OT-Rivals site reporting Texas AM to SEC.
Texas AM rivals site is reporting that they are going to the SEC. If true a big domino just fell.
Ed: Wow
August 11th, 2011 at 8:56 PM ^
I still think Texas to the B1G is going to happen sooner or later.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^
I nominate this for "dumbest mgoblog comment of the week" and I nominate Waggles to track these nominations.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:11 PM ^
MGoBlog user of the week". If you think it's dumb give a reason for why you think it's dumb instead being a douche about it.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:29 PM ^
bc it isn't going to happen....You want Reasons...
THE LONGHORN NETWORK...Period!
If you want other reasons...baseball, culture, travel distance, lack of natural rivalries...
The only reason it ever made sense was the money was great, but now they have their own cash cow. Why would they give that up to join ours?
August 11th, 2011 at 8:44 PM ^
Hello: Notre Dame
August 11th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^
Conservatively, ND is part of the B1G by 2020. Non-conservatively, ND to the B1G by 2015.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^
Crazy non-conservative=ND has been in the B1G since 2010.
August 11th, 2011 at 8:53 PM ^
i dont know if this means anything for the B1G. we've got a solid 12. who are we gonna pursue who adds much (other than ND)? i dont think we'd go to 13 just for ND and i'm not convinced the big ten cares much for mizzou
August 11th, 2011 at 8:55 PM ^
ND would be huge for the B1G. They'd bring mega-bucks in. We'd go to 13 for Texas too.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:04 PM ^
No need....Irrelevant on the national scale. They need Big 10 more than we need them. Texas would be huge, TV and recruiting possibilities.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^
Recruiting yes. Not sure how it helps with tv since they just got their new Longhorn Network.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:55 AM ^
I don't like ND but to say they are irrelevant on the national scale is an absurd misreading of the reality of the situation. They make a TON of dough, and love it or hate it have put together a nice little TV package for themselves with NBC...they join the B1G and all of a sudden ginormous bucks are flying in instead of humungous bucks.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:04 PM ^
always just kick MSU out if we wanna stay at 12 :P
August 11th, 2011 at 9:08 PM ^
I think addition for the B1G depends on the BCS contracts. If the conferences fall apart and you have a few super conferences, they are going to push for two auto bids to the BCS, which is what the PAC was saying they wanted when they were trying to get 16 teams. That of course would mean that 8 teams are competeing per BCS bid. The B1G would have 12 teams competeing for a bid. Not good odds. So they may need to push for 16 teams to get an extra auto bid and maintain national presence in the BCS. Of course, if Delaney works some black magic manages to get two auto-bids for the current B1G, then we will all cackle with glee and stay right at 12, giving the other conferences the middle finger.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:24 PM ^
I don't necessarily see us reacting to the SEC by forming a super-conference. Additionally, let's wait and see where the SEC goes next. If they just add one more team with A&M, I doubt we'll care. If they go all the way to 16, I'm still not convinced we'll reflexively jump to 16.
If BCS contracts change then that forces our hand a bit - and it's probably back to looking at Rutgers, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and other schools that add television markets. But if only the SEC goes to 16, what incentive is there for us to keep up with the joneses? Also, who does the SEC take next? OU? or someone from the Big East, like WVU, or even Pitt? Or all 3? Those are the key questions.
All in all though, I'm shocked. This really catches me off guard - I'm not convinced that there will be an immediate shake-up, let alone have any inkling what that shake-up may look like. But still, wow.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:40 AM ^
Pitt won't be going to the SEC. Actually I could definitely see WVU going; state flagship in a state crazy about football (lousy academics too) and all. I'm being a homer here, and there are some problems with "fit" but I do think Pitt is the most attractive Big East to Big Ten candidate.
August 11th, 2011 at 8:59 PM ^
Can we start playing a dirge for the Big 12 now?
August 11th, 2011 at 9:09 PM ^
Here we come.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:53 PM ^
Or Leaders; you could be our second protected rivalry!
August 11th, 2011 at 9:11 PM ^
August 11th, 2011 at 9:21 PM ^
I like the idea of Oklahoma to the Big 10. Their rivalry with Nebraska could be said to be second to only ours with ohio - at least until the Big 12 ruined that rivalry with not having them play every year.
On another note why not just make all Big 10 teams stop playing ND after 2015. That is the only thing that will force their hand.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:27 PM ^
There are tons of schools that would happily play Notre Dame. If you think you could “punish” the Irish by blackballing them, you are mistaken.
Meanwhile, Michigan State and Purdue gain tremendously by playing Notre Dame, and frankly, so does Michigan. Would Denard Robinson’s performance last year, or Tate Forcier’s two years ago, have made the same kind of headlines against any other opponent?
August 11th, 2011 at 9:47 PM ^
And Notre Dame gains just as much from playing the B1G teams as well. If super conferences are made, that means tougher schedules and more marquee in-conference games. That really cuts down on the need for good OOC games. I could easily see the B1G teams (or for that matter USC/BC if they end up in a super conference) flip ND the bird because their schedules would be tough enough, or don't need them as much. As a poster previously noted, ND would not be able to survive if all they played is the service acadamies and BYU or something.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
He made the same kind of headlines against Indiana.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:30 PM ^
August 12th, 2011 at 8:37 AM ^
People need to start to understand once again that the Big Ten has higher standards for schools than Big Time Football Program. OU will not get in because, like many southern schools, they have lower academic standards than we would like. If we take more schools, they have to either 1. Be high quality schools or 2. willing to invest heavily to improve the quality of the school. I'm not sure if they will have to be AAU, but that always has been the standard in the past. Now that Nebraska was voted off the island, who knows if that holds true.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:09 AM ^
http://www.aau.edu/about/article.aspx?id=5476
Maryland
Rutgers(UGH!!)
Virginia
Pitt
Mizzou
ect.ect.
I think SEC/B1G/PAC go14 for a couple of years unless BIG XII/Big East fall apart with this round. We have to get our wish now and have M and OSU in the same division.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:18 AM ^
This is a good list to start with. I think they really were considering Rutgers, but really aren't now. The idea that Rutgers could be relevant has imploded again, and they proved last year that their teams are perpetually irrelevant. The myth that Schiano was a coach leading a rising program fairly well imploded, and I think we'd all like to think we're done with this trvesty of an option.
Mizzou would actually be good, but the son of a booster told me last time around they refused to invest in improving their academics (which is why I didn't think we would take them uin the first place). Maybe that will change with the Big 12 going down the drain.
Virginia Tech might be another good option people aren't floating enough- It's actually a good school, AAU, land-grant public university, football team which has gained real relevance, new territory (which I don't care so much about, but hey)...I actually think they would be the best get for us if the shit really does hit the fan.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:25 PM ^
OU doesn't have the academics to really fit in the B1G. If the Big 12 is going to collapse, then Mizzou and ND would be my top 2 picks (in that order) for expansion. Mizzou would join in a heartbeat, and if ND doesn't join, Pitt or TCU (assuming their academics are good) would fit best. Texas isn't going to join a conference that forces revenue sharing, and I doubt we'd let them keep their Longhorn Network.
IMO, Texas goes independent, the remaining Big 12 schools expand with C-USA and MWC teams, and OU/OSU go to the Pac 12+.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^
I'm pretty sure TCU is an academic backwater. I like their football, though. :)
August 12th, 2011 at 8:34 AM ^
They certainly don't fit the research profile that the Big Ten wants.
There's also the fact that, even with a top 10 team, TCU struggles to sell out it's smallish stadium.... in Texas. There's a reason they got left behind when the SWC collapsed. I lived in Dallas for a year and there was zilch about TCU in the DMN, and this was after their current improvement. No one outside of alums and people in Ft. Worth care about TCU. They certainly won't bring the television sets that the Big Ten would want in order to move into Texas.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:40 AM ^
TCU: poor academics, private religious institution, low profile in all sports but football (maybe not such a big deal anymore), largely eclipsed in its own home by other in-state schools.
No, sir. Don't see it as a good fit for the Big Ten.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:15 PM ^
August 11th, 2011 at 9:17 PM ^
No, just no!
August 11th, 2011 at 9:21 PM ^
Iowa State? Really??
So the BTN can gain all of zero extra viewers it doesn't already have in the sparsely populated state of Iowa?
If the B1G expands, it'll target ND and major universities out east (Maryland, Rutgers, UVA?, UNC?).
August 11th, 2011 at 9:26 PM ^
August 11th, 2011 at 9:26 PM ^
Iowa state is rarely competetive in anything, they bring zero marketing exposure, and they have mediocre academics at best. Please God no.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:40 PM ^
Yep, I'd much rather Kansas. New state, Great basketball tradition. But unlikely.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:37 PM ^
A few years ago, Sean from the Sean and Terp show said that Iowa State was the best fit if the BigTen expanded, I was so amazed by the nonsense that I almost wrecked my car. It is better to be safe and not listen to that show on my commute.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^
for a compass.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:11 AM ^
B1G.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:22 PM ^
i would LOVE to see Oklahoma in the B1G. Add in ND and Texas and someone else ( i have no idea who ) and you have the best football conference in the country.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:23 PM ^
Man, WTF. I hope people realize that this isn't good for college football or college athletics in general.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:51 PM ^
I think it could be good for college football.
Move to 4 mega conferences, create a playoff system, drop the other teams down a division, and pay less money down to the smaller teams to keep propping up their unsolvent finances.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:03 PM ^
But it moves in a direction that we've seen coming - larger conferences, less rivalries and trophy games, less out of conference competition, starker difference between haves and have nots.
I'm not entirely comfortable with this change either. Frankly, I don't like it. But who knows? It could be okay. So many people have wanted playoffs, this moves us closer to that as well.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:17 PM ^
Although I definitely agree with your have/have-not concern, I'll go with anything that forces a playoff system. The bowl system is sham. Playoffs will take the sport to a higher, more democratic, and more exciting level.
August 12th, 2011 at 1:32 AM ^
True, but I just don't like mega-conferences. A conference isn't a conference if teams don't play 40% of the other teams. Plus, Texas and Oklahoma do NOT belong in the B1G (nor do they really belong in the Pac-12, for that matter). Nothing against them, but this is a Midwestern conference. This realignment will not have been a good thing if it creates geographic outliers and cultural anomalies. IMHO, the Big 12 really screwed up when it didn't invite TCU to fill the void left by Nebraska and Colorado; that would have prevented its collapse even if Texas A&M does decide to leave.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:24 PM ^
Im hearing A&M and Oklahoma to follow. Then VA Tech and WVU. Just hear say. I personally havent heard anything except A&M but it they go there will be more.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:34 PM ^
I can't see the SEC passing up FSU and Miami, for WVU and VT.