Hottest topic at next week’s SEC meetings? Start with the football schedule | Mizzou Sports News

COLUMBIA, Mo. — We’re speaking about conferences! Not a activity! Not a game! We’re talking about meetings!

To borrow from famed philosopher and basketball Corridor of Famer Allen Iverson, we are in fact chatting about meetings. Some fairly vital kinds in the globe of college sports activities.

For the initially time in three several years, the movers and shakers in the Southeastern Conference will convene in Destin, Florida, following 7 days for their yearly spring meetings.

The league has not held these conferences in particular person because 2019 — many thanks, COVID! — which means there will be loads of new faces sitting down all over the tables in Destin. Given that the final in-particular person spring meetings, 12 of the 14 SEC educational institutions have hired a new individual in just one or extra of their three most noticeable positions: athletics director, soccer coach, men’s basketball mentor. Only one particular school has hired a person new in all three positions due to the fact the 2019 meetings: That would be Missouri, now led by Advert Desiree Reed-Francois and coaches Eli Drinkwitz and Dennis Gates. 4 other SEC universities have due to the fact employed new coaches in the two key income sports activities: Florida, Louisiana Condition, Mississippi State and South Carolina.

3 several years in the past the principal speaking points between SEC leaders revolved all over looming rule alterations for title, image and likeness possibilities for athletes, the freshly made transfer portal and schools promoting liquor at sporting activities. The to start with two matters will surely command much more consideration future week in Destin. The SEC meetings will mainly form the league’s foreseeable future — and that of university sporting activities in standard.

To start with, even though, comes soccer. Right after all, this is the SEC. There is urgency for conference to settle on a new model for the football routine, in particular with Oklahoma and Texas established to sign up for the membership by 2025, if not quicker. The SEC has analyzed additional than 40 scheduling choices, commissioner Greg Sankey not long ago explained to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Ahead of figuring out who plays whom, the league have to decide regardless of whether to keep at eight convention game titles or shift to 9. (The Big Ten, Huge 12 and Pac-12 participate in nine league game titles.) A shift to 9 meeting games is good for fan interest, ticket income and Tv ratings but could dilute the SEC’s pool of contenders for the Faculty Soccer Playoff, particularly if Sankey can not influence his fellow convention commissioners to grow the latest 4-staff playoff discipline.

From there, the SEC requires a scheduling structure, preferably a person that makes far more wide range from calendar year to yr. Under the present-day East-West division product, teams go 12 years among internet hosting teams from the other division. Mizzou, about to begin its 11th season in the SEC, can make its initial at any time vacation to Auburn this drop.

Thamel and Sports activities Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger have both of those noted the league has targeted on two designs: a 1-7 design for an 8-activity agenda with one particular annual activity against a fixed rival then 7 game titles towards rotating opponents and a 3-6 product under a nine-sport timetable with a few game titles from long-lasting opponents and six rotating foes.

For Missouri, if the league prefers regional/historic rivals, the 3-6 product could indicate annual online games in opposition to Arkansas then a two-crew mix of Oklahoma, Texas or Texas A&M. Or what about two regional foes, let’s say Arkansas and Oklahoma, and a third wild card to even out the degree of competition, possibly Vanderbilt, Kentucky or South Carolina?

Transferring ahead, how will the SEC determine its championship video game contributors? Before this thirty day period, the NCAA Division I Council allowed conferences to do absent with football divisions to figure out who performs in their championship game titles. The ACC and Mountain West speedily eradicated their divisions. Will the SEC be far behind? Coaches and Adverts will undoubtedly point out their case in Destin.

The SEC will even think about an SEC-only postseason playoff, Thamel noted, matching up to eight groups in a mini-match to help make your mind up the national winner.

SEC leaders will have extra on their minds subsequent week. Does the league have a consensus program for reform when it comes to both the transfer portal and NIL? The one-time transfer waiver combined with NIL endorsements have launched an era of (mostly) unchecked free of charge agency in faculty sporting activities and just past week induced a war of words at the top of the meals chain concerning Alabama’s Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher. A term of advice for Drinkwitz: In situation you get seated amongst the two coaches, convey along a helmet and pads.

Two extra Missouri soccer kickoff instances have been discovered Thursday. Both of those the Sept. 10 recreation at Kansas Point out (ESPN2) and the Sept. 17 house activity in opposition to Abilene Christian (SEC Community+) will begin at 11 a.m. MU’s Sept. 1 year opener towards Louisiana Tech is even now set for a 7 p.m. start on ESPNU. Missouri’s regular season finale towards Arkansas on Nov. 25 will kick off at 2:30 p.m. on CBS, the community announced this week. … On Sunday, the Tigers extra a determination from junior university defensive back again Les “LJ” Hewitt. Initially from Samford, Florida, Hewitt invested time at two Mississippi junior faculties and ideas to enroll at Mizzou in time for the 2022 year. He’ll incorporate depth to the secondary this fall.

This was bound to materialize in an election calendar year: Tennessee-Martin quarterback Dresser Winn has agreed to promote a prospect for district legal professional, Colin Johnson, which is thought to be the initially NIL-linked campaign endorsement from a school athlete. Must we hope 1 of the lots of contenders for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat to seek an endorsement from a Mizzou athlete? Remain tuned. … For the next straight offseason, Mizzou baseball is in the market for a pitching mentor. Mitchell Plassmeyer, who was promoted in January right after the demise of pitching mentor Brian DeLunas, has left Columbia for a small-league pitching coordinator situation with the Orioles. … St. Louis’ Tony Vitello (De Smet) was named SEC baseball coach of the calendar year immediately after guiding No. 1 Tennessee to an SEC-very best 25-5 league file. The Vols are the major favourite to get the Faculty Entire world Series at 5/2 odds, adopted by Oregon Point out at 15/2 and Arkansas and Oklahoma Condition at 14/1, by betonline.ag. …. Why do university athletes transfer? In accordance to an 2021 NCAA study that polled just about 10,000 school athletes, 8% said they would likely transfer all through the 2021-22 college 12 months and the most widespread purpose cited was mental wellbeing: 61% amongst girls and 40% amongst gentlemen. Conflict with a coach or teammates was the 2nd-most prevalent respond to (56% for gals, 34% for men), adopted by taking part in time (34% for women of all ages, 36% for adult men).