Where is Vanderbilt to go if not the SEC? \u00a0Cuz suggests a trade – we go to the ACC for Miami or Florida State, and that makes perfect sense; our situation is not dissimilar to Georgia Tech’s own departure in the mid-60s. \u00a0But then, the ACC is at 14 teams and will probably make a run at 16 sooner rather than later (UConn for sure – maybe Notre Dame? How about Navy?) so it’s possible we find ourselves stuck in the machine again. \u00a0What I’m looking for is a return of the Magnolia League concept – some way to play football at a serious level while not giving in to the arms race of BCS-era money and bullshit.<\/p>\n
I say “Magnolia League” because Vanderbilt chancellor Alexander Heard’s original concept involved Vandy, Tulane, Duke, SMU and Rice. \u00a0Tulane was game, but Duke didn’t want to give up the UNC game (why they thought they would have to is beyond me, but whatever, typical Duke) and SMU and Rice didn’t want to give up the Cotton Bowl, either as an opportunity or as a cut of revenue. \u00a0And so Tulane pulled out of the SEC about the time Tech did.<\/p>\n
The problem now is that football has trumped everything else. \u00a0Reorganizing around football has a deleterious effect on everything else – it turned the Great Midwest into Conference USA and eventually a disaster area, it’s wrecking the Big East right now – but for our purposes, assume football has become a separate entity and nothing else is affected. \u00a0Everyone can keep their conference for hoops, baseball, etc etc. \u00a0So.<\/p>\n
For starters, it’s no longer possible to keep this just to the South. \u00a0Even if you could peel away a big chunk of the ACC, it still doesn’t get you to eight. \u00a0Duke, Wake, Georgia Tech, Vandy, Tulane, Rice and SMU – even assuming you want SMU, and I’m not convinced you do. \u00a0Bring in Miami? \u00a0Technically it’s a private school. \u00a0It’s also the poster child for everything wrong with college football, so forget that.<\/p>\n
So cast your eyes north and consider Notre Dame, and its rivals. \u00a0USC? \u00a0Would never give up the Rose Bowl spot. \u00a0Stanford? \u00a0Wouldn’t want to give up the Big Game, most likely, but might otherwise be amenable to something snotty and Ivy League-ish enough. \u00a0Navy? \u00a0Very respectable football team, and a great rivalry with Army, and hey wait a minute\u2026don’t look now, but Army and Navy are exactly the programs you want for such a thing. \u00a0Institutionally immune to the crasser trends of college football, programs with tradition and history, with a Northeastern footprint and national interest…<\/p>\n
So reshuffle. \u00a0Now you have Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Navy, Army, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Tulane, Rice. \u00a0Eight teams without having to take too big a bite out of the ACC. \u00a0Seven-game round-robin every year, and five non-conf spots open so Notre Dame can still play Michigan, USC and Purdue and still have two more spots free. \u00a0Or Vandy can keep playing Kentucky and Tennessee and maybe LOL Miss if they like. \u00a0Georgia Tech can schedule all the old SEC rivals they like. \u00a0Stanford keeps Big Game and the LA schools and has a couple more spots – and sure, they’ll get killed on plane fare, but I’m sure John Arrillaga will stroke another check and not think twice, so screw ’em. \u00a0Tulane and Rice get a shot at staying in Division I without having to bring back the “undergraduate studies” major. \u00a0And you get an eight team conference of actual student-athletes, liberated from having to play East Roast Beef and its army of well-paid adolescent golems.<\/p>\n
It’s not perfect. \u00a0Hell, it may not be practical. \u00a0But at some point, somebody has to stand up and say “enough is enough, we’re getting off this carousel.” \u00a0And that particular combination of schools might just have enough credibility to make it happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Where is Vanderbilt to go if not the SEC? \u00a0Cuz suggests a trade – we go to the ACC for Miami or Florida State, and that makes perfect sense; our situation is not dissimilar to Georgia Tech’s own departure in the mid-60s. \u00a0But then, the ACC is at 14 teams and will probably make a … <\/p>\n