Who's Idea Was It To Expand The Conference?

Jim Delany sat at home one night during bowl season. He imagined all the calls the guys were getting at the SEC office. "Phone ringing off the hook. TV deals, general interviews, sweeteners for the TV deals", he thought to himself. "If only the teams in the Big 10 could compete. My phone would be ringing, too." He thought of years gone by, when the sports media were controlled locally. He indulged himself further with thoughts of someday returning to the days when the press in the northeast told the rest of the country what to do and think. He relished, although briefly, with memories of Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler.

He wondered secretly if the glory days of Big Ten power football would return. "How long has it been," he reached back to the nineties, through the eighties, then back to the Bryant years. "Has it really been that long," he asked himself. The Bryant years, SEC speed, da#@ the Bryant years. It killed Woody. The good ol' days when a corn fed Iowa farm boy opened up a gaping hole,--then the Bryant years. That is when we started losing in bowls. At least we could still get a decent matchup with the PAC 10 and the Rose Bowl. By the nineties their linebackers were running our halfbacks down from behind. If I never see another Sugar Bowl...

The coaches were outraged. Still gathering in the conference center foyer, the talk was loud and boisterous. "The SEC is cheating. It's just not fair, the oversigning." Rich Rodriguez, new to the group himself, was trying to build a case for his new spread type offense. Tressel was talking over him about some recruiting violation nonsense. Paterno was talking to himself, but no one even noticed. "Just great," Delaney murmered to himself, "These guys are too busy blaming each other, and everyone else for that matter, to listen to a cogent plan for managing the difficulties the league now faced." He was going to have to deal with this unilaterally,-- he was on his own.

Delaney obsessed himself with ways to destroy the "power conferences". Substance abuse testing, a reward system for whistle blowers, higher academic standards. But he couldn't hide from the stark reality that these measures may hit the Big 10 worse than their enemies. More stringent academic requirements would mean the end of basketball, and this was quickly growing into their cash cow. There had been talk, mostly internet chatter, about league expansions. He began liking the idea more and more, since the SEC had banked their 4th national championship in football, and were playing for it again in January. Something had to be done.

Divide and conquer. The old adage playing in his head. The SEC members had always been thick as thieves, so thinning it out with more, less established members would be a good start. The newer members fighting with the "old guard". More members, less central control. "Water down" the brand name. Cause them to lose their deep south identity and lose the respect member schools showed one another. When a TV viewer in South Carolina turns on the SEC game of the week and gets Clemson vs. WVU, the end will be in sight.

So how do I get the ball rolling on this restructuring. "I can't call Mike Slive with a new idea on how to make more millions. I have to lead them to the proverbial water, all the while making certain they think it was their idea," he began to compare the angles of his scheme. He thought if the Big 10 was to lead, the SEC would simply be too afraid of losing out to the other conferences. For that matter, the Big 10 could welcome a couple of new members, then always kick them out after the test drive. He knew human nature would win out and greed would drive the bus. His phone was soon to be ringing.

Roll Tide!