Ha, Miami, as if. If Vandy goes, you’re getting a replacement nerd school that will commence to beating SEC asses like it’s 1949 (UGA 2009 was a fluke). The ACC picks up WVU and bolsters its hillbilly cred one million percent.

Eight out of nine is a fluke, Golden Hand? I thought you Techie types were supposed to be good at the math and whatnot.

I think you mean “the maths”, Doug.

Little 8 Plus Big 3 Dept:

Add Notre Dame to the Big 10, or whatever it is called. (Let them keep their NBC loot, and figure out a way to combine TV schedules, this stuff ain’t brain surgery.)

Have State Penn and Notre Dame in on division, and
Ohio State and Michigan in the other.

Divide the minnows among the conference and everyone wins. ND gets to keep playing cream puffs, with traditional rival USC each year, and all are happy.

ACC-SEC bickering takes on a completely new joy for me after watching the Clemson fan at the SEC game. Fuck the stats.

still can’t spelllll……have State Penn and ND in ONE division…..

Yes, Vandy, because when I think Big Ten football country, I immediately picture central Tennessee

wow, I can’t believe I am going to admit this, but I agree with SKLM…

I don’t know, I kind of like the way Golden Hand thinks. Every Cocktail Party victory by Florida from 1990-2009: FLUKES!

South Florida to the Big 10.

Just got word from a credible source.

That credible source is a squire I found in the back yard that speaks to me through my weegie board

$6.125 million guaranteed? Man, that’s a lot of queso dip.

Seton Hall, Marquette, DePaul, St. John’s and Villanova are leaving the Big East and agreeing to field one joint D1-A football team. Thus, the Big Ten gets 12 football teams and 16 Basketball schools.

MUST CREDIT THE SMALL MAN SPEAKING IN MY RADIO SET.

I’ve heard that some SEC presidents wanted to require institutions to spend certain amounts of MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ESPN MONEY! on academics, but a number of schools balked. Didn’t hear who, but it wasn’t the Bamas/Georgias/LSUs who have more than enough to spend on athletics.

Honestly, after this year I would rather the SEC had created it’s own network rather than selling out the idea to ESPN. Georgia played in five night games between the hedges. Now, I like night games as much as the next guy (WOO BOOOOZE!) but FIVE is kinda alot. And I’m thinking our ahem leadership probably wishes it had more say in the times of home games.

Arp, etc, etc.

I hate it when I forget to complete a post…

But aren’t there only four credible options?

1. Notre Dame (as if)
2. Missouri
3. Iowa State
4. Pitt

1 seems pretty comfortable with its TV/BCS deal.
2 and 3 seem pretty comfortable and well taken care of in the Big 12
4 is in the Big East so perfectly eligible for poaching.

Craziest possible scenario:

Mizzou to Big10
Arkansas jumps to Big12
Florida St slides into SEC
ACC grabs Penn St, who should have joined at same time as FSU.

3 years later Big10 realizes they are still at 11 teams.

@15 – Missouri is unhappy with Big12 bowl selection process.

16 – A lot of Penn Staters still wish we ended up in the ACC.
I prefer the Big 10 myself but that just might be the bunker mentality rearing its’ head.

I hate hearing people say Rutgers/Syracuse will bring the NYC market into Delaney’s Iron Curtain. No one in NYC gives a single candy apple flying fuck about Rutgers/Cuse. I’ve been wanting to say that for years. Feel better now.

Dream Scenario (for poor widdle me): UConn to the B10. Move from a conference so irrelevant that most people forget to denigrate it to a conference that is at least relevant insofar as HAHA! Rose BowLOL!. This will not happen because of basketball. However it would be nice to watch Jim Calhoun’s furious fast calvary bring a transition game to B10 bball.

@ 16

Big 10 makes the second most money per team behind the SEC combining athletics revenue.

I believe ACC is a distant 5th, only ahead of the Big East. Something like 3-4 million dollars per team per year less.

Penn State is not leaving the B10, no one is leaving the SEC (unless thrown out) as the SEC is something ridiculous like 4-5 million a year more then the B10.

Anyone from the BEast would jump at the opportunity to join the B10. It would increase their revenue by 4-5 million a year. ND will never join a conference until NBC pulls their collective heads out of their asses and stops throwing gobs of money at them.

As a Big East Fan I hope they poach Mizzou or Rutgers. If they stole Pittsburgh we would be fairly boned as a league unless we found some outstanding replacement (a la TCU or Va Tech both unlikely).

RE: ND to Big 10^2

Although not a deal breaker, remember that ND already has the sweetheartesty of all-time deals by being in the Big East in everything EXCEPT fuwtbawl. So, moving to the Big 10 probably means all sports and jilting the Big East and whatever that will cost.

Not that I can think of a big time football school that left the Big East for greener pastures, nope, not a one.

Leavitt Town -

The Big 10/11 makes more per team than the SEC. The SEC and Big 10/11 far outpace all other conferences in revenue. Big 12 ia 40% less. The key is that any team coming in has to bring something in the way of markets or in ND’s case, a national following. In addition, the school must be an academic fit.

But…to get in to the BTN wouldn’t the new school have to actually buy-in up front, and thus fork out some set of money? The actual amount depends on how you structure it and how the rest of the revenue breaks down, but the BTN is a joint venture with the Big 10 member schools owning 51% and Fox/News Corp owning 49%. Presumably the new school would either have to buy in by putting new money into the pool or actually just paying the other member schools to buy shares/units from them to give each of them a 1/12 interest in their 51%. This could range anywhere from $15-30million I’d guess, based on what the BTN is actually worth. Now, you could probably finance this by borrowing the money and then paying it back with BTN revenues, but even if the BTN pays it wouldn’t be as simple as “come on in”; each has to have their stake and the other schools put in a lot of money to get the network up and running. (News Corp bought their stake a few years ago.)

Since every team aside from Northwestern* and Wisconsin has at least one MAC team on the schedule for 2010, I say make the MAC a 12th “team” and have the entire conference split their share.

*The judges have ruled that Vandy isn’t, as many outside the SEC believed, a MAC school. Yet.

The Big Televen should take Kentucky. Then the SEC could pick up TCU (What? It’s not any farther out than Fayetteville) and dump basketball.

“@15 – Missouri is unhappy with Big12 bowl selection process.”

Well, they should win more games then.

Disregarding all reason and economics, here’s what I want to happen, just because I want it to:

Arkansas -> Big 12 (their rightful home), replaced by Clemson/Florida State/Georgia Tech
Vandy -> ACC (with all the other private school nerds), replaced by another above
West Virginia and Boston college switch places
South Florda -> ACC
ND -> Big 10

That beefs up the SEC football-wise, makes the Big East and ACC more geographically coherent, and completely disregards the worth of anyone not in a conference I care about (SEC and ACC).

@27

Considering the ACC’s emphasis on academics, and considering WVU only requires mouth breathing for admission and graduation, I doubt that would happen.

So a few thoughts on this:

The improbable
Mizzou>“Big North” (easiest way to create geographical divisions, and I will not consider non-geographical because ACCyouarefrigginretarded)
Arkansas>Big 12 (doesn’t shake up Big 12 conference alignments like any other SWC schools would)
Tech/Clemson/FSU/Miami>SEC
Connecticut>ACC (and kindly fix your divisions know damnit, North/South just makes too much sense I know)

Big East then figures out how to fix their shit up into a proper 12 team conference from poaching CUSA/MAC/Independents/some of the new I-AA schools with other good athletics that plan on jumping to I-A (Charlotte, Georgia State)

“Big North” alignments with anyone farther east
-East
Ohio State (protected game with Illinois)
Michigan
Michigan State
Penn State (protected game with Minnesota which is some sort of historical rivalry apparently)
Purdue (protected game with Indiana)
Notre Dame/Pitt/Syracuse/Rutgers

-West
Illinois (protected game with Ohio State)
Indiana (protected game with Purdue)
Iowa
Minnesota (protected game with Penn State)
Northwestern
Wisconsin

And fill the other protected games out however. It’s not like all of the SEC ones make sense. Used to be a Northwestern/Notre Dame rivalry per Wikipedia…

The answer WILL be Rutgers. Its all about the $$.

19 it matters just about nada that people in NYC could give a crap about Rutgers (they could give a crap about all college football). What matters is that a network will be able to sell advertisers that they are getting a piece of the NYC market through Rutgers thereby allowing them obtain additional $$ thereby makeing them more willing to pay additional $$ to the Big Televenelve for the contract. I understand that no one gives a f&% about Rutgers. Hell, Rutgers doesn’t give a f@%& about Rutgers. However, TV likes the greater New Jersey area — they may be the only ones who do . . .

As much as you’d hear in public about conference loyalty, given the chance, I think the average Tech fan would want to go back to the SEC at the end of the day.

GT left the SEC over numerous issues, but a key one was personal animus between Bobby Dodd and Bear Bryant. I think that justification fades quickly with the passage of time.
.

I’ve seen that kind of idea around, but there is no way they’d all agree to put OSU, UM, PSU, and possibly ND or Pitt in the same division. Too much crazy.

Question: Is there an NCAA regulation or something that limits conference sizes to 12? Couldn’t you expand by adding two teams; one per division?

Suck my big swinging dick.

@31:
There’s really no other good way to do it that I can see (since Atlantic and Coastal are retarded and let’s not go down that route with anyone else). Michigan really doesn’t count anymore, so you’re looking at Ohio State and Penn State as powerhouses in a theoretical East. In the West you’ve got Wisconsin at fairly decent, and Iowa too I guess. There’s definitely more weak-assedness in a West this way, but we’ve had several seasons like that in the SEC and it’s not the end of the world. If there’s 1 or 2 other really good teams in the East, one of them will probably still get a BCS berth.

@28

Not really dumbass
http://alumni.wvu.edu/traditions/rhodes_scholars

Holly,

Good demonstration that $ might not be an obstacle.

But why would ND reduce its ability to schedule and recruit nationally? Top 10 recruiting classes with those admission standards requires national leverage. Why give that up?

@32:

That seems to be where we’re headed. Lots of I-AA teams looking to move up at the next opportunity, so unless they bring up their entire conference the lower-end I-A conferences are gonna be in demand, and you’ve got a couple of teams in each that could move up a level too. Hell the MAC’s already halfway there. I think 14 could still work with only playing 2 teams from the other division, but it would work better for the MAC, Sun Belt, etc rather than the Big 12 or SEC.

Arkansas is NOT going to the B12 and sacrificing a lot of TV appearances and a BOATLOAD of money. And the B12 North holds ZERO attraction in terms of geography over the SEC.

Given the B12 is set up so schools like OU, Texas and NU get a larger slice of conference revenues (it’s not split evenly like the SEC), it will be interesting to see how much sucking up the B12 does to Mizzou with a bigger payday looming in the B10 for the Tigers.

Missou isn’t getting screwed in bowl selection by the Big XII, Missou is getting screwed because it has a fan base that doesn’t travel and doesn’t bring in TV viewership. When IA State is deemed a bigger draw than you, you have problems.

Rutgers or Pitt make the most sense since ND isn’t going anywhere. Big markets, have had decent football and basketball, big airports/easy access (as opposed to Syracuse).

Commodore,

As much as it pains me to say this, Michigan “doesn’t count anymore” is like going back 4 years and saying “Alabama doesn’t count anymore”. There is no way in hell that OSU, Michigan, Penn State, and whomever else(ND) would be in the same division together, the other half of the conference would look be worse than the Big 12 North.

@32: no, the MAC currently has 13 and has been bigger. There’s just no good reason to expand beyond that, especially not in football.

Re expanding our little pool: so far it has been AAU members only plz and in states part of or contiguous to existing member-states, kind of like the EU but without funny little symbols representing “money”. In theory those are just guidelines, in practice they are likely ironclad rules. Hell, we just figured out we could expand again. I’d make a conference network joke except we already have a network.

I don’t think Notre Dame is any more interested now than before and I think existing members may be tired of asking. Word on the internets falls into three categories: “expand the footprint” teams like Rutgers and Syracuse (academics yes, athletics maybe, geography no), “I like you but not that way” schools like Cincinnati, West Virginia, Louisville, and Kentucky (athletics yes or maybe, geography yes or maybe, let’s not discuss academics), and “one of these guys” meaning Pitt or Missouri.

I think it will be easier to take a full member from the Big East than from another conference. although if we did get Vanderbilt, I’d imagine the SEC would be bothered less than anyone else because it wouldn’t be hard for them to find a twelfth team. I suppose Missouri or Iowa State might be willing, and the Big 12 might just grab Colorado State or … or … something. (Maybe TCU. You can never have enough Texas schools.)

@35

WVU is one of the worst state schools in the country. To call it a “flagship” institution of West Virginia is an embarrassment to the state, especially when Marshall is harder to get into.

Nice to see you’ve had some smart fellows come through the school, but being at the top of your class at WVU is like winning a gold medal in the special olympics; congratulations, but you’re still a retard.

Who the hell cares about “academic prestige”? Are there going to be debates or math contests before the football games now?

@45

Do we really want the B10 to enter into a math competition? (10 = 11. Does not compute! Does not compute!)

@45- No one. According to an anonymously sourced ESPN piece, even big ten insiders don’t care about AAU membership. However, when you have spent an entire decade watching your teams get kicked in the teeth, you desperately latch on to any perceived advantage, even something as lame as, “SEC schools aren’t in the AAU! Whooo! Big ten SAT scores!”

@34

While the ACC divisions are fucked up, IMO you could do a non geographical division set up with the Big 10. The schools have been traveling to each other for a long time, albeit some longer than others, so if there were some balance decisions made I don’t think anyone would be too upset. It also helps that there isn’t a BC to FSU type travel hell. In terms of other sports, the divisions wouldn’t have to be used if they don’t want to. Those can do whatever based on school participation and travel costs.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that they should start geographically and then adjust to create balance.

Can we sacrifice Auburn to the Big East or to the Big Conference That Occasionally Couldn’t?

@26, 40 – It is indeed Mizzou’s pathetic fanbase that makes the Cyclowns a better bowl draw. Iowa State has already sold buttloads of tickets for the Insight Bowl, whereas Mizzou fans just don’t travel, period. *

Someone on sports radio mentioned Navy as a good fit for the Big Can’t Add – no conference poaching involved, opens up the Maryland/VA/DC corridor to Big IrrELEVENt recruiting, etc. That might be a better fit for Navy than the Big Slow, but who knows?

• Insert your hillbilly/slack-jawed yokel/Ozark joke here.

Mizzou’s fit of pique about being mistreated as a football power – despite never really being one, like, ever – could end up having profound effects on college football.

If the Big 10/11 snags the Tigers, I’m pretty certain the Big 12 collapses. It’s been an uneasy fit pretty much since its inception, and without the Tigers and their fanbase in St. Louis/KC, the only media markets of any significance are in the Texas Triangle … and maybe Denver.

The only question is whether it happens in a glorious flash or in excruciating slow-motion.

Adding TCU does nothing to help the conference except morph it into the SWC Part Deux. Florida Screwjob aside, there’s absolutely no incentive for Arkansas to leave the SEC.

In the aftermath, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma are probably in the best shape of glomming onto an existing conference, with Nebraska, KU and Colorado less so.

Tech, Baylor, Okie State, Kansas State and Iowa State would be SOL.

why must this take 18 months?

it’s pitt. that’s all.

pitt would kick an old lady down a flight of stairs to get into the big 11. hell, it’d kick a thousand old italian ladies down down the spanish steps to get into the big 11. mizzou brings nothing. notre dame ain’t coming. rutgers is still rutgers.

pitt takes the cash. the big east whines a little more and brings in delaware state. everybody’s happy.

@2 You mean, the B.P.J. era? I’m talking about the modern era of the rivalry, in which Georgia is pummeled by gigantic gonads of steel. The Chan Gailey factor has been eliminated, so we’re dead even.

Delusional? Hell, yes, I am. But it’s a GOOD delusion.

#52,

You’d have to convince me Pitt’s willing to leave Big East basketball and Madison Square Garden.

@54, revenue generated per conference:

1. Big Ten — $154.2 million
2. ACC — $137.6 million
3. SEC — $135 million
4. Big 12 — $103.1 million
5. Pac-10 — $80.1 million
6. Big East — $77.6 million

you’ll have to convince me that msg is that much more important to pitt than millions of dollars in revenue sharing. not to mention the facts that the big 11 is infinitely more likely than the big east to have an at-large bcs selection (more money), and that when they join the conference it’ll trigger a championship game (more money).

bottom line is money. in this respect big 11 > big east. sorry msg.

You could set up the Divisions in the Big Ten this way:

Schools near the Great Lakes of Superior and Michigan):
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, MSU, Northwestern, ND

Places near no water
Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa

If its Pitt, you move Iowa up to the Lakes division w/Wisconsin and put pitt with OSU and PSU
If Its Mizzou you probably do the same.

I personally want the University of Toronto. As a Badger fan they have everything I am looking for:
1) Large Media Market (check) – Fan interest probably same as Rutgers in NYC
2) Canadian Football is dying – Buffalo will pull a Green Bay soon there. 5 games in Buffalo/3 in Toronto
3) Very good academic school. Would have no problem in CIC
4) Toronto’s football program is worse than D3 UW-Whitewater. They had a Northwestern/Prarie View A&M streak recently.
5) Canadian strip clubs are better. Watch the Loonie!

I’m of the opinion that the SEC should lose South Carolina and Arkansas to their respective “real” conferences, and pick up FSU and Clemson (FSU West, Clemson East). Makes WAAAAY more sense for all teams involved (no matter how much South Carolina fans want to say they’re better at Football, they are a basketball school). Arkansas can pick up the Mizzou slack from the Big-Tweleven, and South Carolina and Clemson just switch places. Not that we need ANOTHER set of tigers in the SEC, but Clemson just makes way more sense than any other school out there.

And for all the Tech people that want back into the SEC, ha. It’ll be a cold day in hell before that happens. Even if we lost Vanderbilt, Tech’s not getting the spot. Just. Won’t. Happen.

I like playing the conference realignment game. If the ACC lost a school to the SEC, Swofford calls the following schools in this order:

1) Notre Dame. They see the number on the caller id and don’t bother to answer
2) Penn State. Please, why would they leave the Big 10 money.
3) UConn. This one may be more plausible. May get 1/100th of a percent of the NYC market.
4) Navy. Don’t laugh. Would save travel money.
5) East Carolina. I know scrapping the bottom of the barrell but there is a lot of NC politicians who wanted to get them into the ACC.
*
*
657th) Hawaii
658th) WFVU. Yes, dead last. No one really wants the hillbilly Taliban in their conference.

The Big Televen needs not add only 1 team. The Ultimate answer is 42.