SEC Coverage

The league postponed the press conference, but we still have a basic idea of what to expect from the announcement, and what that means for your SEC viewing future.

Doc Harper and Russ Mitchell, College Football News' lead SEC columnist, break down the SEC games you need to watch, the SEC questions you want answered, and of course, the SEC Power Rankings.

Mike Slive's contract with the SEC expires at the end of the month. He's not ready to retire, though.

Personally, my stance on SEC realignment at this point is, "Just roast the turkey, don't tell me how the bird grew up," but this is breaking news, and C&F, as always, is all over the latest over at Team Speed Kills. I don't welcome this move, but it's looked likely for a while that this was where expansion was headed, so we have to make the most of it. However, Mike Slive is going to have to show me a press conference before I believe SEC football is coming to the Show Me State. Go 'Dawgs!

Welcome, Aggies! I mean . . . as vineyarddawg noted in the comments, Texas A&M officially has announced its withdrawal from the Big 12. College football season gets underway at 6:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night. Let's see if Mike Slive can announce the Aggies' admission to the SEC before the offseason officially ends. In other words, welcome, Aggies! Go 'Dawgs!

Mike Slive spoke to FanHouse about the Newton ruling today. He didn't receive the final set of facts agreed upon by the NCAA and Auburn until Monday, so that explains the timing somewhat. He also gives three reasons why he didn't rule Newton in violation of the SEC's bylaw, mostly relating to the rule's intent and precedent. Slive also says that he will work to get the loophole in the NCAA rules closed that allows for no real punishment to come from this case based on the facts as known now.

According to a source talking to Jimmy Hyams of Knoxville sports radio station 990 AM the Sports Animal, Mike Slive has met with CBS to discuss possibilities regarding SEC expansion. Supposedly it would only happen if the Big Ten goes to 16, and the targets would be (predictably) Texas, Texas A&M, FSU, and Clemson. Should the Texas schools decline, the next choices would be Miami and Georgia Tech. The SEC issued a swift denial, so caveat emptor and all that. At the very least this one sounds plausible because Plan A would add two teams to each division and we don't have to worry about schools leaving their current divisions. I will say this though: you couldn't find a worse cultural fit for the SEC in the region than Miami. If you already think that Florida seems sort of like an outsider, Miami would feel like something from another planet.

Jimmy Hyams reports via a source at CBS that Slive has told network executives the SEC will target Texas, Texas A&M, Florida State and Clemson if the Big 10 goes to 16 teams. If the Texas schools say no, the SEC will pursue Miami and Georgia Tech.