Not a fan of new teams schedules hardly seems we are in SEC anymore.

[Volnuck]

I'll just leave this here. $72.4M a year payout from the media rights deal the SEC has now soothes a multitude of "I miss the old SEC" feelings.

That's well over double the old SEC deal per school. The SEC is still behind the B1G in media revenue and you guys need to realize what rows the boat these days and it sure as heck ain't "the traditional SEC geographic footprint."

SEC Has Officially Broken the Billion-Dollar Revenue Barrier

The Southeastern Conference announced Thursday that it distributed $1.03 billion in revenue to its 16 members during the fiscal year 2025, becoming the first league to officially claim having generated 10-figure earnings in a single fiscal cycle. The FY25 distribution represents an increase of...

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I think everyone understands the financial reason for expansion. “Grow or be Eaten”. However, that does not mean anyone has to like the visual as a whole or the lack of competitive enhancement it has brought with it. Add NIL, and that actually allows teams like Vandy to purchase a good enough team to beat Alabama. That does not mean I like the NIL or ”pay to play”, but it is here to stay and we fans must make a choice, move forward and watch the new NFL Lite or abandon football as a whole. I don’t think I will ever do that since I’ve been watching the Vols since 1967. But I will not enjoy it as much, that much I know for sure.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I think everyone understands the financial reason for expansion. “Grow or be Eaten”. However, that does not mean anyone has to like the visual as a whole or the lack of competitive enhancement it has brought with it. Add NIL, and that actually allows teams like Vandy to purchase a good enough team to beat Alabama. That does not mean I like the NIL or ”pay to play”, but it is here to stay and we fans must make a choice, move forward and watch the new NFL Lite or abandon football as a whole. I don’t think I will ever do that since I’ve been watching the Vols since 1967. But I will not enjoy it as much, that much I know for sure.

I think everyone should also accept that lots of us, me included, wanted all the TV exposure and all the business expansion for the Vols.

We all knew we were paying players under the table to make the Vols more successful but many now act like it is positively immoral that other teams can do it and do it well above the table.

A more level playing field DOES allow Vandy the chance to buy players than can beat Bama and the Vols, but shouldn't competition be as level as possible?

 

[Starchief13VFL]

As a geezer, I’ll say this: Money destroys loyalty. Conference, team, player or fan. When loyalty wanes, so does interest. Gone are the days of rooting for your favorite team ( read: players) regardless of how well they do or not do because you came to know them (warts and all). Unfortunately, now they will move on following the money. Personally, I have lost my childhood interest in my beloved Redlegs and Browns because I don’t know them year to year. That dynamic has now crept into college athletics and those the changes are a fact of life. No amount of wishing and bitching can correct it. Follow the money. NCAA, SEC, BIG, football, basketball, baseball.
Rant over. Now get off my lawn!!

 

[UTFranklinVol]

I think everyone should also accept that lots of us, me included, wanted all the TV exposure and all the business expansion for the Vols.

We all knew we were paying players under the table to make the Vols more successful but many now act like it is positively immoral that other teams can do it and do it well above the table.

A more level playing field DOES allow Vandy the chance to buy players than can beat Bama and the Vols, but shouldn't competition be as level as possible?

if you want every game to be a 50/50 cointoss then yeah it will be pure chaos.

ultimately I don't think it's healthy for the conference.

1. you want a handful of teams to be dominant and feed off the lesser teams in order to guarantee you have teams in the upper tier of the playoffs. you should be happy playing 4-5 mega games per year and the other 7 should be lesser.

2. tougher competition means more fatigue, more injuries and more uncertainty when you get to the end of the season (when it matters most)

3. It's impossible to build a dynasty without consistently winning at a high high level. If you win 11 games one year and 6 games the next and then 8 games and then 11, that's not going to cut it especially if those teams were relatively the same talent wise but because competition and injuries were so tough you can't tell anything by the records.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

if you want every game to be a 50/50 cointoss then yeah it will be pure chaos.

ultimately I don't think it's healthy for the conference.

1. you want a handful of teams to be dominant and feed off the lesser teams in order to guarantee you have teams in the upper tier of the playoffs. you should be happy playing 4-5 mega games per year and the other 7 should be lesser.

2. tougher competition means more fatigue, more injuries and more uncertainty when you get to the end of the season (when it matters most)

3. It's impossible to build a dynasty without consistently winning at a high high level. If you win 11 games one year and 6 games the next and then 8 games and then 11, that's not going to cut it especially if those teams were relatively the same talent wise but because competition and injuries were so tough you can't tell anything by the records.

I like football. I'm not interested in skewing the dang conference so we can have more SEC teams have a chance for a trophy.

The idea of sports is competition. Every game.

Your idea is what kills the NBA for me. They half ass through the season and only start to compete for the playoffs. No thank you.

 

[Volnuck]

I think everyone should also accept that lots of us, me included, wanted all the TV exposure and all the business expansion for the Vols.

We all knew we were paying players under the table to make the Vols more successful but many now act like it is positively immoral that other teams can do it and do it well above the table.

A more level playing field DOES allow Vandy the chance to buy players than can beat Bama and the Vols, but shouldn't competition be as level as possible?

I agree 100% with the playing field being level for everyone. And yes, we all know players have been paid since John Wooden became “ The Wizard do Westwood” and “Adolph Rupp” was at Kentucky. All SEC teams will have tv exposure, reguardless of NIL, including Tennessee. Now, Tennessee can’t ever let themselves get back into the “terrible situation” they were in from 2008 until 2021, or the only people seeing them play will be folks watching the noon game on ESPN 2, lol. (9 am West Coast!

 

[UTFranklinVol]

I like football. I'm not interested in skewing the dang conference so we can have more SEC teams have a chance for a trophy.

The idea of sports is competition. Every game.

Your idea is what kills the NBA for me. They half ass through the season and only start to compete for the playoffs. No thank you.

every game IS competition but that doesn't mean you have to play Ohio State level competition every single week, that's suicide.

at the end of the year if you win 6 games but "they played tough competition and gave their all" who the hell cares? nobody will remember you ever did that.

people have this notion that playing tougher competition makes your team better. that's a falsehood that needs to be squashed. Indiana proved that. You can be damn good even if you play 1-2 tough teams in the regular season.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I agree 100% with the playing field being level for everyone. And yes, we all know players have been paid since John Wooden became “ The Wizard do Westwood” and “Adolph Rupp” was at Kentucky. All SEC teams will have tv exposure, reguardless of NIL, including Tennessee. Now, Tennessee can’t ever let themselves get back into the “terrible situation” they were in from 2008 until 2021, or the only people seeing them play will be folks watching the noon game on ESPN 2, lol. (9 am West Coast!

I'm with you there but wait and see, the "Fahr Heupel!" chant will start early this year and probably get pretty loud because the schedule is challenging and likely will be (and IMO should be) challenging from now on. As discussed with the Bama/DeBoer extension, finding a better coach than what you have isn't easy at the SEC level.

The "Dark Ages" of UT football will only return if we don't find some big money angels in the next few years. The oil schools and the heavily involved well heeled alumni schools of the B1G are going to make the money race difficult.

 

[EZE]

I don't think it matters but you need to change the name of the conferences.

The SEC isn't the Southeast teams anymore (hasn't been for many years).

The B10 hasn't been 10 teams for 33 years now.

update the names and move on.

I'm in favor of the B10 being called the USA North Conference and the SEC being called the USA South Conference.

I think you are on the right track.

I’d put all of the Big Boy DI schools into one league and then divide into regional divisions like the NFL.

And those divisions should look very similar to what the regional conferences looked like 20-30 years ago.

But there are a whole host of other issues that also need to be addressed…like NIL and mainly the portal.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I seem to be losing interest by the day.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

every game IS competition but that doesn't mean you have to play Ohio State level competition every single week, that's suicide.

at the end of the year if you win 6 games but "they played tough competition and gave their all" who the hell cares? nobody will remember you ever did that.

people have this notion that playing tougher competition makes your team better. that's a falsehood that needs to be squashed. Indiana proved that. You can be damn good even if you play 1-2 tough teams in the regular season.

But the idea that we should be the big fish or a big fish in the SEC and want cupcakes half the year is first and foremost bad TV and the reason the Big 12 TV deal sucks. That's what is actually killing the lesser conferences. They only have one or two teams worth watching.

The SEC is paid big money to have competitive teams..... not just the same 3 or 4 teams kicking everyone else's butt. If you want the SEC to fall even further behind the B1G in TV money, recruiting, putting guys in the league, etc then assembling a conference with a bunch of cupcakes is the ticket to that.

The best thing that's happened to the B1G is FINALLY getting competition for Ohio State. Those arrogant guys had your "big fish in a little pond" era and it's wonderful to see them losing conference games despite being heavy with talent. There's finally real competition up there.

You're stuck in the "let's re-create what Saban did at Bama" which isn't going to work again and that's why he went off to sit on the porch. Kirby is learning that now after getting 2 Natty's at the tail end of that era.

The age of dynasty building is over.

 

[UTFranklinVol]

But the idea that we should be the big fish or a big fish in the SEC and want cupcakes half the year is first and foremost bad TV and the reason the Big 12 TV deal sucks. That's what is actually killing the lesser conferences. They only have one or two teams worth watching.

The SEC is paid big money to have competitive teams..... not just the same 3 or 4 teams kicking everyone else's butt. If you want the SEC to fall even further behind the B1G in TV money, recruiting, putting guys in the league, etc then assembling a conference with a bunch of cupcakes is the ticket to that.

The best thing that's happened to the B1G is FINALLY getting competition for Ohio State. Those arrogant guys had your "big fish in a little pond" era and it's wonderful to see them losing conference games despite being heavy with talent. There's finally real competition up there.

You're stuck in the "let's re-create what Saban did at Bama" which isn't going to work again and that's why he went off to sit on the porch. Kirby is learning that now after getting 2 Natty's at the tail end of that era.

The age of dynasty building is over.

you're not seeing reality.

first, it's not "bad for TV", the SEC only gets 3-4 national games per week, the rest of the games have to go to ESPN2 or SEC network or even worse the ESPN app. there's nothing you can do about that, there's only so many time slots for "epic games". so every single matchup doesn't have to be a huge game because nobody is watching the SEC network at 3pm every Saturday. too much other national competition for eyeballs.

Second, you completely ignore what the B10 did to rise back to national prominance which is pack their conference full of crap teams with only 3-4 dominant teams at the top to feast on the rest. Then force the 12 game playoff into existence therefore guaranteeing those same 3-4 teams always being included in the playoff.

meanwhile in the SEC you have 7 or 8 teams fighting to the death to get those playoff spots while they ruin and injur the other teams trying to claw there way in.

The B10 figured it out. devise a conference of 18 teams that practically guarantees 3-4 teams can win 10-12 games every year. OSU, Michigan, Oregon and then occasionally another team like Indiana or Penn St or fill in the blank one-time cinderella team.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

you're not seeing reality.

first, it's not "bad for TV", the SEC only gets 3-4 national games per week, the rest of the games have to go to ESPN2 or SEC network or even worse the ESPN app. there's nothing you can do about that, there's only so many time slots for "epic games". so every single matchup doesn't have to be a huge game because nobody is watching the SEC network at 3pm every Saturday. too much other national competition for eyeballs.

Second, you completely ignore what the B10 did to rise back to national prominance which is pack their conference full of crap teams with only 3-4 dominant teams at the top to feast on the rest. Then force the 12 game playoff into existence therefore guaranteeing those same 3-4 teams always being included in the playoff.

meanwhile in the SEC you have 7 or 8 teams fighting to the death to get those playoff spots while they ruin and injur the other teams trying to claw there way in.

The B10 figured it out. devise a conference of 18 teams that practically guarantees 3-4 teams can win 10-12 games every year. OSU, Michigan, Oregon and then occasionally another team like Indiana or Penn St or fill in the blank one-time cinderella team.

It's interesting that all you seem to care about is the few playoff games at the end and not good competition during the season.

As I said, I like football. You seem to see football as a way to collect trophies.

I'd rather have more good football games to see than a bunch of trophies. You do you, but I don't think "designing the season so we can get to the playoffs" is entertaining.

Have I mentioned I like good football?

 

[UTFranklinVol]

It's interesting that all you seem to care about is the few playoff games at the end and not good competition during the season.

As I said, I like football. You seem to see football as a way to collect trophies.

I'd rather have more good football games to see than a bunch of trophies. You do you, but I don't think "designing the season so we can get to the playoffs" is entertaining.

Have I mentioned I like good football?

I like how you take a very normal thing like wanting your team to do well in the post season and make it seem abnormal. you do live in a very strange bubble you've built around yourself. good for you I guess. After a crushing loss I never look back and think "that was a good game" I try and figure out what UT needs to do to never let that happen again. But I guess in your world that's strange behavior. Watching my team go through a brutal gauntlet just for my personal viewing pleasure is awfully self centered. I'll take the shot at a title instead.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I like how you take a very normal thing like wanting your team to do well in the post season and make it seem abnormal. you do live in a very strange bubble you've built around yourself. good for you I guess. After a crushing loss I never look back and think "that was a good game" I try and figure out what UT needs to do to never let that happen again. But I guess in your world that's strange behavior. Watching my team go through a brutal gauntlet just for my personal viewing pleasure is awfully self centered. I'll take the shot at a title instead.

I think wanting the SEC to be weak so we can appear strong is short sighted. I don't enjoy beating up on the Bull's Cap College of Cow Castrating nor do I think it means anything if you go undefeated against mostly weak competition.

Remember, we went to Columbus thinking Ohio State "didn't play anybody" and we were more than ready because we survived the "gauntlet" of the SEC. They pushed us all over the field and not because they were "fresh and didn't play anyone" but because they were actually a good football team.

That's what matters. Play good football week in and week out. Recruit well, practice well, mind the fundamentals and work hard every week and every play.

Meanwhile, you hope we can play weak competition so we look good in tournament time.

What was that old joke? "Looking good is better than being good." No.... No it's not.

 

[Rickyvol77]

I like how you take a very normal thing like wanting your team to do well in the post season and make it seem abnormal. you do live in a very strange bubble you've built around yourself. good for you I guess. After a crushing loss I never look back and think "that was a good game" I try and figure out what UT needs to do to never let that happen again. But I guess in your world that's strange behavior. Watching my team go through a brutal gauntlet just for my personal viewing pleasure is awfully self centered. I'll take the shot at a title instead.

But you are a nobody who has literally no effect on UT or it's team.... I don't mean to be harsh but you literally don't matter in terms of what UT does or who they play or how well...

the SEC is fine and it's exciting to play the schedule we do....the SEC and Big Ten will always dominate from here on out, and if we play a tough schedule and go 10-2 or 9-3 and still make the playoffs awesome...

We don't have to go 13-0 to win the title...

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I like how you take a very normal thing like wanting your team to do well in the post season and make it seem abnormal. you do live in a very strange bubble you've built around yourself. good for you I guess. After a crushing loss I never look back and think "that was a good game" I try and figure out what UT needs to do to never let that happen again. But I guess in your world that's strange behavior. Watching my team go through a brutal gauntlet just for my personal viewing pleasure is awfully self centered. I'll take the shot at a title instead.

The SEC had 5 teams in the playoffs last year even with the "tough schedule" so it's very doable. The idea of "we don't want it to be too tough" is what the younguns call "beta" thinking but I'm old and just see it as weak minded thinking..... "They need to be softer so we can look tougher."

If you're good, you're good. You don't need to stand on a grade school playground and dunk on 5th graders. You do what 5 other SEC teams did last year and prove it during the season.

 

[Boca Vol]

Were you that broke up in 1992 when we replaced our yearly rivals of Bama, Auburn, Ole Miss, UK and Vandy and only played Florida, UGA, LSU, MSU twice a decade?

?

UT rarely played UF & UGA prior to the division in ‘92. UT basically gave up playing Auburn & Ole Miss every year for playing UGA & UF. Not a bad trade, IMO

 

[UTFranklinVol]

The SEC had 5 teams in the playoffs last year even with the "tough schedule" so it's very doable. The idea of "we don't want it to be too tough" is what the younguns call "beta" thinking but I'm old and just see it as weak minded thinking..... "They need to be softer so we can look tougher."

If you're good, you're good. You don't need to stand on a grade school playground and dunk on 5th graders. You do what 5 other SEC teams did last year and prove it during the season.

meanwhile the B10 wins 3 national championships in a row with their new scheme.

you know who is considered the 'beta male' of college football now? The SEC.

Perception is reality and the world only remembers who won, not how you got there. nobody cares about a bunch of toothless okies that thump their chest because of their "stronger conference that never wins anything"

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

I'm not a fan of super conferences, but I absolutely HATED the divisions era with that stupid conference championship. especially back when only the SEC played one. there are so many ways that the division system and championship game can ruin a good season.

I want the old smaller conference back but with no divisions and a national playoff and NO conference championship. same thing with basketball.

Exactly. I want the 'SE' part of 'SEC' to actually mean something again.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

meanwhile the B10 wins 3 national championships in a row with their new scheme.

you know who is considered the 'beta male' of college football now? The SEC.

Perception is reality and the world only remembers who won, not how you got there. nobody cares about a bunch of toothless okies that thump their chest because of their "stronger conference that never wins anything"

Saban is gone and that era is over. Dominance year over year will be bought now.

Having a championship program means having championship program MONEY, which (besides cheating SOBs like MI) is what will bring championships. Indiana rose up on the back of Mark Cuban money and Cignetti getting buy in from players...... but continued success will be on Mark Cuban money.

The SEC teams that spend the money to build teams will be in the playoffs as will B1G teams that spend the money to build teams. That's the new reality.

It's money. If Vandy ever mobilizes their moneyed alumni to support football, they'll be hard to deal with as will GA Tech in the ACC. In this era there's no "let's have a weak conference" if a school donor base or angel decides to start buying a team. How would we "prevent" Vandy or even MS State from buying a team if they find an angel or motivate their donors?

The playing field is changing and "wanting a weak SEC so we can outspend everyone else" is not something that's possible.

 

[AurantiacoFan]

I expect schools will be trying to figure out how to get around some the existing rules and begin killing their non-revenue generating sports soon so that they can avoid the costs associated with them and put more into their professional teams. Might as well just kill those inconvenient education programs while they are at it...

 

[dduncan4163]

I concur but will go a step further (or backward, if you please) Here's my ideal SEC scene:

I'm with you. Oklahoma, Texas, Texas AM, and most of all Mizzou have no business being in our conference. I hate being on ABC too. Just doesn't feel right at all damnit

 

[UTFranklinVol]

I'm with you. Oklahoma, Texas, Texas AM, and most of all Mizzou have no business being in our conference. I hate being on ABC too. Just doesn't feel right at all damnit

if the ACC had not been on lockdown and B12 been so vulnerable, it would have been a completely different story. but time and circumstances dictate all things. therefore we got B12 teams, not ACC teams. It is what it is. they were the most logical choices that existed at the time. At least we aren't the B10 getting Pac12 teams!

 

[Rickyvol77]

I'm with you. Oklahoma, Texas, Texas AM, and most of all Mizzou have no business being in our conference. I hate being on ABC too. Just doesn't feel right at all damnit

Texas and Texas A&M and even Oklahoma feel like SEC teams though..

Mizzou is an outlier but they were easy to get at the time and at least are contiguous to the Southeast region

 

[GBO2011]

Texas and Texas A&M and even Oklahoma feel like SEC teams though..

Mizzou is an outlier but they were easy to get at the time and at least are contiguous to the Southeast region

Not so much OU but the Texas teams do feel like SEC teams… Missouri on the other hand… no.