The SEC and Conference Expansion/Decimation

Television Deal: Beginning in 2009, the SEC started new TV deals with both CBS and ESPN. Both deals cover 15 years and a moon full of cash.

The deal with CBS is for $55 million. With this deal, CBS gets the game of the week in SEC football and 14 games in total, including the SEC Championship game. If you think this seems like a lot of money for 14 games, well consider this, this deal doubled what CBS was paying in their prior deal.

The deal with ESPN is much grander and is worth $2.25 BILLION. In inking this deal with ESPN, the SEC and ESPN agreed to create the SEC network. ESPN produces 365 events per year with SEC tie-ins. These include and are not limited to the recent 1-hour documentaries on things such as the Auburn-Alabama rivalry, 40 Minutes of Hell, etc. Why do the work when you can have a pro do it and pay you to do it, no?

ESPN also shows a weekly game on Saturday night in primetime. Before that, many SEC games were broadcast on Raycom which was a regional sports network. Fans of programs nationally had to have a satellite dish to get these games. Not no more, they don't. ESPN also added a 2nd and 3rd night of SEC basketball. ABC also added 2 games and broadcasts the SEC basketball semi-finals and final.

Sugar Bowl Tie-In: Beginning in 2014, the SEC champion and Big 12 champion will face each other in this game for 12 years and will be broadcast on ESPN unless of course, the respective champions make the national playoff, so every year basically.

SEC Expansion History: The SEC voted to expand in May of 1990 following news the B1G was pursuing Penn State. There were other factors, too as conferences had one their freedom to negotiate their own TV deals and became more inclined to following Notre Dame's decision to negotiate their own deal with NBC.

SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer also decided to split the conference into two divisions and play a league championship game at the end of the season. It should be noted, most coaches including Steve Spurrier weren't too hot to this idea. The SEC had the luxury of the large number of attractive options at the time. Schools such as Miami, FSU & South Carolina were still independents. Also, the once-proud SWC was imploding onto itself with probation and increasing irrelevance on the national stage.

The SCE targeted six schools: Miami, FSU, South Carolina, Arkansas and Texas and Texas A&M. Arkansas was the first shoe to drop voting to join and leave the floundering SWC largely on financial grounds. Politics would keep the Texas schools away for the time being. Florida State assuaged Bobby Bowden's fears of playing in a tough conference like the SEC, his words, not mine and passed. There were some sour grapes as well as FSu thought they had been blackballed earlier in keeping them out of the league by Florida. At the time, Miami was inclined to move to the Big East, because they wanted to improve what was a young basketball program at the time. Wow, imagine that. That left South Carolina who had voted to accept membership before they were invited. The year before joining, their athletic department had lost money.

In 1992, the SEC would host the first D-1 league championship game and the rest is history until 2010. Conference armageddon was in full swing and it seemed natural given their success, the SEC would stand pat. At the time, rumors hinted Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were going to leave the Big 12 following Nebraska out the door except joining the Pac-12. The Big 12 was imploding on itself it seemed but eventually OU and Texas re-committed to the conference but rumors began to circulate that Texas A&M wanted out of the shadow of big brother Texas and had actually contacted the SEC about joining their conference.

By fall of 2011, the rumors had come to fruition and A&M joined the SEC. The running joke was A&M was fearful of the Longhorn Network Texas had created with ESPN (More on this later). Whatever the case, the SEC sold this move on the merits of establishing an "imprint" and "foothold" into the Texas market. It also became clear they'd be adding a 14th school. Early indications seemed it'd be West Virginia but the league targeted Missouri and its 2 Top-30 TV markets in Kansas City and St. Louis. Yup. KC and St. Louis. Eventually, Missouri would be admitted as the 14th member and West Virginia was Big 12 bound. Midwest TVs > West Virginia.

What hath expansion wrought: Initial expansion of South Carolina and Arkansas and the creation of a league championship game turned the SEC into an outright football juggernaught. By 1995, the league was able to ink an exclusive deal with CBS. Alabama, Florida & Tennessee all won mythical national championships in the 90's. It's hard to remember, but the first two league title games were played at Legion Field in Birmingham. In 1994, it moved to the Georgia Dome where it has remained until this date and has become one of the hotter tickets of the year, though, not always.

As for basketball, Arkansas joined as a national power in the making and eventually won a real national title in 1994. They have cooled significantly since and South Carolina has been largely an afterthought and was eliminated in the 1st round in 1997 & 98 as a 2 and 3 seed respectively and haven't been very good since. Still, with Kentucky and Florida, the conference has had a ton of recent success. 2012-13 appears to be another good year. Expansion for the hardwood is just another team to beat for KU and Florida but don't think the $ from TV doesn't help the other schools hire coaches like Frank Martin and improve facilities.

Many scoffed at A&M playing with the "big boys" of the SEC but is a few points away being undefeated in league play having lost close games to Florida and LSU at home. As of this moment, Johnny Manziel is the Heisman front runner as a redshirt Freshmen. Could it have happened in the Big 12 on a two-loss team not playing for a league championship? RGIII won last year at Baylor but was a senior, so who knows but it doesn't hurt. A&M recognized they needed a brain trust upgrade and AD Bill Byrne went out and got Kevin Sumlin, one of the best young minds in college football. He can hit the roads in Texas against beleagured Mack Brown and sell SEC football. long considered a potential football giant, A&M may become that in the SEC.

Quite frankly, adding Missouri is like the B1G adding Rutgers or Maryland. "Imprint" and "Foothold" BS with occassional basketball success, though not as good as Maryland but not appreciably worse.

Of all the conferences, the SEC set the mold for expansion taking control of their region and creating a brand that is quite frankly, the gold standard in college athletics, off court issues not included. While other leagues chase new markets, the SEC is in a fast growing market based on population and available athletes. They have those so important "imprints" in Florida, the deep south, the Carolina coast, Texas and now even into the midwest, coughs.

If and when they decide to go to 16 teams, the brand will possibly become diluted. It has with A&M and Mizzou but don't think schools like FSU, Clemson or even the Oklahoma schools aren't real options. As I write this, the FSU president has already noted he'll watch the Maryland exit process and they voted against the $50 million fee. Like the B1G, this league won't be getting poached but will probably have schools calling them.