Published September 20, 2011 - 1:40pm
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The Kansas City Star is reporting the Southeastern Conference has extended an invitation to Missouri to become the league’s 14th member but is willing to wait on a definitive answer from the Tigers until the future of the Big 12 Conference is decided.
Oklahoma and Texas officials, according to sources, began looking at other conferences Monday.
According to The Star’s source, an unidentified Missouri booster, the SEC first contacted the Tigers, not the other way around.
“After the Big Ten thing started falling apart in the summer of 2010,” the source told The Star, “they wanted to talk to us. We didn’t talk to them.”
Never a dull day during the great conference realignment of 2011.
Terrible news. Nothing about Missouri fits in with the SOUTHEASTERN Conference. They would not identify with the Southern mentality.
Poor choice.
At this point its all about MONEY!!! Mizzou brings in KC and St Louis markets.
Stop referring to TV markets people… Everyone is talking about how the markets are good for us. It’s inevitable that we are going to expand. At least keep it in the same region. It makes no sense for our teams to be flying half way across the country for sporting events on a regular basis, it’s not just one football game a year it’s all the athletics. As the SEC we don’t necessarily “need” TV markets. Majority of our games are already televised Nationally via ESPN/ABC networks. On top of that the markets came to us first, why? Because of the demand of our fan base and the level of competition of our athletes. Being who we are we can already cherry pick the athletes from any region of the country as it is. We don’t need St. Louis TV market!
New York and LA are big markets, too. Should we go after either USC or Columbia University?
i agree with ZacharyUTK. something to be said for natural geographical rivalries, boarder wars and the sort. with the big east and acc making moves maybe now it’s time for some of those big boys to put up or shut up. what do you have to say Florida State,UM, , GT and VT?
the SEC doesn’t need missouri, even if they don’t expand they will still win title after title, 5 in a row without expansion!
if they did expand to missouri then what would happen with divisions because missouri and texas a&m would be put into the west would they move auburn and alabama to the east?
Only one team would go to the East – did you mean “would they move Auburn OR Alabama to the East?”
The only thing Missouri would bring to the table would be a chance to hit Kansas City barbecue joints.
Mmmmmm, Gates, Arthur Bryant & company would make for a great road trip! Missouri & Texas A&M would both join us in the west, while 2 others would balance the east. Who is available? Navy & West Virginia, unless they decide to stoop lower & get a CUSA school – ugh! I don’t see anybody leaving the ACC.
I think Missouri is a perfect fit to join Texas A&M in the SEC West. Mike Slive & Company need to get a deal done and quit thinking The SEC can snap it’s fingers and claim anybody at will. Two new members for the SEC East need to be secured asap!
If we were to expand I’d want to see Georgia Tech and maybe some other schools. Otherwise I don’t want to see any changes.
Sources say AUBURN moving to SEC EAST if Mizzou accepts invitation.
I think that would be best. Then Alabama and Auburn could play one another in September instead of late November or early December or even go to a rotating basis like other SEC schools on their schedules. I think it would make the challenge for the conference championship more interesting and end much of the foolish mudslinging at the end of the year between the two schools.
If there was a 3rd thing you could count on in life behind death and taxes, it would be that the SEC will not mess with the cash cow that is known as the Iron Bowl. Besides Auburn has been playing UGA at the end of the year forever. However, it could actually make the rivalry more heated as the teams will now have a chance to play 2 times each year. If they split the games it will create even more fighing over who has the better team each year. I would imagine that it will just incease the hate between the two school if they now have a shot at scewing up eachother’s seasons at the end of the year. You would have to think that both teams would end up in the championship game a lot at the rate they are recruiting and looking at how much young talent they both have.
If Missouri joins the SEC, it’s being suggested by some people that Auburn has already accepted a move to the SEC East, where they would renew their annual rivalries with Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. Alabama would replace Georgia as Auburn’s annual opponent from the opposite division. Interestingly, this would put Auburn in a unique position. They would be the only school in the SEC with a chance to win a conference championship as a representative of the West and as a representative of the East.
They will also not mess with the AU/UGA game. It is FBS oldest rivalry and there is something like 1 or 2 games seperating them in wins and losses. Besides, UGA is the closest school to Auburn. Its even closer to drive to than Bama is.
The SEC can easily snap it’s fingers and get someone that’s actually located in the SOUTH EAST, think schools in North Carolina or Virginia. Mizz is at least 10 – 14 hrs from most schools in the SEC excluding Arkansas. They have no football tradition, we already have every tv market we need, they bring nothing to the table for recruiting; it’s just not fitting. Horrible move.
…..So with that thinking, remove Vanderbilt and Kentucky. They don’t have great football traditions either.
Basketball, genius.
Oh yeah, especially since NC State just won the ACC championship 25 years ago and VT has yet to do so, genius.
Mizzou does fit in culturally, if not geographically. However, Missouri is a bordering state and is a conservative to “middle of the road ” state in ideology. They belong with us more than they do in the Big 10 or Pac 12 or Big East. So, atleast the conference would hold to a very similar “Southeastern look” on the map. It makes more geographical since than does Texas to the PAC 12 or ACC or even to the Big East in case of a merger. West Virginia fits in better culturally than does VTech. West Virginians share the same football ethic that is “toughness” in the SEC and toughness in workplace ethics and a great fan following. The notion that no state should have more than one team in a conference is rediculous. Look at Alabama-Auburn, USC-UCLA, Oklahoma-Okie State, Michigan-Michigan State, Oregon-Oregon State and others successful situations. I think The University of South Florida is proving it’s worth as a potential football power in the SEC and it has a large student population. The drawback may be UF and FSU being scared of them. Has anyone noticed Texas A&M’s undergraduate population. They are larger than any existing SEC school.
The Southeastern corner of the state of Missouri is culturally and physically geographic similar to the south. But with that said Mizzou is located in the center of the state, and many people who live in this particular part of Missouri already have allegiance with other SEC schools: Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Miss State, and surprisingly a lot of Alabama fans. With that said being someone from this region of Missouri it would be nice to be able to see my team play Mizzou more often, but I still think we should try and help one of the ACC schools with a buyout and acquire them.
Don’t pick up Missouri for the market share:
I grew up a huge Arkansas fan (promising year so far) and eventually went to Ole Miss for undergrad (I know… rough year). I then moved to Austin, TX for a few years for a job and now live in St. Louis. I thought I would let you know a little something about Missouri (the State not the School).
Cardinals, Rams, Blues, Chiefs, Royals, Sporting (okay so its a MLS team but you get the picture). St. Louis and Kansas City are pro-sports cities. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of Mizzou fans around but the TV “markets” are really geared for professional sports. We already get the CBS SEC game of the week. Notre Dame has NBC, and ABC usually picks up a random Big 12 or Big 10 game.
But really it doesn’t matter. Everybody watches pro-sports in the metroplex. On our St. Louis ESPN radio station all of the talk is about Cardinals and Rams, maybe one show here and there talks Mizzou football but nothing too major.
And, on another note. I know people talk about markets but think about what we stand to lose when we water down the SEC. At least TA&M has the corps, 12th man… I just don’t see Mizzou fitting in culturally. I know Missouri was a border state in the War. But people let me tell you… this place is decidedly Midwestern.
Please, Mr. SEC commissioner, not Missouri. That state is next to Illinois! That’s UP NORTH! They won’t fit in the SOUTHEASTERN conference. I keep asking “what about FSU?”. They are in the Southeast and we know a lot more about them than we do about a school that calls itself Mizzou (rhymes with Kazzoo)! I once went to Missouri (they call the state MO as in Schmo) and it was just as YANKEE as could be. There should be a MIDWEST conference. That would be a good place for the Kazzoo Schmo Tigers. I don’t want to go to Missouri again.
I have seen a few posts about this so I thought I would clear it up. I live in Auburn, go there, and I know some of the players. The SEC has already asked Auburn if they would be ok with being in the East. Considering we are the east most western team it is only logical. Besides, it would be less travel for our players. SC, UGA, FL, Tenn, UK, and Vandy would be less travel than Ark, Miss St, Bama, A&M, LSU, Missouri, and Ole Miss. They may even have done a write up about Auburn saying they would go to the East in the local paper. Besides, the East is a lot easier to win than the west. As it stands this year Auburn has no real shot to play in the SEC championship game and we are likely the 4th best team in the west. If we were in the East we would be the 3rd best team at worst. Then throw in all the extra money that the SEC would make with a second Iron Bowl. Sorry to UGA or FL fans, but there is no rivaly in the SEC that can come close to AU vs UA. It may possible be the biggest in the nation. The SEC would love to cash in on that an extra time in a year.