HOOVER, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference is its own country in many ways, with revenue increasing every year and a large, devoted fan base. Monday morning in Hoover, Ala., it had its very own state of the union.
SEC commissioner Mike Slive began 2014 SEC Media Days Monday with his annual State of the SEC address. Slive’s speech included a look back on the 2013-2014 season, a preview of upcoming projects and quotes from Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela.
“12 years ago when I became the commissioner of the SEC, one of my goals was to build a bridge to prepare the conference for its future,” Slive said. “What we do today, how we handle our successes and meet our challenges will determine the SEC of tomorrow.”
Slive began the speech reflecting on the conferences achievements of the previous year. The SEC’s accolades included seven national championships, six national championship runner-ups as well as several national individual awards.
The commissioner also joked the 2014 BCS National Championship was “just a minute too long.” Florida State defeated Auburn 34-31 in the game, scoring a game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds left and spoiling the SEC’s bid for eight consecutive titles in the sport.
Slive said the conference is beginning to finalize its football scheduling format, something that has been a large topic in recent years. The conference will continue with the current eight-game conference schedule despite its addition of two teams in 2012.
The league is making an effort to improve non-conference scheduling by assigning each team at least one non-conference opponent from either the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or PAC-12 on an annual basis.
The conference will also undergo a change in college football’s post-season format. Under a new agreement, Slive said the Capital One Bowl will have the first lection of available SEC teams after the new college football playoff, the Sugar Bowl and occasionally the Orange Bowl.
The largest change will come after the Capital One Bowl, when the conference, not the bowls, will assign teams to a pool of six other bowl games.
“Before making the final decision, the conference will consult with our institutions and with the bowls,” Slive said. “But the decision will be ours.”
Slive laid out plains for the SEC Network, a television channel completely devoted to the conference that debuts August 4. The network is currently carried by Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse and the DISH Network, and Slive said there are “ongoing conversations with other major providers.”
The network plans to show five games in college football’s opening weekend and will have originated a game from every SEC stadium by the fourth week of the season. The Network will also show four new films as part of the SEC Stories documentary series, including a film on legendary South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier.
Slive said that while emphasizing athletics, education must remain at the core of what the SEC did. He used Florida basketball player Patric Young, who helped the Gators win an SEC title while also traveling to Africa to do community service, as an example for all student-athletes.
The commissioner finished his address by talking about the structure of NCAA’s Division I and the need for a governing system that will provide more power to the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and PAC-12. Slive said this new plan will seek to support its student-athletes with new provisions in scholarships.
Slive said the SEC will need to consider alternative options if the NCAA does not reach a positive outcome.
“It’s an exciting time for me, for college sports and for the SEC,” Slive said. “The challenges that lay ahead in my view are not obstacles but really opportunities to form a bridge and to make the road to the future stronger for everyone involved in college athletics.”