The SEC Needs to Take out the Trash
by Scott Keesee

SEC Football . . . a storied tradition lives inside this college football conference. This is a conference that in 2001 sent 8 teams to bowl games and came away with 5 victories with 2 of the losses coming by a TD or less. This great success was rewarded with over 100 million dollars in bowl incentives to be handed down among all 12 SEC teams. What a year for the SEC! However, there is one issue they forgot to deal with before heading into the 2002 season, and that issue is Vanderbilt, the worst Division 1 football program in the history of the game.

Here are some facts about Vanderbilt Commodores:

• 1920-1926 - Last time they had consecutive wins over in state rival Tennessee.
• 1948 - the last and only time I could find them ranked nationally, and they were 12th.
• 1955 - First bowl appearance and victory in the Gator Bowl 25-13 over Auburn.
• 1974 - Next and last bowl appearance ends in a tie with Texas Tech 6-6.
• 1975 - Commodores last victory at Neyland Stadium, home of in-state rival Tennessee, 27 years ago!
• 1982 - Vanderbilt's last Winning record.
• 1999 - 5-6 record.  Loss to Kentucky kept them out of bowl game.
• 1999 - Greg Zolman is the first Vandy QB to throw for 2,000 yards since 1984.
• 1999 - The decade of the 90's finishes with Vandy only winning 14 conference games in the entire decade.
• 2000 - return 18 starters from 99' only to go 3-8 with there wins coming against Kentucky, Wake Forest, and Duke.
• 2000 - Dan Stricker becomes the first wide receiver to catch 61 passes since 1984.
• 2001 - Vanderbilt returns 15 starters and bring home a 2-9 record with wins against Richmond and Duke, a team with a 23 game losing streak.
• 2001 - Dan Stricker becomes only the 3rd wide receiver in Vandy history to record a 1,000 yard season.
• 2001 - Greg Zolman, with 596 career completions and 7,981 yards passing, becomes the most prolific passer in Vandy History. Wow, and it only took four years!
• 2001 - Defense gives up school record 489.2 yards per game.
• 2001 - Defense ranked 111th, also a school record.
• No Vandy players have ever won the Heisman, Maxwell, Davey O'Brien, Lombardi, Outland, Butkus, or Jim Thorpe awards.

It is all these accolades that bring me to the reason for this article, which is to kick Vanderbilt out of the SEC. The last time Vandy made a move that might have made the general public think they want to win was the hiring of Woody Widenhofer, former Steelers Defensive Coordinator responsible for the famed "Steel Curtain Defense" that made the Steelers Super Bowl Champs 3 times in the 70's (and who also spearheaded the 111th ranked defense in the nation last year).

Granted, there are some holes to fill should Vanderbilt be removed. For example, who will replace them? There will only be eleven teams in the league, and what about the rivalry game between Vandy and Tennessee? Folks, don't worry, I have an answer that will take care of all three of these problems . . . the answer is the MTSU Blue Raiders!

MTSU, or Middle Tennessee State University, is one of the fastest growing colleges in the Southeast. They just became a Division 1 school in 1998 and have already been making a name for themselves in the South. MTSU is very different from Vandy in that they are trying to build a winning football program and are making the right steps towards that. MTSU is a member of the Sun Belt conference and is located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, just southeast of Nashville, and those beloved Commodores.

MTSU football came on the scene a few years ago and not with a bang. In their inaugural season, they finished with a 3-8 record, but in the middle of that 3-8 record were quality opponents such as Nebraska and Arizona, who won 11 games that year. Granted, their conference is somewhat of a cream puff, but they still were putting the big boys on the schedule, because they now that is how you gain respect and how you recruit. Vanderbilt would have never in a million years scheduled the likes of a Nebraska, or an Arizona, and especially as road games. MTSU has evolved into an 8-3 ball club, missing their conference title by a two point loss to conference rival North Texas. 8-3. Hello! Oh yeah, one other point of note about the 2001 season was that MTSU beat Vandy!

Vandy fans (if there are any) hold on, I am not just here to bash Vandy (even though they make it very easy to do). I am here to help you, too. MTSU could move into Vanderbilt's spot in the SEC. The move by Vandy would also give them an even playing field with their new Sun Belt brethren, allowing for better records and maybe even that next bowl game that has eluded them since 1974. The move in turn for MTSU creates the level of competition that they obviously desire judging from the non conference games that they schedule.

For example, this year four of MTSU's non-conference games are against SEC teams and all on the road. These matchups will start on opening day with Alabama, followed by Tennessee, and Kentucky. Three road games against SEC teams to open the season . . . now that is balls! There isn't an SEC team that is opening with three conference games much less three on the road this year. Oh and I almost forgot, that fourth road SEC game for MTSU is against? That's right, Vanderbilt. This could be a year in which MTSU, playing for the Sun Belt, could have a better SEC record than Vanderbilt. The only other problem MTSU would have is recruiting, which may not be up to par with Tennessee and Florida but is already leaps and bounds ahead of Vanderbilt, and would only improve because of the exposure the school would be guaranteed just by being a part of the SEC. Hell, even if they can't recruit that well they have 18,000 more walk-ons to choose from than Vanderbilt just based on enrollment.

I make one last plea to all who may read this, to all the college football fans out there, specifically Vanderbilt fans and MTSU fans, and also to Mike Slive, the new Commissioner of the SEC: Please for the love of God and everything that is holy get Vandy out of the SEC. They don't care about winning because they haven't been able to do it for 20 years. I want to see a school that wants to at least go out there and try to win, one who will try to raise their program to the level of their conference. That team is the MTSU Blue Raiders. You may not believe me now, but just wait until October 12, 2002, when these two teams meet again, and you will see which team belongs.