Mike Slive Quotes (27 Quotes)

One of the great things about the Southeastern Conference is our fans and our support -- the importance of college football. On occasion that exuberance goes over the top. What we'd ultimately like to do is channel it on the field.

I'm happy. I'm especially happy because before the season started all my friends in the media pronounced us dead.

The conference didn't have to take any action of any kind,

I think one of the things that we need to be doing over the next several months is explaining the double-hosting model, which is in effect the national championship game rotating through the four bowls. I think there might be some confusion as to how the teams get to the (title) game.

After reviewing all of the information, I felt this was the best decision for the game, ... The safety of our student-athletes, coaches and fans is our priority.

It's important now that this loophole be looked at nationally, ... In 2000, when the N. C. A. A. decided to move away from some critical analysis, it opened the door and people moved ahead with it.

Coaches develop relationships with these students, and if they come to believe in them as people, not just athletes, they want to give them the benefit of the doubt if they can. Not all of them make it. We know that. But we have given them the opportunity.

This is brand new for me so I didn't think about it at all. It's interesting that it has not come up before. If such an issue were to arise ... it's one that we will have to begin to think about and talk about.

We really don't have any concern about that. One thing this tragedy taught us is that we all need to be flexible.

I just think a lot of good basketball is being played throughout the country. Without getting into specific teams or specific conferences, you see it and you do your best to monitor it, and in terms of selections it makes for a difficult challenge ahead of us.

I was very impressed with the culture of the committee. You leave your hat at the door, so to speak, and do the best that you can with the material that's in front of you. There's a lot of information and the data is used in a way that's very efficient in terms of comparing teams. Then you have subjective impressions and the final analysis.

What's happened in our league is what I think a lot of us anticipated. Young league teams have gotten better as the season has moved forward. As a result, we're much deeper and more competitive than people maybe thought we were a couple of months ago.

Right now, there is peace in the valley. We hope to keep it that way for a little while.

So there are several format and administrative issues that are not necessarily newsworthy, but that will take some time and some thought and some consideration.

We'll evaluate everybody. But in terms of the work ethic and the commitment of our officials, I think it's very strong.

Hurricane Katrina has devastated the lives of victims in four of the SEC's states, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, and may continue to do so for months and years to come,

I'm the commissioner and I wanted everybody here on my media day. I'm disappointed he is not here.

I will have discussions with our athletics directors soon and will recommend that we eliminate the subjective element of the tiebreaker and replace it with objective criteria,

It is very gratifying to see, as so much of the media pronounced us dead in November.

This policy is designed to create a safe environment for everyone who participates and attends our athletic contests. I understand the exuberance of the moment but the security and protection of our student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans is our primary concern.

For those who feel you have to go deep into the tournament to validate your success, this does that. But we've been doing this for a long time.

I used to go to more games than I do now. Every game you see in person you probably miss somewhere between five and 10 games.

At the end of the day, each committee member has to make a subjective judgment about the teams.

The fascinating thing about the committee is that in the final analysis, you have to exercise your own subjective judgment. It's so easy to just latch onto numbers. You could have watched a team play whose numbers really don't truly illustrate how good it is.

I can't think that far ahead. Just having two of our teams at the Final Four is quite an accomplishment in itself.

The Saints expect to play there so we think by the time the Sugar Bowl comes there won't be an issues. We're really looking forward to getting back to New Orleans.

To make it a BCS issue devalues the conversation. It is not a BCS subject but an issue for the Division I commissioners to address. It has clearly moved from the back burner to the front.