The 2009 Official College Football Thread (post-season -- BIG 12 IMPLOSION!!!)

[aria]

Boise State officially joins the Mountain West.

Nebraska is on deck.

 

[aria]

That was quick... the early reports from Kansas City and Omaha newspapers are calling the move official.

EDIT:

The all-important University of Nebraska Regents meeting is occurring now, the university's Chancellor is recommending they join the Big Ten. Most Board of Regents usually go along with that sort of recommendation.

EDIT 2:

Nebraska has accepted the invitation to be the 12th member of the Big Ten.

 

[aria]

Meanwhile, in the Mountain West Conference:

"It's my No. 1 goal and I think I share it with the membership," MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said. "We want to play at that BCS level, we have played at that BCS level. We've performed well at that level. It continues to be the stated goal of the Mountain West conference, and I think we made a strong move in that direction."

Thompson said the conference is still exploring whether to expand to 12 or 16 teams. He also added that people with "Mountain West interests" had been in touch with teams from the Big 12 who may be left out of moves to the Big Ten or Pac-10. He never mentioned them by name, but that would include Kansas and Kansas State.

"I'll leave it at this, I've had conversations last night and through this morning and continuing up until this phone call with several institutions," Thompson said. "I know both board members and athletic directors are reaching out similarly to get a sense of where institutions' minds are these days."

When asked if it was safe to say the Mountain West has its eyes peeled on what happens to the Big 12, Thompson said, "That would be fair."

 

[aria]

While some other schools might shuffle around (A&M is still looking longingly at the SEC, as they did before they joined the Big 12), this is the next big moment:

University of Texas regents will meet next week to decide whether the Longhorns will remain in the Big 12 or switch to another conference.

 

[Hidden Character]

Y'know, I thought The Big XII would've pulled Boise St., in a move that no one saw coming, to replace Nebraska as they would still have 12 and BSU would go from mid-major to automatic BCS title contenter.

 

[Neo Mike]

USC Fans, Blame USC.

 

[Neo Mike]

So right now the Big Ten is really the Big Twelve, and the Big 12 is really the Big 10.

 

[aria]

USC Fans, Blame USC.

That was a pretty dumb column that didn't read the report.

USC football fans can blame two people: Reggie Bush (and family) and RB Coach McNair.

Even Pete Carroll got off.

If you look in tandem with the B-Ball issue (where the NCAA was apparently pleased with USC's self-punishment), you might go after the AD.

Plaschke can be good, but this wasn't one of them --it was about as good has his infamous "Westwood Ho!" article where he stated, for football, "LA is a Bruin town" midway through Pete Carroll's first season and then apologized for in print at the end of the season, and again the next season, and the season after that.

 

[aria]

Let's pretend the Big Ten doesn't add any more teams... how do you split the six?

East/West would naturally create:

WEST

• Nebraska
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Wisconsin
• Illinois
• Northwestern

EAST

• Michigan
• Michigan State
• Indiana
• Purdue
• Ohio State
• Penn State

This would keep a number of rivalries, but it would make the East just brutal.

 

[aria]

The latest is the AP says USC will keep its 2004 title, but the BCS may vacate theirs.

 

[aria]

As per ESPN's Joe Schad, who's normally pretty accurate:

Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will join the Pacific-10 Conference when a formal offer is made, a source told ESPN's Joe Schad on Friday.

Texas A&M, the Austin American Statesman reported, is torn between joining the Pac-10 or Southeastern Conference. The Aggies will have a 72-hour timetable to decide whether to accept the Pac-10's offer, the newspaper reported.

As I mentioned earlier, A&M wanted to join the SEC after the SWC broke up, but they were rejected without Texas, who didn't want to join for academic reasons. So history repeats itself, somewhat. If A&M does go a different route, it will be interesting to see who #16 will be. Utah?


Here's a fun quote from another article:

Where Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State and Baylor end up is anybody's guess. Maybe the American Red Cross will set up a shelter.

[BTW: Conference USA has now said they will also make a play at some of these teams...]

And my favorite article from EDSBS:

The current teams left out of the cold in any scenario--The Scrapple Conference--featuring a dead Big 12 and subsequent flight to the SEC/Big Ten/Pac-16.

Missouri. The most jilted of the Scrapple Conference due to their assumption that when Nebraska got asked to the prom they'd get a date, too. Then they'd go to PF Chang's, and that would be sweet, and then maybe some light petting in the limo, and then after they got pictures taken at the dance they'd look in each other's eyes, and then back at the Comfort Inn things would really get magical and maybe she'd try that Cosmo sex trick she'd read about, the one that would totally blow his mind. Instead, they're at home waiting for the ghostly visage of the Red Baron to show up for their date once the oven dings with the sad news that yes, the oven has reached 350 degrees.

Kansas: At least happy with dragging Mizzou back into the lifeboat. Later, they will draw straws to see who gets eaten, and then and only then will Lew Perkins regret firing Mark Mangino, who would have been inestimably useful in a situation like this one.

Kansas State: Conference USA is ready when you are, but please: Power Towels are part of the deal, and must be brought to the game.

Iowa State: At least they're being very cheerful about their imminent move to the Patriot League.

Baylor: fortunately, Baylor is a religious institution, so they're good at prayer.

 

[aria]

I had a debate with a college football fiend about which team was the worst off among the Big 12 remnants.

I said it was Baylor: their big political lobbying effort went nowhere (not even zombie Ann Richards can save them now), so they've been left out of the Pac-10. The Big Ten isn't interested. And heaven knows the SEC would say "we already have Vandy, and they're ranked higher and not religious."

So what was left? The Mountain West?

Think again:

"But Baylor isn't considered a candidate to join the [Mountain West] conference, with TCU standing staunchly in its way, the Fort Worth newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources. [. . .] TCU would mount a lobbying effort against Baylor if the Bears are left out of the conference-realignment mix, the Star-Telegram reported."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5279018

Dang... How bad is it when you're kept out of a potential new BCS conference (which plans to aim for Mizzou, Kansas, and K-State).

Looks like Conference USA may have their team!

Also, I didn't see Iowa State mentioned in the article, either --somewhere, Seneca Wallace is shedding a tear.

 

[Hidden Character]

Let's pretend the Big Ten doesn't add any more teams... how do you split the six?

East/West would naturally create:

WEST

• Nebraska
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Wisconsin
• Illinois
• Northwestern

EAST

• Michigan
• Michigan State
• Indiana
• Purdue
• Ohio State
• Penn State

This would keep a number of rivalries, but it would make the East just brutal.

I'd imagine that Nebraska is gonna fuck up Ohio State's chances of dominating The Big Ten because I'm not sure if Iowa's magical run last year was a fluke and it's only a matter of time before Rich Rod and Michigan part ways.

God help the SEC if TAMU can convince Texas to pull a 180 and join the good ol' boys because if that happens, Florida, Alabama, UGA, LSU, and co. can forget about SEC championships......esp. if wherever Texas goes, so goes Oklahoma, I believe.

As for The Big XII leftovers, they might want to look in the MWC or even The Big East if they want to avoid falling into the C-USA abyss.

 

[aria]

The best new Big Ten rivalry name?

Nebraska vs. Iowa: Farmageddon.

I'd imagine that Nebraska is gonna fuck up Ohio State's chances of dominating The Big Ten because I'm not sure if Iowa's magical run last year was a fluke and it's only a matter of time before Rich Rod and Michigan part ways.

God help the SEC if TAMU can convince Texas to pull a 180 and join the good ol' boys because if that happens, Florida, Alabama, UGA, LSU, and co. can forget about SEC championships......esp. if wherever Texas goes, so goes Oklahoma, I believe.

As for The Big XII leftovers, they might want to look in the MWC or even The Big East if they want to avoid falling into the C-USA abyss.

Well, keep in mind, USC-ND and Colorado-Colorado State prove you don't need to be in the same conference for a rivalry game --especially when you only have to play your division teams. OU and Texas played the Red River Rivalry for many years when Texas was in the SWC and OU in the Big 8. Thus, they may not need to follow each other.

I've been hearing that the Big Ten may not do a pure-geographic split to avoid the mess that led to the Big 12 South. The ACC notably avoided that kind of split themselves.

 

[aria]

As of Monday, this is the state of conference realignment:

Joe Schad's report is quick and to the point, so I'll open with it:

Monday, June 14, 2010
Sources: Departure to Pac-10 coming
By Joe Schad -- ESPN

The departure of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 is imminent, four sources within the Big 12 said Monday.

One source said commissioner Dan Beebe's last-minute plan to save the conference has "zero" chance to succeed. Another source said it is "very unlikely" to succeed.

Texas' interests in being aligned with the research opportunities and academic missions of Pac-10 schools is driving the decision, along with money.

Beebe's last-ditch plan included an emotional plea about preserving rivalries and maintaining the best welfare of the student-athlete, one source said.

Texas A&M is now most likely to join the SEC, a source within the Big 12 said. This move, in the wake of Colorado and Nebraska's departure, would further diminish the chance of Beebe's plan succeeding, one source said.

Texas' decision is expected to come no later than Tuesday. One source familiar with Texas' plans suggested a hearing on Wednesday at the Texas House of Representatives is "a nonfactor."

So for crucial schools will move to the Pac-10, but A&M seems to be actually moving to the SEC.

This will be bittersweet to the Pac-10 in my opinion: It's a shame to not have A&M because they have AAU status (Pac-10: "wait, we're stuck with Tech?") and tradition, but on the flip side their famous, paramilitary culture would seem to click much better in the SEC (A&M consistently ranks as the most conservative major/large college campus).

The Pac-10 is apparently (seriously) considering only two alternatives: Utah and Kansas. It's actually an almost 50/50.

• The SLC and KC markets are equal value.
• Both have solid academics.
• Utah has the geographic fit and a slightly better football team
• KU obviously has the bigger b-ball brand
• Both schools do field competitive teams in fb/bb

I'd personally prefer to see Utah, but KU isn't a terrible alternative.

 

[aria]

I love this story.

The CEO FedEx is offering a flat-out bribe for a BCS conference to take Memphis.

http://www.cbssports.com/general/st...ons-if-bcsaffiliated-league-takes-memphis/rss

FedEx CEO Fred Smith has spoken to various conference officials and made it known that his Memphis-based company could provide millions of dollars -- perhaps as much as $10 million annually -- to a BCS-affiliated league willing to offer an invitation to the University of Memphis, multiple sources close to the Memphis program have told CBSSports.com.

"It could be $10 million every year for a conference to use however it sees fit," said one of the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "When you think of the big picture, it could be the equivalent of a five-year, $50 million contract or a 10-year, $100-million contract. Fred is talking about a massive amount of money."

[. . .]

"The money that used to go to the [FedEx] Orange Bowl is now set to go to a league that will invite Memphis," the source said. "Fred has made it clear he'll put that money back into the budget for the right league. He's driving this thing."

I dunno, the Big East might listen to that...

 

[Hidden Character]

I love this story.

The CEO FedEx is offering a flat-out bribe for a BCS conference to take Memphis.

http://www.cbssports.com/general/st...ons-if-bcsaffiliated-league-takes-memphis/rss



I dunno, the Big East might listen to that...

If The Big East loses Rutgers, they should definitely invite Memphis.

 

[Neo Mike]

Report: USC/Hawaii college football opener may be in jeopardy - ESPN Los Angeles

 

[Hidden Character]

Texas keeps the band together by staying put in the 10-member Big XII.

 

[Neo Mike]

New rumor time: rumor is that the pac-12 is going to have a south and north division.

Utah is leaving the Mountain West Conference, which has no exit penalty, and will be part of a football south division with Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, Southern California and UCLA.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15310140