Link: George O'Leary on SECession threat: 'They are like South during Civil War'

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I guess that makes Saban R. Lee.

Muschamp would be Pickett.

Whatever, George. Since you don't have a good argument, just drag up the Civil War.

Loser.

Can you believe anything he says? Now, what kind of Degree does he OFFICIALLY have?

George, why didn't YOU get to keep that ND job? Did it have anything to do with honesty/integrity?

I think he may be a good football coach but I wouldn't play for someone who lies about his credentials.

O'Leary learned all about the Civil War while earning his master's degree in 19th century military history. :biggrin:

He's just a bit of a hypocrite, I'd say. He lied about his credentials to become (temporarily) the coach of a program that is the king of the "haves" and doesn't look to secede because it has never felt the need to join everybody else. Notre Dame will not join a conference (they are loosely affiliated with the ACC, but they make sure that they aren't treated "just" as a member) and they are the only team with their own exclusive network TV contract. If someone hadn't done some research and exposed O'Leary's falsification on his resume, would he have the same sympathy for the "have nots"? I doubt it.

His argument breaks down on so many levels.

For one, this is nothing like the South during the Civil War. The South was a major underdog to the North during the Civil War due to the North's higher population and impressive manufacturing base. While the South certainly did well in the early going, they eventually succumbed to the North's advantages. So, the Power 5 conferences have much more in common with the North of the Civil War era. And it's not a secession that is going to occur, it's going to be the Power 5 kicking the smaller schools to the curb.

And another thing. Telling these schools to "remember where they came from" is a ridiculous statement to make. Of course they know where they came from. It's the smaller, younger schools that have no perspective on the matter.

Boise State was a junior college a few decades ago. Alabama has been an institution of higher learning since 1831! Was Orlando even established as a town at that time?

al.com link:

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/06/george_oleary_says_mike_slives.html

I'm all for breaking away but not just the SEC, we'd have to bring the other big conferences along. The only schools who don't like this idea are the "have nots" like UCF (sorry it's true Knight fans), and frankly, I don't care about them. The "haves" never wanted an level playing field (aka the trophies for everyone initiative) to begin with.

for all the "level playing field" folks...do they also contend that FCS schools are being treated unfairly? what about d2 and d3?

George is getting ready to be filed under "who cares".

1.This was 100% to be expected from someone. It's not the small schools would just idly by and say, "Sure....you guys take your billions and go play in your own division. We'll just hang out over here and kick rocks". O'Leary probably isn't the ideal "have-nots" spokesperson, but at least he has the guts to do or say something. If the power 5 separate then the rest of current D-1 might as well shut their programs down.

As O'Leary often says, "There are two or three good teams in each of the major conferences; the rest are just members. They get a paycheck just for being in the league."

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2.That quote is spot on. IMHO, a full 1/3-1/2 of the members of the power 5 would be interchangeable with, or are weaker than, many non power 5 schools.

rickvox79 said:

"The thing that's disturbing is that college football has been fighting for years to create a level playing field and now they're trying to go the other way and create an even wider gap between the haves and have-nots," O'Leary says. "I think some of these schools have forgotten where they came from."

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Where they came from? That's just a plain weird quote. What football power, came from the FCS after they lowered the lowered the scholarship limits? Boise St.? I'm having trouble naming a Big 5 college that seemed to have come from this football socialism he's referring to.

Besides that, this is exactly the problem with giving things that are not deserved, and lowering the bar to help those you can't climb over said bar. You create a sense of entitlement, and here it is. He's mad, oh so mad because they don't want to stoop to his level anymore...

He and his fellow recipients of the NCAA's attempts to bring everyone down to their level... they really seem like they might prefer to bring the whole thing crashing down, than to give up their special privileges (which is to deny benefits to all student athletes because they can't afford them).

AgentAntiOrange said:

1.This was 100% to be expected from someone. It's not the small schools would just idly by and say, "Sure....you guys take your billions and go play in your own division. We'll just hang out over here and kick rocks". O'Leary probably isn't the ideal "have-nots" spokesperson, but at least he has the guts to do or say something. If the power 5 separate then the rest of current D-1 might as well shut their programs down.



2.That quote is spot on. IMHO, a full 1/3-1/2 of the members of the power 5 would be interchangeable with, or are weaker than, many non power 5 schools.

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Yeah, but let's go ahead and swap them out and see what happens. If you want to find out, tell me what Utah and TCU have done since joining the Pac 12 and Big 12. So because Central Florida has decided to jump up to D1A in the past 15 years and they've put together a couple of winning seasons lately, they should be given Vanderbilt's spot even though Vanderbilt has been around for nearly 150 years?

He says there are two or three good teams in each conference? Didn't we finish with five or six teams in the top 10 in 2012?

TIDE-HSV said:

The smaller schools have brought this on themselves. It's always just been a question of time. The one school, one vote system carried the seeds of destruction within it from the beginning. There have always been far more small schools with votes than large, and they've used that voting power to try and bring all of college football down to a level they can afford. TBF, I've been surprised that the revolt has been this long in coming...

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Yes, if the Big 5 does attempt to do a true break away it wont come with out a court fight. There are a lot of politically powerful alumni associated with all those smaller schools. I am amazed that it has avoided Congressional intervention to this point, honestly. A true break away would have dire financial consequences for these smaller schools and possibly their state governments and bondholders who hold debt on facilities, etc for these schools.

Imo, the only way to avoid something to that effect would be for the CFP to be expanded very quickly to 8 teams with 2 of those slots allocated to the "other" FBS schools and 2 additional at large Big 5 schools. Then let these "other" schools sort out their conference and non-conference schedules to some arrive at the top 2 from the other FBS schools and seed them as the 7th and 8th seed in CFP.

I dont think the Big 5 can get away with totally shutting out the other schools...

JDCrimson said:

I am amazed that it has avoided Congressional intervention to this point, honestly.

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I don't know what legal grounds Congress has for intervening. I'm not trying to posture or politicize, I just don't know what authority Congress has in this case.

JDCrimson said:

Imo, the only way to avoid something to that effect would be for the CFP to be expanded very quickly to 8 teams with 2 of those slots allocated to the "other" FBS schools and 2 additional at large Big 5 schools. Then let these "other" schools sort out their conference and non-conference schedules to some arrive at the top 2 from the other FBS schools and seed them as the 7th and 8th seed in CFP.

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What if the Big 5 object? Can they be forced to stay in a voluntary organization against their will?

JDCrimson said:

I dont think the Big 5 can get away with totally shutting out the other schools...

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The only thing the smaller schools would be shut out of is the bigger schools' pocketbooks. They could do whatever they pleased with their own athletic programs.

If he were still coaching at GT or another school in one of the Big 5 Conferences, you would not be hearing his take on the Civil War or any comparisons.