I feel bad for Boise. They moved to the MWC to get more competition and they will just be playing the same teams over again. Utah, TCU, BYU all gone.
If only I could convince Notre Dame to join the Big East and get Boise St. into a decent conference like the Big 12 we'd be all set.
Lmao ... a worthy opponent. As if you guys are kicking ass and taking names.Originally Posted by morsdraconis
Screw that. MWC is still considerably better than the WAC. Yes, it should have been (and the damn idiots, it would have been) even better, but the MWC is still a hell of an upgrade.
Add to that ... apparently ... because of the way the BCS is going to evaluate conferences when they meet in December, 2011, Boise State's record from 2008+ and TCU's record up until 2010 will all count for the MWC. PLUS, TCU's 2010 season will count for the Big East too! I think you can practically guarantee that the MWC is going to get a BCS bid starting in 2012.
I read that when it originally came out ... and that was freaking awesome.
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
I thought I posted it somewhere on here before, but I wasn't sure, so I searched ESPN and posted in case people hadn't seen it. Really great stuff.
We will be again as soon as we get grandpa out of the coaching chair...
TCU's president excited about the academic opportunities with the Big East is about as believable as our president saying the same thing about us jumping to the Big Ten. And it sure as hell isn't about excitement for the other sports either. These guys are so transparent it's borderline ridiculous. It's obvoius it's about the cash and that cash is in football....I think Nebraska basketball hung with TCU in the home-in-home we played recently....they'll get SMOKED in the Big East.
Uhm ... it's legitimate in the Big Ten there, bud.
Now, it's far from a reason to change conferences ... but there is still an academic benefit to Nebraska joining the Big Ten. Can't speak for the Big East, but I know it's true in the Big Ten.
One of the great luxuries in joining the Big Ten is its association with the league’s academic counterpart, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, whose members share academic resources and programs while benefiting from more than $6 billion in funded research. In 2008, Penn State spent $701,000 on research and development, almost 50 percent of which was funded by the federal government through the partnership with the CIC. Of the nine public institutions with the biggest research budgets in 2008, five came from the Big Ten, according to the National Science Foundation, including Penn State at No. 8.
All of which goes back to academics, Jordan’s initial infatuation with the Big Ten. It was, after all, officially known as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives until 1987.
“Penn State was academically up to the level of the Big Ten schools, and joining the league obviously would have an impact on the academic reputation of the school,” he said. “That I found to be very important. It was the most important thing. That was my real motivation.”
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
Hawaii joins MWC for football, Big West for other sports: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/...lhoops_5907111
Damn, beat me to it, haha. Yeah, another one jumps ship. The WAC is stuck in revolving door mode right now. They are looking more and more like the red headed step child of college football conferences once all these moves take place in the future.
The WAC is dead.
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
Texas just needs to become an independent and get it over and done with...
Utah State may join MWC (Link)
Utah State may be the next school to jump from the Western Athletic Conference to the Mountain West, according to sources.
School officials from the Mountain West Conference are meeting in Las Vegas today and tomorrow and are expected to vote on several conference issues ranging from TV deals, to scheduling, to conference expansion. The conference has been looking at expanding from 10 schools to 12 in order to secure a lucrative conference football championship game. Adding a conference championship game could add millions of dollars of revenue to the conference in the form of a TV deal and ticket sales. If the money gained from the championship game offsets the money lost by splitting the revenue sharing between an additional two schools, then the conference is likely to expand.
The final vote for expansion was expected to take place Monday night. Sources said prior to the vote that expansion was likely and Utah State would then likely be asked to join and would accept the offer. No exact timetable was given for the announcement, but it is expected to be official in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Utah State has been on the Mountain West's radar since last August when the conference put in a call to gauge the school's interest in jumping ship from the WAC. Since then, current conference members Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii have all made it known they will be leaving the conference effective July 2012.
The WAC is going to nosedive into FCS.
They have Denver, UT-San Antonio, and Texas State coming in. They will be just fine...:rolleyes:
And I hope they drag Louisiana Tech down with them. Funny enough, the Loser Tech fans are saying if they go independent, they could get Arkansas and Texas A&M to travel to Ruston, LA for football games.
Mountain West sticking with current members.
Jan. 25, 2011
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -
At the conclusion of its annual January meeting, the MWC Board of Directors issued the following statement.
"Over the past two days, the Board of Directors has engaged in a very thorough discussion of several key topics pertinent to the future of the Mountain West Conference. This has included, but not been limited to, issues related to television, the Bowl Championship Series and membership. The Board feels strongly the membership configuration already established going forward creates outstanding prospects for future success. In addition, we are continuing with our strategic initiatives related to our television partnerships and the MWC's efforts to effect change in the BCS structure. The Board is excited about what is undoubtedly a bright future for the Conference."
Not a chance in hell this happens. Army already went through a failed experiment with Conference-USA, and Navy, just like Notre Dame, greatly values it's independent status and ability to have complete and total freedom over it's football schedule, which it has definitely not had any problems finding quality opponents each year.
Army, Navy Expansion Options for Big East?
Could the Big East look to Army and Navy in its quest to expand?
CBSSports.com's Brett McMurphy reports that the league could be interested in just such a plan to add the service academies. He quotes an unnamed college football industry insider who says the Big East could add Army and Navy on its way to growing to 12 teams.
"I believe the league will approach the academies first and if they turn the Big East down, then they'll approach the other candidates," the source is quoted as saying. "There are a lot of hurdles to overcome. The Big East would have to convince them that's where they want to be."
This isn't the first time the idea has been broached. The Big East considered Army and Navy a couple of years ago but ultimately the talks broke down. While there are advantages to adding the academies, there are also major questions about it.
Amy and Navy certainly fall within the league's geographic footprint. Navy has experienced lots of success in recent years, and Army is on the way back up after making a bowl game last season. While they might not qualify per se as "big market teams," both are name-brand entities that would definitely have drawing power among current and ex-military personnel.
But there's also concern about whether the two academies, whose missions are so much different than other Big East schools, could hold up under the rigors of a full conference schedule. Right now, both are independents who can schedule whom they want. Navy played Georgia Southern, Louisiaina Tech, Duke, Central Michigan and Arkansas State on its way to the Poinsettia Bowl last year; Army got to seven wins in part by playing Eastern Michigan, North Texas, Duke, VMI and Kent State.
Both would have to be football-only members, and there's no doubt they could make more money as part of a BCS conference. But is that truly what they want to do? And how would the traditional, year-end Army-Navy game be handled in a league format? Can you really ever picture Army or Navy in, say, the Orange Bowl?
I've written about this before and have come to the conclusion that it's not a great fit for either side. What do you think?
Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post...s-for-big-east
Army, Navy might hold key to Big East football expansion
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The Big East is now officially on the clock. The league has until September 2012 to determine its football membership because that's when ESPN's 60-day exclusive media rights renegotiating window with the league begins.
So what schools will the Big East add? Numerous candidates have been mentioned including Villanova, Central Florida, East Carolina and Houston. However, college industry sources told CBSSports.com the league is also considering the possibility of pursuing Army and Navy as football members to get to 12 teams.
"I believe the league will approach the academies first and if they turn the Big East down, then they'll approach the other candidates," a college football industry source said. "There are a lot of hurdles to overcome. The Big East would have to convince them that's where they want to be."
The league would be attracted to Army and Navy because of their national appeal and also because the schools could join as football-only members. If they joined, along with another member, to get the Big East to 12 schools, a championship game would be on the table.
If the academies are the answer, would they be open to moving the Army-Navy game from its customary December spot to November? It's been nearly 30 years since the Army-Navy game was played around Thanksgiving. Plus the schools already have television deals with CBS Sports Network and future bowl agreements in place.
A conference schedule would also limit both schools' scheduling flexibility. However, the Big East could make all of those "hurdles" easier to manage for the academies with a huge annual payday as part of the league's new media rights deal.
Also, Army (which had an unsuccessful run in Conference USA from 1998-2004) and Navy must consider their futures as independents. They're both in good shape now, but what about five years from now as the power leagues grow stronger and the financial and competitive gaps between the automatic qualifying BCS schools and non-AQ BCS schools continue to widen?
If Army and Navy have an opportunity to join a BCS league, is it an offer they can refuse?
"I don't think there's a clear-cut answer for the Big East," said Neal Pilson, former President of CBS Sports. "You look at increasing the footprint, but it's not just the size of the market. It also has to do with the loyalty in their markets.
"Generally speaking, teams that come from larger markets are more attractive for a TV carrier, but a small team market like Green Bay is hugely important."
Added another college industry source: "There are a lot of tentacles in what the league is trying to do."
Villanova, UCF, East Carolina and Houston would love an offer to join the Big East football ranks. Just a year ago, Big East commissioner John Marinatto said the league was waiting on Villanova's decision on whether to move up from FCS to FBS. The Wildcats now are ready to make the move, but the Big East has put its invitation on hold because of concerns where Villanova will play its home games.
Of all the expansion candidates, Villanova brings the nation's fourth-biggest television market in Philadelphia and one of the top FCS programs, having won the 2009 FCS national title and advancing to the 2010 FCS semifinals.
Also in Villanova's favor is that it is already a member in all other sports so it gets to vote whether to admit itself as a football member. Still, the Wildcats would need 11 of the remaining 15 all-sport members to vote in their favor. By the way, Marinatto said ¾ of the membership must approve what teams to add. TCU joins the league on July 1, 2012, so if the teams aren't voted on until after July 1, 2012, TCU gets a vote and each team then must get approval from 13 of the 17 schools.
Besides the academies and Villanova, the most obvious candidates -- and currently the strongest football programs -- are from Conference USA: UCF, East Carolina and Houston.
Each one offers its share of positives and negatives for the league and the consensus among league personnel is that there isn't a clear-cut favorite or pecking order among the three C-USA schools.
Houston is located in the nation's fourth-largest city and has the biggest TV market (No. 10) of the three. The Cougars also are building a new $120 million football stadium, projected to be completed by 2013.
UCF would give the Big East two schools in Florida, guaranteeing the league's schools one trip a year to the state's fertile recruiting grounds. The Knights also would have the largest enrollment in the Big East.
East Carolina, whose TV market (ranked No. 25) is surprisingly close to UCF's No. 19 Orlando TV market, has led C-USA in attendance the past three seasons and had the second-highest non-AQ home attendance average last season (49,665).
East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland would not specifically address the Pirates' interest in the Big East, but did address with CBSSports.com whether ECU could compete in any conference. Houston AD Mack Rhoades and UCF AD Keith Tribble declined comment for this story.
"I believe that East Carolina's ability to compete with most of the institutions in the conferences with automatic qualification has been proven on the field, in the stands and by the marketplace," Holland said.
Since 2005, the Pirates have seven wins against AQ BCS conferences; the second most of the Big East candidates behind Navy's 14-17 record vs. AQ BCS teams.
Holland also referenced the 2009 Liberty Bowl between East Carolina and Arkansas, which drew a 10.3 rating (2.4 million households) on ESPN in the combined markets of Greenville, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte, N.C., compared to the 2008 Holiday Bowl between TCU and Boise State, which drew a 5.1 rating (2.4 million households) in Dallas/Fort Worth.
Holland added the Pirates' attendance numbers -- they would have ranked fourth last year in the Big East in attendance (49,665) -- will increase when ECU's stadium expands to 60,000 in 2016.
The downside to adding any of the C-USA schools is they likely would require membership in all sports, meaning the basketball league could grow from 17 to possibly 20.
"That's the trade off," a source said. "You build up football, but it makes basketball more unwieldy."
A CBSSports.com survey of the league's football coaches reveals that group wants to expand to 12 teams. And that's also why UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun predicted the league's football and basketball teams would split in four-to-five years.
"What a television network would look at as far as upcoming negotiations is how can it become more valuable?" Pilson said. "One way of doing that is expanding into cities and states that they're not already there. Another thing is the value of a conference championship game. My guess is they're looking at getting to 12 to stage a championship game, which has significant value."
Marinatto said the league looks to take advantage of being the final AQ BCS league without a new media rights deal with the possibility of ESPN, NBC/Comcast and Fox all bidding on the Big East.
"There's no easy answer," a college industry source said. "Is there some desire to [expanding] just to have a championship game? Not every conference wants one.
"When the league is firm what they want to do about expansion they will look at three things: market size, academic fit and the football program. They have to have all three to be a serious candidate. There's no reason to expand to have worse football."
And with all the possibilities out there, there remains another very real one: the league could choose to stay at nine teams and not expand. Fortunately we'll know in 16 months. The clock is ticking.
Source: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...ball-expansion
I'd LOVE for the Big East to pick up both Army and Navy, but the likelihood of that happening is VERY slim since it would be a real hamper on the scheduling abilities of both schools.
Oh don't get me wrong, as a Navy fan, I truly think Navy could and would compete well in the Big East and that could be fun to watch. You wouldn't see them winning the conference, at least often, since WVU and Pitt would be tough to beat year in and year out, but I could see Navy competing every year for at least 3rd or 4th place. But with the freedom Navy has right now regarding their schedules and everything that comes with being an independent, I just cannot see them agreeing to such a move. Like I said when I made that post, Navy is very much like Notre Dame, greatly valuing their freedom as an independent and I just can't see them scraping that.
Well I guess we can start firing up this thread again
Word is Mizzou got an SEC invite in the wake of the inevitable departure of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State to the Pac 12+4
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