BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

Though Big 12's a part of the Lone Star State
People don't seem to care
They just keep on lookin' to the SEC
Talkin' 'bout your Oxford Grove
Whoa, oh (whoa, oh) Oxford Grove

 

Damn. That's an Alabama level of shamelessness.

 

The Big 10 would do themselves some good if they added say USC, Oregon, and Washington.

 

How'd you like to be the Big 10 Commish? "Sure, we lost Texas and Oklahoma, but we added Memphis and Houston." How well do you think that one goes over?

 

Trying to see it happen, especially USC. Epic fail.

 

Won’t happen. Saw something from a couple of college football writers on Twitter yesterday that the Big Ten expects to stand pat during the current cycle.

Can’t imagine what another conference would offer to pry any of the top Big Ten schools away, either.

 

Much of this hinges on what the remainder of the Big (edit, doh!) 12 does. UT and OU would love the league to come apart, teams dispersing all over. If there's no Big 10, they're off the hook for that $80m buyout. The other big factor is whether the rest of the P4 is ready to jump for the 16 team super-conference model. Do the teams you invite bring in as much money as it will cost to add them? If not, why add them? Are the various networks ready to pop for greatly increased contracts in order to broadcast that 16 team group?

If the Big 10 somehow hangs together and invites the best two teams they can, this will be a ripple and perhaps a glimpse of the future. If it turns into "Every man for himself" and a sprint for the exits, who knows where the chips will fall?

As a G5 guy, all I can do is watch and see how things develop. UAB was angling for the open spot in the AAC, although they might decide to stay at 11 teams. They've never been in a better position once the dominoes began to fall, but if the four sixteen team conferences model comes to pass that AAC slot is not nearly as shiny even if they reach it. Better than anything else, but likely far weaker than it is now.

The wild card that I've heard kicked around is "What if the SEC decides to go full on Super Conference and goes to 24 of the elite teams, or even 32?" Seems far fetched, but so did a UT/OU elopement.

 

You’re thinking of the Big 12, which has 10 but is 12. And then there’s the Big Ten, which is actually 14 but also 16 depending on the sport.

 

I can't see anyone in the Big Ten leaving either. If the fit was right they could go from 14 to 16 (football), but as I said above, they're not going to be willing to slice the pie thinner unless whoever they add has at least the potential to bring in enough money not to be a drain on the current split. That only flies if Fox is willing to up the ante enough to compensate.

Edit: Big Ten already being at 14/16 is out of my area of expertise, so throw as much of that out as makes no sense.

 

Ohio State is the only Big Ten team with an SEC attitude and SEC-style passionate fan base
Michigan would be like Texas
It has a big name and makes $$$
Plus the fan base could keep its arrogance because it’s losing in the best conference
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In which sports does the Big Ten have 16 members?

 

OK, good point.

Johns Hopkins is an associate member for lacrosse; Notre Dame for hockey.

I was under the impression Kentucky was an associate member for soccer, but apparently that’s a C-USA thing.