Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

[superjames1992]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Sounds like the Mizzou to the SEC rumors are dying a quick, painful death this morning.

[Redacted01]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Sounds like the Mizzou to the SEC rumors are dying a quick, painful death this morning.

How is it quick? These rumors have been going on for ages now that Mizzou wants to go to the SEC, or wants to as its 2nd choice, or something like that.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

2013 stud WR Jamar Gibson decommits from Texas A&M per Jeff Howe and 247 sports. Someone on TexAgs said this about it "Doesn't like traveling. Wants his family to be able to see more games."

Figured this was worth noting.

[fsquid]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

interesting

[simgamer0005]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Anyone remember how college football once was? Before the rule changes and the mass conference team swapping? Before excessive celebration penalize that took points off the board, before the game could be stopped to review a play via video replay? You know, like the days when you knew which teams were in which conference and it wasn't like a 24/7 rumor mill of which team will go to which conference next week?

Does anyone find it kind of odd or annoying that during the season teams are rumored to and deciding to leave conferences and move to another? It just seems so odd to have the landscape of college football to be changed so much on an ongoing basis even while a college football season is going on. That's arguably even more annoying than the landscape being changed on an annual basis like we've been seeing, especially considering we've had the biggest period of conference realignment in history prior to this season.

I mean for all the conference realignment that we had coming into this season, from the 10-team BigXII, to the Pac10 becoming the 12-team Pac12, to the BigTen becoming a 12-team conference, to the new divisions and logos and new conference championship games, to all these things that everyone has to adjust to in a way never before, you would think that at least we'd be able to have a minute to catch our breath and try to accept the new "way it is", try to just get through one season before we'd see more conference realignment. But, instead we get more rumors of more teams leaving their conference and moving to another during the actual season after an offseason with the most cataclysmic change to conferences we've ever seen. When is this going to end? And even if lets say teams changing conference stopped happening and we are left with what we have now, would that be better than how it was 5-10 years ago? Did anyone anticipate this rate of change in conference realignment in college football 5-10 years ago?

Does anyone feel overwhelmed with the way college football has changed in recent years? Or do you like it better the way this is with teams changing conferences all the time and during the season and stuff?

[fsquid]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

it's a big business now baby.

[Perfect Zero]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

it's a big business now baby.

This. People who want the good 'ole days better get used to watching college football on ESPN Classic. This has nothing to do with rivalries or the game itself, it's about money and false pride.

To the poster who said that we are moving to football only conferences; I could see that happening. I think the schools could make even more money if there were conferences for every sport except for football. Play against who you want for the TV money, and make it much easier to swallow a playoff.

[Chaos81]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Did anyone anticipate this rate of change in conference realignment in college football 5-10 years ago?

5 years ago we had 20+ teams change conferences, 10 years ago the MWC was formed, 15 years ago we had the Big 12 and C-USA, and 20 years ago a bunch of teams join the Big East.

Obviously my dates aren't exactly correct, and I know I've missed a bunch of changes, but what I'm getting at is that this stuff has been going on for many years now. We're just much more aware of it because of the internet and media explosions.

[simgamer0005]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

5 years ago we had 20+ teams change conferences, 10 years ago the MWC was formed, 15 years ago we had the Big 12 and C-USA, and 20 years ago a bunch of teams join the Big East.

Good points, but hasn't the rate of teams changing conferences increased? And look at the practical implications. You got traditional conferences changing in ways that never previously did, like the BigTen and the Pac10. You got big, traditional conferences taking in teams from other conferences, and splitting into divisions. You got teams who have played against the same teams for decades all of a sudden playing new teams every year and not playing the old ones. I don't think that was happening anywhere near to the extent that it has been happening recently. That's tradition lost. That's what college football is being advertised as, even now after all this change. You know, the pageantry, the tradition. You got conferences losing their identity becoming super conferences. During the first season of this, rumors about teams moving to another conference has continued during this season. Texas A&M's leaving the BigXII, Pittsburgh and Syracuse are moving to the ACC, TCU is moving to the BigXII. This has happened in like a matter of weeks after the huge changes we saw going into this season. This is a lot of movement.

Obviously my dates aren't exactly correct, and I know I've missed a bunch of changes, but what I'm getting at is that this stuff has been going on for many years now. We're just much more aware of it because of the internet and media explosions.

However more aware we are now then we may have been 10-15 years ago, still everyday fans are not the one making these calls. The internet existing isn't the one making the human decision to create these rumors of teams moving to conferences and eventually the decision to actually move to another conference. It is true that the internet and media explosions play a role, but there's also a human factor involved here. We are more aware of it, but you don't need the internet to be more aware of how college football has changed. All you need is a TV, all you gotta do is watch ESPN Sportscenter, and you'll hear all about how this team is rumored to be moving to this conference. It's the fact that now seems to be a time where everyone wants to try to improve their position at all costs, even if it means losing their tradition. Was it really like that 10-15 years ago?

[superjames1992]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Supposedly, some sort of announcement regarding C-USA and the Mountain West is coming later tonight...

[superjames1992]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/ncaa/10/14/big-east-expansion.ap/index.html?sct=cf_t2_a3

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Big East plans to invite Boise State, Air Force and Navy as football-only members, and Central Florida to compete in all sports, after it doubles the exit fee for current members to $10 million.

An official in the Big East, speaking on condition of anonymity because the conference had not authorized anyone to speak publicly about its plans, told The Associated Press the invites could go out as soon as next week, but could take longer.

The officials also said Commissioner John Marinatto was in Cincinnati on Friday meeting with representatives from UCF.

Conferences do not publicly invite new members unless they are confident those invitations will be accepted.

The New York Post first reported the Big East was expected to invite Boise State, Air Force, Navy and UCF.

The Big East announced earlier this week it wanted to expand to 12 football schools.

Big East officials made protecting the league's automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series their expansion priority. That pushed Boise State, which is in its first season in the Mountain West Conference after a decade in the Western Athletic Conference, to the top of the Big East's most wanted list, along with the service academies.

The Broncos are 71-5 since 2006, finished 10th in the final BCS standing next season and at 5-0 seem on their way to an under-top 10 finish. Big East officials believe putting Boise State's record on the Big East's ledger when the BCS reviews which leagues should have automatic bids beyond 2013 should allow the conference to make the cut.

Right now, the Big East has only six schools committed to play football in the league beyond this season.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse have announced they will move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, though Big East rules require them to stay in the league for the next two seasons and Marinatto has said he will hold the Panthers and Orange to that. However, that seems unlikely if the league can grow to 12 teams for next season without them.

TCU was slated to join the Big East in 2012, but the Horned Frogs reneged on that commitment and accepted an invite to the Big 12 last week.

Trying to recruit new members has been tricky for the Big East because its remaining members might also be looking for new conference homes.

Louisville and West Virginia are possible targets for the Big 12 if it needs to replace Missouri, which is pondering a move to the Southeastern Conference, or decides to expand back to 12 teams.

Connecticut has interest in joining the ACC if it expands again, and there has been speculation about Rutgers moving, too.

By raising the exit fee, the Big East is trying to ensure the schools it is recruiting that the conference will be viable in the long run. Boise State, Air Force, which also competes in the MWC, and Navy, an independent in football, all had reservations about the Big East's long-term health.

The Big East is still considering adding Temple, and UCF's Conference USA rivals SMU and Houston. Temple, which was kicked out of the Big East in 2005, plays football in the Mid-American Conference.

The Texas schools would replace the presence in the state the Big East thought it was going to have with TCU, and help make the move to the Big East more palatable to Boise State.

Boise, Idaho, is nearly 1,900 miles away from the closest current Big East member, Louisville. Though the trip to Houston is about as far, having a presence in Texas is alluring to Boise State.

Boise State and Air Force would have to find a conference to house their other sports. A return to the WAC is possible for both.

The Big East also has eight members that do not compete in the league in football: Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall, Marquette, DePaul and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame's goal is to remain a football independent, but if the Big East crumbles the Fighting Irish could end up with no place for their basketball, baseball and Olympic sports to compete. That could force Notre Dame to finally give up football independence and put its storied program in a conference, because it's unlikely another league will give the Irish the same deal they have in the Big East.

[wildthing2022000]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Supposedly, some sort of announcement regarding C-USA and the Mountain West is coming later tonight...

They're announcing the death of the Big East by merging into the Mount America Conference.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Good points, but hasn't the rate of teams changing conferences increased? And look at the practical implications. You got traditional conferences changing in ways that never previously did, like the BigTen and the Pac10. You got big, traditional conferences taking in teams from other conferences, and splitting into divisions. You got teams who have played against the same teams for decades all of a sudden playing new teams every year and not playing the old ones. I don't think that was happening anywhere near to the extent that it has been happening recently. That's tradition lost. That's what college football is being advertised as, even now after all this change. You know, the pageantry, the tradition. You got conferences losing their identity becoming super conferences. During the first season of this, rumors about teams moving to another conference has continued during this season. Texas A&M's leaving the BigXII, Pittsburgh and Syracuse are moving to the ACC, TCU is moving to the BigXII. This has happened in like a matter of weeks after the huge changes we saw going into this season. This is a lot of movement.



However more aware we are now then we may have been 10-15 years ago, still everyday fans are not the one making these calls. The internet existing isn't the one making the human decision to create these rumors of teams moving to conferences and eventually the decision to actually move to another conference. It is true that the internet and media explosions play a role, but there's also a human factor involved here. We are more aware of it, but you don't need the internet to be more aware of how college football has changed. All you need is a TV, all you gotta do is watch ESPN Sportscenter, and you'll hear all about how this team is rumored to be moving to this conference. It's the fact that now seems to be a time where everyone wants to try to improve their position at all costs, even if it means losing their tradition. Was it really like that 10-15 years ago?

Really, the only teams that have changed conferences this year so far are A&M, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and TCU. The teams that agreed to switch last year were Utah, Colorado, Boise St, BYU, Nebraska, Hawaii, Fresno, and Nevada. That is a lot, but it will settle down. 2005 was actually bigger. 20 football playing schools changed conferences (and that's omitting other changes, such as Marquette to the Big East). 4 more happened in 2004. 8 more in 03. Imo, the only reason this seems bigger is because of the Texas rumors the last two years. We're mostly hearing about the smaller conferences getting swallowed by the bigger conferences at this point - the only real domino still to fall is if Missouri or West Virginia will get into the SEC. Other than that, you're getting smaller schools getting picked up by bigger conferences, and you'll see shuffling in the underneath conferences, which has been very frequent anyway.

[simgamer0005]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Boise State...to the Big East?!

The Big East? Isn't Boise State in Idaho?

Last time I checked, Boise, Idaho is further west than Utah or Colorado. I'm still trying to figure out how Utah and Colorado are in the Pac-10, i mean the Pac-12. How can you have a landscape where a Big East school is located further west then two members of the Pacific conference? What's next, Washington State leaves the Pac12 for the ACC?

[superjames1992]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Boise State...to the Big East?!

The Big East? Isn't Boise State in Idaho?

Last time I checked, Boise, Idaho is further west than Utah or Colorado. I'm still trying to figure out how Utah and Colorado are in the Pac-10, i mean the Pac-12. How can you have a landscape where a Big East school is located further west then two members of the Pacific conference? What's next, Washington State leaves the Pac12 for the ACC?

The Big East is in desperation mode and Boise State wants to be in an AQ conference, which the Big East will be until at least 2015. It's football only, anyways. Travel is not a big deal. All they have to do is send their football team cross-country four or five times per year.

Also, supposedly NBC is trying to hold the Big East together and is preparing to offer a pretty big media rights deal. NBC wants in on college football and the Big East is the only major conference up for renewal anytime soon. We'll see. I still want WVU out of this conference, though. Too much instability.