a possible SEC western division addition: RICE

stop laughing and hear me out. a week ago, i never even would have considered them- they were a none-factor. i even cringed a little bit at the idea when i first saw it on texags. but i looked closer and they have advantages they bring to the table.

1. am i the only one who doesnt want to add 4 more top 10 teams/programs to the conference? sure, id like to add a power or 2, but not 4 more. all that means is were dividing out conference titles even further between even more football(or baseball or basketball) powers. adding a team that isnt dominant in football would add a nice mid season breather.

2. their houston affiliation. this is 2 fold: first, they help bring the houston TV market. yes, aggy and ut are still the lead horses in that town, and rice doesnt have a huge, rabid alumni base, but over time i think it would get better, and with a higher visibility situation, they could improve alot. second, with a huge houston based group of LSU alumni, having a game in houston every other year would be awesome. great for our fans, great for recruiting

3. premier baseball program. would fit in immediately

4. football stadium. rice stadium is expandable to 70K people. whether the are owl fans or the opponents is yet to be determined. OR, they could move bigger games to reliant like they have in the past with big UofH football games.

5. they can be vandy of the west. an excellent academic school, competes in sports, benefits from large SEC checks and can improve. yes, its private. yes, its hard to get into. yes, they will be playing against a stacked deck- but over time, they can evolve into what vandy is: competitive in all sports except football, but can still give you a dog fight on the grid iron, but will need the right coach.


im warming up to the idea. what do yall say?

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