Oklahoma, Texas now SEC football schools:
Flash Thoughts:
One thing is for certain. Nothing remains the same as it was in the past.
The case in point from this analysis is the change of college football.
Back when yours truly was ending his teenage time in 1980, the sport went about with conference champions playing at a certain venue for the major bowls had tie ins with the best leagues in the game.
A national champion would be based on either the Associated Press poll or the poll by United Press International (UPI). Rare matchups of a 1 vs. 2 in the elite bowls did occur.
Now we get ready for the 2024 collegiate season with two categories being the main topic of this commentary.
On Monday, the Souheastern Conference officially welcomes the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas to a league that been nothing short of superb in the last decade,
And also, the expansion of the college football playoff from four teams to a dozen.
With Oklahoma and Texas now SEC members, there is plenty of the acclaimed experts from TV to sports talk radio, feeling these two will be in the mix.
The odds seem to fall in the favor for the Sooners and Longhorns.
But first, let's look at a pair of elites in the SEC as they will have plenty to say about who will be the best in the conference now with 16 teams and no division play, just 8 games vs. conference foes and a lot of good rivalries being thrown into the trash.
Georgia and Alabama will speak very loud for where both will be through the conference setup. Yes, Alabama. A team with a new coach that did lead his former team, the University of Washington to the CFB championship game last season and also kept Texas from getting to the title game.
Yours truly sees three other conference squads trying to show that they can add to parity because each have potential of "rocking the boat" for Bama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas.
Will Ole Miss with "pretty boy" Lane Kiffin finally get to the top of the mountain? LSU and Tennessee are optimistic they can be in contention too.
Now for teams that have been in the mid-range of the conference in recent time, what do they see to be a positive of the new season, playoff expansion and so forth?
My Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers, Missouri Tigers, Kentucky Wildcats and South Carolina Gamecocks have to be realistic.
This group could be at best, a 9 win team and a respectable bowl game. But also, teams like these need to make it a point that all players close out the season in a bowl game, not opting out because of being a possible selection in next year's NFL draft.
While yours truly sees 4 to be in the playoff from the SEC, the rest of the "Power Four" invitational will consist of four out of the Big Ten (now with 18 teams), two from the Big XII (expanded to 16) and two from the Atlantic Coast Conference (up to 17).
Politically speaking, two of these leagues need to come up with a new name for it's more than 10 in the Big Ten and 12 in the Big XII.
Those in the lower tier leagues like the American Athletic (AAC), Conference USA, Mountain West and Mid America have to understand, they have no change for a playoff bid, even with good numbers, but most likely strength of schedule will keep them on the outside looking in.
Plenty of questions to be answered as it starts Monday with celebrations from the campuses of Oklahoma and Texas, now getting meet and greet handshakes by Greg Sankey, his staff and some very huge media members with egos as high as the current temperature with a heat advisory in Cullman, Alabama.
Photo of the 2023 Texas vs. Oklahoma game won by Oklahoma 34 to 30 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
Photo courtesy of Awful Announcing.
