BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

Oh lord. Neinas is a colossal douchebag. I wonder if he'll give the Big 12 schools that shitcan their coaches a discounted rate for his matchmaking services.

 

The payout difference from being in a Big 10 or SEC will pay for the extra plane fare many times over. Really think anyone at A & M cares about lil Suzy swimmer having to travel further for her meets if it means millions more to the Uni's bottom line at the end of the year?

 

It makes no sense for the Sun Belt Conference to have stretched from Miami to Denver or for the WAC to go from Honolulu to Ruston.

But with the TV money in these BCS conferences, they don't give a damn if they have to pay for their swim teams to go to Timbuktu every year.

 

This...

 

They couldn't care less. Not saying its right, but its true.

 

Nor does Penn State's baseball team show up in Lincoln for free. (What a lovely 18-hour drive!)

And in fairness, Pitt and Miami were together in the Big East for more than a decade competing in non-revenue sports. Also, A&M to Colorado is a much longer trip than A&M to Vandy. It's not like these long-distance bus trips are new creations.

 

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Don't forget that they get access to the Big East's bowl bids. So they're not really that distanced from the championship process. The only way they'd get shut out entirely as a football independent is if they went to a playoff system, which they aren't going to do. It's fun to make fun of Notre Dame, but they're over the last 25 years still more relevant than any team in the Big Ten outside Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State (replace Penn State with Wisconsin for the last 10). They'll do OK.
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Yes, Notre Dame still has a seat at the table, but 20 years ago they thought they owned the table and could dictate who else got to sit around it.

Kind of like Texas now. You sort of see it expressed on this thread. Texas' power in the college football world is sort of what Notre Dame once enjoyed. Notre Dame proves you can piss that power away by thinking too much of yourself. If I'm OU and OSU, I'm breaking up the Big 12 and helping Texas do just that.

 

Don't forget that they get access to the Big East's bowl bids. So they're not really that distanced from the championship process. The only way they'd get shut out entirely as a football independent is if they went to a playoff system, which they aren't going to do. It's fun to make fun of Notre Dame, but they're over the last 25 years still more relevant than any team in the Big Ten outside Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State (replace Penn State with Wisconsin for the last 10). They'll do OK.
[/quote]

Yes, Notre Dame still has a seat at the table, but 20 years ago they thought they owned the table and could dictate who else got to sit around it.

Kind of like Texas now. You sort of see it expressed on this thread. Texas' power in the college football world is sort of what Notre Dame once enjoyed. Notre Dame proves you can piss that power away by thinking too much of yourself. If I'm OU and OSU, I'm breaking up the Big 12 and helping Texas do just that.

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you piss your power away by losing football games. If ND wins like it did from 87-95, no one questions if they are relevant, conference or no conference. If Texas strings together 9, 10, and 11 win seasons, they will have plenty of power. If they win 6 games a year in a good year, then they lose power.

 

I'm probably wrong but outside of a team or two switching, I think expansion is done.

The remaining teams of interest have too much baggage attached to them to be attractive.
Texas — Longhorn Network. That and they are giant douchebags
Oklahoma — Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State — T. Boone's money isn't enough and your state legislature has you attached to the Sooners' hip
Kansas — Kansas State
Kansas State — Wrong Manhattan
Louisville/Georgia Tech/Florida State/Clemson/Every other second footprint state school — Enjoy the house you got because your state school neighbor has restrictive covenants keeping you off their block
BYU — Won't play on Sundays, screws everything up in the non-revenue sports
TCU/Texas Tech/Baylor/Kansas State/Iowa State — Marginal TV markets, difficult travel for non-revenue sports, not much interest outside of local
Boise — Good football but that's it and nobody wants them on the schedule because they don't want an annual ass-kicking and a marginal TV market even though developing a fan base outside the Boise metro area
Mizzou — Despite its media cheerleaders, the Tigers don't bring much. Football's marginal. Basketball's not much better and not much in TV markets either. (Cue the angry Mizzou media apologists now)
WVU —Would be Appy State if it wasn't the land grant school for West F****** Virginia
UConn — Intriguing but only to the ACC
Notre Dame — Unlikely. And for a variety of reasons but mostly because the other schools need Notre Dame more than Notre Dame needs a football conference.
Navy/Army —Both come with high prestige and big followings. Might make sense for the Big East/ACC to make a pitch but do Army/Navy really need a football conference?
Miami — Only if the SEC wants a quick handy and then long shower to wash off the dirty feeling that won't ever go away
South Florida — Also intriguing but would need Gainesville's blessing, unlikely, for the SEC.
Any school not already mentioned — There's a reason you weren't mentioned.

 

Sorry for the hatchet job I did to all the html up there. I won't be trying to salvage it.

McNuggets Man, what you say is true, but it's why I earlier brought up the Miami comparison. Being in the ACC gives Miami a clearly identifiable path back to prominence that recruits can relate too. Win the ACC, win the title game and you're back baby (once you clear whatever probation's upcoming).

Now, if you win big right away as an independent, then the path becomes clear because they'll see it done. But I'd argue that the BCS process of conference championship games and power ratings has become such a given to players these days that becoming independent would have an immediate negative impact on recruiting.

You can win big as an independent, sure. But I'd argue that because you can quickly become out of sight, out of mind, a slump is far more likely to become prolonged.