Making the Jump to the SEC

Peter Schmidt
Kappa Alpha Order

For those of you who have spent an extended period of time in the South, then I suggest you stop reading.

Missouri will officially join the SEC in July, but before the Tigers make the jump to the most prestigious college football conference in the country, there needs to be a culture change up in Columbia.

First, the university needs to get off its high horse and allow organized Greek tailgating. Every school in the SEC allows fraternities to put on a tailgate, and each school allows these tailgates to happen in one designated area. Most famous of these areas is The Grove at Ole Miss. While administration may argue that allowing Greeks to host a tailgate is unsafe and promotes binge drinking, they are really taking something away from the student body – 30 percent of the undergraduate population celebrating together for the game, which builds school spirit. Creating solidarity like this will get the student body behind the team and in the stadium; not just packing a bar. What a sight it would be to see all of the chapters at Missouri tailgating together and then to see a MASSIVE wave of well-dressed Greeks flood into Faurot.

Second, the Mizzou faithful needs to travel better. Every year, underrated Tigers teams are given a pretty crappy bowl because Missouri doesn’t travel. Say what you will, but this is true. No one came to the game down in Shreveport this year and in years before, the Tigers do not have a good showing at bowl games. Missouri fans need to travel this year because believe me, SEC fans will be in Columbia. You clearly don’t understand the SEC if you don’t think Columbia will be flooded with crimson when Alabama comes to town. Missouri fans need to travel a lot better.

But when we do travel, don’t expect a lot of Southern hospitality. Texas A&M and Missouri are the new kids on the block right now; both schools have to prove they belong. Countless people come up to me and remind me that we are not a football school and the Southeastern conference needs another “academic” school. The Tigers are going to need some big wins on the field this year to be taken seriously. Right now, Missouri is on the lower end of the totem pole (A&M are above us because of their geographic advantage of actually being in the South). The SEC is a fraternity – when you’re in, you’re in; when you are out, you are out. And what happens to new guys at fraternities? They have to earn their way into the house. The only way to earn our way into the house is to win; especially for an outsider like the Tigers.

However, there is a silver lining. The same people tell me “congratulations.” This is truly a monumental occasion for Mizzou. We are in the club! We just have to prove we belong here.

Southerners are a different breed of people. You may think you know someone from Texas or you may even be from Texas, but there is a world of difference between Louisiana folk, Tennessee people, Cajuns from Louisiana and folks from Central Florida (it is important to note that Miami is not in the South). Missouri fans are not only ambassadors of their school; they are representing their state and their proud history. Anyone worth their weight in salt from the South knows an obscene amount about their state's history and if you have time, they’ll take you down that road. There is a great history in the Show-Me-State that is sadly overshadowed by problems with the methamphetamine reputation.

You want to understand the SEC? Break down those letters; SOUTHeastern Conference. If you want to understand the SEC, you’ll have to understand the South. Places like Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina only have college football. There are no pro teams of anything in Tuscaloosa or in Starkville. College football is all they’ve got. So be respectful of these people and their devotion to the game. 

Now I know there are a lot of MU students from Chicago, but you had better do your best not to cringe when you meet a guy named “Sawyer” and his girlfriend “Cray” talking to you about drinking Apple Pie Moonshine; or when you meet someone who never went to Auburn but has “War Eagle” tattooed on his arm.

In closing, I challenge everyone to jump right in to the SEC, to learn the traditions and idiosyncrasies without judgment or trepidations. The University of Missouri is going to be here for awhile, so we gotta start acting like it.

And for God’s sake, if you are in fraternity, stop wearing jerseys to the game.

Peter is a senior studying strategic communications and business. You may contact him at rpsnrf@mail.missouri.edu.