Re: Leading the way through the new age of College Football {--
Court ruling fall out
The Big East did just enough to scrape by with their BCS status and will be adding two teams for the upcoming football season. These moves bump them up to ten just two shy of what the BCS has decided they wanted their Automatic qualifiers to have. The Big East as expected has brought Texas Christian to their ranks. Texas Christian is coming off a great year including a #5 spot in the current polls. The jump to an automatic qualifying conference is a big leap for them. The shocker though is Notre Dame leaving the independency to join the Big East. Common homes for the school that have been suggested would be the Big East or Big Ten and with increasing pressure from the BCS with their inability of proving in the court case that Notre Dame is not getting preferential treatment, has been moved into an Automatic Qualifier conference making them look suddenly a lot more scary than last year.
The Big East has a lot more talent now, and there are rumors of them planning to offer the SEC's Kentucky and another unnamed school to bring them up to the twelve slots they hope to have. Kentucky is a long shot but their struggles in the SEC might be enough to make them make the leap. Notre Dame still retains its rights with CBS regardless of Big East favored channels, but will ensnare the same benefits that any other member would have.
The last of the pre-determined moves occured with a movement away from the Western Athletic Conference as conference winner, Hawai'i, has now joined the Mountain West, followed by two middle of the pack finishers in Fresno State and Nevada, the loss of Brigham Young a year ago keeps them at two shy of a conference championship game. The influx of talent is big though, if they can maintain a high level of play they may be elevated to Automatic Qualifier status.
The Conference USA announced a slight restructuring as two teams from the Sunbelt will be shifted up and two down. The ones making the cut? The Troy Trojans will be joining the West division alongside Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP and now Southern Miss. In the East division, the Florida International Panthers were added, giving the Central Florida Knights an instate rival to compete with yearly. On the relegation list is both the Memphis Tigers and the Tulane Green Wave. Both have struggled heavily in the conference USA, the C-USA has been trying to battle with the Mountain West to be that conference that climbs to automatic qualifier status.
Coach Tyler Starks of Tulane was "shocked and extremely disappointed" that the Conference USA had decided to cut ties with the school and send them down to the Sunbelt but promises that "We will continue to have a successful season and will not let this news get us backtracked." The NCAA had offered to give the relegated teams players an opportunity to transfer without losing a year of eligibility but most stood by the rest of their squad and stayed put.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has warned Virginia that another poor performance this season may warrant them reaching out to a new member, similar threats have been placed upon Minnesota and Indiana out of the Big Ten, and Vanderbilt in the Southeastern conference. However for this year, the changes are set in stone. The Automatic qualifying conferences remain the same for another year, the Big East and Atlantic Coast have saved their bids, but the Mountain West or Conference USA with a solid performance can gain the right to the exclusive club.
Court ruling fall out
The Big East did just enough to scrape by with their BCS status and will be adding two teams for the upcoming football season. These moves bump them up to ten just two shy of what the BCS has decided they wanted their Automatic qualifiers to have. The Big East as expected has brought Texas Christian to their ranks. Texas Christian is coming off a great year including a #5 spot in the current polls. The jump to an automatic qualifying conference is a big leap for them. The shocker though is Notre Dame leaving the independency to join the Big East. Common homes for the school that have been suggested would be the Big East or Big Ten and with increasing pressure from the BCS with their inability of proving in the court case that Notre Dame is not getting preferential treatment, has been moved into an Automatic Qualifier conference making them look suddenly a lot more scary than last year.
The Big East has a lot more talent now, and there are rumors of them planning to offer the SEC's Kentucky and another unnamed school to bring them up to the twelve slots they hope to have. Kentucky is a long shot but their struggles in the SEC might be enough to make them make the leap. Notre Dame still retains its rights with CBS regardless of Big East favored channels, but will ensnare the same benefits that any other member would have.
The last of the pre-determined moves occured with a movement away from the Western Athletic Conference as conference winner, Hawai'i, has now joined the Mountain West, followed by two middle of the pack finishers in Fresno State and Nevada, the loss of Brigham Young a year ago keeps them at two shy of a conference championship game. The influx of talent is big though, if they can maintain a high level of play they may be elevated to Automatic Qualifier status.
The Conference USA announced a slight restructuring as two teams from the Sunbelt will be shifted up and two down. The ones making the cut? The Troy Trojans will be joining the West division alongside Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP and now Southern Miss. In the East division, the Florida International Panthers were added, giving the Central Florida Knights an instate rival to compete with yearly. On the relegation list is both the Memphis Tigers and the Tulane Green Wave. Both have struggled heavily in the conference USA, the C-USA has been trying to battle with the Mountain West to be that conference that climbs to automatic qualifier status.
Coach Tyler Starks of Tulane was "shocked and extremely disappointed" that the Conference USA had decided to cut ties with the school and send them down to the Sunbelt but promises that "We will continue to have a successful season and will not let this news get us backtracked." The NCAA had offered to give the relegated teams players an opportunity to transfer without losing a year of eligibility but most stood by the rest of their squad and stayed put.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has warned Virginia that another poor performance this season may warrant them reaching out to a new member, similar threats have been placed upon Minnesota and Indiana out of the Big Ten, and Vanderbilt in the Southeastern conference. However for this year, the changes are set in stone. The Automatic qualifying conferences remain the same for another year, the Big East and Atlantic Coast have saved their bids, but the Mountain West or Conference USA with a solid performance can gain the right to the exclusive club.
i will be following.
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