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re: Hypothetical: Would Sewanee Have Worked Out In The SEC Long Term?
Posted on 5/27/23 at 3:51 pm to Cheese Grits
Posted on 5/27/23 at 3:51 pm to Cheese Grits
That perspective makes sense.
Still though I think had Sewanee decided to invest in and grow proportionally along side with the SEC and major college athletics into today's era, then eventually they would have found a decent coach along the way to get things rolling. I also think they woulda found their Jerry Jones/Jim Haslam-esque game changing alumnus donor eventually too.
Still though I think had Sewanee decided to invest in and grow proportionally along side with the SEC and major college athletics into today's era, then eventually they would have found a decent coach along the way to get things rolling. I also think they woulda found their Jerry Jones/Jim Haslam-esque game changing alumnus donor eventually too.
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Posted on 5/27/23 at 3:55 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
Tulane was a football power early on but chose academics over athletics and gave their Rose Bowl bid in the 1920's to Alabama.
Tulane is another one. Absolutely idiotic of them in the long run to ditch major college athletics considering they were already a prestigious university based in freaking NOLA. Their precious academics woulda been just fine like Vandy's had they remained. LSU probably woulda rendered them to a similar negative fate like TN's rise in the 20th century did to Vandy's program. Or they coulda transformed into a powerhouse. Think of it like a southern version of USC.
This post was edited on 5/27/23 at 4:52 pm
Posted on 5/27/23 at 3:57 pm to psk_Vol
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feel like Sewanee missed the boat on potentially becoming a hell of an SEC athletics/party school attended that could have ultimately attracted tens of thousands students and recruits respectively from all over the country. They could have very well evolved into becoming a private school version of Auburn/Ole Miss.
It's an interesting question. But, I'm not sure they could have competed heavily enough or recruited well enough to truly make it as a football power. On the other hand, they may have specialized and become a power in baseball or basketball, especially with some of the scholarship advantages a well managed private school athletic foundation can provide (in particular in the pre-NIL era).
I agree with psk Vol, Tulane and/or GT are the ones who truly missed the boat for what may have been in CFB.
This post was edited on 5/27/23 at 3:58 pm
Posted on 5/27/23 at 4:20 pm to psk_Vol
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You just can't convince me a place called the "University of the South" wouldn't have worked out long term in the SEC.
Love the enthusiasm but only shopping is the Piggly Wiggly the next town over. Basically compare them to Centre (in Danville, KY).
Centre is easier to get to (less grade in the age of trains)
Centre is closer to LEX (than NASH or CHAT)
Danville is football crazy (at the high school level)
Centre and Sewanee are both in the ACS
Centre and Sewanee are both NCAA D III
Danville (~17.5K population) vs Sewanee (~2.5K population)
Sewanee had the Iron Men
Centre had C6H0
Would you argue for Centre the same way?
Posted on 5/27/23 at 4:40 pm to psk_Vol
quote:
Plenty/most SEC schools were located in what was considered "the middle of nowhere
Ok so you haven’t been there.
It’s not in the middle of nowhere like Auburn, Athens, etc.
It’s on the Monteagle pass as not accessible at all.
Posted on 5/27/23 at 4:44 pm to Che Boludo
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Tulane and/or GT are the ones who truly missed the boat for what may have been in CFB.
Think of Tulane as Chicago
Chicago was the football school of the early B1G. If they had not dropped out, Ohio State probably never gets as big as it did. While the Maroons (see Chicago Bears logo) no longer dominate the gridiron, their dropping football to focus on academics sure has not hurt their bottom line (they did ~ 1/2 BILLION in research in 2022).
Posted on 5/27/23 at 5:04 pm to Tigertown in ATL
quote:
Ok so you haven’t been there.
It’s not in the middle of nowhere like Auburn, Athens, etc.
It’s on the Monteagle pass as not accessible at all.
Nah I've both been there and driven in that area numerous times over the years. It's a dandy of a hill to climb no doubt. But that crazy arse, scary climb up a random mountain in the middle of rural TN to gain access to the "University of the South" would be part of the mystique surrounding a theoretical SEC Sewanee. I don't think Monteagle pass would have been an ultimate deterrent to them as a theoretical SEC university. They likely would have figured something out over the years to best handle the traffic capacity of an SEC college football weekend. I mean I-24 is right there. I think the real challenge would have been converting locals in that part of the state to ditch the Vols or Alabama as their squad in favor of Sewanee.
Who knows. Tennessee/Sewanee and Sewanee/Vandy could have developed into a fun lil Volunteer state rivalry that may very well have altered the landscape and dynamics of college athletics with TN were the founding SEC institution called the "University of the South" remained in the conference over the long haul.
This post was edited on 5/27/23 at 5:09 pm
Posted on 5/27/23 at 5:07 pm to Che Boludo
Tulane and LSU could have become such an electric in-state SEC/collegiate Rivalry over the years. Two schools in the state of football loaded talent like LA committed to striving to be a powerhouse football program would have been a fun rivalry to observe for all of us college football/SEC athletics enthusiasts.
Posted on 5/27/23 at 6:04 pm to psk_Vol
Absolutely not. W&L (similar size and reputation at the time) tried to hang in D1 for longer and eventually also reached the same conclusion. Growing a football program at a level needed to compete would have overwhelmed the actual universities. 5-10% of the students would have to be football players, which would materially impact the reputation of the university academically.
This post was edited on 5/27/23 at 6:06 pm
Posted on 5/27/23 at 10:04 pm to psk_Vol
quote:
I feel like Sewanee missed the boat on potentially becoming a hell of an SEC athletics/party school
Gee, if only all institutes of higher learning would aspire to become such.
Posted on 5/27/23 at 10:06 pm to psk_Vol
quote:
If they were still an SEC school with at least 10/15k students, then that entire town and the resulting supporting local economy that would have naturally sprouted along side the growth of a theoretical modern day SEC Sewanee would have made Monteagle/Franklin County TN unrecognizable.
Tell us you've never been there, without telling us you've never been there. It's not that it's in the middle of nowhere. It's that there literally isn't a place on top of that little mountain to put a stadium and parking for even 50,000 fans.Posted on 5/27/23 at 10:08 pm to psk_Vol
quote:
If they were still an SEC school with at least 10/15k students, then that entire town and the resulting supporting local economy that would have naturally sprouted along side the growth of a theoretical modern day SEC Sewanee would have made Monteagle/Franklin County TN unrecognizable.
Tell us you've never been there, without telling us you've never been there. It's not that it's in the middle of nowhere. It's that there literally isn't a place on top of that little mountain to put a stadium and parking for even 50,000 fans. You say you've been there. If you really have been there, you know there literally isn't the space to accommodate a stadium and the cars that would come with it.
Posted on 5/27/23 at 10:09 pm to morriscat2
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And there is plenty of flat terrain up there to build a larger football stadium
No. Just no.Posted on 5/27/23 at 10:18 pm to psk_Vol
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They likely would have figured something out over the years to best handle the traffic capacity of an SEC college football weekend. I mean I-24 is right there.
Yeah. It's right there alright. All two lanes of it, coming from Nashville. 18 wheelers going 15-20 MPH in the inside lane. Everyone else, including 18 wheelers going 25 MPH in the inside lane. That's a normal Saturday like today...without thousands of cars trying to get there before kickoff.
Posted on 5/28/23 at 6:51 am to psk_Vol
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locals in that part of the state
Haha! Some of those counties west of Chattanooga are rough.
I’m hearing what you are saying. It could have been neat.
I’m seeing it through today eyes. I-24 is a disaster on normal days.
Posted on 5/28/23 at 9:57 am to Tigertown in ATL
I actually like Piggly Wiggly and that is not one of their better selection stores.
I think that roadhouse lodge / restaurant in Monteagle burned and no more food there. No Waffle House in Sewannee but I think there is one by the exit in Monteagle.
I think that roadhouse lodge / restaurant in Monteagle burned and no more food there. No Waffle House in Sewannee but I think there is one by the exit in Monteagle.
Posted on 5/28/23 at 10:26 am to Cheese Grits
The Domain is pretty massive, but more importantly, Sewanee was never meant to be a massive school. It just wouldn’t work on that scale.
Also they have a big problem just housing people coming in for graduation and Lessons and Carols. That are wouldn’t support more hotels year round, so now you have drunk fans trying to get back to Chattanooga or Nashville off a dicey Mtn pass in thick fog. The fog would make for some fun games though.
Also they have a big problem just housing people coming in for graduation and Lessons and Carols. That are wouldn’t support more hotels year round, so now you have drunk fans trying to get back to Chattanooga or Nashville off a dicey Mtn pass in thick fog. The fog would make for some fun games though.
Posted on 5/28/23 at 10:35 am to psk_Vol
just asked jeeves, sewanee has 1.7k undergrad. that's a middle school dude. why would 5 star homies want to go there? the party down BR, athens, tuscaloosa, hell even fricking vandy nashville is way better
Posted on 5/28/23 at 10:39 am to PassingThrough
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they have a big problem just housing people coming in for graduation and Lessons and Carols.
If you have kids there, get your housing for graduation their sophomore or junior year.
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drunk fans trying to get back to Chattanooga or Nashville
This
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The fog would make for some fun games though.
Games, yes, but driving to and from, that fog is low and it moves in quick.
Posted on 5/28/23 at 10:42 am to RockyRococco
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the party down BR, athens, tuscaloosa, hell even fricking vandy nashville is way better
Clearly you are saying you have never been there without saying you have never been there. The whole campus is one big migrating party. You can walk everywhere and the sororities are mostly local and can have booze in their houses.
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