SEC
For us to be relevant again in football, we need the SEC.
All the kids want to play in it.
We need a breath of fresh air
LETS GO
65 Replies
3y
The SEC is a total sell out to athletics which I feel are misplaced priorities. I'm still hanging on to the concept of athletes being students. IMHO the SEC abandoned this concept long ago and the kind of NIL $ those schools are throwing around while recruiting is just plain wrong and needs to be regulated. Until it is, the SEC is "out of whack" and not fit for Virginia Tech. Ut Prosim.
(In response to this post by 1hokies1)
3y
I think football is great for VT, the gameday experience is a big part of the school culture and is a tie that binds the students and alumni together. But IMHO joining the SEC would be like hanging out with the wrong crowd. I doubt any SEC school plays football by the rules or has their Institution's best interest in mind, save for Vandy.
(In response to this post by khakiblue)
3y
(In response to this post by 1hokies1)
We were supposed to be the spot “Missouri” got…….if I remember correctly
How’s that working out for them?
There’s no “magical” formula like joining a conference to fix our issues - SEC, B10, whatever.
The 3-8 stuff has to become 6-6 or better this year with the cards we have and we are climbing out of a real deep hole - imo.
If the SEC and unlimited NIL funds were the unstoppable formula, aTm would be national champs most every year. They are not and will not be this year.
I don’t know the answer but just joining the sec isn’t alone the fix.
MTH
(In response to this post by 1hokies1)
H
Hokie`79
3y
(In response to this post by MontgomeryTexasHokie)
3y
(In response to this post by Hokie`79)
we can laugh with them or at them. They are prennial last place in FB
So, if you want to laugh to the bank and be a doormat - then there you go. They were next to last in SEC football (pretty much always are); did finish 3rd in MBB, and another bottom rung performance in WBB.
I guess that is not far from where we are, bottom of the pack and less money via ACC.
Being an "irrelevant bottom feeder" in the SEC, as Uber says below (and I fully agree) is not where I'd vote to be even if I had more money.
MTH
(In response to this post by Hokie`79)
3y
In the ACC, VT has no distinct competitive advantage and has to out-recruit other schools like UNC, UVA, WVU, UMD, PSU, NCSU, and TENN. As an elite athlete, VT can always be a great choice, but you'll also be signing up to play a steady diet of Pitt, UVA, WF, GT, and BC. The occasional games against FSU, Clemson and ND are not enough to swing momentum, and while UNC and Miami are nice, it's comprehensively not enough.
If in the SEC, it would be great to sell a recruit in the states of VA, NC, MD, PENN, and NY that you're the closest school, with very good academics, and will play the likes of Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Texas, Texas A&M, LSU and Arkansas. You'll mix in some games against USC, KY, Missouri, Vandy, Miss, and MSU.
Sign me up for that, as VT has a distinct advantage and also has upper tier academics.
(In response to this post by MontgomeryTexasHokie)
3y
(In response to this post by jesuisvtguy)
3y
(In response to this post by Techsupport)
3y
team we could beat consistently in football is Vandy which is ironically the only team in SEC that gives a 💩 about academics. We can not cheat enough to catch up to those teams they’ve been doing it for years and have mastered it and have absolutely no shame in doing it. We would be the new Mississippi st. Just joining the SEC is not going to mean that suddenly all the top players are going to want to come to Blacksburg. Sure recruiting will be helped some but not near enough to compensate for raise in competition. Try playing Bama, UGA, LSU, UF,TAMU, Auburn, UT, & UT, OK, year in and out. Would be lucky to be .above .500 2/10 years.
** Edited by uber hokie at 5/16/2023, 9:33:25 PM
** Edited by uber hokie at 5/17/2023, 2:50:56 PM
(In response to this post by 1hokies1)
Look up academic rankings of SEC schools
You’d be surprised. VT hovers around the same.
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
I know what I'll go with.
VT would be upper half academically in the SEC probably, but not a ton separating us from the middle third if at all. Florida, UGA, Texas all have great academic reputations.
Besides, what difference does it make in athletics? Its a tired trope.
** Edited by Techsupport at 5/17/2023, 11:08:06 AM
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
And that’s what would happen. Besides even if we were in SEC we would still play ODU. But last time I checked they weren’t
in ACC. Would rather beat OSU as we did not that long ago. Many more winnable game in Big 10:than SEC.
(In response to this post by Techsupport)
3y
(In response to this post by Techsupport)
3y
Do you really think those southern universities are terrible at teaching? The whole academic superiority complex feels too much like something out of Charlottesville for my taste.
If by chance VT went to the SEC next year, would that have any negative effect whatsoever over the value of a VT diploma?
I do agree though that it would be some painful growing pains on the football field. But it would be a long term improvement. Home schedules might actually generate some excitement.
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
other thread on the Saber back in the early 2000s. It's a joke. And that somehow, whether VT is in the SEC or B1G, any other school's academic reputation (Vanderbilt, Northwestern) would somehow 'rub off' on VT is an even bigger joke. The value of my degree from VT is not diminished or enhanced by someone else's opinion, much less the athletic conference VT plays in.
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
3y
(In response to this post by IronBlood)
Alabama. We might even beat The Spread!!
(In response to this post by Techsupport)
a rising tide floats all boats
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
J
Jeffroww
3y
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
Ten years ago when Beamer was the coach and VT was a very stable program. VT would have fit that SEC mold, not now. FU and WB took care of that...carry on.
** Edited by JRHokie at 5/17/2023, 5:49:39 AM
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
(In response to this post by JRHokie)
3y
No, I wouldn't expect SEC would turn us into a blueblood program, but as the ACC did for us almost overnight in basketball (make us competitive), I think we would settle into a middle of the pack type program in football.
Listen, teams like South Carolina and Arkansas have taken their lumps. However, you won't find a single fan that would rather be in the ACC.
** Edited by Techsupport at 5/16/2023, 11:38:14 PM
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
thinking. They would rather play in and be mediocre in SEC with no chance to win the championship. I know some fans from both of those teams and that’s exactly how they roll. It’s like a guy I once knew who was a terrible golfer ( even worse than me ) He shot 90-100 for 25 years but continued to play and he truly thought he was going to tee it up one day and shot 68. It was never going to happen.
(In response to this post by Techsupport)
3y
From a VT perspective, I get excited when we play WVU. I like games against NCSU. I don't particularly care about games vs Syracuse, BC, and Pitt.
The fun of college football, to me and alot of people, is the fanbases, the rivalries, and the "spectacle". Games against other big land grants is where its at, and that's what makes the SEC so awesome.
Imagine a schedule every year with Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, and rotating all the time with Alabama, LSU, and Auburn. Yeah, we'll get our rears kicked for a while, but I'm confident in a few years time, we'd start to hold our own, although probably never dominate.
I'd much rather be a small fish in the big pond, than the small fish in the small pond, which is where we are now. There's so much more to see.
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
With better coaches, better players, better facilities, more juiced up home crowds?
It depends on where competitors land. Best case is we go sec and uva and unc go Big. We could kill it in Va and Carolina recruiting.
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
give you Vandy. It would take decades for recruiting, facilities, etc to improve enough for us to be competitive in SEC. However several teams we could possibly beat next year in Big 10, NWU, Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers, Minnesota, Nebraska,& Purdue. Would have said Maryland except for that last bowl disaster vs. them .
(In response to this post by HokieKick`nBack)
3y
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
Because the single PRIMARY Sports outlet in the United States of America promotes in a heavily biased nature, all schools within the SEC. So it's kind of like, having only a single Major news outlet in the US, and then having that news outlet always promote everything towards a single political party. As long as ESPN represents the ONLY single sports network in the United States, and as long as it is legal for them to have a financial connection directly with the SEC, there will never be fair and balanced coverage of college football, and all NON SEC schools will slowly suffer financially and with recruiting.
This is inevitable, it is predicatable, and is being executed in our faces with precision.
THE END.
(In response to this post by 1hokies1)
3y
The BIG whatever is the next most lucrative but still a solid step behind the SEC.
(In response to this post by jonnyhawk)
3y
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
3y
(In response to this post by Techsupport)
3y
over the air networks for guaranteed national games from noon to midnight. SEC will have ABC and the ESPN family. That's awful. What's worse is the ACC will be getting scraps for time slots.
(In response to this post by Techsupport)
V
Va AandM
3y
** Edited by Va AandM at 5/18/2023, 7:09:08 AM
(In response to this post by reestuart)
3y
Then in the mid to late 2000s you end up with the self fulfilling prophecy from ESPN that has made them unstoppable.
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
3y
That riot gear was needed to clear main street..on Friday night. And we beat them and it was considered a landmark type win. Did ESPN create that perception? No. But they did recognize it and pay a lot of money for it.
(In response to this post by IV_Hokie12)
3y
point. The SEC has always had insane fans, but that doesn't mean they have always been the best at football. It just means they have insane fans. Its only been recently that the ESPN hype machine and their insane fans have made them what they are now.
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
3y
They had the product the most people wanted to see. It wasn't an artificial "hype machine". The SEC was home to the most programs with storied football traditions, passionate fans, 90k seat stadiums, and red hot rivalries. They surfed the ESPN / college football wave that started in the early 90s. Other conferences has one, maybe two of those, but not all of it.
** Edited by Techsupport at 5/17/2023, 10:57:04 AM
(In response to this post by IV_Hokie12)
3y
First though, ESPN invested into a product that already made them money. Smart move, not a product they created.
Side effect of that though is that the smart investment company ESPN is then promoted the hell out of their product and made even more money. No doubt that promotion has helped keep the perception high.
More to the point, it's not like they don't want the ACC to make them money too. It just isn't performing as well.
(In response to this post by IV_Hokie12)
3y
ESPN started the Thur night thing and we jumped on board, created a brand and rose with them. We were the big fish in a mediocre pond (Big East and ACC), with ESPN hyping beamerball and Lunchpails and Sandman. Then ESPN got their piece of the big stage, national primetime games, etc and latched on to the programs that sold in those slots and we hung around for a bit, but then regressed.
We were never as good as our rep, but ESPN made us out to be a player.
ESPN didn't create the SEC, The SEC and ESPN partnered to create programming that people want to watch and the SEC schools feed off that and hunger for more, while ACC schools sit back and expect it to be given to them.
(In response to this post by IV_Hokie12)
3y
wrong with college football. And ESPN does hype them beyond the pale. But the winning on the field is why they are the best. Not the hype.
(In response to this post by IV_Hokie12)
3y
(In response to this post by IronBlood)
3y
not part of the problem too is just sticking your head in the sand or plugging your ears and going la la la.
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
The SEC has Vandy.
(In response to this post by IronBlood)
3y
(In response to this post by uber hokie)
3y
by the self fulfilling prophecy. The SEC was hyped for years before they became what they are. Then all the high schoolers all over the country saw the SEC show every day on ESPN and wanted to play there. The Pac 12 was hit especially hard by this. Its no wonder their teams are terrible. All of the best high schoolers from there are playing in the SEC now.
(In response to this post by IronBlood)
3y
has an incredibly rich history. None of that has anything to do with ESPN. Saban built LSU into relevance the same way he built Michigan State. You're just spinning the ESPN stuff to suit a false narrative. Yes. Now it is self fulfilling because the SEC schools successfully built and have now marketed the ideal college football environment. But the groundwork was done before the ESPN narrative factory. The other conferences can't replicate it.
(In response to this post by IV_Hokie12)
3y
with Bama being at #2. Granted Texas and Oklahoma are in there too, but the SEC doesn't get historical credit for that.
The current SEC natty run basically started in 2006. Before that they won 3 of the previous 25 championships.
(In response to this post by IronBlood)
G
Gorgerat
3y
That is what we are talking about; recent times and the present. The Knute Rockne days don't matter.
(In response to this post by IV_Hokie12)
3y
Bottom line is SEC is now dominant. Thinking that's just because of ESPN is incorrect.
(In response to this post by IV_Hokie12)
3y
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
3y
If ya can't prevent the Monopoly, Join it.
Hokie Football would look great on ESPN Highlights.
Go HOkies.
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
3y
They are legitimately the best conference. Perhaps more importantly they legitimately have the most rabid fanbases which means they have a real marketing value.
When college football grew from a regional sport to a national cash cow, the disparity between conferences grew even more.
There is no logical reason for ESPN to prop up one conference at the expense of another conference it covers. It is logical for them to give the conference with much better teams, matchups, and atmospheres more attention based on actual value.
Just my $0.02
(In response to this post by jonnyhawk)
3y
It's not like ESPN is hiding from their business connections with the SEC.
If you are denying this, than like most posters on message boards, you have done zero research on the topic, and are just clacking keys.
Are you seriously denying this? ESPN has been lifting up the SEC over all other Conferences for over 10 years now.
ESPN inked its current extension with the SEC (which includes basketball) in 2013, when it agreed to a 20-year, $2.25 billion pact, which worked out to $150 million per season. It was in the course of those negotiations that ESPN said it was interested in launching a standalone SEC channel. In taking over the package long held by CBS, ESPN’s total commitment to the conference is now worth some $5.25 billion.
Do you really think I'm making this up?
(In response to this post by Seikoh_04)
3y
ESPN is not creating interest in the SEC, the SEC is creating interest because they are putting better products on the field in pretty much every sport. Even in basketball where the ACC may have a couple better teams, the overall quality of the product, the excitement, the interest in SEC basketball is better.
Of course ESPN is going to pay more for that, of course they are going to put it in prime tv slots over ACC snoozefests, of course they are going to promote Alabama and GA over Clemson and whoever. The product is better, people want to watch it, more people watching generates more money.
Ever been to an SEC football game? It is different. VT is the most exciting venue in the ACC without a doubt, but it is mediocre at best when compared to the SEC.
If the ACC wants to make more money, they need to improve the product, period.
(In response to this post by jonnyhawk)
3y
The evidence that is overwhelming is that a lot of people tune in to watch Bama-Auburn, but fall asleep watching Tech-UVA.
The value in SEC football existed long before ESPN proved it with a price tag.
(In response to this post by jonnyhawk)