The Athletic: FSU, Miami and their long — and unsuccessful — courtship with the SEC

[Hold My Beer]

LINK: https://theathletic.com/4710478/2023/07/25/miami-florida-state-sec-football/

Manny Navarro article on conference realignment back in the day.

A few items:

• Miami started looking into the Southeastern Conference in 1938 - 11 years after the UM football begin and six years after the SEC was formed
• UM's first official attempt to join the SEC was in 1949
• UF pushed to expand from 12 to 14 schools in 1960 with the additions of UM and FSU. As in '49, the votes came up short
• In 1989, the SEC was looking to expand from 10 to 16 with Arkansas, Texas and A&M to the west and Miami, FSU and South Carolina to the east. When UT and TAMU removed themselves from consideration, SEC commissioner Roy Kramer decided to add only two schools.
• According to the article, the ACC wanted to add FSU in 1990, but not a 10th team

“I think if the ACC had offered Miami a chance they probably would have gone,” former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said.

 

[mcnaire2004]

Yeah it seems like the SEC is just never in the cards for us.


Good post. I wish more would follow this format rather than just posting a link without context. You had an engaging these title, link, and observations of the linked article.

 

[Hold My Beer]

Also from the article:

Miami wanted to help its basketball program and add some football schedule flexibility, which the Big East offered. And it was clear the SEC, which had for many years told Miami it wasn’t interested in adding them, had prioritized the Seminoles throughout the entire process. Kramer tried to downplay that in the media.

“Nobody is a second choice,” Kramer said at the time — after Arkansas had agreed to join the SEC but before the league pivoted to South Carolina as the second invitee. “We’ve only made one addition to the conference. As for other teams, Miami is an outstanding institution and has a lot to offer. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t serious about Miami. But we haven’t set a timetable on anything. We will continue to move forward and talk with several schools.”

Scott said Miami discussed joining the SEC but felt a pull to play among other private schools in the Big East.

“I know these were words used — ‘We should have something in common with our conference opponents,’” said Dave Scott (a UM coach and administrator from 1981-2009). “Now, that doesn’t matter anymore. But back then, looking at Miami as a private institution, Vanderbilt might’ve been the only other one like us in the SEC. The other schools — for the most part — were rural, agricultural-based institutions. So we had those discussions: How does a student at the University of Miami relate to someone in Starkville, Mississippi? The thought was with the Big East there were more private institutions like us, and our alumni base, beyond South Florida, was New York, New Jersey and Chicago. Not Mississippi or Alabama.

“We felt like we didn’t fit.”

How much has that notion changed — either for Miami or for the SEC — in 2023? Are we higher on the B1G's want list than the SEC's?

The SEC would be my first choice by far, but it is hard to fully counter the square peg in a round hole argument

 

[FuriousStyles]

Oh… so in 1989 the SEC had the opportunity to add the team who just won the Natty… their second in two years by the way and their response was “Nahhh… let’s go with Arky and SCar”???

Got it. Makes total sense….

Maybe I’m just wired different but the idea of us begging or appearing to do so with conferences or recruits doesn’t sit right with me.

 

[Brains]

Oh… so in 1989 the SEC had the opportunity to add the team who just won the Natty… their second in two years by the way and their response was “Nahhh… let’s go with Arky and SCar”???

Got it. Makes total sense….

Maybe I’m just wired different but the idea of us begging or appearing to do so with conferences or recruits doesn’t sit right with me.

View attachment 248026

Exactly. As if Arkansas ever "fit" with the rest of that league either. The whole think is laughable and stinks of politics.

 

[Hold My Beer]

Oh… so in 1989 the SEC had the opportunity to add the team who just won the Natty… their second in two years by the way and their response was “Nahhh… let’s go with Arky and SCar”???

Got it. Makes total sense….

Maybe I’m just wired different but the idea of us begging or appearing to do so with conferences or recruits doesn’t sit right with me.

View attachment 248026

As mentioned in the article, the SEC wanted 16 teams (but Texas and Texas A&M were off the table because of state politics).

But why not take FSU and Miami (as opposed to bringing in Arkansas) and get to 12 that way? That would've been a grand slam and a dagger to the rest of College Football.

Maybe Kramer thought he needed an East/West balance for divisions?

Like you implied, taking Arkansas as No. 11 (without UT and A&M) made no sense

 

[Hold My Beer]

The whole think is laughable and stinks of politics.

Would Jankovich and UM have responded differently if Roy Kramer hadn't prioritized FSU for No. 12?

Does Miami give the SEC a longer look in that scenario?

 

[Hold My Beer]

Oh… so in 1989 the SEC had the opportunity to add the team who just won the Natty… their second in two years by the way and their response was “Nahhh… let’s go with Arky and SCar”???

SEC arrogance knows no bounds

 

[Brains]

SEC arrogance knows no bounds

None. The more I learn about that league the more ******* oily they get.

 

[Brains]

Would Jankovich and UM have responded differently if Roy Kramer hadn't prioritized FSU for No. 12?

Does Miami give the SEC a longer look in that scenario?

Probably.

 

[FuriousStyles]

SEC arrogance knows no bounds

With no titles won in the previous 8 years (at that time).

 

[TheATLCane]

I've never thought the SEC is a good match for us.

It feels a better match for a few other ACC schools like Clemson, FSU, UNC + NCST.

 

[Angry Ibis]

You can’t discount this reality, but if they weren’t the dominant football conference today, would our fanbase be so interested in joining them?

 

[TheOriginalCane]

You can’t discount this reality, but if they weren’t the dominant football conference today, would our fanbase be so interested in joining them?

In 1989...just two years after Florida ended the annual UM-UF game...I was very interested in joining the SEC...

I never...NEVER...liked the Big East.

I was lukewarm on the ACC. Clemson hadn't done **** at that point, so it would have just been "because F$U".

 

[Brains]

I've never thought the SEC is a good match for us.

It feels a better match for a few other ACC schools like Clemson, FSU, UNC + NCST.

Joining the SEC would have been superior in every aspect to the contrived nonsense of the Big Least.

 

[Angry Ibis]

In 1989...just two years after Florida ended the annual UM-UF game...I was very interested in joining the SEC...

I never...NEVER...liked the Big East.

I was lukewarm on the ACC. Clemson hadn't done **** at that point, so it would have just been "because F$U".

And today?

Perhaps the overall answer captured in one of the threads or polls.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

And today?

Perhaps the overall answer captured in one of the threads or polls.

I like both the SEC and Big 10.

Ideally, the SEC would take both Miami and F$U, and I'd be thrilled, but I think that's fairly unlikely.

I think UM and F$U to the Big 10 is the best I can hope for.

 

[Hurracanes]

Do not underestimate the pushback Florida did on not allowing Miami nor FSU to enter the SEC. **** em.

Thankfully, we don’t need neither of them.

 

[Angry Ibis]

I like both the SEC and Big 10.

Ideally, the SEC would take both Miami and F$U, and I'd be thrilled, but I think that's fairly unlikely.

I think UM and F$U to the Big 10 is the best I can hope for.

What do you like about the SEC? Football, conference, logistics, etc?

 

[TheOriginalCane]

What do you like about the SEC? Football, conference, logistics, etc?

1. The Gaytor
2. Geography
3. Overall strength

As someone who was enrolled at UM when we played our final "annual" rivalry games with The Gaytor, this means more to me than it means to a 20 year old Miami fan. I get it.

Geography would be nice, from an ease-of-travel standpoint. More games that are drive-able vs. fly-able.

The conference is strong. Very strong across football, basketball, and baseball.



I remember being in the Big East when our CLOSEST opponent was VaTech. It was hard to build emotional rivalries with teams so far away, and you'd have a chance to do that "the most" being in the SEC (and that's not a swipe at the Big 10, it's just reality).