The Case For Louisville (And Not Missouri)

I never thought I would entertain the thought of Louisville in the SEC and I still don't think they really belong. However, I would have Louisville rather than Missouri because:

Their facilities are very nice and modern. Louisville has a nice, new, and large stadium. Missouri's stadium is crap. Louisville also has a fantastic brand new basketball arena and a nice new baseball stadium as well.







Louisville would make a great rivalry with Kentucky, who sits up there by itself.

While Louisville is nothing special in football, they do have a storied basketball program and a good baseball program. The Louisville-Kentucky basketball rivalry would take off to an even higher level with the SEC championship at stake.

Louisville is a respected academic institution with a broad graduate school, a medical school, and a law school. It has an endowment around $600M which would place it in the neighborhood of SEC schools. It was founded in 1798 which would make it the second oldest SEC school, next only to UGA.

Louisville has a sizable student body numbering at 20K.

Moreover, Louisville can be placed nicely in the East to go along with A&M in the West. No schools have to be moved.

So, barring the addition of a Clemson or a VA Tech (which seem longshots because SEC officials apparently don't want to start anything with the ACC), I would choose Louisville.

However, this is all about $. The SEC could probably bring in larger TV audiences by adding a Missouri or a TCU.