By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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With more and more information offering clarify with regards to a timeline and details, a future new-look SEC is coming into view.

Even breaking news just means more in the SEC.

The possibility of Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big XII for the SEC took over the national sports headlines mid-week. For a multi-day span, the preseason headquarters for talk about the Sooners and Longhorns was, fascinatingly, Birmingham, Alabama. Discussions, seemingly in a matter of mere hours, went from rumor to reality. Now there are reports of a league invitation coming as soon as next week. This looks to be underway.

Even if expansion hasn’t officially happened yet, a massive regional shift has already occurred. Oklahoma and Texas may not currently be part of SEC country and may not for a few more years; they are, at the very least, now leading SEC considerations.

With more and more information offering clarify with regards to a potential timeline and wide-ranging details, a future new-look SEC is coming into view.

Here are some storylines to remember;

1. This Changes Everything
Oklahoma and Texas are among the biggest brands in all of college sports, making this both very exciting and uncertain. These major heavyweights are not only national contenders, they are national names as well. The Sooners and Longhorns have massive fan bases and move the needle in a major way in terms of branding, ratings and ticket sales. From upcoming contractual negotiations to sponsorships to to market share to geographical reach to influence and impact, the SEC, already the top league in college sports, becomes even more powerful than ever. Honestly, it’s hard to even imagine the full scope of the economic impact of such moves on the league. Everything would start with the SEC.

The domino effect would be considerable and could be overwhelming. What happens to the Big 12? What happens to the conference’s remaining teams? A new round of expansion would be wide-ranging and possibly transformational with more moves coming. What happens to the Power Five and the Group of Five? Furthermore, how does an SEC superconference change future playoff proposals and other championship events? College football and college sports won’t be the same. New heights, for the SEC, would be well within reach.

A historic standard would be set with regards to infrastructure, resources and, in many different ways, earning potential. No other conference would be close. The SEC would become the focal point in ways we probably can’t even fully imagine yet. The ripple effect would be significant. Yes, conference payouts would obviously rise for league members, leading to leverage and positioning that would be unparalleled. League schools would only be more handsomely rewarded. With the ability to maybe even act autonomously in some situations, the SEC would, for lack of a better phrase, run everything.

This would be like nothing ever before seen in college athletics.

2. SEC Reset
A couple of theoretical models have already been introduced, most notably four, four-team sub-divisions which would create a pod system of sorts. Moving to 16 teams would require the SEC to reestablish things on a basic level. Could divisions still exist? How would teams compete for a spot in the conference championship game? Could annual rivalries be kept in place? As opportunistic as adding two superpowers would clearly be, might further expansion actually dilute some of the SEC’s traditional storylines?

Instead of simply trying to advance to the SEC Championship Game as a step towards the College Football Playoff, it’s logical to see a scenario where the fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh place team in the league advances to whatever new postseason format might exist. While that would only be an added bonus for SEC programs competing for a title, could that lessen some of the significance on regular season games? Would there still be a consistent sense of urgency? Would a superintendence ultimately have more of a professional design? Could losses, even in-league, actually mean less?

The schedules, with, for example, an Alabama playing the likes of Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M and then Oklahoma in the same regular season, would be absolutely incredible. The idea of Florida and Oklahoma meeting in September is quite fun to think about. It’s fair to ask, however, if an extra league game would impact long-standing inter-conference rivalries? How much would those contests even matter with such national implications on so many SEC games? There would have to be an adjustment in how fans interpret results.

3. A New Competitive Balance
In a league where arguably ten or more of the biggest names in college sports would reside, who would emerge as the leaders? In last season’s final polls, Alabama, Texas A&M, Georgia and Florida all finished in the national top 12. National champion LSU and Auburn were both top 15 teams the year prior. Add to that group Oklahoma, which has made the College Football Playoff four times, and Texas, a top 20 team a year ago, and you could easily see a pre-season poll where close to half of the ranked teams are from the SEC. The problem is, somebody has to lose.

While the SEC would undoubtedly be college football’s inarguable superpower, more collective leverage nationally could ultimately come with less consistency individually. The smack talk amongst fans has already begun, with suggestions that this-team or that-team won’t be able to compete or win. Though who takes a step backwards is yet to be determined, there is truth in the premise; not everybody will meet expectations. For programs making millions of dollars and investing that money in pursuit of championships, that may come with disappointment.

Fans and media alike will likely have to slightly adjust expectations with how records are reviewed; 8-4 could become the new 10-2. How would the system respond to a three-loss conference champion or a three or four-loss conference champion? In adding Oklahoma and Texas, it would obviously become more difficult than ever to win the SEC and win games consistently, period. In a sport like football where winning most of your games has long been the expectation, even a slight change in that mindset will be relatively new.