Friday, September 30, 2011

Who Will Be #14?

What I'm asking is who will become the 14th member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) of the NCAA?

University of Tennessee AD David Hart seems to have let the proverbial "cat out of the bag" and confirmed what has been swirling in rumors for months, even dating back to last year's conference realignment which saw Nebraska leave the Big 12 for the Big 10 and Colorado leave the Big 12 to join the newly rebranded PAC-12 along with Utah. It would seem odd if the SEC did not AT LEAST add one more member after Texas A&M of the Big 12 officially became the 13th effective July 1, 2012. It would also seem that the hand of the SEC has almost been forced after the ACC made the first move by adding Syracuse and Pittsburgh from the Big East Conference to expand to 14 teams.

It seems almost every school has been brought up by the media or in fan conversation: Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., and Missouri from the Big 12; Virginia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina, Florida St., and Georgia Tech of the ACC; West Virginia, Louisville, and future member TCU of the Big East; Rice, Houston, and East Carolina of Conference USA; and even Boise St. from the Mountain West Conference.

I'm of the opinion that the next team needs to be a premier team both in athletics and academics with a rich tradition. The one team that seems in my mind to most perfectly fit those criteria would be the University of Oklahoma. So who do YOU think the 14th member will be? Also, can you see the SEC further expanding to 16 teams or more?

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