re: Spinoff: When did the SECW Arms Race start?

the short answer to this is when the SEC started making big bucks. ESPN and CBS began to infuse massive dollars into the league and competition began to boil. LSU and UF both won 2 NC's and Bama got Saban. boom, the other schools began to spend that money on coaches and facilities. it became appearant that the better coaches are worth the money and your school had to have great facilities to attract recruits. the better coaches demand these facilities.

the bigger question, imo, is why the east hasn't kept up. they are getting their share of the pie. they are behind in coaches and facilities. I realize that's a general statement but every team in the west has improved their facilities and enlarged their stadiums where it appears the UT, UF and UGA are just standing by.