(08-23-2022 05:34 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(08-23-2022 12:45 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(08-23-2022 12:21 PM)OdinFrigg Wrote:  If Notre Dame wants to join the SEC, it needs to be under the same terms and conditions as any other invitee. That includes a full-time commitment in all sports sponsored by the SEC of which ND has a team. I would expect the SEC majority members would not settle for anything less otherwise. A scheduling agreement may be plausible, but membership criteria is not a casual or “special treatment” matter.

I don’t blame Notre Dame for being smart and savvy. I don’t care for the unique enabling, and extending incentives to Notre Dame based on fallacious hope.

I can see a time coming when the SEC offers all but football memberships which would be paid for all other sports fully, but not for football. Such a provision could eventually help Vanderbilt remain and permit Duke and Wake Forest to keep other important ties to UNC and UVa, and perhaps N.C. State. It could be useful for Rice or Tulane and become a great tool for enhancing academic associations. If N.D. wanted to fully place all sports but football here I see no harm, but we wouldn't bend over backwards to guarantee games in states which our member schools wanted to play like they do in the ACC. If they want football independence, they need to schedule like one.

If you created a tier of schools essentially that allowed for several partial members then I think the whole thing is more palatable.

Vanderbilt, Duke, Wake Forest, Rice, and Tulane would form a class of schools essentially that provide some academic heavyweights, greater penetration in certain markets, and potentially some very good basketball/baseball quality.

If Notre Dame is in that tier then that's a governance structure that avoids the appearance of favoritism. Although I still think it's important to nail down a package of games for Notre Dame and even for the other schools albeit mostly as filler.

Adding Notre Dame also gives you 6 total partials. It helps the numbers game.

If that's the case then you theoretically still need 24 full members.

Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Kansas.

That's 24 full members and 6 partials.

Add Army, Navy, and Air Force to those 5 and you have a helluva B League in football and all sports.