Alabama would support adding Missouri if those Tigers, not Auburn, play in the East
Jon Solomon -- The Birmingham News 10/15/2011 5:34 AM
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Nothing's simple about the SEC possibly adding Missouri. As inevitable as Texas A&M to the SEC felt, Missouri to the SEC doesn't feel that way, although the wedding could still very well happen if a proposal happens.
Missouri remains favored by the majority of SEC presidents and chancellors as the 14th member, four sources familiar with their discussions told The Birmingham News this week. One major sticking point is which division Missouri would play football in, according to the sources.
Alabama, which resides in the SEC minority of wanting No. 14 from the East Coast, would support Missouri if it joined the SEC East, not the West, multiple sources said. According to the sources, Alabama has two objectives: Keep its annual cross-division rivalry game against Tennessee, and not watch Auburn move to the East and possibly grow its recruiting presence in talent-rich Florida and Georgia.
Auburn is interested in moving to the East but if staying in the West and Missouri joining the East were necessary for expansion, Auburn likely would not stand in the way, according to a source.
Memo to Missouri: Get used to this type of pettiness in the SEC, where even the tiniest of potential football recruiting advantages becomes dissected.
As strange as Missouri in the East sounds, conferences usually fail in geography class. Louisiana Tech currently plays in a league with Hawaii. Vanderbilt is in the East and Auburn is in the West in the SEC. The Mountain West and Conference USA announced a 22-team merged football league spanning 16 states and five time zones. The Big East might invite Boise State, for crying out loud.
Missouri in the East would allow Alabama to continue playing Tennessee every year. It would also keep the league's six traditional football powers divided equally (Alabama, Auburn and LSU in the West; Florida, Georgia and Tennessee in the East).
However, there is a fairly significant gap in football pedigree between divisions depending on whether Missouri or Auburn plays in the East, assuming Texas A&M goes to the West.
Texas A&M's all-time winning percentage would rank seventh in the SEC, well behind the traditional powers and slightly ahead of Arkansas. Missouri would rank 10th, ahead of only Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.
If Missouri plays in the East, the West would have six of the SEC's top nine winning-percentage leaders. The West would be decidedly better than the East in all-time winning percentage (.605 to .573), bowl winning percentage (.530 to .500) and SEC titles (46 to 35).
That disparity gets reduced with Auburn in the East. The West's advantage in all-time winning percentage would be lower (.592 to .585), and the East would have the edge in bowl winning percentage (.529 to .506) and SEC titles (42 to 39).
Some SEC presidents have concerns about the cost of Missouri's Big 12 exit fees and potential litigation, sources said, but the legal worries have been tempered since the Big 12 righted itself.
There's also the issue of ego, which can't be overlooked. Last week, The Associated Press quoted an anonymous Missouri official as saying the school preferred the Big Ten but now hopes to join the SEC because "that's what's left."
At least one SEC president who's skeptical of Missouri brought up the story during the SEC presidents' conference call this week, sources said, and the presidents were quickly told that's a minority view by Missouri officials.
Somewhat lost in the public discussion about expansion is travel for athletes, who are supposedly students first. Expansion doesn't affect football players on chartered weekend flights, but it better be a consideration for non-revenue sports given the remoteness of so many SEC campuses. Trips to Texas A&M and Missouri mean either more travel time or more travel costs.
Only one SEC school is within 500 miles of Texas A&M and just four are within 500 miles of Missouri. The SEC should place a percentage of any new TV money into a fund to assist non-revenue sports cover travel costs and take that decision -- should we buy out our football coach or charter our volleyball team on a long trip? -- out of schools' hands.
Missouri remains the SEC's focus. Where to unleash what would be the SEC's third set of Tigers -- that's one of the biggest questions.
Write Jon at jsolomon@bhamnews.com. Follow him at twitter.com/jonsol.
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