Big 12 no more....

[senorchipotle]

been following the shenanigans associated with the impending dissolution of the big 12. as a texas aggie, i am especially concerned with what's transpiring. it seems that the pac-10 has offered texas and texas a&m; a spot. but who wants to drive halfway across the country to see a damn football game? i'm hoping that we will add one more to the SEC this coming season. if not, i do believe aggie football will suffer tremendously, and my feelings will be hurt.

anybody else following this debacle?

[ElWagonne]

Yep...my question is this, why can't Texas go anywhere without A&M; (and probably vice versa)?

[Shripe]

And then of course Nebraska waiting for a decision on joining the Big Ten... of course, we're eleven teams already, so we might as well become the new Big 12/Ten, right? :P

[dblbgy17]

  senorchipotle said:

been following the shenanigans associated with the impending dissolution of the big 12. as a texas aggie, i am especially concerned with what's transpiring. it seems that the pac-10 has offered texas and texas a&m; a spot. but who wants to drive halfway across the country to see a damn football game? i'm hoping that we will add one more to the SEC this coming season. if not, i do believe aggie football will suffer tremendously, and my feelings will be hurt.

yes, and i'm not a fan. i know i'm thinking with my heart and the AD's are thinking with their wallets but all this movement is just disheartening. i'm a big ten guy, mostly basketball, and we picked up nebraska?? do they even have a basketball team? only move i would've been ok with is notre dame added to big ten, that just makes sense. everything else seems ridiculous.

[JWL1957]

I know how ya feel. I hated it when Boston College left the Big East to join the ACC. Although the ACC is still a east coast conference.

[dhanson]

Colorado has accepted a spot with the Pac-10. 5 of the 6 teams in the Big 12 South will (at least this is what people are saying) get invitations to join the Pac-10 as well (everyone excluding Baylor).

I'm a big fan of the University of Kansas, in both basketball and football (had season tickets to the football games when Terry Allen was coaching, and they were winning 3 games a year). KU's basketball program (if, in fact, all 5 South teams go to the Pac-10) is in serious jeopardy. If KU has to join the MAC, or join a conference from a mish-mash of mid-major schools, plus Iowa State (which might join the WAC), K-State, Baylor, and Mizzou, I would figure that Bill Self would leave for better recruits and competition. Which makes me think KU should play as an independent in basketball and then in the Missouri Valley Conference in football. I like Notre Dame, but if they would've stepped down from their high horse, and just fallen in line, taken a spot in the Big 10, none of this would've happened, because they would've had 12 teams, a conference championship, and everything would've been peachy. Plus, they would've made more money. Even with contracts with NBC, they still make less in football revenue than Indiana.

As Mark Mangino once said, "It's all about dollar signs."

[Shripe]

All I really care about is football, so at least now OSU will have a bit more in-conference competition... unless the Badgers decide to finally wake up and take the games they're supposed to.

[dhanson]

  Shripe said:

All I really care about is football, so at least now OSU will have a bit more in-conference competition... unless the Badgers decide to finally wake up and take the games they're supposed to.

with nebraska added, though, they will divide the conference into two divisions, presumably east and west. unless there's some shenanigans that divide what you would think of as the perennial powers, it would probably be divided like this:

east penn state ohio state michigan michigan state purdue indiana west illinois northwestern wisconsin iowa minnesota nebraska then it would be lopsided like the big 12 has been (with the power teams in the south with the occasional rise of a nebraska or k-state, which has only happened 4 times out of 14 years).

[Shripe]

Good point... I forgot about the whole division thing, since I never have to deal with other big conferences. Now I'm nervous as I usually am about all UW/OSU matchups. Ugh.

[Shripe]

Though they're saying that officials are trying to get 2 automatic BCS bids for the top 2 teams in the conference.. presumably top of each division? Might not lead to a championship game.

[JJLinn]

I have a feeling Kansas ans KSU are going to get screwed big time.

[drPheta]

I hadn't heard about this Big 12 dissolution. I only thought the Big 10 was trying to grab some Big East teams and maybe WAC or some other big market team.

[Shripe]

So... think Notre Dame will follow suit and make it the Big 13? lol

[Meddle]

  dhanson said:

with nebraska added, though, they will divide the conference into two divisions, presumably east and west. unless there's some shenanigans that divide what you would think of as the perennial powers, it would probably be divided like this:

Wait, lopsided towards east or west? Michigan sucks now, so really I think the west is the more powerful division overall. But I don't think it's nearly as lopsided as the Big 12 is right now. Of course, OSU will always be the favorite in the Big 10, so whatever division they end up in will have an advantage come Big 10 Championship time.

I think Kansas and Kansas State will end up in the Mountain West, making it 12 teams for them and the Big 12 automatic bid should be transfered to them. The real question is where will Baylor, Rice, Iowa State, and the other leftover teams from the Big 12 go.

[drPheta]

ND is sitting so pretty with it's Independent football status. They have it golden. Big East basketball, yet independent football. They get automatic bids above legit Big East football teams who work hard within their conference for bowls (money), yet ND with a lesser record can steal a bowl from a Big East football team with more wins. I don't think ND will drop that status to play hardball against the other Big Ten teams. It still gets loads of football money, and it doesn't even have to work hard for the status it has now. Take the benefits of Big East basketball, without the heartache of Big East football.

Anyone get the sense I hate ND?

[jetsknicks1]

I'm not quite sure how all this happened, why the mass exodus? Do schools have contracts with their conf?

[drPheta]

Yes, the conferences each "own" the schools, and the money they get from the BCS gets split. That's a really simplistic way to explain the football side of the deal, but that's essentially how the conferences are divided. Bowl games also bring in money to the schools, which is why everyone thinks the BCS bogus. College football history is being made right now, and we may see a setup for a playoff system in college football... or we may see some money being thrown around with a crappier version of the BCS.

FWIW, the last time teams left/expanded the ACC stole a couple great programs from the Big East, and other conferences scooped up nonconference teams. As it stands now, most conferences would potentially benefit if the remaining Big 12, C-USA, and MW teams moved to ACC, SEC, and Big East conferences. I'm a Rutgers grad, so I'd love for Rutgers to squeak into the Big10 as it is now with the other conferences staying put; or for the Big12 orphans, some C-USA, and MW teams to join the Big East and Rutgers stay put. Can we say basketball powerhouse in the Big East, and a seriously legit football conference? Win-win!

[Meddle]

  drPheta said:

ND is sitting so pretty with it's Independent football status. They have it golden. Big East basketball, yet independent football. They get automatic bids above legit Big East football teams who work hard within their conference for bowls (money), yet ND with a lesser record can steal a bowl from a Big East football team with more wins. I don't think ND will drop that status to play hardball against the other Big Ten teams. It still gets loads of football money, and it doesn't even have to work hard for the status it has now. Take the benefits of Big East basketball, without the heartache of Big East football.

I'm not so sure. They definitely have a pretty good deal right now as it is, but the Big 10 is the richest conference around by far, and hands out a ton of money to it's schools. With ND's lack of success on the field recently, maybe it would make more sense to take the guarenteed paycheck.