re: What moron decided that Tulane should leave the SEC in 1966?

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1957: 2-8
1958: 3-7
1959: 3-6-1
1960: 3-6-1
1961: 2-8
1962: 0-10
1963: 1-8-1
1964: 3-7
1965: 2-8
1966: 5-4-1
1967: 3-7
1968: 2-8
1969: 3-7

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Looks about like Ole Gay's record as of lately.

Interesting.

Here's the story of the first black player in SEC history...

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Nat Northington

KENTUCKY WIDEOUT (1966-67)

Northington and Greg Page both arrived at Kentucky in the fall of 1966 as the first black football players in SEC history.

Nat Northington

Northington became the one to officially break the color barrier on the field one year later, but that historic moment didn't come without heartbreak.

During an August practice in 1967, the Wildcats ran a pursuit drill that they had done in hundreds of practices. The drill is simple: One player has the football, the 11 defenders chase him and each hits the ballcarrier once and then backs off. Page, a defensive end, was the ballcarrier on this particular drill, and when the defenders cleared out, Page didn't get up.

Page never got up again. He was paralyzed and required a respirator. He died 38 days later.

The next day, Northington, a wide receiver who was Page's roommate, became the first black player to participate in an SEC game. Northington played several minutes in UK's 26-13 loss to Ole Miss in Lexington and appeared in three more games before leaving the team, distraught over his friend's death.

According to a Kentucky spokesman, Northington now lives in Louisville and refuses all interview requests.

"He paved the way for everybody," Florida senior wide receiver Jemalle Cornelius said. "Him being the first African-American in the SEC is big for us. There were a lot of African-Americans who have hopes and dreams of playing in the SEC, and that wouldn't have happened without him."

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Tshirt fan hate from A&M typically stems from folks (typically Texas fans) who rip our institution. And when you find out later these people went to UTSA, Texas State or not even to college, it just kind of pisses you off.

The Aggie jokes and the reality of Texas A&M Uiniversity are quite different, though the smug way a lot of aggies defend themselves would probably set me off if I wasn't an Ag.

how many Tulane students finished the fall term at Texas A&M following Hurrican Katrina?

no offense to the Aggies but college station isn't exactly New Orleans... portions of the aggie campus look more like a prison than a resemblance to the tulane campus

and as a visiting college student in nawlins AND college station, it is my opinion it was aggies with the popsicle stick wedged up there backsides - all over new orleans, twentysomething locals much more friendly

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1/3 followed LSU (but loved the Saints way more),

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this is the metro area, i believe

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and as a visiting college student in nawlins AND college station, it is my opinion it was aggies with the popsicle stick wedged up there backsides

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Can I hear more on this?

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What moron decided that Tulane should leave the SEC in 1966?


That has to rank up there as one of the dumbest moves in the history of college sports administration.

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We should consider that a lot of things that are obvious to us now in hindsight were not easily foreseeable in 1966, three in particular:

1) successful lawsuit by Georgia, Oklahoma, etc. to take control of TV contracts away from NCAA,

2) flood of TV money pouring into college football after said lawsuit, and

3) gravitation toward negotiating TV contracts at the conference level.

These three developments totally changed the game in college sports. Until they happened, there wasn't really all that much to gain from conference affiliation. I think this is why there were a bunch of major independents back then, whereas they are practically extinct today.

Also, the growth of the NCAA basketball tournament with auto-bids for pretty much every conference and huge amounts of money paid for the TV rights, was a big game-changer. It also led to conference TV deals in basketball, although obviously less lucrative than in football. These also would have been hard to predict in 1966.

In 1966, Tulane probably (accurately) saw sports as an expense, not a financial asset. Staying competitive in the SEC would have been costly and might have interfered with the academic mission, given their private status and limited funding.

Obviously, we can see now that they'd have been much better off taking the path that Vanderbilt did, but from the perspective of 1966, I don't think it was a stupid decision.

you're forgetting bowl tie-ins...

now if you're an independent it's go to the BCS or sign a deal to go to the same bowl whether you're 6-6 or 11-1

A lot of Tulane students, especially law students, ended up not having a campus to go to during the fall semester of Katrina. This could explain why they were arseholes.

As a Loyola law student during Katrina, I ended up, along with the rest of the 1L class on the University of Houston's campus. Needless to say lots of my friends and I still enjoy watching the Cougs play.

For the record, I cheer for Tulane, UL or any other in state school as long as they aren't playing LSU. Thank God Loyola ended their football program. I'd hate to be split when it would come down to gameday.

Tulane leaving the SEC was a poor move, but a good one for LSU. Tulane's appeal is New Orleans, academics and the Superdome, even back then Tulane Stadium was a great place to play and hosted Superbowls. Them leaving allowed for LSU to be the unquestioned dominant power in the state.

What moron decided that Tulane should leave the SEC in 1966?

Chicken ,Your a Genius :-) I totally agree!!