(10-21-2022 06:30 PM)murrdcu Wrote:  The value from basketball would have to increase substantially for Duke and Kansas to receive consideration for membership. Add Virginia’s low value and the SEC could be taking a pay hit.

Kansas has the third greatest value in the Big 12 and is the second highest paid basketball program behind Kentucky. North Carolina and Duke are third and fourth. The SEC would possess the top 4 basketball programs in terms of all time wins and in terms of revenue. Should CTE ever truly damage football the SEC would be in excellent position with hoops.

You add 23 million potential viewers with Kansas, North Carolina and Virginia and all are state flagships with AAU status. And should Kansas enjoy SEC money and brand power they would essentially absorb the success Kansas State has had in football.

Nothing will change Virginia and North Carolina will remain middling in football.

Those 4 schools however will balance the entry of Texas and Oklahoma and give the SEC a balanced Top, Middle, and Bottom in football while raising the basketball profile to #1 in the nation. Baseball is solid at all 4 schools.

While I don't love Duke, they do travel with Virginia and North Carolina. What they also do is give the SEC a presence in the New York and New Jersey market where Duke is a strong basketball brand. So, they add eyes, just not on our major sport.

If the SEC was to hit the grand slam, we would drop Duke and pick up Notre Dame which would be a dagger into the center of the Big 10 audience share. I just don't see that happening.

So while I don't disagree with your sentiments. Those are 4 AAU schools, Duke being the top academic school aside from Stanford on the market. That said as disparaged as Kansas is they can be decent at football if they try and have had a history in that sport. What Kansas brings is the state of Kansas and much more of Missouri than people think. Those two truly are a pair.