(05-08-2013 10:35 AM)USAFMEDIC Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 10:05 AM)bigblueblindness Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 06:49 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-08-2013 06:18 AM)He1nousOne Wrote:  If the ACC and Big 12 are actually closed off and the SEC does actually want to still get to 16 and push for new divisions and a tournament then ECU seems to me to be the #1 choice of what's left. To get someone else to come in with them though you will probably have to look West unless you go the route I have seen some others speak of which would be to look at the likes of Cinci or someone like that in order to help you push north for your network.

With all due respect to a school that I think should have been in the Big East the past ten years, ECU just doesnt come close to fitting the SEF profile. The SEC wants market dominant flagships.

Right, for the same reasons the PAC did not add Boise State. Now that the SEC has a firm grasp on the football scene and has the Network, you may have noticed that Slive's tone has turned to 1) Academics, 2) Academics, 3) Improving Basketball. ECU is in the #199 school in the nation. Miss. St. is our bottom dweller at #160, then Ole Miss at #151, and those numbers really aren't going to be acceptable moving forward. As quo mentioned, the SEC only wants flagships, too, just like the B1G. Otherwise, I am convinced that a UVA/UNC to the B1G and Va. Tech/NC. State to the SEC would have happened. The SEC would not accept that arrangement, so it died. The SEC is not going to turn down flagship/state combos and then accept a third school from a state. I have a ton of respect for what ECU has been able to do, but it is a great fit right now with USF, UCF, Memphis, and Houston.

True dat... Academic improvement seems be gaining ground in the SEC. I think that is what got Missouri in...and the TV market.

Yes, good example, although Mizzou's athletic history is nothing to sneeze at. Oklahoma, UVA, UNC, maybe Kansas if needed for an even number... I really don't see the SEC seriously considering anyone else down the road (assuming UT would fall on the sword before joining the SEC). Maybe Va. Tech if UNC would come and UVA/Oklahoma/Kansas were not available. I think this past year showed that NC State/Va. Tech isn't happening as stand alone.