Which Conference Would You Prefer To See The Razorbacks In?

[Mith242]

This occasionally comes up on the topic. It's been brought up again by the Texas basketball coach in the Hogs recent upset of the Longhorns. I thought it would be interesting to set up a poll. I did put it in the NWA Coffeehouse subforum. It seems to get more activity than the Arkansas Coffeehouse subforum. But I would be curious to see if there's a difference to people's opinion depending on what area of the state their from. So feel free to post a response along with a vote. Would people from the southern and eastern parts of the state identify more with SEC states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee and like us in the SEC? Would everyone in the northwest part of the state prefer the Big 12 because people in the area identify more with Missouri and Oklahoma?

[Mith242]

There could be an age difference as well. Younger people weren't around during the old Southwest Conference days and the old rivalries might not mean much to them. For me it's a hard call. I do miss the old rivalries and living in this corner of the state I think I could see some interesting rivalries with other schools like Missouri, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State because of proximity. But at the same time the SEC is a really good conference and it would seem to be hard to leave such a dominant conference.

[Stormcrow]

The only thing I'd miss about the SEC is the Golden Boot and even that's a contrived trophy to give us some reason to stick with SEC. I was a Sophomore when we moved to the SEC so I do remember all the old rivalries. Texas sucks but A&M.... well I think you all know the rest of that one.

[strmchsr77]

There could be an age difference as well. Younger people weren't around during the old Southwest Conference days and the old rivalries might not mean much to them. For me it's a hard call. I do miss the old rivalries and living in this corner of the state I think I could see some interesting rivalries with other schools like Missouri, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State because of proximity. But at the same time the SEC is a really good conference and it would seem to be hard to leave such a dominant conference.

[Mith242]

The idea of the Big 12 certainly is appealing to me. But even though we've had a hard time getting some new rivalries going in the SEC, the SEC has been very good for us. The SEC brings in a lot of money and even if we have a bad year we still get a piece of that money. Especially every time an SEC team wins the Natl Championship and such. Basketball has really dropped off lately. But in the 90's the SEC was real big in that sport as well. I think eventually the SEC will move up and become a better basketball conference. Overall I think the SEC has been a very good thing for the Razorbacks. I just don't know if I'd be ready to give up on a good thing. So I guess I'm still on the fence. I can see some nice positives for both choices.

[jllive]

Oooo, this one makes for a great debate. I'm currently a student at the U of A and have been a Hog fan since I was a kid. Even though I miss the great basketball teams from the 90s and all the great games, I never get too excited about playing teams like Georgia, Mississippi, or South Carolina. The only SEC teams I truly enjoy watching the Hogs play are LSU and Kentucky in bball and Bama/LSU in football. I think proximity has a lot to do with it. Missouri has always played us tough. Texas vs Arkansas will always be a great rivalry. I think the Big 12 presents the most natural rivalries and that is why I think a move to the Big 12 shouldn't be out of the question. People in central Arkansas would have a thing or two to say about this, but the Big 12 is a very strong conference and would provide us with terrific games. Recruiting would be one of my main concerns, but Arkansas tends to recruit Texas/Louisiana heavily and I don't think that any recruitng losses in Louisiana would be dramatic. In fact, Texas and Missouri recruiting should improve. All in all, I think a lot of Hog fans might prefer traveling to Texas/Oklahoma/Missouri than our other neighboring states. I'd be interested to get other people's take on that last thought.

[bubba72704]

My personal opinion -- you should play in the same states you recruit in. Outside of Arkansas, our primary recruiting grounds are Texas and Oklahoma.

But with all the money the SEC is making these days a switch to the big 12 is probably a dream. A sweet dream, but a dream nonetheless.

[zman9810]

I voted for a move to the Big 12 because of the proximity of the other schools and I think it would help recruiting. I've never been to a SEC game out of Arkansas but would make the trip to Oklahoma, kansas, Missouri and Texas regularly. It would be easier to organize bus trips for students and the general public for Big 12 games to ave more fan support.

Athletes would be more willing to come to Arkansas if the recruitng competition was with Big 12 schools rather than SEC schools much further away, especially those SEC schools with the East Coast glamour like Florida. Have we ever recruited a player out of Florida?

I don't know if will ever happen because of the money involved. but it would be great for the fans and athletes.

[Mith242]

True, I hadn't brought up recruiting. Despite being in the SEC we still rely heavily on Texas to get recruits. It's probably the biggest reason we picked up the Texas A&M series to be played at the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. It helps to have a game down there since it's a big recruiting area for us.

[Stormcrow]

Read yesterday where Jeff Long discounted any potential conference changes. The fact that he responded to that at all indicates to me there must have been some substantial buzz about it.

[Mith242]

Read yesterday where Jeff Long discounted any potential conference changes. The fact that he responded to that at all indicates to me there must have been some substantial buzz about it.

[CentralArkansas]

Interesting, yeah usually it doesn't get mentioned. But I do think it's not too likely Arkansas will leave. I don't think they'd want to take a chance.

[akahogfan]

Hmmm, I think that I am going to have to go with the SEC, just because of the Money and the good things that that can and will bring. That being said, I would love to play OU and Texass every year. I think that the A&M game will do a lot for recruting, so that helps, and I think that the more "old rivalry" games that we can schedule, the better. It would be great to stop playing all of these creampuffs every year and get some teams that the fans would actually like to see us play. I know that despite only being three when we moved to the SEC, I regard Texass to be our greatest rival, not LSU.

[Mith242]

True, it probably would never happen. But it's still fun to talk about.

[butttrumpet]

Arkansas now gets more recruits in football from Georgia and Florida even than Oklahoma.

I wouldn't mind seeing us in the Big 12, but if we went, they'd stick us in the North Division.

If there was a way to join the Big 12 South, I'd be all for it. It would be nice to have the option to go to an away game now and then without dropping $500-$1000 on a plane ticket.

I'm inclined to believe that it would cut our travel budget drastically, too.

Its fun hating LSU and Ole Miss, but I wouldn't miss them if we got to play Texas, OU and A&M every year. It just seems more natural.

In a perfect world, Iowa State and Baylor would leave the Big 12 (or get kicked out) and we would join it as an 11th member, the divisions would go away, and we would just play all the south teams and a few of the north teams every year. I don't see it happening, though.