BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

That still sounds turrible.

 

Yeah, whoever would have guessed that the conference to be gutted would be the one that most regard as the second best in the country?

Who also would have guessed that Texas Tech would get an invite to go west and KU would sit there with the rest of the Big 12 outcasts.

I think when all is said and done there will be 4 or 5 Superconferences with 14 to 16 teams each. The SEC is the one conference that could stand pat and be fine, but it will be interesting to see if they do just that or try to add two or four teams.

 

I don't believe the SEC will allow the Pac 10 and Big 10 to just keep expanding their revenue base and getting stronger without trying to respond in kind. And I don't think the SEC will allow the Pac 10 to just take Texas without putting up a fight.

Whoever gets Texas instantly becomes signicantly richer, and instantly takes claim to football alpha dog status. The SEC plus Texas is undisputably the best football conference with no close competitors, but a Pac 10 plus Texas (and Oklahoma) takes the football king title away from the SEC.

Football supremacy means way too much to folks in SEC land to sit back and allow that to happen. I think they'll be jumping in with a pitch to Texas and Oklahoma of their own. And, if that fails, they'll soon be considering Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech or whoever else might strengthen their profile.

 

It does, but the Mountain West -- if it isn't already -- would be better football conference than the Big East and ACC, especially if Boise State accepts the rumored invite coming its way this weekend. Given how the MWC is close to attaining BCS status, it's not like those schools would settle for the old Metro Conference, or fall to the WAC.

That said, I don't think it's ever going to get to that point. If Texas follows its own best interests (money, shot at BCS championship), it will want the Big 12 to stay intact. Ditto Oklahoma. And if Mizzou and Nebraska are lured away by the Big 10, invite BYU and Utah, essentially replacing the St. Louis market with Salt Lake City. TCU would work, but it's not like the Big 12 doesn't carry the Dallas-Fort Worth market already, particularly with Texas and Texas A&M.

Re: Texas and the SEC, won't ever happen. Texas loves being the big fish in a small pond. Having to play some combo of LSU, Tennessee, Florida, etc., would make a run to the BCS far more difficult than it is now in the Big 12.

 

I don't think Florida, Alabama and LSU really want to have to add Texas to their schedules either. The Pac-10 can do this, because with the exception of USC, the conference is weak. That will not be the case if Texas and OU join.

Also, Texas can be a lot more effective recruiting California, where the kids don't always stay, as opposed to recruiting the deep south.

 

Basically, if the rumors are true, we're on the verge of having three power conferences and if the SEC doesn't make a move, it will go from being the dominant conference in football, to probably the second or third best.

That's why I think the SEC will be the next to announce expansion.

 

If the SEC wanted power couldn't they grab Florida State, Miami, Clemson and Virginia Tech. Boom, they're the top conference again.

And Oz, I agree with much of what you said, except I don't think the Big Ten is going to extend an offer to Nebraska.

 

It's been mentioned a few times here, but I wonder if any of these conference leaders have taken enough time to clear the dollar signs from their eyes long enough to remember what an epic failure the 16-team WAC was. Granted the league didn't have the football tradition or fan base of some of the power conferences, but a similar thing will shape up. These leagues will be spread too thin geographically and rivalries or at least matchups that fans have gotten used to will be diminished.

It's big news about the possibility of those Big 12 teams going to the Pac 10, but you think Arizona or Arizona State is going to love playing Oklahoma State and only seeing USC once every four years? What about the possibility in the Big Ten of an Iowa getting Rutgers instead of Michigan? It's a real problem. Maybe it won't matter because most of the schools in this mess are established athletically, but these things could wear on programs.

 

This plan is actually starting to make sense to me ...

Pac-West -- Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal Stanford, UCLA, USC
Pac-East -- Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State

... For football you play seven games against your own division, then one home and one road game against teams from the other division, so there would be only one trip across the country in-conference.

For basketball, you play 14 games in a double-round robin in the division and maybe a home-and-home with an opponent from the other division. For the other sports, I can see the original Pac-8 schools and the other eight schools trying to keep together as much as possible for the sake of travel, money and rivalries.

Texas anchors one division with plains and southwest states, California anchors the original Pac-8. I didn't see where this plan made the sense the first time I heard it, but when I look at it like that, it does make sense.

 

That's going to be an amazing conference.

 

The 16 team WAC didn't have their own television network and didn't have names with national drawing power. Thus, they had all the detriments of an overly-broad 16 team conference, but far fewer of the benefits. This is a totally different deal.

The Pac 10's TV network ambition is the driving force behind this expansion plan. That's where the huge financial incentive to expand your geographic boundaries lies. The WAC wasn't getting that benefit, but the Pac 16 surely will once this rumored network is launched. If they can get their network on Dallas, Houston, OKC and Denver cable systems, in addition to the West Coast, that's a gold mine.

 

If Nebraska had not received an offer from the Big 10 (or is expecting one) I don't see any way they don't get an invite from the Pac-10. I'm a little surprised Texas Tech is getting an invite over Kansas, but if they thought Nebraska was available, I can't imagine not going after the Cornhuskers.