Official (2015-2016) College Football Thread OSU#1

Son of a bitch! Exciting finish but unfortunately Michigan won. Horrible turnovers again, lousy play calling by Kelly in the 4th qtr, and every single bounce going Michigan's way (fumble on the goal line bonces right to shoelace for an easy score) all combined to create that debacle. Gaahhh! First Mizzou then Notre Dame loses in a wild finish. My last hope for something positive is my Bears but I don't like their odds against Atlanta and Matty Ice.
 
Not a lot new on the expansion/realignment front lately.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...xas-longhorns-oklahoma-sooners-officials-meet


Texas and OU officials met over the weekend to discuss the Sooner's potential plans to leave for the Pac 12, but other than that nothing but some twitter/message board rumblings that OU is leaning toward leaving rather than re-committing to the Big 12. I suppose that could change if Texas gives them more concessions in terms of revenue sharing etc. though.


http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NE...isioner-slive-talks-conference-alignment.aspx

Here's a new statement from the SEC commish. They're starting to plan around a 13 teams schedule for the 2012-13 season (so planning on A&M coming in next year still despite the legal wrangling currently as he said "When Texas A&M joins....") and aren't in a rush to add a 14th team.
 
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A&M will go eventually. Sure Baylor is screwing with them now but at some point they'll get past it and be on their way to the SEC. I thought it was funny that ESPN reported Texas would rather keep the Big 12 together but Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech don't. Well no duh! Texas owns this conference and knows that nobody else will let them have a deal this sweet.
 
Not looking good for the Big 12 to survive....

http://www.statesman.com/sports/lon...-options-1851020.html?cxtype=rss_sports_86442

Sources: Texas has three viable realignment options
Kirk Bohls & Alan Trubow, Big 12 Analysis

University of Texas President Bill Powers and athletic directors DeLoss Dodds and Chris Plonsky boarded a plane early Sunday afternoon for a meeting at the University of Oklahoma with one hope: Find a creative solution to save the Big 12.

Their Oklahoma counterparts had a different agenda.

In fact, before the Longhorns party had arrived, OU's board of regents had instructed school President David L. Boren to prepare a document to formally apply for admission to the Pac-12, a source close to the situation said.

Oklahoma is expected to be joined in exodus by Oklahoma State to become the Pac-12's 13th and 14th institutions.

"There's nothing Texas could have offered Oklahoma that would have changed their mind. They were set on leaving the Big 12 before Texas got there," a well-placed source at a Big 12 school said, adding that Sunday's meeting had a very friendly and cooperative tone. "The Big 12's done. Oklahoma wasn't open to creating Big 12 stability."

The Sooners could find themselves without stability as there is no guarantee the Pac-12 will extend an invitation. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, who last week said his conference would prefer to keep the status quo, had no comment Monday about Oklahoma's plans, but recent developments suggest OU and OSU could be Pac-12-bound.

"Texas must have come into the meeting and seen the handwriting on the wall," said a source close to OU and Texas who is familiar with these realignment issues. "I think OU and OSU will seek membership to the Pac-12 in the next two weeks, but A&M comes first."

Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive said on Monday that he remains "optimistic" that the Aggies would join his league by next summer.

Asked if Scott would seek authorization from his school's presidents to offer the two Oklahoma schools, the source said, "I think he'd recommend they take them. The SEC sees the future, and if the Pac-12 doesn't move now, they'd miss out on an opportunity to get one of the most storied football programs in the country and the current No. 1 team in the nation."

But the Longhorns aren't set on heading west. They're not set on anything, yet.

They don't want to be independent, and the one thing they do know is their conference options are about to be reduced by one. If the Big 12 implodes, Texas would have to decide between pushing for membership in the Pac-12 or Atlantic Coast Conference or turning independent, an option Dodds has always strongly opposed.

"Texas' first choice is to keep the Big 12 together. That's always been and continues to be Plan A and B," a well-placed Texas source said. "However, they know that if Oklahoma and Oklahoma State leave, the conference is no longer viable. Then it's time to look at Plan C."

The Longhorns, the source said, have established three criteria when it comes to finding a future home:

The first is the well-being of its student-athletes. Traveling back and forth across the country and different time zones can make life extremely difficult for students trying to cram for midterms. The ACC with its Eastern time zone would present a more favorable option for game times and late-night travel than the Pac-12.

Texas' second metric is economics. The Joneses don't take pay cuts. Texas has a $154 million annual budget and isn't interested in joining a conference where its brand or its profit margin takes a hit. And this includes Texas' three-letter issue. Not SEC. But LHN. Texas has no desire to part, alter or share any aspect of The Longhorn Network, but it would not be able to retain the network as is in the Pac-12.

The Longhorns' third goal is to make a decision that agrees with fans' interests by maintaining traditions and some rivalries, at least the one against OU if not A&M.

Those discounting the ACC should remind themselves that Nebraska is in the Big 10, and Baylor has been the most powerful and feared institution in the Big 12, well, over the past couple of weeks. The threat of litigation does wonders.

A high-ranking Texas source said that the ACC has been in contact with Texas, but added that talks hadn't progressed to a mature phase. In fact, the source wasn't sure what other schools the ACC would look to add besides Texas.

Don't take that to mean it won't work.

The ACC is willing to talk about a unique conference format that has intrigued Texas. Instead of divisions, the conference could be divided into four pods, with each pod containing four teams, to aid scheduling.

So don't completely fall asleep on the ACC, although Texas would probably prefer it bring along at least one partner, probably Texas Tech.

Actually, the source said, the Pac-12 has been in discussions about using a pod system as a way to divide the conference too. Besides, Texas isn't in love with the thought of playing in a division that includes none of the Los Angeles-based teams.

But that's not what's on the table right now.

"Texas really isn't happy with the way the Pac-12 would like to align the conference," a well-placed source said. "They want to put all the former Pac-8 schools in one division and group all the former Big 12 schools (assuming Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech join) with Utah and the Arizona schools."

Texas wants to be in the same division as UCLA and Southern Cal, which would be tougher, but it would also guarantee the Longhorns a trip to Los Angeles every year. Think recruiting.

And there's still that tiny LHN issue.

The Pac-12 wants nothing to do with it, at least not in its current Texas-sized form. Texas can't see past its potential.

"A few years ago nobody would have imagined that third-tier rights would be worth this much money, which is why nobody expected us to get what Texas got," a Texas source said. "Florida just got a bunch of money for their rights. It's possible these rights are still undervalued. Who knows what the future holds in terms of their value. Texas was smart to realize this, and that's one reason they don't want to give up the LHN."

With all those obstacles, the Pac-12 probably still is the safest wager.

But anything is possible.

So get ready for more posturing and more confusion, but it could happen quickly. Administrators are getting weary of the process and the time it takes them away from actually running their campuses.

The bottom line: Oklahoma wants to leave. Texas wants to stay but knows it probably has to leave too. Things are bound to change, and the Longhorns are willing to sit back and wait to choose their destiny.
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[quote name='blindinglights']Never would have thought that Texas would even consider the ACC as an option.

Strange things are happening.[/QUOTE]

Indeed.

I guess they're determined to keep their Long Horn Network and also don't want to be an independent.

So they're options are finding some way to salvage the Big 12 again at the last minute, or joining a lesser league like the ACC or Big East. The Pac 10, SEC and Big 10 aren't going to let them keep the LHN or give them all the revenue inequality they get in the Big 12 currently.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']or joining a lesser league like the ACC or Big East.[/QUOTE]

Hey now!?!? Those are the two best basketball conferences you are talking about.

Dear ACC,
Don't be foolish by expanding. Please.
Thanks,
lordopus99
 
Lesser in terms of TV contract dollars. The ACC and Big East are far behind the other BCS leagues in revenue.

And they're both just perceived as weak football leagues as they haven't had teams in the title hunt much lately, have lost a lot of BCS bowl games in recent years etc.

This is all about football, and football $$$$ more specifically, the basketball strength of those leagues is irrelevant to the expansion situation unfortunately.

I don't think the ACC really wants to expand, but they have said they've been discussing their options. If they have a chance to add a team like Texas that would instantly improve their football reputation and TV contract they'll probably take it. Similarly, if the other leagues are all going to 14-16 teams, they'll likely feel pressured to keep pace.

Really the only hope for the ACC not to expand probably, is for Texas to find someway to keep OU from leaving and save the Big 12 (minus A&M) again. But that doesn't sound very likely at present given the reports about the UT/OU meeting over the weekend ending with OU saying they are set on leaving.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']
And they're both just perceived as weak football leagues as they haven't had teams in the title hunt much lately, have lost a lot of BCS bowl games in recent years etc.[/QUOTE]
What most people don't know is the Big East is number 2 for winning percentage in Bowl Wins.

As for the ACC, we get more teams in so more potential for losses. This past year all our middle teams (FSU, Maryland, NC State/Russell Wilson, and UNC) pulled out wins in big fashion against schools like (SEC East Champ) South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

My team (FSU) has fair well, even in our downed state. This upcoming weekend will tell whether or not we potentially make the title game.
 
Lots of people don't realize that the ACC is a deep league when it comes to talent because the conference doesn't produce unbeaten national contenders and often comes up short in out of conference games. People overlook the fact that the ACC is a close second to the SEC in cranking out NFL talent. The SEC and ACC are the only two conferences to have 30 or more players selected in each of the last seven years. Out of the first 60 draft picks last year who had the most (15) players taken? I'll give you a hint: it wasn't the SEC.

The players are there, the conference as a whole just needs to fair well against some out of conference competition and hopefully produce a National Title contender. This weekend could really help the league a lot if ACC teams can pull out some victories:

Auburn vs. Clemson
Oklahoma vs. Florida State
West Virginia vs. Maryland
Ohio State vs. Miami

The Oklahoma and Ohio State games would obviously help the most.

The best thing ACC fans could hope for would be for unbeaten Florida State meeting an unbeaten Virginia Tech team in the conference championship. I'm fairly certain that would lead to a ticket for a national title appearance for the winner and possibly a BCS bowl for the loser. Sadly, I'm not so sure this will happen because Virginia Tech's quarterback play was revealed last week as something that needs serious work and Florida State wasn't as impressive as I thought they would be, specifically in their first game. Hopefully both teams can become what the conference needs them to be. Additionally, some 9 or 10 win seasons with subsequent bowl victories from North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Miami, or Maryland would also help a great deal in boosting the perception of the ACC.
 
[quote name='lordopus99']What most people don't know is the Big
East is number 2 for winning percentage in Bowl Wins.
[/QUOTE]

It's true, but nothing for Big East team fans like me to beat our chest over as it doesn't factor in the strength of opponents. The Big East has crappy bowl tie ins. Most of the leagues bowls are against lower half ACC teams and non-BCS conference teams. And if we happen to get a bowl against a Big 12 or Big 10 team, it's usually like a 6th or 7th place team etc.

Really the only good bowl wins the Big East has since the raid is WVU beating Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl and Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.
 
Best part of that last article? This gem:

The first is the well-being of its student-athletes. Traveling back and forth across the country and different time zones can make life extremely difficult for students trying to cram for midterms. The ACC with its Eastern time zone would present a more favorable option for game times and late-night travel than the Pac-12.
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Let's be real, people.
 
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...nts-meet-big-12-conference-affiliation-monday

OU regents to discuss Big 12 affiliation

CLAREMORE, Okla. -- University of Oklahoma officials are scheduled to discuss its Big 12 affiliation on Monday.

The school's board of regents has posted the agenda for Monday's meeting. It's a single paragraph that says the board will consider switching conference affiliation, and any legal ramifications of such a move.

The agenda says the regents may discuss the topic behind closed doors and "take any appropriate action."

The meeting will include a discussion but a vote won't necessarily take place, sources told ESPN's Joe Schad.

Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton, president of the Big 12 board, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he and other university leaders "are working every day to hold the Big 12 together" but the next move is largely dependent on the Sooners.

Oklahoma president David Boren said earlier this month that OU had been in contact with multiple conferences and expected a decision within a three-week timeframe that would run out next week.

One possible destination: the Pac-12, which lured Colorado away over the summer and unsuccessfully courted other Big 12 schools a year ago. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott says his conference isn't actively pursuing expansion but also won't sit by if the conference landscape is altered again.

Neither will Missouri, which had hoped last year to join the Big Ten before that league added Nebraska.

While Deaton professed conference unity, he also noted that "every member of the board's primary commitment is to their own institution."

Without prompting, he suggested that Missouri would have no trouble finding a BCS conference home should the Big 12 disintegrate. He declined to discuss possible destinations, nor reveal schools under consideration to join the Big 12 should the remaining members choose to fight for survival.

Texas A&M has announced that it intends to leave by next July and the Southeastern Conference has voted to accept the Aggies if there are no legal entanglements in the way.

Several Big 12 schools have not waived that right, a potential hurdle in Texas A&M's departure. Deaton said that decision would be up to Missouri's governing board, but the curators "have certainly not" made that decision, nor talked about it.

"I'm very proud of the University of Missouri and its brand, the high esteem by which we're held in the nation," he said. "Our (Association of American Universities) status is very important, our athletic competitiveness is very important. That combination gives us a sense of comfort.

"There's real virtue in patience these days," he added. "It's changing all the time ... Our position is we're waiting to see what the rest of the conference does, particularly Oklahoma."

On Thursday, Deaton and Missouri athletic director Mike Alden met with a 20-member campus athletics oversight committee whose members include faculty, staff, students and alumni. The meeting was closed to reporters.

"Alden just said it's up in the air," according to a participant in the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was supposed to be private. "That we're waiting on Oklahoma. There weren't even any questions. I was kind of surprised."

Even with Texas A&M's looming departure, it was Boren's comments that have shaken the Big 12.

Oklahoma was offered chances to join both the Pac-10 and the SEC last year but decided to stay in the Big 12 despite the losses of Nebraska and Colorado. Boren said he tried to prevent Texas A&M from leaving and "there's nothing that says the conference will collapse at nine" -- but he also said he would feel better about the league if it had 12 members.
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LSU took care of Miss. State on the road last night. Hope WVU can win at Maryland tomorrow and set up a big matchup of unbeatens next weekend!
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']LSU took care of Miss. State on the road last night. Hope WVU can win at Maryland tomorrow and set up a big matchup of unbeatens next weekend![/QUOTE]

That game was ugly. I turned it off middle of the 3rd when it was 6 to 3.

Hope your team doesn't sleep on Maryland. They are a fairly good squad.

Let Oklahoma continue looking at conference expansion as they walk into Doak not prepared... :D
 
It's a pretty tense rivalry, so neither team ever sleeps on that game.

I am worried about it though. WVU just hasn't looked great so far this year other than the 2nd half last week--but blowing them out 45-0 after half time didn't really erase the fact that the were losing to a FCS team at half.

Start slow like that against UMD and they may be too far in the hole to crawl out. Biggest problem is our O-line sucks so we haven't been able to run the ball at all and are totally reliant on passing.
 
[quote name='lordopus99']Hope your team doesn't sleep on Maryland. They are a fairly good squad.[/QUOTE]

Plus, their uniforms will blind you if you look directly at them.
 
Apparently Pitt and Syracuse are in talks with the ACC

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/s...se-and-pitt-in-talks-with-acc.html?ref=sports

Syracuse and Pitt in Talks With A.C.C.
By PETE THAMEL

Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh, two bedrock members of the Big East Conference, are engaged in talks about joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, according to a person with direct knowledge of the talks.

No one from Pittsburgh, Syracuse or the A.C.C. denied the conversations were taking place. Officials from all three entities declined to comment on the matter.

The person with knowledge of the talks declined to speculate on a timetable or the seriousness of the discussions. But in this delicate time for conferences and their futures, the discussions between the 12-team A.C.C. and two Big East members are significant.

The talks show how the trend toward 16-team super conferences, which has concerned many college athletic officials, appears to be inching closer to reality. If Syracuse and Pittsburgh switch, the move will be difficult for the Big East to overcome.

Syracuse is a founding member, and Pittsburgh joined the league in 1982, three years after it formed.

The Pittsburgh chancellor, Mark Nordenberg, who is widely credited with saving the Big East after Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech moved to the A.C.C. in the early 2000s, twice declined to comment when reached at his home.

Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross, when reached on his cellphone in Los Angeles, where the Orange will play Southern California on Saturday, said: “I can’t comment on that. Maybe that’s even too much to say.”

Amy Yakola, the A.C.C.’s associate commissioner for public relations and marketing, said, “We’ve been dealing with the fluidity of the conference landscape on multiple levels for a week, and at this point we wouldn’t be able to comment on speculation.”

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto declined to comment when reached on his cellphone.

Jim Boeheim, the longtime Syracuse basketball coach, said Friday night, “I wouldn’t be surprised by anything, but I don’t know anything right now.”
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http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6980644/pitt-syracuse-apply-join-acc-ranks-source-says

Pitt and Syracuse have formally applied to join the ACC.

ACC presidents unanimously voted to up the buyout for leaving the league to $20 million--so the ACC isn't going to be losing any current teams to the SEC etc.

Damn, really starting to worry about WVU. They could be left out of this mega-conference waive unless the rumors from last week were true that we're the SEC's 14th team and it's just been kept underraps until the A&M legal mess is sorted out. But I never bought those rumors.

ACC will likely go to 16, but the rumors on that front are it will be Texas and Texas Tech as the ACC is the only league that would let Texas keep the Longhorn network.

So WVU may be stuck with the Big East and Big 12 leftovers. :(

Should know more next week as both the Oklohoma and Texas board of regents are meeting on Monday and have re-alignment on the agenda and are expected to give their presidents power to make realignment decisions (just like A&M did right before jumping ship from the Big 12).
 
I'm fairly certain that all the previous WVU to SEC rumors were from delusional WVU fans.

However, with the ACC buyout getting cranked up, they might actually become an option for the SEC.
 
Yep, that's why I never bought the rumors much either. The only one that had some credence were posts on some SEC boards that when the SEC voted to give the conditional invite to A&M that they also gave Slive power to negotiate with Missouri and WVU as the 14th team.

That may have held some water, but Mizzou would be the clear preference there with the big St Louis and KC media markets. So I really only see WVU getting in if the Big 12 survives somehow and Mizzou stays there, or if the SEC decides to go to 16 teams.

As you note the ACC school unanimusly voting to up the buyout $20 million shows none of them are leaving--why would they vote to increase the buyout if they wanted to leave. So the SEC doesn't have a lot of options other than Big 12 schools and WVU.


Anyway, WVU taking care of business at Maryland so far. Up 17-3 early in the 2nd quarter.
 
Jesus, pathetic 2nd half from WVU. Up 34-10 early in the third, had to hold on and get an int with a little over a minute to go to hold on to win 37-31. But a win is a win and sets up the big game against LSU next week.

On a positive note, Pitt choked away a lead and lost to Iowa!
 
Notre Dame manage to have the lead despite continuing to turn the ball over.

Defense continues to play like crap also. The corners have no idea where the ball is when in coverage.
 
My teams' offense was just pitiful. Trickett should have been the starter all along. :cry:

At least the ACC had a good showing this weekend...
Clemson tops #21 Auburn.
Miami tops #17 Ohio St.
GT murders Kansas. 603 rushing yards?!?! Are you serious
Maryland hung in with #18 WVU, even though they lost.
 
Yep, Pitt and Syracuse is a done deal. ACC had a press teleconference this morning and here's the official press release.

http://www.theacc.com/genrel/091811aaa.html

And the ESPN.com right up.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...burgh-panthers-syracuse-orange-14-team-league


Amazing this came out of nowhere and got finalized so quickly with how drawn out A&M to the SEC has been. Guess the ACC doesn't give a rat's ass about the threat of lawsuits since they already went through that process with settling with the Big East after the 2003-2004 raid.

It was said in the the teleconference that the ACC and Pitt/Cuse would respect the Big East's 27 month notifcation policy for a team to leave. I don't see that happening though. That would mean the teams would have to stay in the Big East for at least 3 more seasons. I figure more teams will leave the conference (or it will merge with Big 12 leftovers) and that will get negotiated down to probably just one more season.


It will be interesting to see how quickly the rest of the dominoes fall. Should be a lot of action this week I'd think with this being done and Texas and OU's both board of regents meeting tomorrow to discuss conference realignment.

As I mentioned above, my guess is that we'll probably end up with some conference that's a merger of Big 12 and Big East leftovers into a new league with an east/west division. Unless OU and Texas both stay in the Big 10, then they'll probably just grab BYU and maybe a couple Big East teams per rumors out there. But that seems unlikely as reports are that the OU board of regents are unanimous on wanting to go to the Pac 12.

Finally, here's the NY Times article, which has quotes from a congressman saying congress may have to get involved in this due to antitrust and title XI issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/s...lignment-is-said-to-be-likely.html?ref=sports
 
In some more positive news for WVU, ESPN's college gameday will be in Morgantown for the first time (for football anyway) for WVU-LSU next Saturday, with the game on ABC at 8pm.

Some good publicity for the program at least.

Sadly I'll have to DVR the game as I'll be at a concert that night.
 
Pac 12 is working out the details of a deal to add Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Would include allowing Texas to keep the Longhorn Network and add Pac 16 content to it.


http://www.statesman.com/blogs/cont...horns/entries/2011/09/18/official_potent.html

Official: Potential UT move to Pac-12 ‘heating up’

By Alan Trubow, Hookem.com & Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman | Sunday, September 18, 2011, 02:10 PM

The Pac-12 appears to be working out the final details of a deal that would bring Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech to the conference, sources close to the situation told Hookem.com and the American-Statesman on Sunday morning.

Nothing has been accepted or approved, yet, but the deal would allow the Longhorns to keep the Longhorn Network.

Texas, though, would have to add Pac-12 (soon to be 16) content to the LHN programming.

A high-ranking school administrator at one of the four Big 12 schools said “It’s heating up. We’re trying to move in that direction (of joining the Pac-12).”

When asked about the terms of the agreement, the administrator said, “We can live with it.”

The Longhorns would be able to keep all of their revenue from the network if that amount is greater than one-sixteenth of what the entire Pac-12 receives for its third-tier rights. However, if one-sixteenth of the money the Pac-12 receives from third-tier rights ends up being a larger amount, the schools would divide the revenue evenly and everybody would receive the same amount, the source said.

“Nothing has been definitively confirmed. But that’s in the zip code,” a source very familiar with the realignment discussions said Sunday. “This is not yet a done deal. It appears that (Pac-12 commissioner) Larry Scott is going to be able to work some magic and help Texas keep the Longhorn Network and their revenue stream.”

For football, the conference would be aligned into four four-team pods with Texas being joined by Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Texas would play those schools every year.

How would the overall playing schedule work out for football?

As of right now, the conference is discussing an alignment where teams would play nine conference games. Teams would play every other team in their pod along with two teams from each of the other three pods.

If the Longhorns were in Pod A, they would play the other Pod A teams (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech) every year. They would also play two teams from Pod B, Pod C and Pod D, bringing the total to nine conference games every year.

It is believed the championship game would be decided by overall conference record, meaning any two teams could play in the championship game on a given year.

According to a high ranking school administrator at one of the four Big 12 schools, the Pac-12 has said it will limit the extra-long trips to one per year for every team.

Texas president Bill Powers and athletic directors DeLoss Dodds and Chris Plonsky flew back to Austin from Los Angeles late Saturday night after watching Texas beat UCLA 49-20 in Pasadena on Saturday. The Texas administrators did not meet face to face with Scott while in California this weekend, a source very familiar with the realignment discussions said, but “It feels like the discussions among the parties are entering a more productive phase.”

Another well-placed source close to the situation said it’s expected that the Texas board or regents will vote Monday to authorize university president Bill Powers to make a decision regarding realignment.
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Really baffling that this is all happening so fast when it almost happened last year and fell apart. Wish they'd have just done it last year so all this crap would be done and over with rather than taking away from the season.
 
Billboard in Waco:
ambillboard.jpg
 
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...ners-texas-longhorns-ok-presidents-act-pac-12

The board of regents for OU and Texas both gave their university presidents power to make all decisions about conference alignment.

So both schools are free to apply to the Pac 12 or whatever. No news on when and if that will happen, but OU's president "sooner rather than later" in terms of deciding on Pac 12 or deciding to try to save the Big 12. And said those were the only two options for them.
 
Looks like Missouri has an offer to be the SEC's 14th team.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/20/3155336/source-mizzou-has-sec-offer-but.html
Source: Mizzou has SEC offer, but SEC willing to wait
By MIKE DeARMOND
The Kansas City Star

COLUMBIA | The Southeastern Conference has an offer on the table for Missouri to join its league, and SEC officials are willing to wait for an answer from Missouri until the future of the Big 12 is decided.

That information has come to The Star through a Mizzou booster who spoke directly to a MU official. Another source told The Star on Tuesday that an Oklahoma official had said the SEC is interested in Missouri.

MU chancellor Brady Deaton has gone on record numerous times that, as chairman of the Big 12’s Board of Directors, he is working on keeping the Big 12 together.

But with Texas and Oklahoma regents each authorizing school officials to look elsewhere on Monday, the prospects of a viable Big 12 without either or both of those schools would be in question.

“Apparently they’ve come to us,” the MU booster said of the SEC. “I’ve been told there is an offer on the table.”

That same source said it was the second time the SEC has made an overture to Missouri, the first coming last year.

“After the Big Ten thing started falling apart,” the source said of the summer of 2010, “they wanted to talk to us. We didn’t talk to them.”

The “legitimate interest,” the booster said, came at a point when remaining Big 12 members agreed to stick together in spite of Nebraska going to the Big Ten Conference and Colorado to the Pac-10 last year.

Considering the threat of legal action against Texas A&M and the SEC raised by Baylor, Missouri and the SEC would prefer to keep an offer to MU under wraps until the Big 12 actually ceases to be a viable entity.

It is unclear exactly who would be the person or persons at Missouri to make a decision on the SEC offer.

Some believe Deaton may be the decision maker, or that it could be interim University of Missouri system president Steve Owens. Or, the issue could be brought before the Missouri Board of Curators.

Missouri officials have consistently refused to comment on specific speculation about Missouri’s future, other than to note Deaton was working at trying to keep the Big 12 Conference viable.
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I'm really starting to think WVU is going to get screwed into the conference made up of Big East and Big 12 leftovers.

There are a ton of WVU fans that think WVU to the SEC is a done deal, but I think it is only a possibility if no other options are available and the SEC absolutely has to pick up another team to even out the divisions.
 
Yeah, WVU is in a bad spot.

I'm not as worried as most WVU fans though. I mean the Big East from 2005 on has been:

WVU
Pitt
Syracuse
Louisville
South Florida
Cincinnati
Rutgers
Connecticut

That's a pretty terrible football conference.

Now assume A&M and Missouri go to the SEC; Texas, Oklahoma, Ok State and Texas Tech to the Pac 16; Rutgers and UCONN to the ACC.

In that worst case scenario you'd still have Big East and Big 12 leftovers of:

WVU
Louisville
Cincy
USF
TCU (joining BE in 2012)
Kansas
Kansas State
Baylor
Iowa State

That's not really any worse than the current big east. And they could expand further by grabbing some teams like Boise State, Air Force, Houston, UCF, East Carolina etc. to expand foot print and add some solid programs. In that case it's if anything slightly better than the current Big East--though clearly far behind the other major conferences.

I'd think that would still keep a BCS autobid though--given that previously 2 bids were in play with the Big East and Big 12 that died. There would be a huge antitrust issue if current autobid teams are excluded. Think it was bad when Utah etc. got left out? What do you think congress would do if many more teams got excluded?

So I'm not in panic mode like many WVU fans. Worst case we end up still in the weakest of the BCS auto-bid leagues, but in a slightly stronger conference than before.

Best case, maybe the Big 10 expands and takes Missouri and WVU still ends up in the SEC to balance out divisions.



All that said, the SEC office has stated that the have not invited Missouri, and per twitter reports their pissed that Mizzou apparently leaked than info (as talks where ongoing). Lots of thoughts that Mizzou leaked it to try to pressure the Big 10 to expand now if they want them.
 
http://newsok.com/article/3605958

Hmm, now Oklahoma is apparently willing to stay in the Big 12 if some serious concessions are made about the Longhorn Network, equal revenue sharing, and firing Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe.

Wonder if this has anything to do with various reports today that a lot of Pac 12 presidents are opposed to expansion....
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']http://newsok.com/article/3605958

Hmm, now Oklahoma is apparently willing to stay in the Big 12 if some serious concessions are made about the Longhorn Network, equal revenue sharing, and firing Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe.

Wonder if this has anything to do with various reports today that a lot of Pac 12 presidents are opposed to expansion....[/QUOTE]


Since I live in the middle of Big 12 country they've been talking about this all afternoon on the radio. First it was reported that Mizzou received an offer to join the SEC, then Oklahoma's terms for staying were leaked to the media.

Honestly any conference that takes Texas would be stupid to let them keep all the revenue from their network. That seems to be the thing that pissed everyone off in the Big 12 to begin with. Wouldn't the rest of the PAC-whatever conference eventually get jealous of Texas's sweet deal and tear that conference apart?
 
Yeah, if Texas goes to the Pac 10, they won't be able to keep it in it's present forms.

The Pac 10 has regional conference networks, they'd have to merge it into one of those is what the rumors have said.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']
That's a pretty terrible football conference.[/quote]
I would be more concerned from the respective of the fact that the Big East is known as a Basketball conference first and foremost. Syracuse and Pitt are very good schools in Basketball that now will no longer be there in the future.

And they could expand further by grabbing some teams like Boise State
Click to expand...
Doubt that will ever occur. Fort Worth is far but double the distance to get Boise wouldn't be cost-effective/good for student-athletes with classes to travel all that distance across multiple timezones/thousand of miles every week.

I'd think that would still keep a BCS autobid though
Click to expand...
BCS contract will end. Who is to say autobids even are in play in the future. Personally, the Big East BCS one has been in limbo for years as there is no bowl tie-in they represent like the other 5 conferences i(Orange Bowl - ACC, Sugar Bowl - SEC, Rose - Pac-10/Big-10, Fiesta - Big 12). They just get a spot. As the midmajors push the limits, Big East could potentially get pushed out like they did in the Orange Bowl deal.

[quote name='Chitown021']Honestly any conference that takes Texas would be stupid to let them keep all the revenue from their network. [/quote]
Texas doesn't need to go anywhere. They can easily go independent. Rich History? Check. Good in all sports? Check. Recruiting? Check. Own TV Deal? Check. Conferences that want them will have to bend to their demands, not the other way around.

As for Oklahoma, it is funny they say that. Remember these schools help determine distribution of funds. Now that it is biting them in the ass they have a problem with it...
 
[quote name='lordopus99']Texas doesn't need to go anywhere. They can easily go independent. Rich History? Check. Good in all sports? Check. Recruiting? Check. Own TV Deal? Check. Conferences that want them will have to bend to their demands, not the other way around.[/QUOTE]


Being good in all sports is irrelevant because if they were to go independent, they would only be independent in football. Their other sports would play in a conference. They wouldn't be scheduling teams all over the nation for women's volleyball.

Anyway, I doubt Texas will go independent. If you read between the lines on the information coming out of the Texas camp, they clearly want to get into a stable conference one way or another. Going independent would be an absolute last resort that I believe would come after a possible new conference created from the current Big 12 and some hand-picked Big East teams.
 
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6998751/pac-12-conference-decides-expand-further

Pac 12 announced they are not expanding. So the Big 12 will live on in some form.

http://espn.go.com/college-football...ohn-marinatto-says-schools-committed-big-east

Big East football schools had a meeting, released a generic statement that they're moving forward and will try to expand etc.

That will be terrible as if they can't merge with the Big 12 they'd be stuck going after Army/Navy, CUSA schools etc. :(

But maybe this all means Missouri is stuck in the Big 12 and WVU ends up being the default option for the 14th SEC school now with them out of the picture, and no ACC teams likely to leave since they all voted in favor of raising the ACC buyout to $20 million last week.

Time will tell I guess.

Edit: Other random possibility some sports writers have tweeted tonight--Louisville, WVU and TCU/BYU to the Big 12 to get it back to 12 after A&M leaves. I don't care for that much--though I'd take it over a Big East with Army/Navy etc. Otherwise it sucks for travel and no rivalries since we've hardly ever played Big 12 teams.

Edit 2:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...ormal-agreement-add-missouri-according-report

Missouri may still be headed to the SEC even though the Pac 16 isn't happening...though Pete Thamel (NY Times writer who broke the Cuse/Pitt story) just tweeted that he'd be shocked if Mizzou ended up in the SEC based on 3 sources he talked to.
 
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As for Oklahoma, it is funny they say that. Remember these schools help determine distribution of funds. Now that it is biting them in the ass they have a problem with it...
Click to expand...


That's the funny part about this whole thing. From the beginning all of the schools agreed to an unequal revenue sharing system that was slanted in the favor of the bigger schools like Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma. Even though they already receive more than their fair share all of the teams at the top of the food chain got pissed at Texas because they were hauling in the most loot.

So instead of the 11 teams all banning together against Texas they ran away crying about an "unfair" system that they helped to negotiate in the first place!
 
Lot of news out of the Big 12 today after Press Conferences from Mizzou and OU following a Big 12 meeting.

This statement by the Ok State president summarizes everything pretty succinctly: http://blog.newsok.com/osu/2011/09/...burns-hargis-committing-to-big-12-conference/

Key points:

-All 9 remaining members (A&M is gone) pledged their TV rights to the Big 12 for 6 years
-Beebe out as commissioner. Former Big 8 commish Neinas is interim commish
-Big 12 expansion committee is reforming
-Forming a working group to deal with remaining Big 12 issues with revenue etc.

EDIT: Apparently the first thing (6 year pledge) hasn't been formalized yet. Still has to be voted on by each school. Just a verbal agreement apparently.


Oklahoma's president noted in his press conference that Texas prefers just replacing A&M to get back to 10, but he'd prefer to add 3 and get back to 12 teams.


Not sure what all of it means for WVU. Mizzou is out of the picture for the SEC now, so maybe WVU gets that 14th spot their. But maybe they still have another school ahead of us or just want to stay at 13 for a while and see if they get a shot at FSU or VT down the road.

If Big 12 does go back to 12, the WVU, Louisville and TCU/BYU option seems pretty likely.

I just hope something happens as the Big East is going to suck balls even more since all they could add to replace Pitt and Cuse would be teams like Navy, UCF, East Carolina etc. :puke:
 
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[quote name='dmaul1114']
I just hope something happens as the Big East is going to suck balls even more since all they could add to replace Pitt and Cuse would be teams like Navy, UCF, East Carolina etc. :puke:[/QUOTE]
Who know... They could ask to bring up Georgetown to D1. Also, Villanova might come around one of these days :lol:

In seriousness, UCF is pretty up-and-coming. They have fair well recently in Football and Basketball i.e. the two major college sports. I know they would be interested to join an AQ conference if invited. Though, I am not sure how USF would respond to that. The other two schools you mentioned would really weaken Big East's conference strength in Basketball i.e. what they are known for. Another option would be to try and sweet talk Notre Dame in bringing their other sports over (since BBall is already there).
 
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