re: If SEC expands to 16 teams, what two teams would you pick?

Wake Forest and Richmond

For "growing" the brand (in all sports as well as in academics)? UVA and UNC.

For "tradition" and rivalries and matchups I could visit in person? Georgia Tech and Tulane.

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And it would ruin the financial models for cable companies and most of the channels on the market. So there is 0% chance something will happen.

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So you're saying that consumer demand has zero influence on the marketplace.

Sadly, I'm afraid you're right.

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A la carte cable is never happening.

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Are you saying no one would actually choose to buy Jesus?

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But rest assured, if you want to pay for your cable channels individually, you will end up paying a ton more. A report from Needham Insights issued last month suggested that 20 million viewers would pay $30 a month for ESPN, which would give the network the $600 million a month it needs to keep functioning, because that's what it makes today. That's right: you currently pay only $6 a month for ESPN, because you and 100 million other people have the network, and they can afford to take comparatively little from you. Let's say that factor of five holds true across all the networks you watch: suddenly you're paying $6.06 for TNT ($1.21 a month) $4.10 for Fox News ($0.82), and so on down the line. In fact, if you factor in only the top 10 most highly-compensated networks (and ESPN is by far the highest, so they're all south of that $6 figure), you're up to $78 with only ten channels.

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So you're saying that consumer demand has zero influence on the marketplace.

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No, I am saying politicians won't force change in the market. Change will happen slowly, as consumers cut the cord and cable providers push back at channel price increases. Like Dish Network and ESPN:

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I think it will take more than 30 years for the model to fail though, and in that time the SEC Network will have made a ton a money. I think by the time the expansion emphasis changes from markets to program quality by then we will have 8 playoff spots with guaranteed seats for the Power 5 conferences so no one will move anywhere.

A FSU or Clemson in the SEC is simply a pipe dream.

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you're up to $78 with only ten channels.

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Cable doesn't have 10 channels that I want to watch. Maybe 4 during football season.

I had cable, I would regularly surf though 70+ channels and not find anything on. But it would take me a half hour so I figured I would scan through again and see what was on. Still nothing. Repeat. Still nothing. I called Cox and asked them if they could put TCM in their expanded basic package. They told me that it was a premium channel and they would never put it in a basic package but I could get it if I signed up for digital cable. I told them that I had just moved to BR from NO, and it was part of the basic package there. They told me, "No, it isn't." I cancelled my subscription.

I just use the antenna.

So 20 million would pay $30 for ESPN, but would 30 million pay $20?

I'd pay $20 for ESPN - during football season.

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So 20 million would pay $30 for ESPN, but would 30 million pay $20?

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Too bad 20 million wouldn't subscribe to ESPN, much less 30 million.

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Of the country's 100 million households, just 1.36 million viewers viewed ESPN in prime during the second quarter of 2013.

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Also, you'd pay $20 for ESPN. How much would you pay for ESPN 2, ESPN U, ESPN News, ESPN 3, ESPN the Ocho?

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The SEC should drop Vandy and Kentucky and go back to twelve teams.

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Vandy beats Mizzou.....again, this year. We went out and got some more television viewers, but how did this move help the SEC brand?