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

[Hidden Character]

Well shit:



I can foresee a referee calling this and immediately landing on the receiving end of a bottle --something like this classic.

Just think of the different result in this classic?

At this rate, the NCAA might as well just become the Jr. No Fun League and transport everyone to an alternate dimension of 1950 where everyone's a killjoy and all the players have buzzcuts, Caesars, or bald heads.

 

[aria]

At this rate, the NCAA might as well just become the Jr. No Fun League and transport everyone to an alternate dimension of 1950 where everyone's a killjoy and all the players have buzzcuts, Caesars, or bald heads.

...and the current members of the SEC didn't have to worry about recruiting black players.

[the more for places like Iowa, Drake, Brown, Syracuse and USC]

 

[Hidden Character]

...and the current members of the SEC didn't have to worry about recruiting black players.

[the more for places like Iowa, Drake, Brown, Syracuse and USC]

BTW thank you for possibly the most important game ever in college football history., although the downside of it was more and more HBCUs were starting to lose their 4-and 5-star recruits over time.

 

[aria]

With the living legend back at the helm once more, Kansas State seems to be back in classic Bill Snyder form as the Wildcats had a Snyder-Era blowout...

The problem?

It was the intrasquad scrimmage to close Spring practices: the Purple team beat the living crap out of teammates on the White team with a 79-0 victory.

Depending on how the teams were split, this either says (1) the defense is terrible and/or (2) this team is screwed if/when starters get injured.

Actually, it appears to be the latter from this quote:

Snyder was pleased with the production of his starters, both offensive and defensively, there is now some cause for concern with his second and third string units.

The starting QB is from Peculiar, Missouri.

 

[Hidden Character]

Does this mean Tuberville gets a retrograde crystal football?

BCS Has Power To Strip USC of 2004 Nat'l Title

By Ted Miller

If the NCAA finds USC guilty of major violations, the BCS has the power to take away the Trojans' 2004 national championship, according to a report in USA Today.

The issue is simple. If the NCAA finds former running back Reggie Bush guilty of taking extra benefits from a pair of would-be agents while he played for the Trojans, then he could be ruled retroactively ineligible. As a result, the NCAA could force USC to vacate wins in which Bush played in the record book, which includes the BCS championship game pounding of Oklahoma after the 2004 season.

Reports USA Today:

Quietly in early 2007, as the investigation into USC and alleged improprieties involving Bush and his family was unfolding, college football's Bowl Championship Series drew up a policy calling for teams' BCS appearances and BCS titles to be vacated when major rules violations subsequently are discovered and the institutions are sanctioned by the NCAA.


Current BCS executive director Bill Hancock also told the newspaper, "Nothing would happen until the very end of the NCAA process, including any appeals."

So there could be more intrigue even after the NCAA FINALLY issues its ruling.

Understand: USC could be forced to give up the 2004 title and yet not even get hammered for major violations.

The "allegedly" hangs loosely on whether Bush took money and gifts, see Bush finally -- and quietly -- settling a lawsuit against him. But the issue going forward for the football program is whether coaches or administrators knew -- or should have known -- what Bush was doing. While there has been much media and fan bluster about the case, there has been little published evidence that USC had knowledge of Bush's behind-the-scenes shenanigans.

This has always been the critical linchpin of the case in terms of how hard the Trojans' future -- as opposed to the record-book past -- could be hit by sanctions. The NCAA could find Bush took extra benefits but rule that it found no compelling evidence that USC folks knew about it. Of course, the NCAA also could rule that USC was so loosey-goosey with the monitoring of its athletes that not knowing is no excuse and only reflects a program that lacks institutional control.

At which point, there could be the dreaded bowl or TV bans as well as significant scholarship reductions.

Of course, you're wondering when the NCAA is going to rule. It has, after all, been 13 weeks since the infractions committee met with USC officials in Tempe, Ariz.

That's grounds for further scandal.

The Pac-10's blogger will be on vacation next week. The Pac-10 blog suspects that's when the ruling shall be announced because of this: NCAA Ruling > Pac-10 blog vacation.

And, yes, the Pac-10- blog suspects a conspiracy between my boss, Darth Duffey, and the NCAA.

 

[aria]

Okay, the Pac-10/Big 12 rumors have just got a lot more interesting.

Not just because of the teams being named in Pac-10 expansion, but because of how the Big 12 is reacting right now... which is suspicious.

Reports came out this week that the Pac-10 is actually going to go after SIX of the Big 12 members: Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado.

The Pac-10 would then split into two divisions, with Arizona and Arizona State joining the Big 12 six and the old Pac-8 forming the other division.

What made me wonder if things are serious is how the Big 12 is apparently reacting:

Updated: June 4, 10:21 AM ET
News conference pushed to Friday
Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After daylong discussions regarding the possible breakup of the Big 12, a scheduled news conference was abruptly canceled, fueling speculation that the 12 schools are far from agreement.

A short time earlier, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione had indicated the member schools did not reach the unity that many had hoped these meetings would achieve.

Perhaps also complicating the process was a report out of Texas on Thursday afternoon that the Pac-10 might invite six Big 12 schools to join and form two eight-team divisions. Some Big 12 and Pac-10 officials met informally several few weeks ago to discuss a possible scheduling and television alliance between the leagues.

Speculation of a possible breakup of the 14-year-old Big 12 exploded this spring when the Big Ten said it might expand and Nebraska and Missouri indicated interest.

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and Texas president Bill Powers had been scheduled to brief reporters at the end of the day on Thursday, the third day of the league's spring meetings.

But after a separate meeting of the presidents ran an hour long, Beebe emerged to say -- as he was pursued by reporters into a waiting elevator -- that the news conference would be on Friday.

"The board is still in session. We won't conclude until tomorrow and we're not going to have any kind of comments about anything the board has been considering or acting upon until tomorrow."

He refused to elaborate.

In Thursday's joint meeting of athletic directors and presidents, Oklahoma's Joe Castiglione said the ADs all gave their recommendation about whether the league should stay together.

Apparently, the unanimity that many members were hoping to forge proved elusive.

"We all had a chance to express our thoughts," Castiglione said when asked if any of the athletic directors indicated they might want to leave.

So does that mean not everyone was united?

"Everybody expressed their thoughts," he said.

Castiglione and Oklahoma president David Boren have been adamant in their desire to keep the league intact.

"Each athletic director had a chance to convey their thoughts about the future of our conference, and that was great," Castiglione said. "A lot of passion about the Big 12 in that room, I can promise you that."

"We had one meeting with some of the members of the Pac-10. It wasn't a scheduled meeting. We brainstormed some of the possibilities that may exist. Since then, both our commissioner and Larry Scott have had conversations. It leads one to believe there are some real viable opportunities for both leagues.
” -- Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione on Big 12's ties to Pac-10

While the Big 12 presidents were meeting Thursday afternoon, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott played down a report that the Pac-10 planned to invite Big 12 members Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado. The report in Orangebloods.com, the Texas site on Rivals.com, said the Pac-10 would split into two eight-team divisions.

"We have not developed any definitive plans," said Scott. "We have not extended any invitations for expansion and we do not anticipate any such decisions in the near term."

The Pac-10 meetings are this weekend and Scott said the conference continues to conduct an "exhaustive and proactive" evaluation of the league and its future.

Castiglione said possible ties with the Pac-10 were discussed on Thursday.

"I think there's some potential value there," he said. "We had one meeting with some of the members of the Pac-10. It wasn't a scheduled meeting. We brainstormed some of the possibilities that may exist. Since then, both our commissioner and Larry Scott have had conversations. It leads one to believe there are some real viable opportunities for both leagues."

Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn said he and others had been led to believe the Pac-10 was on the verge of issuing invitations to six members of the Big 12.

"The longer that we were together in Kansas City it appeared that that rumor or speculation did have some validity to it," Bohn told the Boulder Daily Camera.

Asked if Oklahoma had had any conversation with the Pac-10 about some Big 12 schools joining up and leaving others behind, Castiglione said, "Not yet. Hopefully, I don't have to."

As the meetings were beginning Thursday morning, the head of the University of Missouri gave no assurances the Tigers intend to remain in the Big 12.

"We're not shutting our ears to anything," said chancellor Brady Deaton. "I'm sure every school here has a responsibility to its own institution as primary responsibility. Conference realignment is something we do for our athletic programs."

With Missouri's reaction, they're basically saying they're happy to then join the Big Ten. Kansas/Kansas State, Iowa State, and especially Nebraska (a golden calf if there ever was one) could also be Big Ten candidates --though that conference is definitely looking (Big) East. This leaves Baylor... which might make a great CUSA team

Keep in mind, the Pac-10 and Big Ten are the most academically oriented conferences. Their new members almost have to be members of the AAU, especially in the Big Ten (11/11 of Big Ten and 7/10 of the Pac-10 are members, with the other three being major state schools anyway: Wazzu, ASU and OSU --compare that to 2/12 in the SEC and you see why certain schools shy away). While OU, OSU and TT aren't, they're major research universities. I've noticed that every single school the Big Ten has mentioned is an AAU member.

Okay, let's toss out a crazy scenario: the Pac-10 successfully grabs six of the Big 12, so the other 6 decide to form a new conference (assuming the manage to keep Nebraska) and get Utah, TCU, Houston and maybe even Boise State or SDSU to form a 10-member conference. I think that would be a solid BCS conference.

 

[aria]

And the plot thickens... it appears the Pac-10 has a chance because TT, which is the least academically compelling of the 6, has to come as a package deal with Texas and A&M --while the main two are AAU, TT isn't and that was a stumbling block in the Big Ten negotiations as outlined in an email between Ohio State's president and the Big Ten commissioner that was FOIAed by the press.

Friday, June 4, 2010
Expansion talk swirls for conferences
ESPN.com news services

Speculation continues to swirl around the future make-up of the Pac-10 and Big 12 as both conferences hold meetings to discuss what's next in college sports' impending game of musical chairs.

Add to that a report Friday from the Columbus Dispatch that Ohio State president Gordon Gee has had an e-mail conversation about expansion with his counterpart at Texas, William Powers, and the Big Ten's future is also in the news.

"I did speak with Bill Powers at Texas, who would welcome a call to say they have a 'Tech' problem," Gee wrote in an e-mail sent to Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and obtained by The Columbus Dispatch through a public-records request for documents and correspondence related to Big Ten expansion proposals. The Tech problem presumably involves Texas Tech, a school some feel would have to come with Texas and Texas A&M in any bid for those schools to join the Big Ten.

The day before writing about his conversation with Powers, Gee wrote Delany to say he was "of the mind that we control our destiny at the moment, but the window will soon close on us. Agility and swiftness of foot is our friend."

Delany said: "We are fast-tracking it but need to know the $ and observe contracts," according to the Dispatch.

The Big 12, meeting this week in Kansas City, abruptly canceled a news briefing Thursday night, fueling speculation that the 12 schools are far from agreement. A short time earlier, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione had indicated the member schools did not reach the unity that many had hoped these meetings would achieve.

From the Pac-10 side, University of Washington athletic director Scott Woodward said Thursday that reports of a larger Pac-10 are "all speculation," but he did concede to the Seattle Times that "there is an enormous amount of speculation about conference expansion right now and I think with the Pac-10 that anything is possible, all the way from remaining with the status quo, where we are today, to a full merger with the Big 12 and anything in between. All possibilities are viable and open for discussion."

The Pac-10 meets this weekend in San Francisco. Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said the Pac-10 continues to conduct an "exhaustive and proactive" evaluation of the league and its future.

Castiglione said possible ties with the Pac-10 were discussed on Thursday in the Big 12 meetings.

"I think there's some potential value there," he said. "We had one meeting with some of the members of the Pac-10. It wasn't a scheduled meeting. We brainstormed some of the possibilities that may exist. Since then, both our commissioner and Larry Scott have had conversations. It leads one to believe there are some real viable opportunities for both leagues."

Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn said he and others had been led to believe the Pac-10 was on the verge of issuing invitations to six members of the Big 12.

"The longer that we were together in Kansas City it appeared that that rumor or speculation did have some validity to it," Bohn told the Boulder Daily Camera.

Asked if Oklahoma had had any conversation with the Pac-10 about some Big 12 schools joining up and leaving others behind, Castiglione said, "Not yet. Hopefully, I don't have to."

"While many interesting scenarios have been suggested in numerous news reports, around the country," the Pac-10 statement from Scott read, "we remain focused on a thorough evaluation process that examines all of the options for increasing the value of the conference for our member institutions, our student athletes and our fans. We have not developed any definitive plans. We have not extended any invitations for expansion and we do not anticipate any such decisions in the near term."

Thursday afternoon, a report out of Texas said that the Pac-10 might invite six Big 12 schools to join and form two eight-team divisions. Some Big 12 and Pac-10 officials met informally several few weeks ago to discuss a possible scheduling and television alliance between the leagues.

Speculation of a possible breakup of the 14-year-old Big 12 exploded this spring when the Big Ten said it might expand and Nebraska and Missouri indicated interest.

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and Texas president Powers had been scheduled to brief reporters at the end of the day on Thursday, the third day of the league's spring meetings.

But after a separate meeting of the presidents ran an hour long, Beebe emerged to say -- as he was pursued by reporters into a waiting elevator -- that the news conference would be on Friday.

"The board is still in session. We won't conclude until tomorrow and we're not going to have any kind of comments about anything the board has been considering or acting upon until tomorrow."

He refused to elaborate.

In Thursday's joint meeting of athletic directors and presidents, Oklahoma's Castiglione said the ADs all gave their recommendation about whether the league should stay together.

Apparently, the unanimity that many members were hoping to forge proved elusive.

"We all had a chance to express our thoughts," Castiglione said when asked if any of the athletic directors indicated they might want to leave.

So does that mean not everyone was united?

"Everybody expressed their thoughts," he said.

Castiglione and Oklahoma president David Boren have been adamant in their desire to keep the league intact.

"Each athletic director had a chance to convey their thoughts about the future of our conference, and that was great," Castiglione said. "A lot of passion about the Big 12 in that room, I can promise you that."

As the meetings were beginning Thursday morning, the head of the University of Missouri gave no assurances the Tigers intend to remain in the Big 12.

"We're not shutting our ears to anything," said chancellor Brady Deaton. "I'm sure every school here has a responsibility to its own institution as primary responsibility. Conference realignment is something we do for our athletic programs."

 

[Neo Mike]

NCAA College Football Big-12 implosion thread.

So it appears the Big-12 is imploding and the Big-10 is trying to poach Nebraska and Missouri. The deadline is this Friday for Neb and Missouri to accept Big-10 invitation, and that's the first domino that sets everything into motion.

Rumor has it the Pac-10 would try to become a Pac-16 super conference and extend invitations to Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and either Colorado or Baylor - to form the super conference.

I read it will likely be broken into 2 8 team divisions and the old original Pac-8 will play all their games plus 2 games from the "other" division, with a conference championship game. Basically an 8 team pacific division and 8 team mountain/az/texas division.

This is HUGE for the Pac-10 and I hope it happens. Waay more money and exposure.

I wonder if, say, USC would vote against adding UT in football - I read somewhere that the vote for expansion has to be unanimous and if Texas joined USC would no longer be the big fish in the pond...

 

[aria]

I love you, Mike, but I'll be damned if I'm going to figure out how to merge just the last few posts in the big 2009 off-season thread

So it appears the Big-12 is imploding and the Big-10 is trying to poach Nebraska and Missouri. The deadline is this Friday for Neb and Missouri to accept Big-10 invitation, and that's the first domino that sets everything into motion.

Rumor has it the Pac-10 would try to become a Pac-16 super conference and extend invitations to Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and either Colorado or Baylor - to form the super conference.

I read it will likely be broken into 2 8 team divisions and the old original Pac-8 will play all their games plus 2 games from the "other" division, with a conference championship game. Basically an 8 team pacific division and 8 team mountain/az/texas division.

This is HUGE for the Pac-10 and I hope it happens. Waay more money and exposure.

I wonder if, say, USC would vote against adding UT in football - I read somewhere that the vote for expansion has to be unanimous and if Texas joined USC would no longer be the big fish in the pond...

I've been reading a lot on this, and I mean a lot-lot. To the point where I know the ripples of this caused Boise State to not get invited into the Mountain West on Monday as everyone assumed --mostly because the Mountain West wants to see if they can pick off (or likely merge) with the left-overs of the Big 12 --especially, positively especially, if Baylor's politicians manage to bump Colorado off the Pac-16 train. The Buff's would be their crown jewel, oddly enough.

USC would vote for all the teams.

The biggest concern has always been Stanford and a lesser extent Berkley, because it doesn't want inferior academic schools. Only the Big Ten has a higher AAU ratio.

The problem schools in this package are TT and Oklahoma State. UT and A&M are AAU, OU is a solid state school and Baylor is surprisingly highly ranked for a Baptist university (I knew about their med school, but I had no idea their undergrad outranked schools like Oregon).

I'm sure you read the article, I think I posted it above last week, where Ohio State commented on the "Tech" problem.

From what I've read, the whole situation boils down to two schools --one obvious, the other less so:

Texas -- because it's so damn major (the Big 12 TV money is actually skewed to give the Longhorns the lion's share because of how much power they wield)

Missouri -- As the one school that's not hidden (at all) it's desire to join the Big Ten, it would basically force the initial quake in the Big 12 that would cause Nebraska to probably move and Texas to do as well.

There was a funny story about how Kansas has learned the hard way that basketball really doesn't make enough of an impact when you're talking about serious sports dollars --not only that, they're well being in a good conference is hinging on the whim of their hated rival, Mizzou!

 

[aria]

Nebraska is now reportedly leaning Big Ten.

Last week, the Big 12 gave Nebraska and Mizzou and ultimatum to decide whether they were with the conference or against it by this Friday. Looks like they're going to get an answer.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Nebraska, Mizzou weigh options
Associated Press

Nebraska's decision on whether to commit long term to the Big 12 or leave for a potential Big Ten invitation could come on Friday, a school told ESPN.com's Andy Katz on Tuesday.

The source said the school is leaning toward the Big Ten, but an invitation hadn't yet been extended, and there was no indication when that would occur. The consensus within the athletic department is that Nebraska wouldn't separate itself from the Big 12 without some assurance that a Big Ten invitation would come, the source said. The Big Ten has set no date for any announcement in the coming weeks, leaving open the possibility that Nebraska could be left in limbo.

Sources at two other Big 12 schools told the Omaha World-Herald that their athletic directors have instructed them to be ready by week's end for a briefing on probable Big 12 changes.

Earlier this week, the Big 12 imposed a deadline of Friday for Nebraska and Missouri to state their intentions on whether they intend to bolt the conference, with the possibility of an extension for a decision by next Tuesday, The Austin American-Statesman reported, citing two sources.

The Big 12's university presidents decided on imposing the ultimatum, two highly placed officials within two of the conference schools said, according to the newspaper.

The Nebraska Board of Regents plans to meet on Friday, though it's not immediately clear if that governing board will discuss conference affiliation, in public or private.

But public records provided to the Associated Press show that the topic is far from off limits. In a brief e-mail to Chancellor Harvey Perlman sent on April 20, athletic director Tom Osborne urges his boss to set up a meeting to discuss conference expansion.

Osborne said he requested the meeting after speaking with his friend and colleague, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes coach was in Lincoln one day earlier to speak at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet.

On his monthly appearance on the Husker Sports Network Tuesday, Osborne offered confirmation that the timetable on national conference realignment has been accelerated.

"I think before too long -- I don't know exactly what that timeframe is -- we'll be able to put this to bed." Then he jokingly added, "because I'm getting tired of it."

Big 12 school presidents and athletic directors concluded a four-day meeting in Kansas City last week with no clear sense -- at least publicly -- that the 14-year-old league will survive.

Assistant commissioner Bob Burda said Tuesday that the Big 12 is done talking about expansion and conference realignment, for now anyway.

"There will be no further comment from the conference," he told the AP. "We're in a quiet period right now."

The Big Ten announced late last year it is considering adding at least one school, and possibly more, to add a league championship game in football and broaden the reach of its cable television network. Its decision has created a ripple throughout the power conferences, causing the Pac-10 to mull its own expansion and threatening the survival of the Big 12, which in addition to Missouri and Nebraska could also lose as many as six schools to a 16-team Pac-10.

"There's a lot of information we really don't have right now," Osborne said. "Hopefully we'll get these put together in the next few days.

"Anything I would say regarding Nebraska's position or other schools in the Big 12 would be pure speculation. And I don't think that's very helpful."

University of Missouri curators appear poised to discuss the school's possible interest in joining an expanded Big Ten. But any inquiring reporters need not bother asking about a move that could trigger a seismic shift in college sports.

The 10-member Board of Curators meets Thursday and Friday in Columbia amid reports of the Friday deadline.

An agenda released Tuesday afternoon says the curators and system president Gary Forsee won't comment on "Big Ten or Big 12 athletics matters" at the sessions.

But the agenda also shows curators will take the unusual step of meeting in a closed session as soon as they arrive on Thursday morning. And they will meet again behind closed doors after Friday's public session, as is customary.

None of the nine curators contacted Tuesday by the AP responded to a request for comment. And a university spokeswoman responded to questions about the meeting as well as whether the school has hired its own consultant to study conference realignment with a three-sentence statement that was previously issued and emphasizes its current conference affiliation.

How bad is it for Kansas? They're begging Nebraska to stay.

Just to put it in bigger perspective, KU has been in the midst of a series of minor disasters that could accumulate into being stuck in the Mountain West:

Last week, in response to reporters wondering where a Big Ten offensive would leave KU, athletic director Lew Perkins asked them, "How do you know they [the Big Ten] haven't called us?" I believe Gray-Little has answered his question. (This couldn't have at a worse times for Perkins, the highest-pade AD in the country, who over the last six months has overseen a series of on-campus confrontations between the KU football and basketball teams; fired a winning football coach in controversial circumstances; a sprawling ticket-scalping scandal involving athletic department employees; a seven-month blackmail attempt by a former employee; and now, if things break against him, the loss of Kansas' BCS status – a significant factor, I presume, in underwriting his $4 million salary.)

Meanwhile Baylor is being led into the fight for the Pac-16 by their new school president, former prosecutor and Dean of Pepperdine Law School Kenneth Starr. Of course, at the same time they have lobbyists announcing that all Texas teams move together, they're publicly saying they supposedly remain committed to the conference... until they're not.

Interestingly, if ND opts to be the 12th team in the Big Ten, then everything might just settle down.

On a lighter note, I bet the source of this sudden push for a Pac-16 and possible Big-16(?) is coming from the least likely source: the Tournament of Roses. TT vs. Rutgers in the Rose Bowl? That equals a whole new market of folks to come visit and spend in their lovely town. They're like the town council in Hot Fuzz.

 

[Loopz]

On a lighter note, I bet the source of this sudden push for a Pac-16 and possible Big-16(?) is coming from the least likely source: the Tournament of Roses. TT vs. Rutgers in the Rose Bowl? That equals a whole new market of folks to come visit and spend in their lovely town. They're like the town council in Hot Fuzz.

THE GREATER GOOD.

 

[lithy]

Something I've been curious about with this expansion talk and possibly up to 16 teams in a conference is the schedules. How do you work in a conference schedule with 8 team divisions in a 12 game schedule.

Take for example the SEC at 12 teams, right now, you play all 5 division teams, a traditional rival from the opposite division, and a rotating opponent from the opposite division. This is 7 games, leaving 5 games to fill in a traditional non-conference rival (UF/FSU, Tenn/Memphis, USC [yeah the other one Bobak]/Clemson, UGA/GT, etc.), a couple quality non-conference opponents, and a couple of cupcakes for the season opener and homecoming.

Now let's say you go to 16 teams. You play 7 games against same division teams, still a traditional rival and a rotating team from the other division. You're already at 9 games, add in the traditional non-conference rival and this only leaves 2 games to change around from year to year.

Now the option here is to lengthen the season, which of course means more revenue but also admitting that they are entirely full of bull when it comes to playoff opposition.

What else is the other option, three or four divisions in the conference and thus a +1 tournament for the conference championship games? Also more games.

 

[Hidden Character]

I bet EDSBS probably had to shut down the site temporarily due to the massive flood of traffic about all this expansion/absorption/raiding talk. L. Keezy and co. at USC are in major trouble if Texas and Oklahoma are gonna be on the other side of the conference for a conference title.

Edit: Breaking news out of ESPN: Nebraska is on board to join The Big Ten, which now makes it The Big Twelve.

 

[Neo Mike]

It appears likely the first domino is about to fall.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/news/story?id=5268408

 

[El_Duque]

Big news indeed. Going to miss those Nebraska and Mizzou games, unless Missouri jumps ship as well.

 

[Neo Mike]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/06/pac10-poised-to-become-16team-conference.html

Pac-10 poised to become 16-team conference

“It’s locked and loaded."

 

[aria]

Something I've been curious about with this expansion talk and possibly up to 16 teams in a conference is the schedules. How do you work in a conference schedule with 8 team divisions in a 12 game schedule.

Take for example the SEC at 12 teams, right now, you play all 5 division teams, a traditional rival from the opposite division, and a rotating opponent from the opposite division. This is 7 games, leaving 5 games to fill in a traditional non-conference rival (UF/FSU, Tenn/Memphis, USC [yeah the other one Bobak]/Clemson, UGA/GT, etc.), a couple quality non-conference opponents, and a couple of cupcakes for the season opener and homecoming.

Now let's say you go to 16 teams. You play 7 games against same division teams, still a traditional rival and a rotating team from the other division. You're already at 9 games, add in the traditional non-conference rival and this only leaves 2 games to change around from year to year.

Now the option here is to lengthen the season, which of course means more revenue but also admitting that they are entirely full of bull when it comes to playoff opposition.

What else is the other option, three or four divisions in the conference and thus a +1 tournament for the conference championship games? Also more games.

It's not that different that's what's there...

The Pac-10 currently plays a round-robin schedule. All 10 teams play each other every year, so that's 9 conference games + 3 non-conference. For the USC Trojans, that means two non-conference games plus the automatic rivalry game with Notre Dame.

16 wouldn't change it much. In fact, it would offer more diversity in the schedule!

 

[aria]

The NCAA report on USC is allegedly being leaked, and it's HUGE. I assume USC will try an appeal.

NCAA hands USC two-year bowl game ban, major scholarship reduction in football
By Gary Klein
9:14 PM PDT, June 9, 2010

A two-year bowl ban and a loss of more than 20 football scholarships are among the sanctions that the NCAA has dealt USC, a source with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday.

The NCAA, the governing body for collegiate sports, informed USC of its decision after a four-year investigation regarding allegations centered on former football player Reggie Bush and former basketball player O.J. Mayo. The NCAA could make its decision public as early as today.

USC officials would not confirm that the school had received the NCAA's report.

Asked if USC had heard from the NCAA, Athletic Director Mike Garrett said: "We are looking at things right now. That's about all I can say."

USC spokesmen said the university would address the situation when the NCAA makes the report public.

Limited recruiting contacts, probation and forfeiture of victories are also among the penalties regarded as possibly in play.

USC sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the situation publicly, said they were bracing for the worst. One said the school probably would utilize an appeal process.

Asked if the sanctions were appropriate, a source said, "It depends how you look at it. It is if you're a UCLA fan."

USC had been anxiously awaiting the NCAA's ruling since a February meeting of the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. A USC contingent that included Garrett, President Steven Sample, former football coach Pete Carroll, running backs coach Todd McNair and school attorneys and compliance officials appeared before the 10-member committee, which worked from a report prepared by NCAA investigators.

The three-day hearing was the longest such NCAA proceeding in at least a decade.

In January, USC self-sanctioned its basketball program for violations that occurred before and during Mayo's one-season stay with the Trojans in 2007-08, when the team was coached by Tim Floyd, who also appeared at the infractions committee hearing.

Bush, now with the NFL's New Orleans Saints, and Mayo, who plays for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, have maintained that they did nothing wrong while attending USC.

Carroll left USC in January to become coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Floyd resigned from USC in June 2009, later citing a lack of support from Garrett. He worked as an assistant for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets before Texas El Paso hired him as head coach in March.

The NCAA investigation began in March 2006, when reports surfaced that Bush's mother, brother and stepfather had lived in a San Diego-area home that was owned by a would-be marketer who planned to be part of a group that represented Bush when he turned pro.

The Mayo inquiry began in May 2008 after a former associate told ESPN that Mayo received cash and other benefits from Rodney Guillory, an event promoter who helped guide Mayo to USC.

 

[aria]

This is a REALLY busy night!

Haha! The Pac-16 in full swing...

EAT IT, BAYLOR!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Source: CU already has Pac-10 invite
By Ted Miller
ESPN.com

With Nebraska apparently headed to the Big Ten, the Pac-10 is poised to become the Pac-16.

Colorado already has received an invitation to join the conference, while five other invitations will be extended to Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

A Big 12 football coach, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach on Wednesday night that if Nebraska left the Big 12 the conference would dissolve, according to his athletics director and university president. The coach said Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado would join the Pac-10, leaving Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Iowa State behind.

"Nebraska is the key," the coach said.

The coach said the Pac-10 favored Colorado over Baylor because of the Buffaloes' presence in the Denver TV market.

Another Big 12 coach said Wednesday night that an anticipated Nebraska announcement of moving toward the Big Ten Thursday would indeed trigger the death of the Big 12 and a mass migration west.

"If Nebraska leaves," the coach said, "everyone has to look."

The new conference would be split into divisions with Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado forming an Eastern Division with Arizona and Arizona State opposite the former Pac-8 (USC, UCLA, Stanford, Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State) in the Western Division.

The coach said it's possible the Pac-16 would push for two automatic bids to the BCS, one for each division champion. That potential bonanza could open the possibility of the two division champs from one league playing for the national title, and it would eliminate the need for a conference championship game.

"The Pac-10 doesn't believe in a championship game," the coach said. "And coaches in the Big 12 don't like it anyway."

Events have unfolded very quickly, the Big 12 coach said.

"Until the last two days, everyone thought the Big 12 was staying intact," he said.

As quickly as the Big 12 has rushed to the brink of collapse, it could take quite some time for it to become formalized. The coach said the league will have to go on for two more years before splitting up.

Asked how awkward that would be, the coach joked, "I don't think I'll go to the conference meetings this year [Big 12 football media day in Dallas next month]."

The only potential hitch is Nebraska and the Big Ten not coming to an agreement. But even in that scenario, which appears unlikely, the Pac-10 will expand to at least 12 teams, said the source familiar with the negotiations. While Colorado is in and Utah is a top alternative candidate, it's also possible that the Pac-10 would make a play for Nebraska or another Big 12 school instead of Utah.

"If Nebraska gets left at the altar by the Big Ten, which would slight them at the 11th hour, then it might be hard for them to stay in the Big 12," the source said.

It would take a week to 10 days to finalize the details of a Pac-16. The blockbuster deal would add the nation's No. 5 (Dallas), No. 10 (Houston) and No. 16 (Denver) TV markets to the conference, which already includes No. 2 Los Angeles, No. 6 San Francisco, No. 12 Phoenix and No. 13 Seattle.

With that large population base, the new conference would start its own network and, along with other broadcast partners, likely would distribute around $20 million per member, comparable broadcast revenue to the Big Ten ($22 million) and SEC ($17 million), the source said.

The Big 12 distributed $7 million to $12 million a year. The Pac-10 distributed $8 million to $10 million.

 

[aria]

its official

"On behalf of the University of Colorado students, faculty, alumni and fans, we are proud to accept this invitation from the Pac-10 and join the most prestigious academic and athletic conference in the nation, " said Philip P. DiStefano, chancellor of CU-Boulder.

 

[Neo Mike]

Easily one of the most entertaining weeks in college football in a long time despite the fact no games have been played.

 

[aria]

Can I just say that I saw Reggie's family at the Hawaii game in 2005 (all wearing "5" with "mom" "Dad" etc on the back) and I never realized to ask myself at the time "how did they all afford to come here?"

All I have to say about the USC mess is "Most of the major figures in this scandal have long since left Southern California." Sigh... Tell the kids who are playing now.

Easily one of the most entertaining weeks in college football in a long time despite the fact no games have been played.

Usually the "highlight" of June is the arrival of the Althon and Phil Steele pre-season guides. Steele's is always worth a read.

 

[Neo Mike]

Wow, USC's football team loses 2 wins in 04 season (UCLA, Oklahoma) and entire 2005 season plus no post season in '10 and '11, and 30 scholarships over football, mens basketball and womens tennis in NCAA sanctions. 04 football title and Reggie Bush's Heisman TBA.

Crazy.

http://shops.cafepress.com/HallOfShameShop

 

[Hidden Character]

So I ask once again, does this mean Auburn and ex-coach Tommy Tuberville will get a retrograde BCS Title from their magical 13-0 season?

 

[Neo Mike]

BCS likely to force Southern Cal to vacate title
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-southerncaliforniasanctions-bcs

Reggie Bush's Heisman TBA.