Yesterday afternoon news officially broke that ESPN had signed Paul Finebaum to a five year contract. The deal calls for 100 TV appearances a year and a simulcast of Finebaum's radio show on the upcoming SEC Network, set to debut in August of 2014.

It's a smart decision that fills up several hours of programming year-around on the upcoming SEC Network. Putting radio shows on television works pretty well already and is a cost-effective duality. ESPN pioneered the strategy in sports with multiple shows now airing daily and NBC and CBS have followed up on the decision, placing Dan Patrick and Tim Brando front and center on the NBC Sports Network and the CBS Sports Network. It would be a pretty big shocker if Fox didn't also have a radio show on television when FoxSports1 and FoxSports2 debut this August.   

But the biggest aspect of this deal is the message that the SEC is sending to the college sports universe. 

My Facebook news feed is good for two things:

1)   Arguments about politics.

2)   Arguments about college football.

Written By: Steve Layman   Jim Delany made the move that started the college football realignment carousel. It was a move he didn't make that will bring the carousel essentially to a stop with Notre Dame as a non-football playing member of the ACC and not a member of the Big Ten.

This morning ESPN's Brett McMurphy broke the news that Notre Dame would join the ACC for all major sports except football. The Irish would play five football games against the ACC, which isn't that big of a stretch considering that Notre Dame has played four ACC schools -- counting Pitt -- this season and last. More significant than the addition of Notre Dame is the new $50 million buyout, which, if written effectively -- unlike the Big 12's disastrous bylaws -- would ensure that no ACC teams will be leaving over the next decade or so.

Indeed, Notre Dame's decision is likely to represent the final substantial move in the past couple of years worth of conference realignment.

Believe it or not, I think we're headed for a decade of stability in terms of conference realignment.

Why is that the case?

Dive in below and we'll explain.

Vegas Tailgate: Why football, drinking, and gambling go hand in hand

Let's get this out of the way early -- Missouri is a damn good fit for the SEC and I'm excited that the Tigers are a new part of the conference. Lots of SEC fans have no idea what to expect from Columbia, Missouri -- and some old school SEC fans resistant to change have argued against expansion -- but I guarantee you're going to love traveling there to watch football. Mizzou is a fabulous addition to the conference that fits the SEC in all facets. By the end of this travelogue I think you'll agree with me, but in the meantime a bit of background on why this article is written like it is.   

Six years ago I embarked on my Dixieland Delight tour. The rules of that roadtrip were simple, I'd visit every SEC football town and stadium as a fan. I called my season-long travel the Dixieland Delight Tour, "DDT" for short.   The DDT was a spectacularly fun ride that culminated in Florida's 2006 national title, the first title in three years for the conference. Five years ago Dixieland Delight was published and every year since the book was published the SEC has won a national title.

That's six years in a row.

Clearly, the DDT was the hidden key that unlocked the South's football dominance.

As soon as SEC expansion was announced last year Dixieland readers began to ask whether I'd update my book with two new chapters for the newest entrants to the league. 

The answer was yes.

The next question was which games to go see. I selected the Georgia-Mizzou game and the LSU-Texas A&M game.  

And so this is my story about a weekend in Missouri, written Dixieland Delight style. (Lots of you have been reading me for six years or more. Thanks for sticking with me for so many years and at so many Internet locations).  

By Jacob Cooper

It sounds like a teaser for an episode of HBO’s True Blood, but Arkansas fans found out just how true it is on Saturday against the University of Louisiana at Monroe in Little Rock: You can’t outrun what you really are.

By Craig Hayes

Late Saturday night as I was alternating between Missouri's debut in the SEC and the "no defense allowed" game that was going on between UCLA and Nebraska, I gradually started directing my attention to the Arkansas, Louisiana Monroe game as the War Hawks, a full 30 point underdogs, were hanging tough with the Razorbacks and ended up driving to a potential game tying score with less than a minute to go in regulation.

Y'all make every day on Twitter fun. Because as soon as an Arkansas Razorback fan pins up her nose and sings about the Louisiana-Monroe loss, I see it instantly.

You thought your team had a rough day?

At least you didn't lose to Louisiana-Monroe while wearing a hog hat.

And at least if your team lost you didn't pin up your nose and sing a song about standing behind your team.

Even John L. Smith thinks this is crazy.

Hell, even the Arkansas tattoo guy thinks this is crazy.

Enjoy.

(FYI, you can click pause on the videos on the right side of the screen. Although I'm not sure you'll want to once you hear this lady singing).

By Lori Kelly

Clay asked me to take some video at the Vanderbilt/South Carolina game last Thursday. I’m more of a behind the scenes girl, but hey, I’ll give it a shot. What should I film? Anything. Anything? Anything. OK. Surely there will be something worth filming. This is the season opener on ESPN against preseason ranked #9 South Carolina with our feisty big-mouthed coach at the helm.