NolePride
Well-Known Member
The sec could kick the Mississippi schools in a heartbeat and be better off for it.
In a lot of ways yes, but in some ways no.
The bulk of the Two divisions in the SEC are pretty short driving distances for
fans. That helps keep everybody's stadiums filled. Bama, Auburn, both Miss
schools and LSU are probably all 6 or 7 hours or less by car, from each other.
Arky and AM are a hike, but the rest are pretty close. Not everybody's fans can
afford to fly to every away game. They are all rivals with each other.
Mississippi is talent rich. They don't have a great abundance of high schools, but
the one's that have are loaded with talent. They've got kids that can play big-time
football.
Competitive balance. The Miss schools can be competitive, but they are also content
with 7-5 and a bowl game. You need teams like that. Yes, you can't take them lightly,
but if you just prepare you can handle them more than they can handle you.
I don't think the SEC West would want to swap the Miss schools out for Oklahoma and Texas.
The odds become greater for the division to destroy each other's chances for national success.
You need to have teams that are content on just winning 7 a year.
There would be no addition of a time zone so you can't really add another TV game
on any given day. So increasing the competition isn't going to get you that added TV time slot.
I know all the reasons to dump them, but I think they have enough positives to keep them
in the League.