BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

The pure geography of Missouri in the SEC isn't that bad except for how it got stuck in the wrong division. But Mizzou is kind of a strange case when it comes to the conference shuffle. So many people associated with Missouri long fancied themselves a better fit for the Big Ten than the Big 8/12, and they really thought it would get in when the Big Ten started adding teams.

So Mizzou pretty much publicly lobbies for a spot in the Big Ten, creating a lot of the instability in the Big 12. With the Big 12 future in doubt and left looking rejected by the Big Ten, it jumped at an opportunity to go the SEC. Sure, Missouri borders a bunch of SEC states, but it goes from a league that frequently played conference tournaments and championship games in their own backyard to one that's Atlanta-centric, alienating a lot of fans and alumni in KC in the process.

Not only that, Pinkel had done some pretty good things with the football program establishing a recruiting pipeline in Texas. That's completely dried up and it's hard to imagine Mizzou getting back to the level it was a few years ago any time soon.

 

So that's what killed their chances of a Big Ten invite?

 

Dickinson State had only been in for two years. Those bus trips to Oregon were killers, though, especially if/when the price of gas spikes again.

 

For college presidents at the power conference levels and the other top 15 percent of wage earners.

 

Shaking the foundations all the way down to the NAIA level. Truly, when will it ever end?

 

Didn't make a difference for Maryland.

 

New Jersey also has a history of slavery. It was abolished in the state in 1804, but essentially grandfathered in, meaning there were still slaves in the state for decades after. The final 16 slaves in New Jersey were freed after the 13th amendment was passed in 1865.

Maryland remained a slave state through most of the Civil War, but abolished slavery on its own a year before the 13th amendment.

 

Everything old is new again. ETSU and VMI are going back to the SoCon, with Mercer thrown in for good measure.

http://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/5/30/252342/ETSU-Mercer-VMI-Invited-To-Join.aspx

 

And to think slave state is thought of as a precursor to SEC membership.

 

Yeah, they're needing people since Georgia Southern and Appalachian State are Sun Belt-bound. Also helps that Mercer has football now and I think ETSU is adding it back on.

 

Can we change the name of this thread? Sun Belt crap isn't BCS crap, and the BCS is at the hospice center.

 

ETSU is. There's talk they may eventually elevate the program to FBS, which would make them a potential candidate for the Sun Belt down the line. Sun Belt still needs a 12th football playing school to get a conference title game, and the options are apparently James Madison, Missouri State or hope Texas-Arlington starts football. Liberty was a non-starter.