Big Ten Expansion

[berniebrewer4life]

Oklahoma and Texas both have meetings with their boards concerning conference affiliation. Hammer could drop real quick.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'd have to say there's a very real possibility that within 5 years, we're looking at only 4 BCS conferences instead of 6. If Texas and Oklahoma bolt the Big12, that conference is almost certainly doomed. The Big East is a fantastic conference for basketball, but their football offering is more or less terrible. They added TCU, but now Syracuse and Pitt are looking to leave.

[paul253]

The Big East needs to figure out if they want to be a football conference or a basketball conference. They can't be both because there aren't a lot of teams that would go additions to both, and the basketball side is already swelled about as much as it can be. I actually wouldn't mind a basketball only conference with teams like MU, Depaul, Georgetown, St. Johns, Providence, and Villanova, then maybe add teams like Xavier, Dayton and St Louis.

 

As far as the Big 10 goes, there's a discussion about this on LambeauLeap but the team I'd really like to see them go after is Boston College. It's a great school academically and brings in a huge new TV market. If they go with BC, Notre Dame, Missouri, and Maryland, I'll be satisfied. It would add a of bunch of new markets like DC, KC, and St Louis and all schools are very good academically. Plus BC and Notre Dame would be great additions to Big Ten Hockey. I doubt BC will leave the ACC, especially now that it looks like Pitt and Syracuse may join, but I can dream.

[Funketown]

I've always thought it would make sense for Vanderbilt to leave the SEC and go to the ACC. They're sort of the nerd in a big room of jocks. I'm thinking a straight up trade Vanderbilt for FSU.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

I've always thought it would make sense for Vanderbilt to leave the SEC and go to the ACC. They're sort of the nerd in a big room of jocks. I'm thinking a straight up trade Vanderbilt for FSU.

Vandy does seem out-of-place in the SEC, which is a football-first conference.

If it moved to the ACC, then Vandy could match up well with Duke, Wake Forest, and Boston College which are similar types of universities. It would also be one of the schools that emphasizes basketball over football, like Duke and Wake Forest, and to some extent, Maryland and Virginia.

The long-standing rivalry against Tennessee could be maintained as an annual non-conference game, along with playing Memphis. With the ACC schedule in football, the need for the non-conference games to be fully-competitive would be lowered.

 

[tristarscoop]

I lived in Louisiana for a few years - every SEC fan I came across called Vandy the Red-Headed Step-Child of the SEC

[trwi7]

Syracuse and Pitt have been accepted to the ACC. Announcement on Sunday, which I guess technically is today.

[paul253]

I got really bored at work last night and this is what I came up with as my best guess for what the conferences will look like in a few years. Everyone says 4 super conferences and I think there will definitely be 4 big ones but I think there are enough teams left to form a 5th conference, which I tentatively named the Loser Conference:

 

 

Big Ten: Michigan, Michigan St., Notre Dame, Ohio St, Penn St,

Indiana, Maryland, Purdue

 

Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas,

Illinois, Northwestern

 

 

 

Pac 12: Oregon, Oregon St, Washington, Washington St, Stanford, Cal,

USC, UCLA

 

Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Arizona, ASU, Utah, Colorado, Texas

Tech, BYU

 

 

 

SEC: Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee,

Georgia, Clemson, West Virginia

 

 

Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, Miss St, Texas

A&M, Va Tech

 

 

 

ACC: Virginia, UNC, NC St, Duke, Miami, Wake Forrest, Georgia

Tech, FSU

 

BC, Uconn, Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, Louisville, Cincinnati,

South Florida

 

 

 

Loser Conference: Kansas, Kansas St, Iowa St, Boise St, Colorado St, Air

Force, Nevada, Wyoming

 

TCU, Baylor, Houston, SMU, Rice, San Diego St, Hawaii,

Fresno St

[DuWayne Steurer]

One thing is for sure..........geography means nothing in this bold new world of the Super Conference. A team from Texas is in the Big East......Colorado is in the PAC-whatever, and I don't think it's too long before we see a school within 10 miles of the eastern seaboard in the Midwest based Big-10 (ish)

[carniesandrubes]

One thing is for sure..........geography means nothing in this bold new world of the Super Conference. A team from Texas is in the Big East......Colorado is in the PAC-whatever, and I don't think it's too long before we see a school within 10 miles of the eastern seaboard in the Midwest based Big-10 (ish)

Which really hurts the student experience of making relatively short road trips to away games during the season to watch your team.

[DuWayne Steurer]

One thing is for sure..........geography means nothing in this bold new world of the Super Conference. A team from Texas is in the Big East......Colorado is in the PAC-whatever, and I don't think it's too long before we see a school within 10 miles of the eastern seaboard in the Midwest based Big-10 (ish)

Which really hurts the student experience of making relatively short road trips to away games during the season to watch your team.

Yeah, Badgers fans travel well, but I don't think you'd see a lot of them in the stands in say, Rutgers or Maryland.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Big 12 better fire up the defibrillator, and get the life support machine running.......

 

http://espn.go.com/colleg...as-tech-according-source

[sbrylski]

Domino's are falling: http://www.baseballameric...ersfield-dallas-baptist/

 

Cal State Bakersfield and Dallas Baptist to the WAC as baseball-only!

 

Sorry.

[MJLiverock]

Great article on the viewership/fandom of college football and potential markets for expansion. Basically the Big10 can and should be picky because just about any further expansion (aside from adding ND or Texas) will dilute the average number of fans following the teams and secondarily the TV eyeballs and money available to the existing schools. Really points out that some of the big TV markets really don't care about their local college football team. This has always been kind of known since many residents are transplants, or didn't go to college there, and pro sports becomes more of a focus. A friend from Boston told me that BC really isn't much of a draw because everyone cares about the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins so much that college sports are just an after thought if it all. Anyway the article is pretty interesting and points out how screwed some schools like Iowa State, Baylor, , Kansas State are if the B12 disintegrates.

 

http://thequad.blogs.nyti...to&smid=tw-nytimessports

[TooLiveBrew]

I can't be the only one that finds all this conference & school money-grabbing really annoying

[homer]

I can't be the only one that finds all this conference & school money-grabbing really annoying

You are not. I ran into another guy at a wedding last weekend that said the same thing. So there are two of you. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

Hah -- well-played

[NievesNoNO]

I propose the remaining 60 or so schools not going into a 'major conference' form their own conference/leauge and play a completely random schedule with a playoff system and laugh their way to the bank as the 'power conferences' continue to play out their computer generated championship.

[PKBadger]

I propose the remaining 60 or so schools not going into a 'major conference' form their own conference/leauge and play a completely random schedule with a playoff system and laugh their way to the bank as the 'power conferences' continue to play out their computer generated championship.

 

And how do they do that, exactly? Who is going to watch this "poseur playoff"? Hopefully you realize that the major conferences make the most money because their schools have the most alumni and fan support.

[dadofandrew]

Yeah, I can't say many would watch a Baylor/UConn "title" game.

[NievesNoNO]

I propose the remaining 60 or so schools not going into a 'major conference' form their own conference/leauge and play a completely random schedule with a playoff system and laugh their way to the bank as the 'power conferences' continue to play out their computer generated championship.

 

And how do they do that, exactly? Who is going to watch this "poseur playoff"? Hopefully you realize that the major conferences make the most money because their schools have the most alumni and fan support.

Yes, I do realize that. Truthfully, I've just become annoyed with D1 college athletics in general. Laughing their way to the bank likely won't be the case but they may as well just split off and do their own thing. I'd be more inclined to watch a "poseur playoff game" based on actual season results than a 2nd rate "bowl championship" game pairing based on money.

 

The people making decisions are making them solely based on money, not what's best for college athletics. Yes, I realize money is important and college technically is a business too. However, I find it a bit hypocritical then when athletes are reprimanded for accepting gifts or signing memorabilia for cash. Either allow it to be a full fledged business and let the athletes get paid or clean things up with some tougher investigations/audits for every school and stop with this crazy realignment/expansion where now conferences are competing for teams with one another. Too much greed all around in my opinion and it's just the beginning as far as teams jumping around. I'd expect this sort movement and talk of teams moving each year unless there's some sort of guidelines set.

 

 

 

 

[paul253]

I'd be more inclined to watch a "poseur playoff game" based on

actual season results than a 2nd rate "bowl championship" game pairing

based on money.

 

The problem is I don't think the university presidents actually want a playoff. If they did, I imagine they could have one. Most schools realize there is no chance in you know what they'll ever win the BCS championship, so they'd prefer just to go to their stupid little bowl game with a 6-5 record. If you go to a 12 or 16 team playoff, even if you keep the rest of the bowls, they will become even more obsolete then they already are. Plus you'd probably have to cut back on the number of games they play if theres a chance you'd have to play 3 or 4 more to win a playoff. As much as I want to see one, every excuse I've ever heard from a coach or president to avoid a playoff makes me think they have no interest in one.

[berniebrewer4life]

WVU has been accepted to the Big 12.

 

http://espn.go.com/colleg...arly-tuesday-source-says

 

And now the Big East, Conf USA and MWC are meeting to discuss forming an super conference.

 

http://espn.go.com/colleg...erence-usa-mountain-west

[patrickgpe]

i personally hate all of this realignment that is ignoring certain geographical areas. WVU doesn't belong in the big 12. Combining the MWC and the Big East is stupid.

 

That being said I think the Big East should try to get A-10 schools like Xavier and Temple, and C-USA schools like Memphis and Central Florida. I don't see the value of adding Texas schools like Houston or SMU.

[berniebrewer4life]

i personally hate all of this realignment that is ignoring certain geographical areas. WVU doesn't belong in the big 12. Combining the MWC and the Big East is stupid.

 

That being said I think the Big East should try to get A-10 schools like Xavier and Temple, and C-USA schools like Memphis and Central Florida. I don't see the value of adding Texas schools like Houston or SMU.

Houston is a huge market for their TV network. Why they aren't going after UCF is beyond me.