The great conference shift

[lionden_56]

Introduction:

I'm restarting a dynasty, so that also gives me nice cause to finally do this. One of my little pet peeves is that whenever you re-start a dynasty, everyone always plays the same schedule. I know it is kind of small, but it bugs me. I like variety. I don't like Wisconsin losing to Ohio State in every first year of every dynasty I play (just for example).

I also wanted to see what would happen if the BCS busters (Boise, TCU, Utah, etc) played in a BCS conference. So I decided that for this dyansty I was going to shake up all the conferences. And not just move one or two teams...I mean move a lot. So I drew up some new conferences, figured out how I could get everyone where they would need to be in-game, and started.

The specifics on my end:
I'll be playing as USF. I wanted the challenge of a middle-of-the-road school in a good conference (They were one of the ones shifted), with challenging recruiting (No A's, a few B's, mostly C+'s). I may change schools, I may not, we'll see. The coach we are following is Jason Jackson.

7 Minute Quarters
Playmaker's Slow speed Varsity sliders (with the option of moving up to SECElites all american if it gets too easy. In my last dynasty, once I got to 5 star prestige, the game just got ridiculously easy.)
All-American Recruiting (With aid from the pocket-scout app).
On defense, I control the Middle Linebacker in base defense and one of the DTs in Nickle or Dime. I used to do the DEs but felt it was too easy to get around the tackle.

Official story of the conference changes, with breakdown, will follow in the next post.

Hope you enjoy reading.

[lionden_56]

The Big East rocked the college football world yesterday when it announced that it was disbanding football operations in Rhode Island and moving west. In a statement released yesterday, the league stated it did not feel like the quality of football it produced measured up to the standards of the NCAA (I mean seriously, no teams in the top 25 of an automatic qualifier conference). So the conference expelled all of its members and extended invitations to perennial BCS-snubs Boise State, TCU, and Utah among others. The league will re-brand itself as the Big West (not to be confused with the Western Athletic Conference.

What followed can only be described as a cataclysmic chain of events that will forever change the college football landscape.

Boise State, TCU, Utah, and BYU all accepted the invitation to join the Big West, jumping at the chance to join an AQ conference. Sensing an opportunity to be able to join a BCS conference it could have a great chance at winning, Notre Dame gave up its independent status and joined as well. Houston was extended an invitation to leave the C-USA and gratefully accepted. Finally, Arizona State and Oregon State saw the opportunity to leave the always difficult Pac-10 schedule, petitioned to join the conference, and were accepted.

That left 8 former Big East teams out of a home and many western conferences with holes to fill.

The ACC was the first to sense a major opportunity to strengthen its own conference, and offered invitations to most of the major universities on the East Coast. In addition to picking up Pitt, West Virginia, USF, and Rutgers from the Big East, they offered invitations to Penn State, Florida, and UCF. This allowed them to create a stacked Atlantic Division and by promoting the St. Petersburg Blue Wave (Teambuilder), they created an all-florida Coastal division.

One move led to another, every major conference was affected. Eventually, when the dust had settled, the new conferences looked like this:
ACC Atlantic:
Penn State
Rutgers
West Virginia
Virginia Tech
Pitt
North Carolina

ACC Coastal
Florida
Florida State
Miami
USF
UCF
St. Petersburg (Teambuilder)

Big 12 North
Cinicinnati
Ohio State
Michigan
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma State

Big 12 South
Nebraska
Texas Tech
Mississippi State
Arkansas
Purdue
Indiana

Big West (Big east)
Boise State
TCU
Utah
Houston
Notre DAme
BYU
Arizona State
Oregon State

Big 10
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Michigan State
Boston College
Minnesota
Kentucky
Texas
Mizzou
Virginia
Northwestern
Iowa

Pac-10
Arizona
Hawaii
Fresno State
Cal
USC
Oregon
UCLA
Washington
Colorado
Monterey (teambuilder)

SEC East
Georgia Tech
Clemson
South Carolina
Georgia
NC State
Auburn

SEC West
Baylor
Texas AM
Ole Miss
LSU
Alabama
Tennessee

Non BCS-
C-USA East
Duke
East Carolina
Syracuse
Maryland
Wake Forest
Memphis

C-USA West
SMU
Vanderbilt
Illinois
UTEP
Iowa State
Louisville

WAC
Southern Miss
UAB
Tulane
Idaho
Louisiana Tech
Nevada
New Mexico Sate
San Jose State
Utah State

Mountain West
Stanford
Tulsa
Rice
Marshall
Colorado State
New Mexico
San Diego State
UNLV
Wyoming

MAC and Sun Belt:
No changes.

[lionden_56]

2010 USF Schedule:
vs. Illinois
vs. Monterey
Bye
@ Hawaii
vs. #7 Virginia Tech
@ #6 Florida
Vs. St. Petersburg
vs. Eastern Michigan
vs. #14 Miami
@ UCF (rivalry)
vs. Rutgers
@ #16 Penn State
@ #19 Florida State
Bye
Conference Championship week

Outlook:
The USF Bulls have what will certainly be a challenging season ahead of them, facing 5 teams ranked in the pre-season top 25 polls. As much as the the fans come out to see the offense put up numbers, it will have to be the defense that comes up big to win the big games.

Goals: (we all know the 3 star team goals, beat a rival, top 3 of your conference, beat a 5 or 6 star program...so I have some personal goals I'd like to accomplish):
Win 2 of the 5 games against ranked opponents (assuming they stay ranked).
Finish in the top 50 defensively (my pass defense seems to always get toasted in this game for some reason...)
Win 8 games. (I know that doesn't sound like a big challenge, but this schedule does look somewhat challenging.)


Week 1 -
USF Surges Past Illini Late

A late scoring drive and a pick-6 in the final minute sealed the deal as the USF Bulls survived the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday.

Illinois passed for over 300 yards, but in their lone turnover cost them the game.

The first quarter seemed to be setting the stage for a shootout, as the teams combined for 21 points. Illinois drew first blood with a 68 yard touchdown pass from Scheelhasse to Jenkins on a 3rd and 18.

"We knew they had to throw it, but he just found a soft spot in the zone and once Jenkins had his afterburners on no one was going to catch him," said Bulls head coach Jason Jackson after the game.

The Bulls answered back with a scoring drive of their own, capped by a 3 yard TD run from senior Moise Plancher. But when the Illini got the ball back they marched down the field once again to make the score 14-7 after the first.

Up 14-10, Scheelhasse struck again late in the third quarter with a 16 yard strike to Sykes.

Things went from bad to worse for the Bulls on the very next play from scrimmage, when Plancher took a toss sweep to the right and was met forcefully in the backfield. He left the field under his own power, but X-rays confirmed a broken bone in his leg and he will most likely miss the rest of the season.

"When Plancher went out, I called my guys over and said, 'look, we've overcome challenges before. This is no different. This game is all about heart, and who wants it more. Let's go show these guys that we want it more,'" said Jackson.

And want it more they did, as the Bulls scored 3 touchdowns, one of them off a game-clinching interception in the 4th quarter.

The Bulls face the Monterey Armada next week, a little-known team called up to the FBS level by the Pac-10 to replace the lost Arizona State Sun Devils. Kickoff is 3:30 eastern, and can be seen regionally around the Tampa Bay area.

Aug 28, 2010 - Ill at USF
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Illinois (0-0)	14	0	7	0	21
USF (0-0)	7	3	0	21	31

Team Stats Comparison
Ill		USF
373	Total Offense	348
52	Rushing Yards	94
321	Passing Yards	254
14	First Downs	16
0	Punt Return Yards	46
112	Kick Return Yards	57
485	Total Yards	451
1	Turnovers	2
7-13	3rd Down Converstion	6-9
1-1	4th Down Conversion	0-0
0-0	2-Point Conversion	0-0
2-2-0 (100%)	Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-3-0 (75%)
10-75	Penalties	1-15
14:48	Posession Time	13:12

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		Ill	USF
6:03	(Ill) Jenkins, 68 yd pass from Scheelhasse (on 3rd and 18)	7	0
4:21	(USF) Plancher 3 yd run	7	7
1:06	(Ill) Fayson, 7 yd pass from Scheelhaase	14	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		Ill	USF
5:38	(USF) Schwartz 44 yd FG	14	10
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		Ill	USF
1:39	(Ill) Sykes, 16 yd pass from Scheelhaase	21	10
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		Ill	USF
5:51	(USF) Battles 7 yd run	21	17
2:57	(USF) Landi, 8 yd pass from Daniels	21	24
0:32	(USF) Raymon, 57 yd INT return	21	31

[II LiveHard II]

looks very interesting, I'll follow.

[lionden_56]

Quote: Originally Posted by II LiveHard II

looks very interesting, I'll follow.

Thanks. Once conference play gets underway more fully I’ll try to give regular updates from the other conferences. I’m especially curious to see what is going to happen in the new Big East.

Week 1 in review:

Upset of the week: St. Petersburg over LSU 23-20 (Welcome to FBS St. Pete…) and Air Force over Oklahoma 20-16 (it was a tie for biggest upset).
Players of the week:
Offense: Notre Dame QB Dayne Christ. 16-31 for 330 yards, 5 total TDs.
Defense: BYU SS Andrew Rich, 3 tks, 5 atk, force fumble.

Top 25:
Top 20 are all the same. LSU and Oklahoma dropped out after their losses, Everyone above them moved up one and WV and Georgia joined the polls. I’ll post the full list once the season is a little further along.

Nothing to terribly exciting to report. Most of the big schools beat up on FCS teams (‘bama put up like 82 or something crazy like that). I have the week two game done, but Mondays are my insanely busy days, so I’ll most likely not get the game report up until tomorrow. I hate Mondays. Just saying.

[lionden_56]

Week 2
USF “Battles” past Armada



With senior running back Moise Plancher gone for the season, the load of the running game falls to redshirt freshman Bradely Battles. He carried the load well as the Bulls running game showed the Armada how it was done Saturday at Raymond James Stadium.

The Bulls outrushed Monterey 160 to 10 (although that number is a little skewed by two fumbles recovered for 15 yard loses each, and a few holding penalties that called back big plays.) Monterey’s offense did find some life through the air, but it wasn’t enough to hold back the Bull rush of offense from Battles.

USF is idle next week, and will head to the Big Island to take on the Warriors of Hawaii in week 4.

Jan 1, - MRU at USF
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Monterey Armada (0-1)	0	0	7	0	7
USF Bulls (1-0)	7	10	0	10	27

Team Stats Comparison
MRU		USF
210	Total Offense	300
10	Rushing Yards	163
200	Passing Yards	137
9	First Downs	15
0	Punt Return Yards	19
63	Kick Return Yards	49
273	Total Yards	368
2	Turnovers	1
1-11	3rd Down Converstion	7-14
0-3	4th Down Conversion	0-0
0-0	2-Point Conversion	0-0
1-1-0 (100%)	Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-2-2 (100%)
7-65	Penalties	1-15
10:53	Posession Time	17:07

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MRU	USF
3:30	(USF) Battles 8 yd run	0	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MRU	USF
0:53	(USF) Knowles, 7yd pass from Daniels	0	14
0:00	(USF) Schwartz 35 yd FG	0	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		MRU	USF
4:39	(MRU) Luke, 8yd pass from Rawlins	7	17
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MRU	USF
4:32	(USF) Schwarts 24 yd FG	7	20
0:43	(USF) Battles 25 yd run	7	27

Around the NCAA:

Upsets of the week: #22 Auburn beats #4 Oregon 37-6. Florida International beats Notre Dame 27-20

NCAA Players of the week:
Offense: Texas Tech QB Taylor Potts, 27-41, 477 yds, 7tds
Defense: Nebraska ROLB Alonzo Whaley, 3 tackles, assisted tackle, 2 sacks, forced fumble.

Top 10:
Alabama
Ohio State
Texas
Boise State
Florida
VT
TCU
Nebraska
Iowa
Wisconsin


Week 3:
National game of the week:
#15 Oregon State @ #21 West Virginia

[lionden_56]

NCAA Week 3 Update

Upset of the week: St. Petersburg beats #5 Florida (ok, seriously, what the hell? The Teambuilder team isn’t supposed to be this good.)

NCAA Players of the week:
Offense: Mizzou QB Blaine Gabbert 33-39, 468 YDS, 5 TD
Defense: Pitt ROLB Tristan Roberts 7 tackles, 5 assisted tackles, 3 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Top 25:

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Jan 1,
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Alabama (36)	3	0	1500
2	2	Ohio State (22)	3	0	1410
3	3	Texas (1)	2	0	1363
4	4	Boise State (1)	2	0	1278
5	6	Virginia Tech (1)	3	0	1150
6	7	TCU	3	0	1108
7	8	Nebraska	3	0	1031
8	9	Iowa	3	0	990
9	10	Wisconsin	2	0	916
10	11	USC	3	0	877
11	12	Miami	2	0	808
12	13	Oregon	2	1	722
13	14	Penn State	2	0	705
14	5	Florida	2	1	665
15	16	Georgia Tech	2	1	622
16	17	Arkansas	3	0	563
17	18	Florida State	3	0	518
18	19	North Carolina	3	0	516
19	21	West Virginia	3	0	497
20	20	Utah	2	0	434
21	15	Oregon State	2	1	351
22	NA	St. Petersburg	2	0	319
23	24	Oklahoma	2	1	261
24	25	Pittsburgh	2	1	238
25	NA	LSU	2	1	206

Week 4:
National game of the week: #1 Alabama @ Texas AM

[vusa92troy]

Go St. Pete!