BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

Syracuse to the ACC in July 2013.

 

Coughing up $7.5 million to leave the Big East early. Meanwhile, Pitt is going to court because it refuses to pay nearly that much and is starting to sound like an old Meineke commercial.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xchrxv_1985-meineke-i-m-not-gonna-pay-a-lo_shortfilms

 

Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

 

As media days cranks up with the deck chairs all turned over, is any conference actually happier now than when this started?

The Big 10 probably comes closest, but their title game was a dud at the gate. Nebraska is a one-sport school in a thinly-populated state, and lost its AAU seal of approval about 5 minutes after joining.

The Pac-12 wanted desperately to snag Texas and the cream of the Big 12. They jumped the gun by admitting Colorado, got burned by the Horns, and then had to add another marginal choice in Utah to get to 12.

The Big 12 escaped destruction, but no one trusts Texas. TCU and West Virginia (!) are no replacement for the four teams they lost. Worse, none of those four leaving were Baylor or Iowa State.

The SEC is putting on a happy face, but shouldn't God's Favorite League have been able to do better than Texas' second banana and an afterthought Yankee school with the tradition and budget of Mississippi State?

The ACC has a handful of schools in open rebellion over a lousy TV deal, and two more mediocre football teams no one gives a shit about to keep BC company.

The Big East ... OH THE HUMANITY! The MWC got gutted, C-USA became even less relevant and the WAC is going the way of Braniff Air.

So why did we go through all this?

 

Don't forget I-AAA, the D-I schools with no football team. I'm not sure what the marketing whiz kids in Indy call them now. FNS- Football Nada Subdivision?

 

"Money, it's a gas ... grab that cash with both hands and make a stash."

I think both the Big 10 and the Pac-12 got what they wanted: enough teams for a championship game and the cash that goes with it.

The SEC, I would guess, can command more TV dough down the line now that it has a bigger geographic territory.

Everybody else? Losers, with the possible exception of the Texa$ Longhorn$ Network.

 

The SEC, I think, truly would've been fine sticking at 12 teams and raking in money hand over fist while it plays in two BCS bowls a year. Getting Missouri and Texas A&M, even if they're not quite A-listers, is a bonus. For a league that seems to have its shit together, getting A&M might even be preferable to Texas. Fewer headaches.
No one else was looking to leave the conference, either. Gotta think if there is a winner in all this, they're atop the heap with the Pac-12 and Big 10 a step behind.
Everyone else is just fighting for survival.

 

Idaho wants to be a football independent, rejoin the Big Sky in everything else:

 

Yep, lots of teams looking to visit the Kibby Dome for football. They'll wind up playing 9 road games per year to balance the budget.

 

Could see Idaho renting WSU's place for bigger home draws. Not sure Idaho has much choice in the matter. MWC wants no part of them, Sun Belt is passing and if the WAC has any football future it'll be by adding a bunch of Eastern FCS upgrades, which is not a good long-term solution for the Vandals. So it's either this or step down to FCS, and they aren't likely to do that.

 

Truthfully, they should have stayed in the Big Sky, like Montana did.

But going independent is no way to live. Notre Dame is about the only one who can get away with that. Even big state schools like Texas, Ohio State and Michigan aren't doing that.

The only home games you'll get are FCS schools like Montana and Eastern Washington who need a nearby road game. And you'll wind up as everybody's homecoming game in an effort to bring in some cash. Bad decision.

 

Vandals are paying a big price for trying to keep up with Boise State.