conference expansion

The conference formerly known as the Big East will now go by the name of 'American Athletic Conference'.  Which, originality, man.  Which teams will be in the conference are still TBD, but hey, they got a name!

What is interesting to me is the inclusion of 'Athletic'.  To me, the Big Ten, Pac-12, etc. are even more than athletics.  I personally think "American Conference" or "Pan American Conference" or something without the word 'athletic' in it would look, feel, and sound better, but that's my opinion and probably the reason I didn't get paid millions of dollars and participate in a focus group on the issue (jk, it was the university presidents).  Mike Aresco favored "American 12 Conference" but, presumably due to the fluid nature of the conference, university presidents didn't want a number in the conference name.

Full story:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/9130997/former-big-east-named-american-athletic-conference

1. According to the minutes of the council's December meeting obtained by the Columbus Dispatch, Gee told councillors that "there has been ongoing discussion" within the Big Ten about expanding beyond the conference's current 14 members. Gee reportedly stated that he "believes there is movement towards three or four super conferences that are made up of 16-20 teams."

   And in perhaps the most interesting comment from the minutes, Gee told a student member of the council that the Big Ten had "opportunities" to either add more schools in the Midwest or "move further south in the (E)ast." (Link)

2. Kirk Bohls of the Austin-American Statesman is reporting that the Big 12 is looking into a possible alliance with the ACC and two other unnamed leagues that could affect scheduling, marketing and maybe even television contracts among the member schools. One of the byproducts of such a move is that it could put a halt to further expansion by these leagues.(Link)

Interesting read on ESPN early this morning.  Apparently, it would "be an upset" if the 7 catholic non-FBS schools (DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova) stay in the league.  Fine, we knew that.

What is interesting is that the Big East can dissolve by a 2/3 majority vote, and because of the defections/attrition/general craziness, there are 10 schools that could vote:  the seven catholic non-football schools, Cincinnati, UConn, and South Florida.

The schools may not only leave the league, but they could dissolve the league entirely.

It's unknown if they would attempt to dissolve the league or leave the league as a group. The league can be dissolved by vote of the league members by a two-thirds majority, according to Big East by-laws. With all of the Big East's recent defections, there are only 10 members (the seven non-FBS schools, plus Cincinnati, UConn and South Florida) that can vote on the league dissolving.

A source told ESPN on Wednesday, Temple, as a football-only member, has voting rights, but can't vote on dissolution of the league. With Temple unable to vote, that gives the seven basketball schools enough votes to dissolve the league.

Full article here.

Boise State, San Diego State, and BYU are in conversations about returning to the Mountain West Conference (before even officially leaving).  This is fun.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8653727/boise-state-broncos-sdsu-aztecs-byu-cougars-talk-mwc-return-sources-say

Now that Maryland is officially joining the B1G, with Rutgers soon to follow, let's get your tinfoil hats out and figure out WHY*

I think my favorite somewhat-crazy idea is that this is a big F U to Notre Dame. When all the conference expansion hoopla was happening everyone pretty much figured that there were going to be 4 conferences left, with 16 teams each. The 4 conference champs get the 4 football playoff spots. Made enough sense.

The question is which of the 5 "power conferences" would get destroyed and join the other 4. Well, the B1G is making a move to insure that the ACC won't survive with any clout. The B1G, SEC, and PAC12 are on great footing and sure to make it. They have their own networks, best financial footings, and (historically) great teams and rivalries.

The BigXII has Texas and Oklahoma after being raided by the SEC. The ACC is getting raided by the B1G.

The SEC is at 14 teams, with room for 2 more to become a Superconference. The B1G will be in the same spot now, and the PAC12 needs to figure out which 4 teams it can get to join them. Texas and Oklahoma are the obvious answers, with maybe Boise and another team I'm not thinking of. The SEC will take FSU and probably Clemson.

ND will have a choice, do they stay in the ACC/BigXII conglomerate with the likes of Duke and Baylor? Or do they become a member of the B1G?

What's your tinfoil hat telling you? How does this all shake out?

*Besides TV markets and Money. because those are the real, boring answers

http://floridastate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1364755

FSU Board Member rips the new ACC deal; lowlights include $1 million per school increase; the big increase touted is back-ended.

Also, schools give up Tier3 football rights, but BBall schools (looking at you, Duke and UNC) individually kept their Tier3 Bball rights.

FSU to BigXII chatter commences.  Some say Clemson may come as well?

IF the ACC does asplode (losing FSU and Clemson, with Yes-That-Smoking-Crater-Miami on NCAA life support, VTech is the only consistent football power), does the B1G pick up a piece or two?

UVA would be my top choice...GaTech is too far away and would not 'bring' the Atlanta market, just like Rutgers would not 'bring' the New York market.

Adding UVA with all the PSU/Michigan/Ohio alumns running around the Baltimore/DC/Nova megaburb would capture this market.  Maryland would as well, but not as many people care about the Terps.

ND, as always, is the wild card.  To hell with them, though.