cowboys fan or a UT fan or you aren’t allowed to speak about football. Very little Texas Tech and A&M representation in the DFW area, as far as I have seen anyway. A close to home comparison would be finding GT fans in south GA, they are there.. just not in any great number.
Manofschwa
October 5th, 2011
11:54 am
Prior to the Gary Pinkel-led teams, the Missouri Tigers’ competitive football relevance was getting their hats handed to them on an annual basis by very strong, in-conference universities: Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. The current “SEC or bust” mentality that seems to be in play by so many Missouri fans gives pause to wonder whether that “we get our butts whipped on a regular basis because we are in a tough conference” is engrained by the fanbase.
In the Big 12, Missouri has a slim chance to win the conference on an annual basis, but I certainly don’t see that holding much promise in the SEC.
If the goal is an improved bowl game invitation, the logic must be that the 7th or 8th ranked SEC team will be a better target than the 3rd of 4th ranked member of the Big 12.
Jane in KCMO
October 5th, 2011
11:55 am
You people show an amazing lack of geographical and historical knowledge. Try telling the cotton and rice farmers in Missouri’s Bootheel they aren’t southern–they are closer to Memphis than they are St. Louis. During the Civil War, Missouri was split between the north and the south. The Kansas Jayhawks and Missouri Tigers are named after Civil War bands of citizen raiding parties Kansas City, St. Louis, southeast Missouri and southwest Missouri would all be great SEC markets. Do you think we don’t like to watch LSU, Tennessee, Florida? We watch the best teams on TV at the time–becaue we love football–and basketball even more.
By the way, there are as many MU fans as KU fans in the Kansas City area, we are just not as obnoxious about it. Our superior education means our lives didn’t peak in college.
shankit
October 5th, 2011
11:59 am
@Jane in KCMO – If Mizzou is closer to Memphis than Kansas City, St. Louis,
and contend to be more Southern than these two cities, then how can they bring
a TV audience to the SEC from these two cities.
Browncoat
October 5th, 2011
12:00 pm
Jane, it has less to do with geography than it does culture and perception. To people in Georgia, Missouri is not like us. You are correct that many people in places like Southern Missouri or Southern Illinois are more culturally like Georgians than the majority realize. Still, y’all were on the wrong side of the war, lol.
Expert Opinion
October 5th, 2011
12:01 pm
Atlanta Gator
October 5th, 2011
11:36 am
“in particular, I’m not sure it places enough value on the agricultural research done at schools like UGA and Nebraska.”
Nebraska was an AAU member until this year, when their membership was revoked based on objective criteria. It’s more than a little ironic, because Nebraska’s AAU membership was a big selling point when Nebraska was selected over Missouri to become the twelfth member of the numerically-challenged Big Ten.
Nonsense. Missouri is also an AAU member.
BTW, most of the public universities that are AAU members are also land-grant institutions, so a bias against agricultural research is not the problem. UGA’s lack of medical and engineering schools has hurt them the most, because that’s where a high percentage of graduate research dollars go.
Nonsense. The AAU makes no apologies for the fact that they do not consider agricultural research to be legitimate “research” for their purposes. That is why Nebraska lost their membership and that is why (aside from being a Southern school) Georgia doesn’t qualify for membership.
Atlanta Gator
October 5th, 2011
12:01 pm
“By the way, there are as many MU fans as KU fans in the Kansas City area, we are just not as obnoxious about it. Our superior education means our lives didn’t peak in college.”
I like the cockiness, Jane. You’ll fit in well with other SEC fans. But you’re going to have to drop the inaccurate “MU” short form for the University of Missouri. The odd MU, KU, NU and OU nicknames are SO Missouri Valley Conference/Big 8/Big XII!
Mark
October 5th, 2011
12:02 pm
As a born & bred southerner who was transferred to Missouri 12 years ago (and my son is a Mizzou grad), I can give you key info that will clear up some misinformation among the comments.
Missouri is THE state institution here. It is the only big-time college and program, so the fan base, alumni and general populace all embrace the school. Mizzou brings in quality TV audiences in both the STL and KC market. The football is good and well supported. The basketball can be very good and has a great crowd for conference games and key matchups. Good programs in other sports as well. I think Mizzou will provide a good football challenge for many in the SEC, but typically challenged to handle the top teams. Basketball could be more competitive but again, challenged to win conference titles. Mizzou is a quality school, big and bold, with a rich heritage and tradition that will compliment others in the SEC. Great academics! Lastly, the southern half of the state (below I-70), and particularly the southeastern part, is more oriented to the south than the midwest. You will fine many a southern drawl in some locations. I hope we make the swap…I’d enjoy some fine road trips! Ya’ll make us welcome now, ya hear?
falcon fred
October 5th, 2011
12:02 pm
well said Jane in KCMO…
Tech '10
October 5th, 2011
12:02 pm
Jane in KCMO: That’s why Mizzou won’t be a good fit for the SEC, it’s not your love for football, but your quest for knowledge and caring about things other than football that puts you to a disadvantage in the SEC… and yes, most people talk about the mason-dixon line and without knowing where it actually is and why is was used and when it was actually surveyed out. … The lack of knowledge among these schools is pretty amazing.
falcon fred
October 5th, 2011
12:04 pm
face it dawg fans, uga just isn’t aau material…
shankit
October 5th, 2011
12:04 pm
Kinda like Atlanta and Valdosta and all other small
towns in Georgia. We are referred to by
the AJC as Redneck Country, but we still pull for the
North Georgia sports teams, or at least try to, it is very
difficult.