While you may think the politics in Washington is a mess, I understand it. Neither side can agree, as many who have been elected think that the dumbing down of America fits their platform. So good of a fit that they are card-carrying participants of the dumb-down.
With that said, there is another outfit that far exceeds the shortcomings of Washington. They call it the NCAA.
The latest chapter: conference raiding has reared its head as Texas A&M has let it be known that they are not happy with rival Texas’ bid to pillage the talent and the reputation as the biggest and the baddest in the great state of Texas. Now A&M is willing to take their ball and play elsewhere, or at least we were led to believe that. Officials from Texas A&M let it be known that they were being courted by the SEC and that Missouri and Clemson were also part of the proposed move.
Nice idea, until the SEC said there would be no immediate expansion of the conference. Now everyone will have to shut up and play the season where they are.
It does propose an interesting scenario, though.
There are hundreds of millions of dollars in TV money out there for college sports. ESPN currently holds many of the cards as they have attempted to lock up many of the big conferences with long-term deals in order to fend off the attempts of Fox Sports, NBC and CBS to get more in the game. Good teams and conferences are at a premium, as well as TV markets.
Where does that put schools like Missouri? If you recall, when the Mizzou Big 10 merger was being floated everyone was on board, including Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. He thought it was a great idea, especially with him having a son attending a Big 10 school.
One problem: Missouri was never formally invited to join and was almost left standing without a chair when the conference shuffling stopped. To say they dodged a bullet when the Big 12 allowed them to stay is an understatement.
Now the SEC rumors have surfaced. While I am a huge fan of the SEC, I think Mizzou would have their work cut out for them early. They could handle the likes of Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Mississippi Sate. It’s the LSU, Alabama and Florida that could make Saturday a long day.
Could Missouri ever win the SEC? Could they get the championship game? Could they play for a national championship? Yes, no and no!
I for one would love to see the move, as there are some natural rivals such as Arkansas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. You can not tell me that watching Mizzou play in Columbia against an Alabama or LSU would not move the needle, and it would eliminate the conference doormats like Iowa State and Kansas State.
The NCAA has no real say in the matter. They just sit there and pick there spots on when to regulate.
Then again, the NCAA has enough on their plates trying to out the cheaters of today. Now that some of the big-name schools are getting caught with the prospect of probation, they are now looking to keep them afloat since there would still be a TV draw. Nice, really nice. A new set of rules are coming to protect the big boys again.
It’s a mess that can not be fixed over night, as the NCAA is overwhelmed by conference jumping, cheating and who gets paid what. Not much difference from the anarchy that exists in Washington, only different stripes.
The NCAA has to start over. Resignations should be tendered, and new leadership should be installed. Once that takes place, a new manual should be formed to regulate the member institutions. The inmates are truly running the asylum, and there is nothing being done about it – until someone mentions the word “investigation.”
