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| Steve Spurrier on Arkansas to the Big 12...

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Spurrier stirs pot with Arkansas to Big 12 talk

South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier was asked Thursday for his take on ... See Morethe possibility of the Southeastern Conference expanding in the future if the Big Ten goes forward with its own expansion as most believe is inevitable.

And the Head Ball Coach didn’t hesitate to stir the pot.

“I don’t know if we’ll do a larger (SEC). I haven’t heard that scenario. I’ve heard maybe Arkansas back to the Big 12 or something like that,” Spurrier said.

Uh-oh. Spurrier hit a chord that many Arkansas fans have been stringing for several years. Could the Razorbacks head back to its Southwest Conference roots and move over to the Big 12 if the conference made a call?

Oh, boy.

Well, athletic director Jeff Long wasn’t biting or taking that type of talk seriously in January. After all, it is just banter from fans and not overtures from those in the Big 12 office.

“You would look at it, but I can just tell you right off the top of my head, there’s about 7 to 8 million reasons you wouldn’t make a move to the Big 12,” Long said during a speaking engagement in January, referencing revenue from the SEC.

Those numbers, of course, are not exact, but the standpoint remains — the Hogs would probably lose money with a move to the Big 12.

“It’s the strongest conference in the country,” Long said of the SEC. “It is the envy of, I would say, virtually every conference in the country. We’re the strongest financially, we’re strongest in our competition on the fields of play and we have the best coaches. There are many reasons to look at the SEC and say this is where you want to be.”

Spurrier wasn’t done talking about conference expansion.

“I’ve said all along Notre Dame should be in the Big Ten and they should have to play the same schedule everybody else up there plays,” Spurrier said. “I think it’d be good for them, good for college football. I don’t think Notre Dame wants to do that. They like being independent, but I think they should get in that Big Ten and go play.”

Several coaches on the SEC teleconference were asked about the possibility of SEC expansion Thursday. LSU Coach Les Miles and Georgia Coach Mark Richt don’t see SEC expansion on the horizon. Meanwhile, Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino is straying from the conversation.

“Well, you know, there’s been a lot of talk about it this week,” Petrino said. “I read a couple of things in the paper about it. I really haven’t given it a whole lot more thought than that.”

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