BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

Virginia in the SEC? Not bloody likely.

I'm not sure why the growth of the Big Ten would have an impact on the SEC. Just don't see it.

 

I'd love to see Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami and Clemson or Louisville go to the SEC.

 

He mentions the political pressure that got Virginia Tech into the ACC and writes that Tech and Virginia are a package deal. But what if VT was interested in the SEC and U.Va. wasn't, would there be anything holding the Hokies back?

 

I love the way the Pac-10 has five pairs of rivalries. Things are rarely that neat though.

 

That's also the best argument for a 10-team conference.

 

Texas, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Texas A&M are the only schools the SEC should consider. And I still don't see how splitting the pie 14 ways makes more financial sense.

 

My shop has a lot of interest in what happens with realignment, because supposedly "those in the know" say Southern Miss is on the inside track (along with Memphis, ECU and a couple of other Coosas) into the Big East, when they realign after all the dominoes fall. Personally, I'll believe it when I see it, but there are plenty around here who insist it's a done deal. Anyway, I came up with the following scenario of how those dominoes might fall, keeping in mind that most conferences still believe a 12-team setup is the best way to go:

Notre Dame to the Big 10, which splits into East and West Divisions. East: Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana and Purdue; West: Notre Dame, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa.

Utah and Colorado to the Pac-10, which splits into North and South Divisions. North: Washington, WSU, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, OSU. South: USC, UCLA, Arizona, ASU, Cal and Stanford.

Arkansas to the Big 12. Don't laugh. Fayetteville is closer to at least a half-dozen Big 12 campuses than it is to any other SEC school, and there is still a powerful body of Hog fans who miss the old SWC rivalries and have never been comfortable in the SEC. Arkansas takes CU's spot in the B12 North.

Clemson and Florida State to the SEC: Makes sense for a lot of reasons. Both are football schools in a basketball conference and both have in-state rivals in the SEC.

Vanderbilt and Syracuse to the ACC: Vandy finally gets tired of getting pounded every year in football in the SEC and takes a hefty buyout to leave. Syracuse is seduced by the lure of being in a hoops league with UNC, Duke and the rest (and a nice $$ incentive).

Big East takes the opportunity to become an all-inclusive conference and ditches DePaul, Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, Georgetown and St. John's, who form a basketball-only Catholic League with St. Joseph's. Big East then adds Memphis, East Carolina, Southern Miss, Marshall and UCF and splits into North and South Divisions. North: Rutgers, Connecticut, Pitt, West Virginia, Marshall, Cincinnati; South: Louisville, USM, Memphis, UCF, South Florida, ECU. Yeah, I know it looks a lot like old C-USA and new C-USA, but I have a specific agenda for setting it up this way.

Demise of C-USA sends UTEP and Tulsa back to the WAC, along with Houston and Rice; Tulane, UAB and Louisiana Tech go to the Sun Belt; SMU goes to the Mountain West.

Keep in mind that I'm just playing around with some rambling ideas off the top of my addled brain. I spent all day doing yard work, so my old head is a little fatigued. Feel free to dissect, discuss, mock and-or ridicule any or all of these scenarios. 8)

 

albert, why wouldn't the remaining CUSA schools just add La. Tech and keep going as a conference?

Also, the MWC would add UTEP before it would add SMU.

 

Good point. That's another direction that things could go. C-USA grabs La. Tech from the WAC and raids the Sun Belt for, say, Lafayette, Monroe, Ark State and maybe Troy or Middle Tennessee, and they'd be right back in business. That would suck for the Sun Belt, but in this day and age, it's every man for himself.

You may be right about the WAC preferring UTEP over SMU, but my thought was on restoring the old SMU-TCU connection.