Mike Slive, Commisioner of SEC, to the Rest of the NCAA: We'll Be No. 1

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fla.): This week in a speech to the Southeast Region meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said words that went beyond the room he was speaking in, beyond the assembled gentlemen's intended audience, and right to the offices of the Big Ten, who may be in expansion talks right now.

Should the Big Ten indeed be talking of expanding not just to 12, but to 16, to include such big names as Nebraska and Missouri from the Big 12 and Rutgers, Pitt and Syracuse from the Big East, Slive is ready for a response.

This would make the Big Ten the nation's "Super Conference" and it's champion an almost sure contender for any national championship game.

It would also shift them to become the media's golden conference and bring in the big dollars and new television contracts.

In other words, they would become the new SEC.

Except that this week, Mike Slive not only laid down the gauntlet, but firmly slapped the face of the Big Ten by saying they would never take the place of the SEC on his watch.

His exact words words were, "Given the success we’ve experienced over the past decade, we are comfortable in the position in which we find ourselves.

"Having said that, if there’s going to be a significant shift in the conference paradigm, the SEC will be strategic and thoughtful in order to maintain its position as one of the nation’s premier conferences."

In other words, if you take in those schools, we'll take in Texas, Texas A&M, Florida State and Miami and you'll continue to be that "Other Conference".

Clearly the "position in which we find ourselves" is a reference to being the top dog.

With SEC claiming five of the last seven BCS championships, and possibly moving to take a team that took one of the two they didn't win, they would clearly remain the top dog in college football.

It's good to be the king and Slive intends for the SEC to remain that way.

With all the rumors of conference re-alignment and expansion, Slive wants to make sure that everyone knows where he stands on where it will all end up.

"We’re not going to allow ourselves in any way, shape or form to be anything less than what we are now."

And what they are right now is King of the hill. It's not important that you agree with Slive, only that end results prove it to be so.