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发帖数: 743 | 1 http://eye-on-collegefootball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/ent
According to a report from the Birmingham News, Missouri may not have the
support needed to join the SEC after all.
The News's Jon Solomon reported Thursday morning that the "majority" of
conference presidents and ADs would support the Tigers' application to
become the league's 14th team, but that that majority "falls just short of
the nine votes required" to give Missouri final approval.
According to Solomon's sources, those opposed to Missouri's membership have
two points of contention. The first is that the SEC can simply "do better"
than the Tigers. The other is that adding a team to the SEC West rather than
East would disrupt the league's scheduling and rivalries.
The debate has reportedly led to a split between Auburn and Alabama, with
the Crimson Tide opposed to Missouri's application and their in-state rivals
in favor. Adding Missouri would almost certainly shift Auburn to the East
division, restoring the Tigers' traditional annual rivalries with Tennessee
and Florida, but potentially scuttling the Tide's yearly "Third Saturday in
October" grudge match with the Volunteers. (With only one annual "cross-
division" game on the schedule, Alabama couldn't play both Tennessee and
Auburn with both in the East, at least not without a nine-game conference
schedule.)
As noted by Solomon, Missouri's application won't be helped by an anonymous
official telling the Associated Press Wednesday that the SEC would be the
Tigers' second choice after the Big Ten. The public admission that Missouri
might look elsewhere if the Big Ten asked them to surely won't sit well with
a league that -- surely -- can find other partners that would be 100
percent committed.
So a move that looked like all but certain when the Mizzou Board of Curators
voted to explore their options Tuesday now has another clear, visible
hurdle in front of it. (At minimum, the SEC's plans for a 13-team 2012
season look that much closer to being set in stone.) The guess here remains
that in the end, the allure of Missouri's Kansas City/St. Louis television
markets will be too much for Mike Slive and the SEC to ignore (especially
with the league angling for a new TV contract), and that the SEC's stability
and overflowing coffers will be too much for even the Big Ten-focused
Missouri officials to turn down.
But at the very least, Mizzou-to-the-SEC appears to be a deal that isn't
done just yet. | w*****2
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