I’m convinced that University of Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson has completely lost his mind after he told a local TV reporter that the Tigers “deserve” to be in the SEC.
There’s no question that Memphis is a perfect fit for the Southeastern Conference geographically, but location isn’t everything in college athletics.
When you have one of college football’s worst programs, it goes beyond all logic why Johnson would believe that Memphis deserves to be in the SEC.
The conference realignments of the past few years are being driven by football and the potential revenues that each school can help bring to a league.
I have to admit though it was fun listening to Johnson expressing his opinion based in pure fantasy.
There’s nothing wrong with dreaming, but damn, Memphis couldn’t make a short list of schools that were being mentioned as possible candidates to join the Big East.
ESPN’s Pat Forde has this to say about Johnson’s proclamation.
And special mention for an athletic director who should take the bus to work this week: Memphis’ R.C. Johnson (37), who declared Monday that his school “deserved” to be in the Southeastern Conference. Sure.
The biggest reason Memphis is of scant value to other leagues is because its football program is a dumpster fire. And the biggest reason it’s a dumpster fire is because Johnson has hired poor football coaches and generally shown no vision or urgency for how to improve the product.
That R.C. Johnson is such a card. If I were him, I wouldn’t be waiting for a call from SEC commissioner Mike Slive with an invitation to join the nation’s premier college athletic conference.
