It’s funny that so many of you complain about conference expansion at the cost of tradition, but the SEC has always been at the forefront of conference expansion:

1. It was the first modern power conference to move to 12 schools with two divisions in 1992. This directly causes the collapse of the SWC (although that was bound to happen anyway). This also caused the Big Eight to react by forming the Big 12 several years later and the Big Ten to add Penn State.

2. The SEC was the first power conference to institute a championship game. The other conferences copied them.

3. The SEC was the first conference to move to 14 teams, adding A&M and Mizzou in 2012. The Big Ten quickly copied them, adding Maryland and Rutgers.

4. The SEC was the first power conference to move to 16, adding OU and Texas. The Big Ten reacted by adding USC and UCLA.

This has always been an evolve or die scenario, and the SEC has always been ahead of the curve. Thanks to that, the SEC wil continue to compete for championships, attract the best talent, and fill the stands.

And compared to the Big Ten, the only real competition, the SEC still mostly makes sense. We don’t have Rutgers, Nebraska, and UCLA in the same conference.