The Legend of Bobby Caldwell (NCAA12)

[Young Drachma]

Every once in a while, you just run across a name of a kid that needs to be a star. Bobby Caldwell was that kind of kid. He could run, jump and shoot with the best of them.

Born in Detroit his family moved when he was six to California and again before high school when his dad landed a job at a new prison in Wyoming as the deputy warden.

Moving to a small town in Wyoming didn't excite Bobby. He was used to the hustle and bustle of the city and wasn't sure what to expect. He just threw himself into this sports. By the 8th grade, he was now over nearly six foot tall and people obviously noticed him. He hadn't filled out yet, but...he was getting there.

By 9th grade, everyone knew him as that kid who "played everything." Football in the fall, basketball in the winter, baseball in the spring. He was popular and successful and had good grades to boot. As college recruiters piled into the sleepy town, there were also pro scouts checking him out to see if he'd be worth investing a high draft pick on. He was getting it from all sides and Bobby had all sorts of people telling him what he ought to do.

"Focus on one sport, Bobby."
"Your meal ticket is football. You should stick with that."
"Basketball isn't for you, man. I love your swing as a baseball player."

Bobby eschewed all of them and did it his way. He wanted to keep playing all three sports -- even in college -- which big time coaches were not happy about.

As draft day crept up for baseball, Bobby knew what he was going to do. He was going to find a team that would let him play his other two sports, while still playing in the minors part-time. Then he could see whether he'd ever be good enough at any of them to make it. If not, he'd just put baseball aside and do the other two in college.

He was happy with his plan and knew a few schools -- he'd narrowed down his list now -- that would gleefully agree to his terms.

This dynasty will follow Bobby Caldwell through his baseball, collegiate football and basketball careers in each game. Hell maybe he'll wash out in all of them and start playing soccer and then I can fire up FM11.

I'm using this league imported into OOTP12 and cut down to just 20 teams with one minor league and a HS feeder league where Bobby will be drafted from. I'll let NCAA12 Road To Glory handle the recruiting process, wherever he signs in football will be where he goes in FBCB2 obviously.

I'll report back with what happens, as I do it on a wonky internet connection after work hours. Should be fun if I can keep myself immersed and if not, well...so it goes.

Wish me luck.

[Young Drachma]

Bobby Caldwell unlike a lot of starlets of the diamond doesn't play the outfield. He's proud of that. He's a second basemen with the size of something more. He's 6'5", 215 lbs of what his high school coach calls "pure animal."

Football season is here and he couldn't be happier. "Nothing gets my juice flowin' like throw the pigskin around." It makes everyone in his other two sports very, very nervous. Especially now that he's angling for a chance to play D1 football. "Everyone knows how serious I am about football. I love all of my sports equally and so, I just want the chance to show what I can do. Blame my dad for this. If we never moved here, I doubt I'd have played all of these sports. Maybe one, but not all three."

As for the schools on his preliminary list, he's taken unofficial visits to Nebraska, Iowa State and down the road to the University of Wyoming. Everyone locally is pushing him to go play for the home state Pokes. But Bobby is secretly hoping to get a call from a school in the place he considers his real home, California. "I can't lie," he told a friend. "If somebody out there wanted me, man...I don't think I could say no."

Torrington's schedule was released this week. Wyoming's eight week HS season doesn't exactly give Bobby the kind of time he needs to showcase himself. He's going to have to be dominant against generally weak competition if he's going to make an impression. He almost asked his dad to send him back to California for his senior year, but he realized he owed to the people who coached him this far to play it out.

"I couldn't bail now even if I wanted to," he said in an article with the local Torrington Telegram newspaper.

Torrington head coach Skip Gehring knew that he owed it to his quarterback to play more and so, he went out of his way to schedule a team all the way in Colorado, three hours away. Normally 3A schools don't play that week -- it's reserved for the larger schools at the 4A level -- but Torrington decided to play it with an out of conference team just to ensure the team gets more playing time against a much tougher opponent than they'll see all year.

"Denver North is a top caliber team and they've agreed to play us because my cousin is the athletic director there," said coach Gehring. So while the rest of the state is resting before the playoffs, the Dust Devils will be playing ball.

Week 1 is against Nebraska's Scottsbluff High School.

[Young Drachma]

WEEK 1: TORRINGTON @ SCOTTSBLUFF (NE)

Down 21-7 after the 1st quarter, Caldwell rallied his troops to a 28-21 lead by halftime and they never looked back.

FINAL: TORRINGTON 42, Scottsbluff 24

Bobby Caldwell: 12-24, 240 yds passing, 1 TD, 1 Rushing TD, 1 yd rushing.

There's no two ways about this one. He looked rusty and rusty isn't going to get it done all season. Still, a win is a win and they did that. After the game, he attracted interest from Colorado State, Utah State and Idaho. He adds Colorado State to this list, figuring if he can't play at Wyoming that their rival is just as good. Plus, he likes Ft. Collins a lot more than Laramie anyway.

[Young Drachma]

WEEK 2: TORRINGTON 36 (2-0), Worland 21 (1-1)

Another week in the life of a kid gunslinger. He went 12-24, 243 yds passing with 1 TD. I think the play calling is often sketchy, but he should more with what he's given to work with. Nonetheless, it yielded interest from Idaho, Utah State and CU-Boulder. Boulder appeals to Bobby and he added them to the fray.

Right now, Wyoming, Colorado and Colorado State are all hot on the trail. Distant behind them are Kansas State and Nebraska, who were on his wish list for both basketball reasons (K-State) and football reasons (Nebraska)

Bobby had to sit out Week 3 due to a poor exam in a science class. Notoriously a good student, it was disappointing to everyone. Luckily it was against 0-2 Powell, so it wasn't the end of the world. But everyone wants to give the impression that athletes don't get special treatment.

Week 4 is against Lander Valley (0-3) on the road.

[Young Drachma]

WEEK 4: TORRINGTON 33, Lander Valley (0-4) 7

A pretty ho-hum affair an opponent that they were supposed to beat. One of the scouts looking at Bobby asked an instructive question. "Do you ever get the impression that someone ought to tell this kid to just pick one thing and stick with it. He's clearly a talent. But in all three? I dunno."

At times, you wondered. But then he'd throw a pass and make the players around him better and then you'd see what all the scouts were raving about. This kid has the tools to be the goods, no doubt about it and it's why they're here in the middle of nowhere to watch him.

"In California, he'd be just another golden arm. But with a place like this to showcase, he's a man amongst boys."

10-21, 285 yards passing, 3 TDs.

[Young Drachma]

After Week 4, Wyoming, Colorado State and Colorado all offered Bobby Caldwell scholarships. He also got calls from Boise State, Air Force and BYU. He ended up adding BYU to his list because he thought their history of good QBs boded well for him.

[Young Drachma]

WEEK 5: TORRINGTON (5-0) v. RAWLINS (4-0)

Once I get consistent internet in my new house, I'll be able to upload videos from his highlights. In the meantime, you just got my accounts of his exploits through signing day.

Rawlins is the defending state champ. This game will test Torrington the whole way. We'll see how the Dust Devils respond.

TORRINGTON 27, Rawlins 7

Yeah, they won. But it was more and more obvious that Bobby Caldwell is not going to be an elite QB at the college level unless he's in a system that gives him the tools to work with. Football is a team game foremost and no better example of that than today where his teammates dropped balls and were just confused often times.

8-28, 196 yards passing, 1 TD

[Young Drachma]

YOUR NAME IS SCOTT BORAS. ADVISE THE FAMILY.

You will advise Bobby's family on what to do once it gets down to signing day. He's now been offered two more scholarships -- from Kansas State and BYU -- both are basketball schools too and give him a chance to do what he loves in both cases at programs which have talent in both sports (by and large, anyway) and that excites him.

The real mother of them all is the fact that now Utah, Washington and USC have expressed interest. Everyone knew that California would be his weakness. USC boasts all three of the sports he's good at and is willing to let him play them, too.

This is a huge game-changer to any team trying to sign him in the draft, because he can always just go to college and come back to the baseball side of things in three years after playing college baseball.

What will he decide to do? How will you advise him? Put on your tin foil hat and start thinking...

[Young Drachma]

Rather than recap the regular season week by week, we're just going to go ahead and go through the rest of the regular season and tell you how it went down and head right for the playoffs. Let's face it, Wyoming high school football isn't exactly the most exciting exercise in the world to begin with.

Fresh off leading Torrington past Rock Springs and Powell in consecutive weeks by a total of 99-0, they had to play Worland (7-2) in the state championship game for all of the marbles.

Few expected as dominant a performance as Caldwell has put up these past few weeks, but then, it shows why he's such a highly touted recruit.

They nipped past Worland 40-37 in the state title game to claim the first title in school history. This despite boy wonder throwing 2 interceptions in this game, one for a touchdown. The state title game takes place at the University of Wyoming stadium and suffice to say, UW fans were hoping the local kid would pick them when it was all said and done.

His stats for the state title outing? 17-26, 376 yards passing, 3 TD and 2 INTs.

[Young Drachma]

SIGNING DAY
With the offers in, here's what we're looking at:

FIRST STRING
Wyoming (2*)
Colorado State (2*)

SECOND STRING
BYU (4*)
USC (6*)
Kansas State (3*)
Georgia Tech (4*)
Colorado (2*)

THIRD STRING
Nebraska (5*)
LSU (6*)

So the options essentially are: Stay close to home and you can start right away in front of friends and family. At Wyoming and CSU, he'd also get to start for their basketball teams. With the other schools, that becomes a bit more difficult -- though not impossible -- a prospect, they've all offered him at least a spot on their benches and a shot at starting if he's willing to redshirt a year.

With baseball's draft a few month away and expected to be a Top 5 pick, he needs a school that has a good enough baseball program -- that's willing to let him play -- to leverage them against each other.

Or...he could give up baseball all together? Or let teams know he plans to attend college and cost himself millions in the process up front.

So many decisions and the clock is ticking. What will Bobby Caldwell decide? Where will sign on the dotted line to play college football?

[Young Drachma]

Batting Ratings (OSA)	
Overall	Vs Left	Vs Right	Potential
Contact	2	1	2	6	
Gap	2	2	3	7	
Power	2	1	2	10	
Eye	2	2	2	5	
Avoid K 2	2	2	9

Fielding Ratings
Catcher	Infield	Outfield
Range:	-	8	4
Errors:	-	6	2
Arm:	1	4	2
Turn DP:	-	8	-
Ability:	1	-	-
Position Ratings
Pitcher:	-	Shortstop:	-
Catcher:	-	Left Field:	-
1st Base:	-	Center Field:	-
2nd Base:	7	Right Field:	-
3rd Base:	-		
 	 	 	 
Run/Bunt Ratings
Running Speed:	10
Stealing Ability:	10
Baserunning Inst.:	10
Sacrifice Bunt:	10
Bunt for Hit:	9

Personality Ratings
Leader Ability:	Low
Loyalty:	High
Desire f. Win:	Normal
Greed:		Normal
Intelligence:	High
Work Ethic:	Very High

His baseball stats via OOTP12.

[Izulde]

What years are the guys ahead of him for the 2nd string teams or isn't that known? (I'm still on Week 3 of my own dynasty. Well, Week 4. I finished Week 3 but haven't had a chance to post on it yet).

[Young Drachma]

It's not known yet. One presumes he could probably work his way into 1st string on any of those teams, if he's the #2 guy. I know the game lets you work your way into it. But at the 1st two, he could be the BMOC whereas the others he'd have a different sort of climb I suppose.

[MacroGuru]

BYU has a great football program, churns out the QB's..their basketball program is on the rise and their baseball program is as well.

If I remember right, all of their seniors were drafted this past season (Or it could have been last couple of seasons when it happened)...

but for sheer fun and talent, USC would be a blast to play with, but the bowl bans might hurt?

Other than that....I would look towards Kansas State

So..

1. BYU
2. USC
3. KState

yes I am biased but I like the fit....

[Izulde]

I'm intrigued by the idea of his going to USC, I'll admit. So I'll say:

1. USC
2. Wyoming (Come on, it's a DC dynasty with Izulde commenting )
3. LSU

The Tigers because I think it'd be cool to see him work his way up to lead an SEC team. Plus, playing against the top competition week in, week out would be great. It's just too bad he's not playing college baseball too.

[Young Drachma]

BOBBY CALDWELL FALLS TO 12TH PICK IN THE ENTRY DRAFT

Signability issues ultimately led to eleven other teams passing on Torrington, Wyoming prospect Bobby Caldwell. The 18-year old second basemen made it clear his intention to play college football and basketball and potentially baseball if he couldn't sign with a team that would give him a deal out of the chute.

Ultimately, the Colorado Gold Sox took the relatively local product with the 12th overall pick. "We couldn't pass up on a talent like that at our spot. You're not supposed to be able to pick up a franchise player with the 12th pick in the draft and we absolutely feel like Bobby is the right fit for the Gold Sox organization now and in the future. We wish him a long career with us and support his plans to pursue a college education. We're going to do our best to ensure that he has the best support necessary under the auspices of the Gold Sox family to do that," said Team President Glenn Carlyle.

Caldwell seemed somewhat surprised at his fate, but ultimately decided to let the process run its course.

"I am excited to be a member of the Gold Sox. My dad and I went to lots of their games over the years and so, it's cool to be a member of that team. I didn't think I'd be around on the board when they picked, so it's crazy how things work out. But everything happens for a reason I believe and this will be one way for me to motivate even more and make those other 11 teams wish they'd at least given it a shot to draft me."

Caldwell, mum on his baseball future plans, seems resolute. "I'm really interested in getting better. If I can get better playing baseball in college and re-entering the draft down the road, then good. If I can get better in the minors, same deal."

Ultimately, it might come down to money. He was expected to command nearly $5m in bonus money as a Top 5 pick, but falling near the end of the 1st round might have cost him at least $1 million, if not more like $1.5 million. With his stock dropping, it might be in his best interest to sign, because without a strong college showing; he won't ever command the interest he has now.

"It seems like an 80/20 bet right now that he'll sign with the team, play in the minors part-time and go after the college thing. It's a relatively low-risk move for the Gold Sox. If he pans out, they win big. If not, it costs them what a minor free agent would've, without any of the upside," said Rick Simmons, a columnist for ESPN Baseball News.

[Young Drachma]

For practical reasons, he still hasn't signed with a school as he runs out of time. His list of finalists right now are:







Wyoming for obvious reasons. He gets to play at home and he didn't feel right playing super locally and not at least giving the Pokes a shot at him. USC, because having spent his formative years prior to HS in California, he always dreamed of playing there and never thought he'd be good enough to do it. Finally, BYU intrigues because of the independent schedule that means he'd get chances to showcase himself on the national stage during his career and given what they've done for football guys in the past at the QB position, it might make him "Madden ready" in 4 years.

Plus, their basketball team could especially use him and he could make them a Final Four squad.

Ultimately, he didn't see himself as a southern guy and so, he decided against the schools down south. He is expected to sign with the Colorado Gold Sox and to play in their minor league system as he's very, very green and will need work before he'd even be remotely considered major league ready.

Alas, we're going to focus our initial energies on the NCAA12 and FBCB2 parts of this dynasty and so it might not always be linear, but I'll try to do a season of each sport at a time so it's not entirely hard to keep up with. His next step is to select a school to play. His decision is forthcoming...

[k0ruptr]

definitely following!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hmm ... being drafted by Colorado probably puts Col State into the mix somewhere now whereas I previously discounted them completely. I'd think the top three in my mind becomes a top four, USC, BYU, Wyoming and CSU now.

I'll eliminate Wyoming because he's done the loyalty thing by staying there for his senior year of HS.

I'd have to know more about the basketball situations at BYU & CSU to eliminate one or the other. Is he a starter on a very bad team at CSU or is this a team where he could lead them to several years of success (say, NCAA bids for at least his Jr & Sr seasons)? If so, then I'd put them at #2. If not, then they're out and BYU stays in the hunt.

Then it comes down to what to do about USC. My concern about not going there is that he'd find himself regretting the decision, since he considers it "home".

Hmm again. IF CSU stayed in the mix after considering the basketball implications then I'd say it's the final answer. Playing time + opportunity to elevate program(s) + more compact when juggling his baseball schedule. If BYU was the #2, then I'd probably send him back to Calif and make him a Trojan.

[Young Drachma]

BOBBY CALDWELL CHOOSES USC

"In the end, I just have to go with makes the most sense for me long term. I'm going to USC."

Bobby Caldwell chose the big stage over the home stage in a move that he said was "one of the hardest decisions he's ever made." He now goes to the fish bowl that is Los Angeles where he hopes to eventually become the team's starter. He'll show up 2nd on the depth chart.

After Week 1, the team lost to Minnesota. What happens is, each week he gets a chance in practice to prove to the coach why he should be the starter, otherwise it's just waiting for an injury. He's pretty close to supplanting the #1 guy after looking great in the first week of practice. We'll see how he looks this second week, especially after a game.

IN BASEBALL NEWS
He failed to come to an agreement with the Colorado Gold Sox and will reenter the draft next year, by forgoing the chance to play college baseball at powerhouse USC. "I think it'll be hard not playing next spring, but with basketball and football, I'll be busy anyway and I think my body will appreciate the rest."

He will enter the draft again with the chance of signing with a team and heading to the minors during the summer with USC's blessing.

BACK ON THE FIELD
The Trojans start Pac-12 action against Utah in the second week. After a strong second week of practice, the murmurs are getting louder to let the hotshot freshman from cowboy land take the reins over. He's keeping it cool, Bobby knows that he could be in the doghouse as quickly as he's the star guy now. And he's never done it in a game, so he understands that it's harder than it looks.

Another loss by USC, this time to Utah at home after having a huge lead will not keep the fans happy and is likely to usher in the Bobby Caldwell era in Southern Cal. We shall see.

WEEK 3. POSITION BATTLE
Bobby gets his chance to depose QB Dave Brown prior to the game against Syracuse in Week 3 to see if he's ready to be the starter.

He needed 2600 points over 20 reps to take the spot from him. It was shaky at times and it seemed like guys weren't where they needed to be or the defense was playing extra hard. But in the end, the plays were there when they needed to be made and Bobby Caldwell -- our Bobby Caldwell -- will lead USC (0-2) into battle against Syracuse (2-0) this week as the starting quarterback.

As if this was some kind of storybook, the kid would get his first start against a Big East team after his own team lost two straight at home to teams they'd have beaten in the past. The coach could've started this one and probably won. In the end, the kid was sharp and led the Trojans to the first win of the season, but wasn't player of the game. That went to HB Dee Collier who ran for over 200 yards and 3 TDs in the 45-14 drubbing of the Orange.

Still, Caldwell gave the fans lots to talk about. He went 11-15 WITH 322 yards passing and threw for 3 TDs in the win and that'll be enough to have him keep his job for another week and keep everyone happy with him as the darling freshman.

Luckily, I'm doing this whole dynasty on the XBox360 (thanks little bro) and so, I'm saving all of my highlights to eventually show you these games we're playing. I'll do football at night (home), with baseball mentioned (also home) and then basketball during the day (work) and so, I'll try to make the narratives work within those confines, but use your imagination otherwise as I want to keep the story going.

WEEK 4
This week's matchup is against undefeated Arizona State (3-0) and it'll be the first road game of the year. Suffice to say, there won't be any freebies in this one for the kid and his ballclub.

In the end, it was a false alarm as the Trojans move to 2-2 after a 31-7 shellacking of the Sun Devils. Bobby went 9-15 177 yards passing along with 2 TDs through the air.

Next week it's Arizona.

[Young Drachma]

The decision process was interesting. I wrestled a lot with what made sense, but everyone saw the USC connection and had them in the Top 3 and for me, it was always about what was tugging the kid at his heartstrings and so, without even knowing who the starter at USC would be, I figured this kid was cocky enough to know that he could beat him out and that he should go on the big stage because at least if USC went bad he could always transfer to a Wyoming or some school like that.

But he figured if he went mid-major and something went wrong, he'd have a lot more to lose. You all saw that too and so, the advising tilted him in the direction he probably wanted to go once he realized he was good enough to do it.

So far, looks like it's been a good choice.

[Young Drachma]

I'm going to sim the rest of the regular season, partially because I want to see how he does without the aid of a human pilot and also because I want to finish his freshman year in football, so we can focus on basketball tomorrow. I also simmed Week 4, fwiw.

WEEK 5: Arizona 17, USC13
B. Caldwell, 14-30, 157 yards passing, 0 TDs, 1 INT

The game where he throws the most passes and he ends up losing. He had games like this in high school. He's a gunslinger and I think when a coordinator gives him too much free reign, he misses his recievers and gets too tentative in the pocket. This must've been a game like that.

Week 6 is a bye for USC, Week 7 will be against Cal.

WEEK 7: USC34, Cal 7
B. Caldwell 14-20, 252 Yards passing, 2 TDs.

[Young Drachma]

The Trojans went into Week 9 ranked in the Top 25, surprisingly. The regular season ended at 7-5, with wins against UCLA and CU among others. Right now, the team is slated for the Las Vegas Bowl.

#5 Bobby Caldwell's regular season stats after his freshman year:
QB RATING: 167.8
COMP: 122
ATT: 195
PASS. YARD. 1832
PASS. TDS: 18
INTS: 4
AYPG: 183.2
COM %: 62.6
AVG ATT: 19.5
LONG. PASS: 64
SACKED: 10

RUSHING ATT: 87
YARDS RUSHING: 348
RUSH TDS: 3

[Young Drachma]

I'm going to go back to his football, but I figure you can't really get the impression until I get (high speed) internet at home and can show you his highlights. So a lot of the story will be backtracking the past.

So let's talk baseball, for a bit. Bobby went back into the draft for the 2nd year and this time, he went 2nd overall to the New York Knights.

His first minor league season, he spent with the Knights AA club (only two levels of minors in this league, currently.) He's spent the past three years in the New York Knights minor league system. You can tell that he was never a full-time baseball player, because his development wasn't significant in the ways you'd hope.

In three minor league seasons, Bobby hit under .200, but his HR totals improved each season (7 to 15 to 20) and RBI (21 to 22 to 48), but it seemed obvious that he wasn't going to get a chance to play for the Knights because they won the Daylight Series his first season and have been contenders ever since.

So in his 4th season, Bobby's break came. Four new teams were added to boost the league to 24 teams and the Knights traded him to the expansion Bay City Sugar Kings in exchange for four players. It gave him a chance to return to the state of his birth - two hours from Detroit, Michigan - but also, a possibility of breaking into the majors.

Sure enough, in his 4th year, the Sugar Kings kept him on the roster. He was moved to 1st base to get more reps. In 87 games, Bobby hit .280 with 3 HRs, 27 RBI and 15 SBs. He had a WAR of 0.3 and started in 45 games during his rookie season.

[Young Drachma]

EA Sports: NCAA Football 12 Video

Bobby in High School State Playoffs

EA Sports: NCAA Football 12 Video

Bobby in his first game at USC.

[Young Drachma]

Now that I have internet, I think I'm going to have Bobby Caldwell become the coach of the Wyoming A&M Tornadoes and focus on some conference realignment storylining. Rather than clutter up the boards though, I'll just keep using this one.

THE STORY OF WYOMING A&M UNIVERSITY
Wyoming A&M was originally the University of Wyoming's Southeastern outreach center. In 2005, due to an anonymous donation of multi-millions, funds were provided pending state match for a second state university. The stipulation was the the school be agriculturally focused, minimized redundancy from UW programs and be based in Torrington, Wyoming on a 100-acre campus to be built just outside of the city limits, less than 15 miles from the Nebraska border. The Southeast outreach center was spun off from Eastern Wyoming College -- the local community college -- and became Wyoming Agricultural and Mechanical University in 2009 after achieving full accreditation.

Wyoming A&M capitalized on the region's agricultural heritage and has quickly become the leading university drawing students from all fifty states and 21 countries. Drawing heavily from Colorado, Nebraska and other border states, the school has also drawn a reputation for top-flight athletics. In 2011, Wyoming A&M was invited to upgrade its FCS program to FBS. The 2011 season is the first year of the program into the new league and at the top level of college football.

Thanks to booster support, the university, Goshen County Fairgrounds Association and working with the Torrington Public School District, a brand new state of the art 31,000 seat stadium was completed in anticipation of the upgrade to FBS. THUNDER BASIN COAL CO. purchased the naming rights for the new stadium.

[Young Drachma]

Suffice to say, when Bobby Caldwell is your head coach, players come calling. The legend has managed to stock the shelves in Wyoming with players who he believes will lead the squad to places unseen by any team in the state before.

For the 2011 season, the Tornadoes will begin as an independent, but are in talks with several conferences to consider membership for as early as the 2012 season, specifically as a boon to other programs which right now are forced to play in the Great West conference.

[Young Drachma]

I was kicking around how to do this. I sort of wanted a base of history to start with. So I'm just going to fly through a decade or so, to get a history together and then when the college football landscape is a bit different, coupled with the teams are they are -- with no current players -- then it'll be easier to take over.

Conferences are right now as they are in real life. The one change I've made is removing conference affiliation from bowls, so all of the BCS bowls are at-large.

We'll sim ten years into the future and I'll recap each season. We'll also chronicle the changes to the college football landscape during that time (in brief) but mostly focus on the players who've come through the Tornadoes program in that time, see if the stadium grows based on team's performance and so forth.

We'll assume they've played a D1 schedule for a while and this is the first year they're bowl eligible. They're in the WAC replacing Utah State, but the prestige is higher than it should be because I wanted them to be able to be Boise State-like out of the chute knowing I wasn't going to run them for a while. So...the first few years are setup for the future.

Feel free to chime in on conference affiliations for your favorite teams and the like. I'm not 100% sure of what I want to do (shock, I know) and so, I could be wooed to do something bold if it sounds like fun. Especially since those programs don't really matter anyway.

[Young Drachma]

SCHEDULE

vs. Auburn (W, 27-17)
@ Washington (W. 49-0)
vs. Boise State (W, 50-41)
@ Colorado State (W, 37-24)
vs. Wyoming (W, 73-7)
@ New Mexico State (W, 49-0)
@ San Jose State (W, 56-3)
@ Nevada (W, 54-21)
@ Louisiana Tech (W, 54-7)
vs. Idaho (W, 40-10)
vs. Hawaii (W, 54-21)
vs. Fresno State (W, 35-17)

Not going to focus on the players for the first few years, because they're just stock rosters for the most part. We'll just get through the seasons unless there's someone really worth noting after a while.

Here's the BCS Top 14 rankings pre-bowl season:

1. Wyoming A&M
2. Oklahoma (10-2)
3. Stanford (12-1)
4. Oregon (11-1)
5. Alabama (12-1)
6. Ohio State (12-1)
7. Mississippi State (10-2)
8. TCU (11-1)
9. Auburn (8-4)
10. Miami (11-2)
11. Texas A&M (9-3)
12. Virginia Tech (10-2)
13. Arkansas (9-3)
14. Kansas State (8-4)

Here are the BCS Bowl Games for Season 1:

BCS National Title Game: Wyoming A&M v. Oklahoma (10-2)
Fiesta Bowl: Stanford (12-1) v. Alabama (12-1)
Orange Bowl: Mississippi State (10-2) v. TCU (11-1)
Sugar Bowl: Miami (11-2) v. Texas A&M (9-3)
Rose Bowl: Oregon (11-1) v. Ohio State (12-1)

[Young Drachma]

I'm going to super sim the BCS National Title Game, but I do want to show you all the sweet jerseys I made for Wyoming A&M, they're eventually going to be replaced by the jerseys you see up top and relegated to "throwback" status, but in-game they just look so awesome. (to me, anyway)

I tend to like to see how a team does after they've had success, rather than doing the whole 1-star to 6-star trope. Mostly because I'm impatient, probably but also because I think it's interesting to do it the other way.

This year's title game was at The Superdome in New Orleans.

Well ideally what'll happen at Wyoming A&M will be the same and it'll be a question of whether it can be maintained or not when I take over.

Wyoming A&M beat Oklahoma 49-46 to claim the title in Year 1.

Here's the opening kickoff, displaying those pretty awesome jerseys I was talking about.

EA Sports: NCAA Football 12 Video

[Young Drachma]

So now's the fun part. It's Year 2 and we're going to shift some things around. The WAC is going to basically be DOA, because I'm going to move the schools that were originally headed to the Mountain West to that league.

Some teams in the Mountain West wanted to invite Wyoming A&M, but the University of Wyoming strongly opposed the move and some teams in the league felt carrying two teams in that market would be bad for business. Privately, some wished to kick out Wyoming in favor of Wyoming A&M, but the politics of doing so were less than easy.

They know they need to get out of the WAC though, which is functionally dead for our purposes...but the lack of a TV market in Wyobraska means that other leagues are reluctant to take on a program that doesn't offer much. So they suffer in the five-team WAC for one more year with the hopes that they'll get an invite to another league by next year. If a national title can't do it, what can?

Without more blabbing, here's are the conference changes. Conferences not listed have no changes.

WAC
Gone: Nevada, Fresno State, Hawai'i
Added: None

MOUNTAIN WEST
Gone: TCU
Added: Nevada, Fresno State, Hawai'i

BIG 12
Gone: Texas A&M, Missouri
Added: SMU, Houston

BIG EAST
Gone: None
Added: TCU

SEC
Gone: None
Added: Missouri (East), Texas A&M (West)

CONFERENCE USA
Gone: SMU, Houston
Added: Troy

SUN BELT
Gone: Troy
Added: None


Editors note: Based on the conferences I've laid out, you play the conference commissioners + TV Network execs. Electrifying team that sort of out-Boise State the smurf turfers because of their great play on and off the field, coupled with the whole Wyoming mystique thing that Idaho doesn't offer. Coupled with good marketing, of course.

Do you give them an invite to your league? I need perspective here, I'm too close to the subject and I'm not sure where to put them down the road, if anything. Kicking around some creative scenarios.

[Young Drachma]

SEASON 2 SCHEDULE
With the WAC decimated to all recognition, we had to scrounge for games. Here's what we came up with:

Week 1: BOISE STATE
Week 2: @ UCLA
Week 3: #25 LSU
Week 4: @ #24 IOWA
Week 5: @ WYOMING
Week 6: BYU
Week 7: Bye
Week 8: UTAH
Week 9: SAN JOSE STATE
Week 10: NEW MEXICO STATE
Week 11: @ LOUISIANA TECH
Week 12: @ IDAHO
Week 13: Bye
Week 14: VANDERBILT

Game says that's a SOS of a C+...we'll see how that goes. We have our starting QB and one of our top receivers returning. Quite the bounty of riches for a defending national title team, but I did it that way on purpose as we didn't have any stud recruits to play the position if he left and so, it gives the AI a chance to recruit someone good enough to take over for him in a year. Still, I don't expect a repeat of last year's success on the field. Still, it's not as if that schedule is really all that hard. And we started the season off ranked #6, so...BCS implications are a part of everything we do all year. If we get past the ranked teams, we'll be good, but it's a wonder how much the quasi-independent schedule will hurt us when we get into the WAC season and other teams are playing teams that don't suck.

Meanwhile, the conference bigwigs meet privately to decide what to do with Wyoming A&M as the team continues to leave its imprint on college football's landscape going forward.

[britrock88]

Maybe the new weaker Big 12 takes a gamble on WAMU.

[Young Drachma]

A desire to keep the league together, coupled with the a strong need to return to a model that includes a championship game, means the Big 12 is thinking expansion once again.

After adding SMU and Houston last year with the defections of Missouri and Texas A&M to the SEC, the league is reportedly in "strong" negotiations with BYU and Wyoming A&M to join the league. While BYU brings its own network and a strong fan base, the upstart Wyoming A&M club brings with it no real TV market implications, but does boast one of the top teams in the nation over the past few years since moving to the FBS level.

The wild card in all of this is Notre Dame. Reportedly, the Big XII has offered the Irish a spot in the league. The reason the Irish are considering staying? Their NBC TV deal would not need to be relinquished in the deal. The school believes the Big XII would help it restore its prominence, while moving to the Big Ten might cause its further irrelevance into the future.

Mostly, like most things, these deals are about money first and foremost. The details will be in a contract coming sooner or later. Wyoming A&M officials privately confide that if they're not able to find a new league by the end of the year that they'll go to the Mountain West in the hopes they can score enough votes to overrule the Wyoming bloc that wants them as far away from the league as possible.

"There's a push to just go independent if they need to, but the games are hard to get and it'd really hurt the Olympic sports and basketball, which has benefitted from football's growth." Its hockey teams play in CCHA and aren't affected by what happens in football.

[Young Drachma]

Here's the results from the second season of our Wyoming A&M dynasty. Bobby Caldwell's Tornadoes were not joking around.

SEASON 2

#16 Boise State (10-2) (W, 40-20)
UCLA (4-8) (W, 44-21)
LSU (8-4) (W, 34-17)
#7 Iowa (10-2) (W, 36-26)
Wyoming (4-8) (W, 44-7)
BYU (4-8) (W, 42-18)
#6 Utah (12-1) (W, 42-35)
San Jose State (4-8) (W, 45-7)
New Mexico State (4-8) (W, 47-13)
Louisiana Tech (7-5) (W, 56-14)
Idaho (5-7) (W, 59-3)
Vanderbilt (3-9) (W, 38-10)

All of this sets up the Tornadoes with a rematch date against the Sooners of Oklahoma for the national championship.

BOWL GAMES SEASON 2
Rose Bowl:#7 Iowa (10-2) v. #8 Virginia Tech (12-1)
Sugar Bowl: #3 Alabama (12-1) v. #4 Wisconsin (12-1)
Orange Bowl: #9 Auburn (10-2) v. #13 SMU (10-2)
Fiesta Bowl: #5 UCF (12-0) v. #6 Utah (12-1)

SEASON 2 NATIONAL TITLE GAME: Wyoming A&M lost to Oklahoma 45-24 in the national title game, avenging a loss to the upstarts last year.

[Young Drachma]

TORRINGTON, Wyo. (AP) - The Wyoming A&M athletic department announced today plans to expand Thunder Basin Stadium from about 32,000 seats to nearly 70,000 seats over the next five years. "This is really about our fans," said school president A.G. Powell.

"We're being responsive to thousands of students, alumni and patrons of Tornadoes football that want to be part of the great things we're doing here. "We're grateful to our benefactors for making this possible, but we're not going to stop until Thunder Basin Stadium is the largest city in Wyoming on game day. We're proud of our community, our university and our success that comes from students in and out of the classroom."

THUNDER BASIN STADIUM was built in 2005, through a public-private partnership. This expansion will use no state funds or general fund dollars to finance the construction - a state first for a university. A sponsorship/naming rights deal with Pinnacle Bank will enable to the school to construct "Wyoming's Largest City (tm)" without any external debt and the field will be known as Pinnacle Bank Field at Thunder Basin Stadium.

Wyoming's largest city is Cheyenne with a population of about 60,000.

[Young Drachma]

Just when you thought the shuffling would stop, it doesn't. There are moves galore as we move closer to the super-conference have and have nots.

Let's recap, shall we?

BIG EAST
Gone: Rutgers
Added: UCF, East Carolina, Temple, Rice

NEW ALIGNMENT: Red Division (Cincy, UConn, ECU, Temple, Pitt, Syracuse) Blue Division (TCU, Louisville, UCF, Tulsa, USF, West Virginia)

BIG TEN
Added: Notre Dame (Legends), Rutgers (Leaders), Iowa State (Legends)

CONFERENCE USA
Gone: UCF, East Carolina, Tulsa

MAC
Gone: Temple

BIG XII
Gone: Iowa State
Added: Colorado State, Air Force, Army, Navy,

MOUNTAIN WEST
Gone: Air Force, Colorado State

WAC
Gone: Wyoming A&M

The opposition of allowing Wyoming A&M in the BIG XII came down to dollars. The appeal of three national service academies in one league, coupled with Colorado State which has a large following the same area as Wyoming A&M and BYU, which found independence in football a harrowing proposition going forward, ended up sealing the fate for the Tornadoes.

In response, the school opted to join the Big West in all sports except football and hockey and to move its football program to independent for the foreseeable future. "This is a move about taking our program forward in the best way we know how," said a school official.

MWC title game gets replaced with a Big East title game and the Big XII returns to the title game fray with a flourish.

As for Wyoming A&M, expect a schedule that keeps them as nationally relevant as possible recognizing that most schools aren't that excited to play them on their terms.

Let's start Year 3.

[Young Drachma]

We got games, but result is we had to go on the road for the good ones. I'd hate to be a season ticket holder this year, but at least the stadium isn't anywhere near where it should be yet anyway.

Pre-season rank is #8 for the two-time national finalists Wyoming A&M

SEASON 3 SCHEDULE

@ #7 Utah
#19 GEORGIA TECH
UNLV
SYRACUSE 
@ #14 Oregon
@ Kansas
WYOMING
SAN JOSE STATE
IDAHO
@ Texas A&M
@ Colorado
@ #18 Florida

Schedule is rated a B-, hard to say how the year will flop out. Lots of new players at the skill positions, the honeymoon is certainly over in that regard. Recruiting has been strong though, so success should be possible. Undefeated season though, would be somewhat shocking I think.

And given two of them in a row hasn't merited this team a conference invite, indicates the climb that might be necessary before a league pulls the trigger on the Tornadoes.

[Young Drachma]

Two tough games out of the chute and an unprecedented third straight national title appearance was out of the cards early for the Tornadoes who just wanted to save face for the rest of the year.

Suffice to say, it was a difficult year for the club, but after flying high for two years perhaps a necessary crash to Earth. One thing seems sure, we can always count on Wyoming for a win.

A 5-7 season isn't the coolest thing in the world, but after the past few years it's probably long overdue for the program to truly rebuild in earnest. We'll see how it comes together.

SEASON 3 RESULTS

Utah (L, 21-17)
Georgia Tech (L, 31-28)
UNLV (W, 52-16)
Syracuse (L, 48-7)
Oregon (L, 42-14)
Kansas (W, 24-17)
Wyoming (W, 56-14)
San Jose State (W, 33-14)
Idaho (W, 45-10)
Texas A&M (L, 28-14)
Colorado (L, 45-40)
Florida (L, 33-20)

SEASON 3 BOWL GAMES
BCS Championship: #1 TCU (13-0) v. #2 Oklahoma (12-1)
Fiesta Bowl: #8 Ohio State (12-1) v. #9 Boise State (10-2)
Orange Bowl: #3 Auburn (9-3) v. #4 UCF (11-1)
Sugar Bowl: #5 Mississippi State (10-2) v. #6 North Carolina (11-2)
Rose Bowl: #10 Georgia Tech (10-2) v. #12 Texas Tech (10-2)

TCU wins the national title 34-21 over Oklahoma

[Young Drachma]

No conference changes for Season Four, just FYI. Which means another season of independent football for Wyoming A&M. How will this year go? Suffice to say, it'll be scheduled a lot less intensely than last years setup.

SEASON FOUR SCHEDULE

Virginia (L, 17-24)
UTEP (L, 17-24)
Indiana (L, 10-20)
Wyoming (W, 54-13)
Hawaii (L, 21-38)
Rice (W, 58-24)
FIU (W, 41-34)
Arizona State (W, 34-23)
Purdue (L, 23-31) 
Florida Atlantic (W, 27-7)
Minnesota (W, 42-14)
Michigan (L, 13-38)

The expectation is a winning record and a bowl game. We'll see how the team goes though. It's not an easy schedule and so, we could easily fall under .500 again and find ourselves trying to pick up the pieces for a second straight year. When you don't have your own local talent to draw from, it can be difficult to really find your way week in and week out.

[Young Drachma]

Wyoming A&M did indeed make a bowl, receiving an invite to the New Orleans Bowl to play against Arkansas State (7-5) of the Sun Belt, but more football is always a good thing even if it's in a bowl that's not worth the trophy they give out at the end.

We knocked off Arkansas State 34-13, to claim the title and finish the year 7-6. Progress after our bruising year last year, no doubt about it.

YEAR FOUR BOWL GAMES

National Title: Michigan (13-1) def. Nebraska (11-2), 27-19
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma (11-2) def. UCF (10-3) 48-10
Orange Bowl: Alabama (11-2) def. Ohio (13-1) 62-17
Sugar Bowl: Virginia Tech (12-2) def. Boise State (11-2) 45-31
Rose Bowl: TCU (12-2) def. Stanford (11-3) 44-10

But as we approach Year 5, we wonder if there's any news on the conference advancement front. Things are hushed, but there are leagues out there on the prowl. Whether those leagues have absolutely any interest in Wyoming A&M is another story.

Here's the leagues that are possibilities and where things stand right now:

MOUNTAIN WEST: There's still no 5th vote that would get A&M into the league. Wyoming is a loyal partner and is receiving loyalty on an issue that it believes would effectively kill its dim hopes of competing with the WAMU juggernaut in-state. Fresno State, UNLV, Nevada and Boise State are all in favor, the others oppose it.

Still, the most logical fit and one that can't be consummated due to the stubborness of the league. We'll see how long it goes on.

BIG XII: No real need to expand to 15, without a 16th school and right now, the teams are happy splitting the pot 14 ways and don't want another mouth to feed. Especially one that can't bring anything to the table.

BIG EAST: Don't laugh. The league wants to move UCF to the Red Division, because right now that division is akin to the Big 12 North. While the geography would make no sense, it'd give TCU a travel partner. Officials are considering it as a football-only move which WAMU would welcome, but they're also worried about the distance and long-term implications of such a move.

BIG TEN: WAMU's acceptance into the AAU a few years ago put this on the radar. Academically, WAMU is a good fit. Athletically too. Nebraska isn't thrilled because they're the closest Top 25 contender to Lincoln, but some of the eastern schools are said to be indifferent. Bottom line is, that the B1G is at 15 teams and a 16th team is needed. A Big East or ACC team isn't out of the realm of crazy, though and seems more likely as early as this coming year.

[Young Drachma]

The Pac-12 has largely stood pat while other conferences like the SEC and Big Ten have grown. Officials in that league have been happy with their setup, but with the league on the downturn on the field of football and no national titles to their credit in the past four years; they're beginning to look at other options.

The talk immediately shifted to overtures of Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Those schools are all said to be actively interested in a new arrangement that would net them more money, given the decimation of the Big XII in recent years, even with the re-introduction of the Big 12 title game.

With that, a real conference tectonic shift ensued. Witness the madness below.

CONFERENCE CHANGES

BIG 12:
Gone: Texas, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Kansas, Kansas State
Added: Boise State, Nevada

PAC-16
Added: Oklahoma State, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech
(USC and UCLA move to the North Division, Big 12 exports join Pac-16 South)
Gone: None

BIG EAST
Added: Kansas State, Kansas, Maryland, Virginia
Gone: None

SEC
Added: NC State, Virginia Tech

ACC
Gone: NC State, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Virginia

MOUNTAIN WEST
Added: UTEP, Rice
Gone: Boise State, Nevada

CONFERENCE USA
Added: Florida Atlantic, FIU
Gone: Rice, UTEP

SUN BELT
Gone: Florida Atlantic, FIU

Meanwhile, what does all of this have to do with ol' WAMU? Well, new athletic director Josh Evans was hired for one reason and one reason only -- to get the school into a viable situation leaguewise. The university President and many others are actively involved in the process and believe there has to be a resolution that can be made and quickly.

The MAC has actually offered Wyoming A&M a spot in its league, provided we're willing to travel that far. It's a far-from-ideal solution for us and it's not one that the school is entirely sold on it being better than independence, especially with the other programs nestled in the Big West.

But the inability to get good games and to be showcased on television regularly is putting a strain on the upstart program to build on the momentum of success from several seasons ago. Termed what they believe to be an "inelegant solution" to the problem, Wyoming A&M will join the MAC at least temporarily as a football-only 13th member, while the school continues on the active front to seek out a permanent football home.

The Big Ten is actively seeking its 16th member, with legislation starting for Season 6 that will guarantee automatic bids to super-conferences that have sixteen members. Right now, that would mean automatic BCS bids for the Big East, SEC and Pac-16. Boston College of the beleaguered ACC is their primary target, but no decision has been made yet.

The Big Ten-Pac 16 Rose Bowl connection has been restored, the SEC tie to the Sugar Bowl has also been restored. The Big East gets an automatic qualifier, leaving four open slots for at-large bids to BCS bowls starting this coming season.

[Young Drachma]

YEAR FIVE SCHEDULE, WYOMING A&M
We're hoping this season offers a return to greatness, even if the schedule is full of unfamiliar foes by and large. The hope is that'll shine a brighter light onto the program and get us to a place where we can be attractive to a top-tier league. Impossible? Bobby Caldwell doesn't think so.

YEAR FIVE SCHEDULE
8/29: OKLAHOMA STATE
9/5: @ Colorado
9/12: WYOMING
9/26: @ Toledo
10/3: @ Iowa State
10/17: @ Northern Illinois
10/24: EASTERN MICHIGAN
10/31: @ Bowling Green
11/7: BALL STATE
11/14: CENTRAL MICHIGAN
11/21: BUFFALO
11/28: @ Western Michigan

Hardly the most illustrious schedule ever assembled, but it's what we've got handed to us.

[Young Drachma]

SEASON 1: 12-0 (WAC) (Won National Championship v. Oklahoma)
SEASON 2: 12-1 (WAC) (Lost in Natl. Championship Game v. Oklahoma)
SEASON 3: 5-7 (IND.)
SEASON 4: 7-6 (IND.) (Won New Orleans Bowl v. Arkansas State)
SEASON 5: 11-2 (MAC) (Lost Little Caesars Bowl v. Minnesota)

NATIONAL CHAMPS

1. Wyoming A&M def. Oklahoma (49-46)
2. Oklahoma def. Wyoming A&M (45-24)
3. TCU def. Oklahoma (34-21)
4. Michigan def. Nebraska (27-19)
5. Boise State def. Auburn (35-20)

[Young Drachma]

Online dynasties are too slow to load with my connection, so we're just going to stick to the off-line variety and perhaps my recall skills will get better as we go on.

I've rebooted, replaced some teams and made some changes. Here's the conference alignment, which takes place in some future beyond the above. If this thing takes off, I'll give it its own thread, but not until then because I hate boneyards of old threads that don't quite make it and Bobby Caldwell is still the coach so it does have to do with him one way or another.

ACC

Florida State
Clemson
Miami
Georgia Tech
North Carolina
Boston College
Wake Forest
Duke

BIG 12

EAST
North Dakota
Texas State
South Dakota State
South Dakota
UT-San Antonio
North Dakota State

WEST
Wyoming A&M
Northern Colorado
Montana State
Montana
Sacramento State
Portland State

BIG EAST

FOUNDERS
West Virginia
Pittsburgh
Connecticut
Syracuse
Cincinnati
Rutgers

PRESIDENTS
Maryland
Kansas State
Virginia
Louisville
USF
Kansas

BIG TEN

Notre Dame (Leaders)
All other teams in current alignment

CONFERENCE USA

UCF
Tulsa
ECU
Southern Miss
Marshall
Tulane
Memphis

INDEPENDENTS

Army
Navy
Air Force

MAC
Current alignment minus Temple (replaced by custom team)

MOUNTAIN WEST

AMERICAN
Boise State
Hawaii
Nevada
BYU
Wyoming
UNLV

NATIONAL
TCU
Baylor
San Diego St
Fresno State
Colorado State
New Mexico

PAC-16
Current lineup with Texas, OU, OK St and Texas Tech in South Division

SEC
Current lineup with Virginia Tech and NC State (East) and Texas A&M and Missouri (West)

SUN BELT
Houston
SMU
UTEP
Rice

WAC
La Tech
Idaho
Utah State
San Jose State

[Young Drachma]

Bobby Caldwell left Wyoming A&M to become HC at Florida State after a falling out with the AD. Buck Welder, an NFL alumnus who played at Wyoming A&M under Caldwell, but who'd never been a college coach before was hired to replace him.