Silly speculation about Notre Dame & Super Conferences
Silly Notre Dame Speculation, Super Conference, Texas Wins, Huskers Lose
Browsing Posts tagged conferences
GAINESVILLE — Roy Kramer started all this. In the early '90s, he was the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference when the league added two teams -- to get to 12 -- and created the first conference championship game.
Both moves paid off huge for the SEC, which now has $3 billion in TV contracts with ESPN and CBS and the last four national championship teams in football.
On Thursday, after studying rumors that Nebraska could be leaving the Big 12 for the Big Ten, he called it the first move of what he expects could be many.
"If that happens (Nebraska to the Big Ten), I think that's the domino that starts the whole process," he said.
Kramer also predicted if the Cornhuskers make the first move, the rest of the BCS conferences almost undoubtedly will start preparing for their own moves to get bigger.
"I think everybody has to start thinking about (expansion)," Kramer said. "I think (all the leagues) have to look at it because now you are looking at a situation that could impact you 10-15 years down the road."
SEC spokesman Charles Bloom said the league would have no comment on the Nebraska situation.
If Kramer, now retired, was still the SEC commissioner, what would he be thinking?"You'd be thinking what are your options," Kramer said. "You've got to take a hard look at what's around. . . . If the Nebraska thing doesn't go down, then it's a whole different game."
Kramer added he would be "surprised" if the SEC hasn't already had discussions with other schools about possibly joining the league.
"They may have been informal," Kramer said. "But I would think they have already had some of those discussions. . . . The SEC has got to take a look. Now they may find based on the marketplace and everything out there they may not do anything. But I think they've got to take a lot of time surveying the landscape and I think they are.
"I said 20 years ago (when the SEC started its expansion process to move to 12 schools) I didn't think we'd seen the end of expansion and the end of conference alignment.. . . I always felt if the Big Ten made that kind of a move, the Pac-10 would also feel the need to make a move and it would create a domino affect," Kramer said.