BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

I really laugh when I hear any of these college/conference types talk about "it's about academics."
You don't hear about invites going out to Vanderbilt, Duke or the service academies.

 

I respect Mark Kiszla and am a Colorado native but his column makes no sense. It would send CU backward not forward.

http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_15236809

"But following Texas, whose $125 million athletic budget is more than twice what CU can afford to spend on sports, anywhere in this new college landscape would be a fool's errand for the Buffs."

Really? As opposed to following San Diego State or New Mexico or even Utah and BYU.

Colorado would be foolish not to jump on the Pac-10 expansion train. They have been fortunate to be in the Big 8/12, not the other way around.

Kiszla suggests adding Houston to the MWC then says you would have the Houston, San Diego and Salt Lake City TV markets to add to Denver and Dallas. I think if I'm running an athletic department (and looking at adding money to that budget) I'd rather attract the L.A. San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix markets since you already have the Dallas and probably Houston markets just through the association with Texas and Texas A&M. University of Houston would add very little to Colorado.

He's right that CU would have more natural rivals with CSU, Air Force and Wyoming. I don't think the Big 12 cares much about Colorado's future plans. The Buffs don't have a real rival in the Big 12. They like to think Nebraska is their rival, but the Huskers have never bought into that, viewing Oklahoma as a much bigger rival.

 

Kizzla's not intellectually honest. Does he really believe the 18,000 people who show up at every Houston home game, in a city that's in the country's top five population wise, would certainly give the MWC the Houston market?

 

Ken Starr, guest columnist for the Waco Trib and also the big cheese at Baylor...

http://www.wacotrib.com/opinion/columns/Ken-Starr-guest-columnist-Baylor-other-Big-12-Texas-schools-must-stick-together-in-any-conference-realignment.html

 

Micro, your idea makes a lot of sense, and it sounds like the best option out there for both the Pac-10 and Big 12. I hope they do something like that.

Actually, I wish the Pac-10 and BIG 10 had done this years ago, sticking to their guns about the Rose Bowl before they caved and became part of the BCS madness.

But instead, the Big 10 started all this conference expansion/team swapping when it became the Big tELEVEn with Penn State. Conference poo-bahs continued their greed and arrogance with the Big 10 network, succeeding as they strong-arm dollars away from sports fans (via that convenient whipping boy, cable companies).

Now the Big 10 revisits expansion, and everything is up in the air. I hope it bites greedy conference officials in the ass.

And yes, I'm an Iowa fan/alum who's saying this.

 

I think the SEC has forced the Big Ten to do this.

 

What I find funny (not haha, but odd) is that I don't think the Big 10 gets any better with Mizzou and/or Nebraska. Probably a little thicker around the middle, but more likely to trip up a top 5 OSU late in the season than to compete for another BCS bid.

 

Never said TCU or Houston held the key to the Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston markets. Simply said they would be in those markets, so when it comes time to negotiate TV deals or create your own conference network, it does give you something more to work with than, "Well, we own the Boise market."

 

The MWC already has its own TV network, in fact it was the first conference to have one. It's on local cable and DirecTV but otherwise not very widely distributed. And although probably not on Big Ten levels, I believe its TV generates a good deal of money, easily the best of non-BCS conferences. In all honesty, if hell freezes over and they do get the Big 12 leftovers I'm sure the network will be a big selling point for the conference to get even a better deal.

 

The Pac 10's saber rattling may have just cost Boise its chance to move into the Mountain West.

Craig Thompson has to be thinking they're going to grab three of the remaining Big 12 schools - Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado or Iowa State - if the league implodes. That would give the MWC the magic number of 12.

If CU gets left out of the MegaPac10 then they would get an invite ahead of ISU thereby rendering the Cyclones totally fucked.

 

If you are going just by geography, Iowa State seems to make as much sense as anyone for the Big Ten. But of course this is all about dollars and not sense, thus the Cyclones look to be screwed eight ways from Sunday.

Missouri has the natural rival of Illinois, but the Tigers really seem to be screwing over KU, which seems to be at least on par with Missouri in terms of football and well above in terms of basketball. KU's albatross might just be KSU.

If Baylor was in any state but Texas it would not be relevant.

Agreed that Colorado, if it is left out of the new Pac-16, would best be suited for the Mountain West unless it and the Big 12 leftovers form a new league or it decides to go independent for a few years.

Boise State is a day late and a dollar short after the Pac-10 was given the go-ahead to expand.

MWC no doubt would love CU or Kansas, Kansas State, even Iowa State over Boise State.

Be interesting to see if the MWC would try to negotiate with the Pac-10 or Big 12 for Colorado and Baylor and the other Big 12 leftovers. Maybe Pac-10 says it will take the projected six except Baylor, which goes to the MWC and pairs up with TCU. Nah, that won't happen. The MWC is still at the little kids' table.

 

Boise St. brings some additional TV ratings in, but The Mtn. already is on Cable One in Boise. If you bring in KU, K-State and CU, you might be able to get a national deal on DirecTV.