New SEC Alignment

[7samurai13]

From a conference perspective, the SEC doesn't look at last 10-15 years but all-time potential. Sure, Tennessee has struggled (along with Texas who is on the list) but both would be seen as top 10 all-time programs by the SEC and would be treated as tier 1.

Take the 2015 and 2016 teams. They were loaded with talent which shows that:

1. Tennessee still can recruit
2. Tennessee is still a brand name
3. Tennessee can still win at a high level

Take Butch Jones and put even average coaches like Gus Malzahn or Sam Pittman at the helm and those Tennessee teams likely win the East and make playoffs.

Georgia got lucky with Kirby Smart. Say they had hired Pruitt, you guys would be in the same boat as Tennessee right now.

What in the last 15 years tells you Tennessee can win at a high level?

 

[Volbound1700]

What in the last 15 years tells you Tennessee can win at a high level?

Ability to still get top recruits with the right coaching. Seasons where if certain plays went another way, we would have likely made playoffs. 2015 is a classic example because Tennessee was a single play (and some bad luck) away from beating Alabama, Florida, and Oklahoma. Give us a few breaks or perhaps a better coach and we would have broken through.

We were in the top 10 most of the 2016 season (at least until the South Carolina loss). As stated, it is a program that can break through.

Keep in mind, LSU was shit from the late 1980s until 2001. Alabama was shit from 1997-2007. Georgia was shit most years in the 1990s.

Let's say we were looking at the SEC in 2000, you guys would have had Alabama and LSU in the second tier lol.

 

[Thiefery]

Everyone has an equal vote. Texas is going to be frustrated as hell when Ole Miss and Miss State get a say in what they do. It will be fun.

LOL you really believe this? We just saw how an equal voting school got treated in the dark with just two additions. That all for one, one for all is great for story books and whatnot.. But lets be real, there are certain schools who have more pull than others. Ask Ole Miss who got busted for recruiting the way GA/Bama/LSU were..

 

[Volbound1700]

Dude there aren’t any power brokers in reality within the SEC. Everyone has an equal vote and a perfect example is the other schools making Auburn and Alabama move their game to the week before the SEC Championship instead of using that week as a bye. The vote was 12-2 and Bama and Auburn had to move and that’s why for the last 5 years both have played cupcakes the week before they played as the league screwed both our schedules.

It didn’t matter that the other schools could arrange their schedules the same all that mattered is they didn’t want us doing it.

Clout is grossly over rated in the SEC and Texas is going to be frustrated as hell when Ole Miss and Miss State get a say in what they do. It will be fun.

I somewhat agree but there are certain voices that are louder than others and carry more weight in the room.

I wish we had discussed this back in August as I could link you some of the podcasts that I heard. I know Gene Stallings was one of the guys interviewed and another one was with former SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

I think it may depend also just as much on the personality of the AD as with the program. Schools with new ADs to the league (like Tennessee) probably don't have the weight of schools with long-time and successful ADs.

 

[Wild Turkey]

LOL you really believe this? We just saw how an equal voting school got treated in the dark with just two additions. That all for one, one for all is great for story books and whatnot.. But lets be real, there are certain schools who have more pull than others. Ask Ole Miss who got busted for recruiting the way GA/Bama/LSU were..

1. None of the schools knew about aTm as that was handled by the commissioner and then all 14 schools voted. Do you think they wanted Georgia, SC and KY to know about it beforehand? Nope, and they would have if anyone had known it's a small world where people from different schools take jobs in other places.

2. Ole Miss got off easy compared to how the NCAA hammered Bama prior to Saban. I can tell you for a fact that the SEC office works their tail off to defend all the schools because I know several of the attorneys that represent them. One of the reasons Alabama got hammered so badly is they refused to use the preferred law firm because they do a ton of work for Auburn. aTm and Ole Miss didn't care and they used them and got the best defense possible.

It's really an illusion that some schools have more pull.

 

[Wild Turkey]

I somewhat agree but there are certain voices that are louder than others and carry more weight in the room.

I wish we had discussed this back in August as I could link you some of the podcasts that I heard. I know Gene Stallings was one of the guys interviewed and another one was with former SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

I think it may depend also just as much on the personality of the AD as with the program. Schools with new ADs to the league (like Tennessee) probably don't have the weight of schools with long-time and successful ADs.

What happens in that circumstance is committee appointments and networking. An AD that has been at a place for 10 years has built a network and can use political means to move agendas but no one can act unilaterally and no school gets preferential treatment. Trust me if Auburn and Alabama together (with the SEC office being in Birmingham) can't salvage their bye week then influence doesn't work.

Another example is both Alabama and Auburn support a 9 conference game schedule but they are the only ones. Guess how many conference games we play?

 

[Volbound1700]

What happens in that circumstance is committee appointments and networking. An AD that has been at a place for 10 years has built a network and can use political means to move agendas but no one can act unilaterally and no school gets preferential treatment. Trust me if Auburn and Alabama together (with the SEC office being in Birmingham) can't salvage their bye week then influence doesn't work.

Another example is both Alabama and Auburn support a 9 conference game schedule but they are the only ones. Guess how many conference games we play?

Yeah, I am kind in the middle of both you and @Thiefery's argument. I think certain schools have stronger voices at different times but no one runs the league like OU and Texas did with the Big12, Ohio State kind of does with B1G, and USC does with the Pac12.

Another thing is that I see a lot of harmony between all of the SEC schools. We are the only league, I believe, without a buy-out clause. Generally, things seem to get passed and work out with regards to decision.

I will see this though: Alabama, despite all of its leverage right now, hasn't got its wish yet of going to 9 games so that is a great argument for your position Wild Turkey that no one school runs the league. I know Alabama wants a 9 game schedule (Georgia has made an argument for it too). I imagine schools like Arkansas, Vandy, and heck Tennessee right now want to keep the 4 OOC games to help make bowl games.

 

[Thiefery]

It's really an illusion that some schools have more pull.

LOL. yeah guess SEC didn't fight hard enough for Ole Miss the way they do for LSU and TN, right?

 

[Thiefery]

Alabama, despite all of its leverage right now, hasn't got its wish yet of going to 9 games so that is a great argument for your position Wild Turkey

LOL you really think HE WANTS 9 conference games? It's all coach speak.. He likes the 8 game format with 4 OOC games, like everyone else does.

 

[Volbound1700]

LOL. yeah guess SEC didn't fight hard enough for Ole Miss the way they do for LSU and TN, right?

TN, in my opinion, is going to get a light slap on the wrest for the sole reason that they turned themselves in basically. Granted, they had ulterior motives to do it.

Also with the current changes in CFB, the NCAA has lost its power. I don't see an SMU-type decision or even a 1990s Alabama and 2000s USC type decision happening again.

 

[Deep Creek]

What in the last 15 years tells you Tennessee can win at a high level?

They are in the S-E-C.

 

[Thiefery]

They are in the S-E-C.

exactly.. they would be Clemson anywhere else

 

[Deep Creek]

What happens in that circumstance is committee appointments and networking. An AD that has been at a place for 10 years has built a network and can use political means to move agendas but no one can act unilaterally and no school gets preferential treatment. Trust me if Auburn and Alabama together (with the SEC office being in Birmingham) can't salvage their bye week then influence doesn't work.

Another example is both Alabama and Auburn support a 9 conference game schedule but they are the only ones. Guess how many conference games we play?

Sounds to me like Bama and Auburn need to take a remedial class in "How To Swing Your Weight Around". You guys ain't doin' it too good.

 

[Wild Turkey]

LOL you really think HE WANTS 9 conference games? It's all coach speak.. He likes the 8 game format with 4 OOC games, like everyone else does.

I think he does for the same reasons Auburn does:

1. Adding another conference game isn’t going to make our schedules any harder than they already are.

2. He wants more game against Georgia and Florida for recruiting reasons.

3. He hates those Mercer games as much as we do but until everyone quits playing them he can’t.

 

[Wild Turkey]

TN, in my opinion, is going to get a light slap on the wrest for the sole reason that they turned themselves in basically. Granted, they had ulterior motives to do it.

Also with the current changes in CFB, the NCAA has lost its power. I don't see an SMU-type decision or even a 1990s Alabama and 2000s USC type decision happening again.

I don’t think what you did was that bad compared to the shit Ole Miss was in or Bama last time they were in trouble.

I think you guys turned yourselves in on shut everyone does to save millions on firing Pruitt.

 

[Volbound1700]

I think he does for the same reasons Auburn does:

1. Adding another conference game isn’t going to make our schedules any harder than they already are.

2. He wants more game against Georgia and Florida for recruiting reasons.

3. He hates those Mercer games as much as we do but until everyone quits playing them he can’t.

When you are a very good team, sometimes the no-name opponents can be the most scary team on your schedule because your players just don't take them seriously than the big-name opponents. This is just human nature.

 

[7samurai13]

I think he does for the same reasons Auburn does:

1. Adding another conference game isn’t going to make our schedules any harder than they already are.

2. He wants more game against Georgia and Florida for recruiting reasons.

3. He hates those Mercer games as much as we do but until everyone quits playing them he can’t.

He doesn’t hate those Mercer games. If he did, he could easily stop scheduling them. A mid level G5 team or a P5 opponent is the game that would be dumped.

 

[Volbound1700]

He doesn’t hate those Mercer games. If he did, he could easily stop scheduling them. A mid level G5 team or a P5 opponent is the game that would be dumped.

It is all about getting a home game for $$$. If Alabama could schedule a P5 opponent with no return game, they would probably do that instead of Mercer. The issue is that no Power 5 team will do that (nor should do) unless they are just really desperate.

The second myth about Conference Schedules was that too many conference games would result in injuries piling up and no breaks from the difficult schedule and would create heavy wear-and-tear on the program. The low-tier teams created a break in the schedule. This was kind of debunked last year though with all-SEC schedule (this also wasn't just an SEC argument, I have heard other Power 5 leagues make the same claim).

 

[Wild Turkey]

He doesn’t hate those Mercer games. If he did, he could easily stop scheduling them. A mid level G5 team or a P5 opponent is the game that would be dumped.

It’s more of a grind thing. He can’t afford to not have the off week if the others in the conference won’t do it.

 

[Thiefery]

When you are a very good team, sometimes the no-name opponents can be the most scary team on your schedule because your players just don't take them seriously than the big-name opponents. This is just human nature.

no name FCS schools are the most scariest?? The ones that are scheduled the week before the regular season ending rivalry games?