Slive speaks on Arkansas, scheduling at LRTD Club

SEC commissioner Mike Slive was the guest speaker at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday.

— Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive was relatively mum on many points during his address of the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday afternoon.

The 11-year head man of the SEC reflected on his tenure atop the conference - which includes the last six Bowl Championship Series national titles - in his speech. Slive then took part in a 15-minute question-and-answer session with fans, in which he both defended and joked about the ins-and-outs of the SEC.

Slive was asked several times about the situation regarding Arkansas' game against LSU being played on Thanksgiving weekend, to which he replied that the conference doesn't play a big part in the decision. Slive was also asked by media and fans about the possibility of a nine-game SEC schedule, with the commissioner laying out the conference's plan coming into the 2012 and 2013 seasons, which he said they are pleased with.

He also added, when asked about his thoughts on the progress of new SEC members Missouri and Texas A&M, that he believed the true measure of new conference members will come 10-to-20 years down the road and rely on how they fit in with the other members as a whole.

Read more about this story in tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.