Roundtable: What rumored SEC expansion talks could mean for UK

While SEC Media Days has still been going on down in Hoover, Ala., the big news of the week broke on Wednesday with reports that Texas and Oklahoma could have interest in joining the Southeastern Conference.

Not surprisingly, after that report went public it was all anybody wanted to talk about.

In this Cats Illustrated Roundtable feature, Jeff Drummond, David Sisk, and Justin Rowland discuss what a hypothetical SEC with both Texas and Oklahoma would mean for Kentucky.

Jeff Drummond: I keep going back to something that John Calipari said seven or eight years ago that has always stuck with me. During some of the major conference shuffling that went on in the early 2010s, he predicted that we are eventually heading toward a "super conference" of sorts that includes the biggest of the big athletic programs in college sports. They'll branch off from the NCAA, make their own multi-media deals, set their own rules, etc., etc., It sounded like a stretch at the time, but with the arrival of the NIL era, I think that's where we may be headed in the long run. Short-term, adding Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC would certainly be interesting, but I'm not sure it would be a good thing for UK. In football, it may require some division reshuffling that ultimately does not help the Cats. The possibility to reach a New Year's Day bowl like the Citrus Bowl to cap the 2018 season would be smaller. In basketball, it would elevate the status and prestige of the SEC -- especially if Texas ever ascends to elite status like many have predicted for years -- but I wonder how much benefit UK would receive from that. Change is inevitable. I guess we just hang on and enjoy the ride.

David Sisk: Just like Name, Image and Likeness it is anybody’s guess how conference realignment will turn out. What we do know is that we are in the initial stages of both. Paul Finebaum has basically said there will not be an NCAA as we know it in five years. The power will go to the conferences, and Texas and Oklahoma are the prizes in the pillage. They are the two elite athletic programs and brands in a very unstable conference. The Oklahoma rumors to the SEC have happened before, but at the same time Texas was supposedly looking to the Pac12. Now it seems talks may be more serious than ever. There will be lots to work out. The Longhorn Network versus the SEC Network, and the objections from programs like Texas A&M are a few. However, as this plays out, college sports and conference alignments are getting ready to take on a totally different look.

Justin Rowland: I think it would be great for Kentucky basketball to add another couple of programs that have a high ceiling and some track record of success. It would make SEC basketball more competitive and fun so that's something big. On the football front the "normie" take is probably correct. It would make success more difficult for Kentucky. No matter how you would shuffle teams, divisions, or pods in a 16-team super-conference, you're going to face a gauntlet each year. But I do think your own program's prestige value (and the benefits of more money come into play too) goes up simply by virtue of membership. That's been a big part of Kentucky's rise under Stoops; the national perception of the SEC.