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Post by stevehorn on Apr 20, 2022 12:15:15 GMT -5
I have no facts concerning your question, but I suspect it's not significantly more popular. Outside of OKC and Tulsa areas, Oklahoma is small towns and rural areas. Likely not much club ball outside OKC and Tulsa. I suspect Equestrian is good for their athletic donations. Pretty expensive sport and I suspect OSU gets some good donations from wealthy fathers making sure their darling daughter has a place on the team. Yeah ... but there's no rule that you are only allowed to recruit players from your own state!
I hear Texas has a lot of talent ...
Was just answering a specific question about popularity in Oklahoma, not a question about recruiting. If OSU were to add a volleyball team, I'm sure they would recruit Texas heavily like they already do in most sports. |
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Post by stevehorn on Apr 20, 2022 12:21:43 GMT -5
This is a bit off-topic (and certainly not an issue for Vandy, as noted above), but when OU joins the SEC, they are going to have change their ratio of men's/women's sports. They currently have 10 women's sports and 9 men's. SEC rules require 2 more women's teams than men's (to balance out the vast disproportionality of football in terms of scholarships, and to help address historical imbalances in college athletics). OU already has volleyball (obvs), gymnastics (your national champions), and rowing. They don't have varsity swimming/diving. Anyone know if they plan to add it? Or they could go the route of adding Equestrian and compete against SEC member schools Auburn, UGA, SC, and TAMU (and regional schools TCU, SMU, Baylor, and OK State). Or would they drop a men's sport? (The imbalance comes in part from having more men's teams than "usual;" specifically, they have a men's gymnastics team and a wrestling team -- a very good one. No SEC schools have men's gymnastics at the varsity level, and only Mizzou, I think, sponsors wrestling.) Do they have a suitable swimming facility on campus?that would be a BIG expenditure and total PITA. I think it's most likely they'd add sand vb or lacrosse (or maybe women's wrestling?) Sand VB might be the best possibility. I thought about women's wrestling, but then discovered it's not yet a D1 NCAA sport. Saw another article that Iowa is now the first P5 school to add women's wrestling. |
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 20, 2022 12:56:29 GMT -5
Has Oklahoma State ever considered adding women's volleyball? It will be rather embarrassing if they're the only P5 school not to sponsor it. Would just be another sport to losing to OU. I mean, they won't be in the same conference much longer, and it's not like Oklahoma is that great at volleyball. |
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 20, 2022 13:09:26 GMT -5
Do they have a suitable swimming facility on campus?that would be a BIG expenditure and total PITA. I think it's most likely they'd add sand vb or lacrosse (or maybe women's wrestling?) Sand VB might be the best possibility. I thought about women's wrestling, but then discovered it's not yet a D1 NCAA sport. Saw another article that Iowa is now the first P5 school to add women's wrestling. Yep, Iowa is the first, but I don't think they'll be the last. I think there's quite a bit of potential in women's wrestling. Iowa is going to have a near monopoly on the best women's wrestlers once they get their program off the ground, I think. But Vanderbilt could be an interesting alternative. It's a better school than Iowa (all due respect), and I'm sure that there are some recruits who would prefer to live in Nashville than Iowa City. Edit: I now realize from reading the earlier comments that the question was about Oklahoma, not Vanderbilt. And I looked into Iowa's women's wrestling, as I hadn't checked up on it since they announced they were adding it. They hired highly regarded coach Clarissa Chun, and they have 10 commits so far, which includes the No. 1 overall recruits at the 100, 144, 164, and 200-pound weight classes, including No. 1 overall recruit Kylie Welker. Some of their other recruits are in the top five at their weight classes. Interestingly, the Blades sisters (Korina and Kennedy), which are the No. 3 and No. 5 overall recruits, committed to Arizona State. It seems that ASU also indicated back in 2017 that they would be interested in adding a women's wrestling program. So I think that perhaps the next P5 school to add women's wrestling may be ASU. Or if not, then another Big Ten or Big 12 traditional men's powerhouse. |
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Post by donut on Apr 20, 2022 13:11:52 GMT -5
Would just be another sport to losing to OU. I mean, they won't be in the same conference much longer, and it's not like Oklahoma is that great at volleyball. Somewhat ironically, the Bedlam Series name comes from the wrestling rivalry between the two schools. And OSU holds an insanely lopsided advantage there. |
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 20, 2022 13:16:59 GMT -5
I mean, they won't be in the same conference much longer, and it's not like Oklahoma is that great at volleyball. Somewhat ironically, the Bedlam Series name comes from the wrestling rivalry between the two schools. And OSU holds an insanely lopsided advantage there. I did not know that. I thought it came from football. It's also funny that Oklahoma with its seven wrestling national titles is so far behind OSU and its 34. |
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 20, 2022 13:23:05 GMT -5
Here's one idea. I think they might swap out Missouri for Texas A&M so that Texas and A&M are in the same pod, but this looks about right otherwise. If they are trying to keep things as local as possible, I'd probably put UK-UT-Vandy together with either USC or UGA, and then send the other one to UF-Auburn-Bama. I think they'll want to keep Florida and Georgia together, but I don't think they want a Florida/Georgia/Alabama/Auburn "Pod of Death." Keeping in mind that football is the sport that will primarily drive these decisions. So I think Auburn and Alabama will be separated from Florida and Georgia. |
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Post by donut on Apr 20, 2022 13:24:22 GMT -5
If they are trying to keep things as local as possible, I'd probably put UK-UT-Vandy together with either USC or UGA, and then send the other one to UF-Auburn-Bama. I think they'll want to keep Florida and Georgia together, but I don't think they want a Florida/Georgia/Alabama/Auburn "Pod of Death." Keeping in mind that football is the sport that will primarily drive these decisions. So I think Auburn and Alabama will be separated from Florida and Georgia. I bet the rest of the SEC will be thrilled if Bama gets to play Vandy every season lol. |
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Post by donut on Apr 20, 2022 13:27:27 GMT -5
Somewhat ironically, the Bedlam Series name comes from the wrestling rivalry between the two schools. And OSU holds an insanely lopsided advantage there. I did not know that. I thought it came from football. It's also funny that Oklahoma with its seven wrestling national titles is so far behind OSU and its 34. Per Wikipedia, at least. Apparently the wrestling matches got very very rowdy, and that's where "bedlam" comes from. Fun fact: OSU also holds a healthy advantage over OU in baseball!  |
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 20, 2022 13:29:09 GMT -5
I think they'll want to keep Florida and Georgia together, but I don't think they want a Florida/Georgia/Alabama/Auburn "Pod of Death." Keeping in mind that football is the sport that will primarily drive these decisions. So I think Auburn and Alabama will be separated from Florida and Georgia. I bet the rest of the SEC will be thrilled if Bama gets to play Vandy every season lol. Lol, I mean someone has to get a free win. Florida and Georgia aren't even in the same division as Alabama and Auburn right now, so I think there is close to zero chance that they would all end up in the same pod together (or even that three of them would end up in the same pod in the scenario that you suggested with Georgia potentially being with Kentucky/Vanderbilt/Tennessee). The SEC wants to maximize its chances at multiple playoff bids. |
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 20, 2022 13:44:28 GMT -5
This is a bit off-topic (and certainly not an issue for Vandy, as noted above), but when OU joins the SEC, they are going to have change their ratio of men's/women's sports. They currently have 10 women's sports and 9 men's. SEC rules require 2 more women's teams than men's (to balance out the vast disproportionality of football in terms of scholarships, and to help address historical imbalances in college athletics). OU already has volleyball (obvs), gymnastics (your national champions), and rowing. They don't have varsity swimming/diving. Anyone know if they plan to add it? Or they could go the route of adding Equestrian and compete against SEC member schools Auburn, UGA, SC, and TAMU (and regional schools TCU, SMU, Baylor, and OK State). Or would they drop a men's sport? (The imbalance comes in part from having more men's teams than "usual;" specifically, they have a men's gymnastics team and a wrestling team -- a very good one. No SEC schools have men's gymnastics at the varsity level, and only Mizzou, I think, sponsors wrestling.) U of Minn was one of the few schools in the country to have varsity men's gymnastics, and just dropped the team.
Would think that would be by far the easiest path for them (OU) to go.
Also would assume OU will stay in the Big XII for wrestling, which is a large, competitive conference that has several wrestling teams from schools in various other DI conferences that don't sponsor the sport. Mizzou is there.
Hmm, Oklahoma actually has a really good men's gymnastics program with 12 national titles, including four straight from 2015 to 2018. Also, there are only 13 NCAA men's gymnastics programs. And men's volleyball thinks they have it bad. Anyway, I don't think they would drop men's wrestling either. If they were to drop a men's sport, I think something like tennis or indoor track would be more likely than either gymnastics or wrestling. |
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Post by donut on Apr 20, 2022 13:50:33 GMT -5
I bet the rest of the SEC will be thrilled if Bama gets to play Vandy every season lol. Lol, I mean someone has to get a free win. Florida and Georgia aren't even in the same division as Alabama and Auburn right now, so I think there is close to zero chance that they would all end up in the same pod together (or even that three of them would end up in the same pod in the scenario that you suggested with Georgia potentially being with Kentucky/Vanderbilt/Tennessee). The SEC wants to maximize its chances at multiple playoff bids. I mean, I get it. Although Vandy isn't as much of a free win for some other teams as they are for Bama. From a fan's perspective, I'd just rather they minimize distance and try to keep rivalries in tact. For the most part, that proposal does that, but A&M/Texas and UK/UT stand out to me personally. Hell, at least give A&M Arkansas! |
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 20, 2022 13:55:59 GMT -5
Lol, I mean someone has to get a free win. Florida and Georgia aren't even in the same division as Alabama and Auburn right now, so I think there is close to zero chance that they would all end up in the same pod together (or even that three of them would end up in the same pod in the scenario that you suggested with Georgia potentially being with Kentucky/Vanderbilt/Tennessee). The SEC wants to maximize its chances at multiple playoff bids. I mean, I get it. Although Vandy isn't as much of a free win for some other teams as they are for Bama. From a fan's perspective, I'd just rather they minimize distance and try to keep rivalries in tact. For the most part, that proposal does that, but A&M/Texas and UK/UT stand out to me personally. Hell, at least give A&M Arkansas! Sure, I understand where you're coming from. And as I noted earlier, I actually do think that that A&M and Texas will be in the same pod. The SEC (and perhaps more importantly, the SEC's TV partners) will want to make sure that game is played every single season. |
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Post by bluepenquin on Apr 20, 2022 14:36:35 GMT -5
Not knowing all the politics and rivalries for the SEC - I would expect something like this:
Football - 2 divisions East and West. Play everyone in your division and then one game outside the division for an 8 game conference season. Conference Championship game from the division winners. West (Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas). East (Alabama, Auburn, Vandy, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina).
I think this would maintain all the main rivalries in the conference. The question will be how the SEC will view Oklahoma and Texas programs? If they view them as good or superior to Auburn/Florida - then this would fly. If they view them as 2nd division type programs, then they will think this is way too lopsided to the East and will come up with a different plan. To me - this is a pretty equal distribution of football programs.
Volleyball - 4 pods makes sense to me. Play home and home against the 3 other teams in your pod and then 1 match against the other 12 teams. This is assuming that the SEC will want an 18 game conference season (which is optimal). On a side note - they should try and work out a midseason conference showdown with another conference like the ACC or B12. The Big Ten would be a great choice if they would ever go with an 18 match season.
I would go with the following Pods: Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State, LSU. Vandy, Kentucky, Auburn, and Alabama. Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina. The potential edits to this would be swapping Missouri and Arkansas or Kentucky and Tennessee.
Basketball would also work best with the 4 pods - only Football is where it wouldn't make scheduling sense.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2022 14:45:59 GMT -5
Would just be another sport to losing to OU. I mean, they won't be in the same conference much longer, and it's not like Oklahoma is that great at volleyball. I imagine that OU-Okla St already have or will have an all-sports rivalry "challenge" series each year. Similar to Iowa and Iowa St. |
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