re: Almost 2 years in and Missouri still does not feel like it is part of Conference

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Slive jumped the gun on this one. No reason to have them in the conference. We already can nationally recruit because we're the minor leagues of the NFL, so I don't see what the St.Louis/Kansas City TV markets really do for you. They will improve because no one can stand being embarrassed like they were last year. (Was shocked when I was reminded that they could have gone to the 2007 BCSNC if not for a loss against Oklahoma in the final week of the season). Competition does inherently make you better, they'll come around, but I don't see why we had to be the ones to raise them up just for symmetry's sake (even number of teams).

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Reasons this may not be correct :

a) KC and STL are big markets, time will tell if SEC can get them
b) ACC schools were safe : Slive is UVA and Skipper is UNC
c) ACC + SEC = ESPN and FOX / BTN was not getting VA / GA / SC / NC / FL schools (no matter what their idiot bloggers think)
d) SEC was not adding second school states (FL, KY, GA, and SC)
e) Adding Mizzou blocks B1G moves at state of Texas
f) Adding Mizzou blocks B1G from adding MU + KU (Came out in Gee FOIA)
g) SEC was never adding West Virginia no matter what the "dude" said

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Sig

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I respectfully disagree with just about everything in your post.

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Hell, their first choice was the Big 10 and only came to us after getting rejected.

True... This is the biggest factor to me. Mizzou is a great school and has done well in the big 12. I still don't believe they wanted in the SEC first.

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When the B1G announced they were expanding, yes, we were interested. We wanted to get away from Texas. The deal was as good as done - the coaches had been told they'd be playing in the B1G in 2011 - but then came the kicker. It was a "junior" membership without equal payout for a graduated number of years. That would have hurt us financially. We took a step back, and Nebraska jumped on it because 1)they could afford it; and 2)they also wanted to get away from bevo. At the time, there was no indication at all that the SEC was considering expansion, and we had no reason to think an SEC membership was even possible.

The SEC was NEVER a second choice - that's BS. We considered a move to a conference that was expanding, and the SEC wasn't at that time. The infamous article about the SEC being "what's left" was written by a local AP stringer. The guy was a J-school grad, and used to do some adjunct work there, but the J-school had recently cut ties with him. He had an axe to grind. He is also neighbors with a lower-level, academic-side university administrator who would not have been involved in any of the conference discussions and had no authority to speak on the topic - I'd bet that was his "source" that spoke on the condition of anonymity. The SEC was never a second choice, they just waited a year to expand.

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They are so midwestern, they'd fit right in with the Wisconsin and Ohio States.

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That is just more BS. Those programs and states consider us redneck southerners! We're more southern than we are anything else. That argument is just dumb anyway. Is Florida really a "traditional southern" state? Or Kentucky? Come on.

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Mizzou is a great school and has done well in the big 12

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The only part of your post I agree with. Yes, Mizzou is a great school, and yes, we did well in the Big 12 - which was based on the Big 8 and the Big 6, and that was our conference initially. But that conference is gone now. I think we fit better in the SEC than any other conference out there.

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Some parts of Kentucky are very southern and some parts are not. Kentucky is a strange state.

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If Kentucky is not all southern then what are they? I definitely don't think of KY as a midwestern state. When I think of KY I think of the South. Hell the damn name KENTUCKY sounds southern.

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Is Florida really a "traditional southern" state? Or Kentucky?

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Northern Florida was traditional southern but it was not widely settled past the most northern 1/3 of the state. It was not until Henry Flagler (Harkness, Flagler, and Rockerfeller) and his partners would make their fortunes in Standard Oil (now Exxon Mobie et al) and Henry would spend the remaining part of his life giving away his immense fortune. He was the one that built the railroad from the northern part of Florida all the way to the Keys which opened up the southern part of the state for settlement. South Florida was not settled till the past century and is much newer than the rest of the state. This causes the paradox that north Florida is southern while south Florida is northern.

As for KY see post above.



On the issue of Mizzou in the B1G or SEC my feeling is money had a part in the decision making. Nebraska originally had to "buy in" to the B1G at the rate of 5 million for 10 years until they got a full share as the existing schools were getting. It cost Mizzou 50 dollars to join the SEC and they were (along with TAMU) accorded a full share from day 1. Part of the appeal of the SEC is the minimal buy in, equal share from date of entry, and no exit fee that shows just how strong the conference is as a whole. Every other team that has joined the Big 5 will have at least several years before they are accorded a full share.

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Great post.

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On a side note UK was originally a private school (spit from Transylvania which still exists) that used the Morrill Act to become an A&M school. As Auburn and Kentucky both wanted to develop a strong vet school at a time when money was tight and competing schools would suffer excess capacity a deal was made for UK not to build but be accorded so many slots in the Auburn program. I am fairly sure this agreement is still in place to this very day.

Because of this early tie you will see families with strong connections to both over the past generations.

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The name is Indian as entire state was basically sacred burial grounds of the tribes from what became the surrounding states. The name itself means "The Dark and Bloody Ground"and was pronounced kain tuh kee tho spelled Kentucky.

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Whoa. I think you just solved a mystery. I heard all my life stories from relatives in KY about how part of their town was built on an Indian burial ground and that it flooded because of it. Now the origin of that story makes sense.

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Your basketball team may do more than any other sport in helping to gain respect in the conference.

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It already did. Even in what was by our basketball standards a disappointing season, our mere presence in the league increased your number of NCAA tournament bids last year by 33%. Without us, a shitty SEC men's basketball conference last year would have been markedly shittier. You're welcome.

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Y'all have been to zero final fours...

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SEC Final Fours by current 14 member SEC
Kentucky : (15) and (8) National Championships
Arkansas : (6) with 2 as SEC and (1) National Championship as SEC
Florida : (4) and (2) National Championships
Louisiana State : (4) and (0) National Championships
Georgia : (1) and (0) National Championships
Mississippi State : (1) and (0) National Championships

8 Current SEC teams have never been to a Final Four



SEC appearances by current 14 member SEC
Kentucky = 52
Arkansas = 29
Missouri = 26 - 1 vacated
Louisiana State = 20
Alabama = 20
Tennessee = 19
Florida = 18 - 2 vacated
Vanderbilt = 13
Texas A&M = 12
Georgia = 11 - 2 vacated
Mississippi State = 10
Auburn = 8
South Carolina = 8
Ole Miss = 7

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If the SEC network begins to sell well in the St. Louis and OKC markets then the entire discussion may end up being moot.

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I think you mean KC and not OKC. (I doubt Mizzou has much of a draw in Oklahoma City.) And I think those areas will likely put it in the standard bundle or sports bundle and get it widely distributed.

And Killz is as happy as anyone with the move. He just enjoys being sarcastic and provoking.

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I like your posts. Well thought out and you make some good points.

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Thank you. Yes, women CAN converse intelligently about sports.