Conference Expansion: What It Means For The Georgia Bulldogs

The winds of change have blown through at least three major athletic conferences around the country and, whether we like it or not, they might just have hit home.

With the threat of two competing conferences adding nationally recognized commercial powerhouses, it's only a matter of time before SEC commissioner Mike Slive and the powers that be bring the conference drama to the SEC.

And this could not be worse news to the Georgia Bulldogs.

As if the apparent imminent demise of the Big 12 conference wasn't enough, recent reports out of the Big 10 suggest that it is closer to adding Notre Dame than most would have guessed.

While Slive has remained firm in his desire for the conference to remain unchanged from its current format, these recent events across the national landscape may signal changes that he cannot ignore.

And despite being home to one of the better football programs in the country, there is very little upside for the University of Georgia when it comes to conference expansion.

In the current landscape in the SEC, Georgia is consistently one of the better teams on an annual basis. But the repercussions of adding teams into the conference fold could be detrimental to its future championship aspirations both in and out of the conference.

Let's take a look at a couple of scenarios and what they would mean for Georgia.

The SEC adds teams to its West division

One possible scenario for the SEC is that it could go after some of the leftovers from the Big 12 feast. As the SEC doesn't really need another power program, adding middle-of-the-road teams like Kansas or Kansas State could be one possibility.

This isn't a likely turn of events because these teams add very little in the way of new markets (read: money) to the SEC which, as we all know, is what is driving this conference Armageddon in the first place.

However, if this were to happen, the result would be that the SEC would add these teams to its West division and move a team from the West to the East (or more depending on how many teams were added to the conference).

Is it becoming clear yet?

The two teams that would likely be targeted for a move to the East would undoubtedly be Georgia rival Auburn University as well as the defending national champions, and one of the biggest national powers, the Alabama Crimson Tide.

While Georgia would battle for position with Auburn, having Alabama and Florida both in its division would be a major setback, a setback which could exclude it from any conference championship in the foreseeable future.

It would be Oklahoma State to the Big 12's Oklahoma and Texas--impossible hurdles to clear despite the apparent success of the program.

While this does not appear to be a likely scenario as far as the two teams I have mentioned, any expansion that moves teams from the West to the East would be very unfortunate for Georgia.

But the alternative isn't much better.

The SEC adds two teams to the East division

The opposite alternative to the previous scenario would be for the SEC to add two teams to its East division.

This would be a better alternative for Georgia, but still not entirely a positive.

Some programs that have been tossed around as potential targets of the SEC include, among others, Miami, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and West Virginia.

While Georgia has been consistently more successful than each of these programs in recent years, a number of them are currently experiencing some upward movement.

Each also represents another threat in Georgia's pursuit of the Florida Gators for division supremacy. They are all--Georgia included--good teams that are striving to be great.

Right now, Georgia has a golden opportunity as the East division below Florida is basically wide open. Add in a Miami, Clemson or West Virginia, however, and suddenly there are two or three dogs fighting over the same bone (pun very much intended).

But neither of these scenarios represents a bigger threat to the Georgia Bulldogs than the final scenario.

The SEC adds one or more power programs to match the movement of other conferences

While Slive has expressed desire for the SEC to remain the way it is because it is already by far the strongest football conference in the country, there is always the potential that the conference would try to match what the other conferences do.

With the Pac-10 and Big 10 potentially adding the Texas Longhorns and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, respectively, the SEC could go after at least one national power to extend its dominance.

This would be tough for the SEC to accomplish as it would be arriving late to the party, but there is the potential that it could provide better offers for one of the Big 12 powers or it could raid the ACC as previously discussed.

In either scenario, the Dawgs would slide further down the conference food chain and would be left with nothing more than the bones of conference supremacy.

Already it trails behind Florida, Alabama and the LSU Tigers. And while it could be considered a better program than the University of Tennessee right now, Tennessee has had more past success in the BCS era and has also handled Georgia in recent years.

In other words, as far as the SEC goes, Georgia would go from one of the higher programs in the conference to just another solid middle-of-the-road team.

In any of these three scenarios, bids to BCS bowls could be thrown out the window, a conference championship would be an afterthought and a national championship would be out of the question.

It's a grim reality for a program that has experienced great resurgence under head coach Mark Richt.

And perhaps I'm being more pessimistic than I should realistically be. But I see nothing good for the Georgia Bulldogs coming from conference expansion.

Unfortunately, it is a reality that we may have to come to accept.