OT: WVU applies to the SEC, Rutgers in contact with the ACC and Big 10, & UConn looking to the ACC
It's being reported that WVU sent paperwork in to the SEC today, Rutgers is in contact with the Big 10 and ACC, and UConn is also in contact with the ACC. I checked the "Texas to join Pac-12" thread but didn't see anything about any of this, so apologies if this has already been discussed.
WVU
http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2011/9/18/2433625/sec-expansion-west-virginia-football-2011
http://twitter.com/#!/colin_dunlap/status/115505893356998656
Rutgers
http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2011/09/rutgers_remains_in_contact_wit.html
UConn
September 18th, 2011 at 11:06 PM ^
ACC maybe but they will be am also ran in the SEC every year.
September 19th, 2011 at 6:53 AM ^
The ACC would never take them, nor would we. Shying away from competition to stay in a shaky conference for far less money would be a coward's move.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:01 PM ^
Not a fan of this arms race for super conferences. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I feel this is going to cheapen the game I love so dearly.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:02 PM ^
ND's hand will be forced.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^
that you are right on the money.
But, some of it will depend on what happens to the rest of the Big East. With all the talk of ND coming to the B1G, it may make more sense for them to join/dominate the remnants of the Big East. They might get the auto-bid for the BCS every year...
September 18th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
Don't expect the Big East to be in the BCS discussion for too much longer.
September 19th, 2011 at 8:08 AM ^
Don't expect the BCS to be in any super conferences discussion for too much longer. The college football world as we know it is changing and there will be a new, playoff type setup soon after this all settles down.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:31 PM ^
If the remnants of the Big East basketball schools decide to essentially drop football, ND could remain as a football independent. It may be a stretch, but I think it's within the realm of possibility.
I've mentioned this on the board before, but I don't think everybody appreciates just how important football independence is to Notre Dame. Asking them to join a conference is like us changing the winged helmets - it's hard-wired.
September 18th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
I don't like Notre Dame. But I have to defend them on this one. Being independent is part of their DNA. It is the same as when we thought the OSU game would be moved to October. There are some things that define you, that you don't change the first time you hear boo.
As long as they can find a home, even a mediocre home, for their non-football sports in a reconstituted Big East or what ever the remanants beocme, I think that ND thinks they can make a go of it as a football independent.
Now that they think they have officially "Returned to Glory" simply by beating an overrated MSU (did I say I don't like Notre Dame?), they will deem themselves relevant enough to safely be included in any championship scenarios that may play out.
If the B1G needs to get to 14 or 16 to compete, they better get moving without waiting for ND. The worthwhile schools are falling off the table quickly.
September 18th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
I don't like Notre Dame. But I have to defend them on this one. Being independent is part of their DNA. It is the same as when we thought the OSU game would be moved to October. There are some things that define you, that you don't change the first time you hear boo.
As long as they can find a home, even a mediocre home, for their non-football sports in a reconstituted Big East or what ever the remanants beocme, I think that ND thinks they can make a go of it as a football independent.
Now that they think they have officially "Returned to Glory" simply by beating an overrated MSU (did I say I don't like Notre Dame?), they will deem themselves relevant enough to safely be included in any championship scenarios that may play out.
If the B1G needs to get to 14 or 16 to compete, they better get moving without waiting for ND. The worthwhile schools are falling off the table quickly.
September 18th, 2011 at 11:24 PM ^
that assumes ND would be totally fine losing their automatic bid to the playoffs/BCS. No more "you're in if you win 9 games because you count as the Big East champ", they'd have to earn their way in like Boise State.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:02 PM ^
What, besides money, is a motivation for this?
- Break away from the seemingly increasing irrelevant NCAA?
- Start of a playoff system?
Those are just two things I thought of quickly, but I'm really not fond of 16 team conferences... if we have 9 conference games a year then we'll only play just a little over half the conference. What's the point of even having conferences then?
September 18th, 2011 at 7:10 PM ^
as evidenced by Baylor's about-face.
September 18th, 2011 at 11:25 PM ^
this assumes two 8 team divisions
not going to break down that way
September 19th, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^
Football is already largely independent of the NCAA, the ruling in the 70s that allowed teams and conferences to control their own tv rights took care of that. The NCAA would like nothing better than a football playoff where they could control and profit off of the rights fees. The NCAA does enforcement for football (which as the Taylor Branch article shows, helps colleges maintain amateurism for all kinds of devious reasons) and little else.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^
Just a terrible, terrible, terrible sports school.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^
The leftovers and misfits conference is going to be the first one with sixteen members. They will still be leftovers and misfits, though.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^
Thr argument that Rutgers brings the NYC is made by people who've obviously never spent time in New York.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:50 PM ^
Although a Notre Dame or Penn St or Michigan game in Jersey would be money. I wouldn't mind Rutgers as a pair with ND. By themselves it's a non-starter.
September 19th, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^
Yeah, ND membership would likely go farther in terms of getting the NYC market than would Rutgers.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:38 PM ^
Seems likely that a conference wanting to get that NY market will give some consideration to the Cuse. Though their football is down right now, they've been ok in the past, and their basketball is usually pretty good . . . .
EDIT: Apparently they're heading over to the ACC. There's the answer to my little query . . .
September 19th, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^
Not to mention that State College is closer to NYC than is Syracuse. The big problem for people speculating about the NY market is that the market is fragmented because the area lacks a team that more than 3-5% of the area cares about.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:35 PM ^
September 18th, 2011 at 7:39 PM ^
Kansas and K-State would be bottom of the CIC (so would ND, but DB needs another monocle, so...) academically, and down far enough that they may never catch up to even the current bottom tier.
Missouri I'm just not a fan of. I'm not sure why.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:38 PM ^
If the Big East disbands in football, will it also do so in basketball?
September 18th, 2011 at 8:44 PM ^
Of course not. You have a lot of basketball-only schools in the Big East that might even force the dissolution of Big East football and take it back to a basketball conference. As the football schools depart the basketball schools will find themselves in charge. And they will make basketball decisions. I could very easily see them poaching, say, the A-10 for some of their best schools. Add Xavier, maybe Richmond, etc. The screwed schools are going to be the old CUSA additions and their football teams. Back to CUSA?
September 18th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^
Apparently Jack Swarbrick told a local TV station to expect an announcement on ND hockey in 7-10 days. Perhaps he's waiting for all the football-driven conference shifting to see where ND hockey should go. Or perhaps HE KNOWS ALREADY.
September 18th, 2011 at 7:56 PM ^
When Circuit City went out of business a few years ago, I went out and grabbed some movies.... Most of those movies I didn't want or even need, but hey, it was a fire sale and who could beat those prices, right?
Looking back, all I did was make the movie collection a little bit more lame. I regret those prices, and I certainly regret my decision to buy them.
Don't be me, Big Ten. Don't be me.
September 18th, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^
Karate kid 3? I saw 1 and 2 and dvr'd 4, but can't find 3. Lemme know.
September 18th, 2011 at 8:13 PM ^
In basketball the Big East was a 16 team conference of ridiculousness anyway.
What's next? A college football season expanding to a 13 game schedule, plus a 14th title game. I mean, why not?
Sad to see the SWC, Big 12 and now Big East go dodo.
If only these administrators and their $500,000+ per annum salaries would have the wisdom to throw the BCS on the same trash heap of college football history and go to an 8 team tournament at traditional bowl sites (Orange, Rose, Cotton, Sugar, etc.)...or something similiar.
Now imagine this:
"It's The 2018 Rose Bowl Game Brought to You by Google
The PAC-12 vs. the Big Ten!
Stay tuned for Utah vs. Rutgers!"
Jesus Christ.
September 18th, 2011 at 8:17 PM ^
Going to 14 right now with ND and another good school (Mizzou's the only one I like) might not be a bad idea. SEC and ACC probably aren't going to 16 right away, and a 14-team conference isn't that bad with 9 conference games. Put ND in the Legends, Mizzou in the Leaders, make the permanent rivals ND-Purdue and Mizzou-Iowa, and we're still in a very good position.
September 18th, 2011 at 8:20 PM ^
I'm tired of all these teams scrambling to go somewhere else and all this conference realignment crap.
I don't want Super Conferences. I was perfectly fine the way things were.
September 18th, 2011 at 11:29 PM ^
I DON'T LIKE ALL THESE INDEPENDENTS JOINING CONFERENCES... THINGS WERE FINE THE WAY THEY WERE it's called life
September 19th, 2011 at 12:10 AM ^
Adding Penn State was a big positive for the Big Ten. Adding more teams that don't add to the conference wouldn't be a positive.
Somehow, I have trouble buying an argument that, although the Big Ten is incredibly stable and happy as it is now, and doesn't have any incentive to grow unless outstanding schools are available, the future will inherently demand that we go to 16 teams.
September 18th, 2011 at 8:24 PM ^
why does the B1G need to take leftovers of the Big East and Big 12? why not ask boise, TCU, and BYU to join and hope that ND comes too?
September 18th, 2011 at 9:30 PM ^
because we arent taking a mid major with a blue field, a random christian university in the middle of texas, and a school that outlaws sex and alcohol and just got annihalitated by UTAH.smh you even posted this retarded comment.
September 18th, 2011 at 11:03 PM ^
its funny that people act like his, probably the same people who think U of M is relevant in landscape of college football right now. get this straight, teams that are good now matter more than teams that were good in the past and may be good again someday in the future. There is a reason more people mention boise state and tcu instead of U of M when asked about college football powers. Then B1G is waaaaay down right now, wisconsin and nebraska are the only teams that look good and nebraska looks shaky. indiana, minn, purdue, they belong in a mid-major conference, and if we tried to give them away no other conference would want them. open up your eyes and look at the current landscape of college football and quit living in the past, remember once uopn a time SMU was the dominant power in college football and now they are a mid-major.
September 19th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
Just stop. ND is the only school that's not a Tier 1 research institution that the Big 10 would even consider. You wouldn't get a single vote from any of the presidents for any of the schools you listed.
September 18th, 2011 at 8:58 PM ^
ND and Vandy.
September 18th, 2011 at 11:00 PM ^
ND of course but also Vandy. Excellent school on the way up and will be competitive in many sports
September 18th, 2011 at 9:04 PM ^
Rome wasn't built in a day, but the Big East could collapse in a weekend.
September 18th, 2011 at 10:40 PM ^
was already becoming a near-joke as it was. If the BCS tightened their guidelines, they could've been losing their automatic qualifier before too long. Google search popped up articles as far back as 2004 saying their automatic could be up for review.
September 19th, 2011 at 12:38 AM ^
Google Searching would turn that up in 2004 - since the conference had only 6 teams in 2005, about to be down to 5, and was banking on three teams from Conference USA to bolster them. They recovered nicely and had 3 very good teams in '06, and were a fun conference to watch over the next few years.
After Cincy was stomped by Florida, and all of the coaches that made the Big East competitive left (Petrino, Rodriguez, Kelly) the conference has hit the doldrums again. I don't think they can recover this time, but the 2004 references were for a specific reason. From '06-'08 nobody was claiming the Big East didn't belong in the BCS.
September 18th, 2011 at 9:32 PM ^
September 18th, 2011 at 9:37 PM ^
Because they won't get more revenue.
September 18th, 2011 at 9:41 PM ^
Go for it Penn State.
September 18th, 2011 at 9:46 PM ^
I'm against these super conferences, but it looks like it is heading that way. I think it might be a huge mistake for the B1G to think it can sit on the sidelines and watch. It is not impossible that one of the other burgeoning super conferences might try and pick off a B1G team or two. For example, with Pitt, the 'Cuse and BC already in, then Penn State might actually fit better in the ACC than B1G (Especially if Rutgers or maybe even ND go to the ACC).
If the ACC added PSU and ND to FSU, Miami and VT it would make the ACC a formidable football conference in addition to their great basketball. This would also reduce the B1G to 11 and remove the next logical addition from consideration.
For those who say "impossible", what do you think Texas fans would have said a couple of years ago about the B12 imploding?
September 18th, 2011 at 10:08 PM ^
The main reson the Big12 is no more is unequal distribution of the revenue. The bigger teams gained more money than the smaller schools. A team like Texas who went out and got their own network would have earned even more. With the LHN, there would be no Big12 network, so the revenue would be even more unequal.
The Big 10 has equal distrubution of league revenue, and it's more that most team would get from another league. As is said above, there is a certain prestige being part of the Big10 and CIC. I guess PSU could leave, but I don't see it.