Miami and Florida State to the SEC? Here's how it could happen

GAINESVILLE -- There was plenty going on in Indianapolis last weekend other than basketball.

Behind the scenes, powerbrokers were discussing potentially dramatic changes to the sport of college football. There was talk of the Big Ten adding five schools and forming a 16-team mega-conference. There was talk of the Southeastern Conference following suit. Nothing could happen. Everything could happen.

How does Miami and Florida State joining the SEC sound to Gators fans? How does it sound to Canes and Noles? Don't laugh. It could happen. It's unlikely, but it's not folly. (OK, maybe it is, but whatever.) Here's how it could go down ...

College athletics as we know it teetering on a knife's edge. It's an arms race, folks, plain and simple. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Big Ten presidents met in Indianapolis last weekend to discuss the possibility off adding one, three or five teams. Eleven teams currently play football in the Big Ten.

The Big Ten wants a playoff. The conference is seriously considering expansion. Let me put this the most elementary way possible, the Big Ten wants to try and be richer and better than the SEC. How to do that? There are a several ways.

1. Add Notre Dame, bringing Big Ten football to 12 teams.

2. Notre Dame chooses to remain independent in football and the Big Ten adds one school from another conference. (Big East or Big 12, most likely).

3. Add Notre Dame and two schools from another conference.

5. Notre Dame chooses to remain independent and the Big Ten adds three schools.

4. Add Notre Dame and steal four schools from other conferences to form college football's first mega-conference. A Big 16 to rule all.

5. Notre Dame chooses to remain independent and the Big Ten adds five schools from other conferences to ... you guessed it... form college football's first mega-conference to rule all.

Or maybe not.

For the fun of it, let's say the Big Ten becomes the Big 16 and adds Notre Dame, Louisville, West Virginia, Pitt and Cincinnati. (There are other possible variations, obviously, but let's stick with these teams just because, geographically, it makes for some interesting rivalries.) As you can plainly see, this would be a mega-conference that would trump even the SEC.

Would the SEC stand pat and allow itself to fall behind the new Big 16? That doesn't seem very SECish, if you ask me. The SEC (God bless Roy Kramer and Mike Slive) enjoys being the top dog of college football. Fans demand it. Alumni demand it. Heck, even politicians demand it. Ahh, politics. That's where this whole conference-expansion speculation gets really interesting.

With the Big 16 in place, the SEC and Atlantic Coast Conference are now feeling the pressure. Does the ACC add the football schools of the old Big East, bringing the ACC to 16 teams? Will the SEC follow suit and pilfer the ACC and/or Big 12? This brings us to the oh-so-titillating opportunity for the SEC to make a play for four more major football schools.

From the west, the SEC adds Texas and Texas A&M. From the east, the SEC adds Miami and Florida State. Take that, Big 16.

(Before we play make believe and realign the conferences, keep in mind that Notre Dame is the X-factor in all this. If Notre Dame joins the Big Ten then things could get interesting very quickly.)

NEW SEC
SEC WEST
Alabama 
Arkansas 
Auburn 
LSU 
Mississippi
Mississippi State 
Texas 
Texas A&M

SEC EAST
Florida
Florida State
Georgia
Kentucky
Miami
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt

NEW ACC
ACC NORTH
Boston College
Connecticut
Maryland
Rutgers
Syracuse
Virginia
Virginia Tech

ACC SOUTH
Clemson
Duke
Georgia Tech
North Carolina
N.C. State
South Florida
Wake Forest

NEW BIG 16
BIG 16 EAST
Cincinnati
Indiana
Louisville
Ohio State
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Purdue
Wisconsin

BIG 16 WEST
Illinois
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Notre Dame
West Virginia

The Big 12 could possibly add Texas Christian and Southern Methodist to take the place of Texas and Texas A&M. The remaining schools in the Big East do not play football in the Football Bowl Subdivision: Villanova, Marquette, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, Providence and DePaul. All of Notre Dame's sports would move to the Big 16.

Bottom line: Florida, Florida State and Miami would play EVERY YEAR! And, maybe, the possibility for a college football playoff seems more likely. Wow, OK, let's not go overboard here.

-jo-

Comments

[Sarasota 'lame]

sidcane,

Your writing is very eloquent..when is your GED test? What do you do for a living now that Orange Bowl is closed and you can't charge people for parking in your grandmother's front yard?

Go 'canes!

[GatorAlum]

sidcane, this is for you, since you seem to think UM can still be considered nfl u. Those days are LONG GONE!

http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/article/2010-04-05/draft-picks-grown-here-florida

[JoeGoodyMiaHrld]

Learned new stuff about this topic this weekend. Can't really divulge anything particular but let's just say some of what I wrote isn't all together pie-in-the-sky stuff. Under this blog post's 16-team scenarios, FSU to the SEC might be a possibility. Miami to the SEC would take some arm twisting of UF.

-jo-

[Malcolm Kass]

Yeah, Joseph doesn't know too much about CF to believe that this is remotely possible. While the SEC would love to have UT and A&M, these schools historically have had absolutely zero interest in the SEC. And I highly doubt that SEC would have any interest in Miami. Tiny school, tiny fanbase, tiny department, little there.

[JoeGoodyMiaHrld]

Malcolm obviously hasn't heard of a school named Vanderbilt, doesn't realize that Mississippi State's stadium only seats 55,000 and that Miami is a TV-ratings giant.

-jo-

[CaneFan62]

Miami ruin the reputation of the SEC? You must be joking! The SEC has been on probation or investigated by the NCAA more than any other conference by far. The SEC is basically a bunch of hillbilly rednecks that have their own rules, the good ol boy rules.

[Silly gators]

You gayturds would run for the hills before playing us every year. Oh and if you haven't noticed, Miami is actually near the top in the nation academically and I don't think the SEC takes too kindly to smart teams. Dumbest conference in the land.

[novafan]

Uhhh....Villanova and Georgetown do play football. They just play at the FCS level. Villanova won the national championship this year actually out of the CAA. Georgetown is horrendous and in the Patriot League.

But its not accurate to say they don't play football.

Villanova could be a candidate to move up to FBS football is something happened with the Big East.

[M Dixon]

How credible is this article anyway folks? If none of you, especially the writer, knows that the defending NCAA DI football champion is Villanova, then it's all wrong to begin with.
That's right, the NCAA does not recognize the BCS champion, therefore, the team who won the offically recognized NCAA DI title is stated as not even having a football team.

"The remaining schools in the Big East do not play football: Villanova, Marquette, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, Providence and DePaul. All of Notre Dame's sports would move to the Big 16."

FYI - Georgetown plays football too.

[C. Ellis]

You show your complete ignorance of college football when you make the statement "The remaining schools in the Big East do not play football: Villanova..."

Villanova won the highest level football championship recognized by the NCAA in 2009, defeating Montana 23-21 in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game. The Wildcats are a TRUE champion, having earned the title on the field through a playoff system, not by starting the season highly ranked and being one of the favored few. Did Alabama's 2009 season BCS "championship" include having to navigate a tournament that included ALL the top teams or did they have to defeat ONE non-SEC team to be handed the trophy?

[Boogaloo]

The BigTen is already richer than the SEC. You clearly know nothing about what you're attempting to write about.

[Fred]

Miami & FSU in a 14 team SEC would freakin break the bank TV wise and put a**esin the seats at SunLife/JoeRobbie! The UM "we can't afford all the SEC olympic sports" BS would be out the window.

[GatorFlorida]

My simple POV. I don't think UM should be in the SEC, being that I agree with the unsportmanlike fans.

HOWEVER...I encourage bringing back regular UF-UM games to Miami, and bring the rivalry on. I miss the fights that would go on in people's houses as one side went for UM, and the other UF.

I am a Florida Student, and personally think things should stay the way they are.

[Canewbie]

Alright, there are way too many posts for me to read, so excuse me if I step on any toes or repeat previously said statements. I'm going to preface by saying I'm not the biggest football buff in the world, that being said. Comment number 1 from cane in painsville or whatever, You're an idiot, everything about what you said takes credence away from any other Miami fan. Given the fact that the majority of the gator's best players were drafted this year and in all honesty I don't see the gator's being that much of a powerhouse anymore, I would like to see Miami and FSU join the SEC for a number of reasons.
1.) Given what I just said, it would be nice to shut the gators up
2.) It would be awesome to see the three big florida teams play every season.
3.) Joining the SEC will give FSU & Miami a financial advantage that they have not had before. Also, recruiting in the state of Florida currently favors the Gators and Urban Meyer. If we're given that opportunity, Miami could very easily rebuild and if we aren't now, we could be up to SEC standards very soon (as long as we fire Rhandy Shannon).

Finally, I can't answer the question of why Miami didn't join the SEC earlier, I have no idea.
K, thanks have a nice day.