Big 10 Expansion Thread -Big Ten ready for a playoff .. finally?

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Yeah. I think you'd need at least 8 team pods with 16 a possibility. Of course a 16 team pod would functionally be two 8 team pods.

Eight 8-team pods with automatic Pod Champion playoff berths, plus another 2 or 4 wild cards from the remainder, determined by a committee which would also seed all 10 or 12 teams. Top 2 or 4 teams get byes the first week of the playoffs, set up like a mini-March Madness bracket. Rest of the teams play in bowl games.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

There would be advantages but I wouldn't call one of them "fun". It seems sterile to me, like any pro league.

+1

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Eight 8-team pods with automatic Pod Champion playoff berths, plus another 2 or 4 wild cards from the remainder, determined by a committee which would also seed all 10 or 12 teams. Top 2 or 4 teams get byes the first week of the playoffs, set up like a mini-March Madness bracket. Rest of the teams play in bowl games.

I was thinking about the pods this morning too. I think I'd go with a mix of the two; four 16-team conferences, each with two 8-team divisions, but each division then consists of two pods. Each year you play your pod (3 games), the other pod in your division (4 games), then rotate the pods from the other divisions (4). Really the "pods" are there more to organize what teams from the other division you play which year.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by corbes

Probably other people have thought of this before me but I'm too lazy to check.

If it were up to me, we'd have sixteen pods of four teams arranged more or less in a sensible geographic format. Each team plays the other three teams in their pod every year, and then each pod plays two other pods on a rotating schedule like the NFL. That's 11 games per year.

At the end of the season you have 16 regular season pod-winners. Away we go with the playoffs.

And lastly to keep the small schools happy we'll have a limited system of promotion and relegation. Done and done, no?

I'll even suggest the pods:
(1) North Carolina, N.C. State, South Carolina, Clemson
(2) Georgia, Florida, Florida State, Miami
(3) Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky, Georgia Tech
(4) Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi, Mississippi State
(5) LSU, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State
(6) Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, TCU
(7) Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri
(8) Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin
(9) Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame, Illinois
(10) Penn State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Ohio State
(11) Connecticut, Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers
(12) Colorado, BYU, Utah, Boise State
(13) Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State
(14) UCLA, USC, California, Stanford
(15) Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest
(16) Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas State, Iowa State

I know it falls apart in places (like the 16th pod) but really, who cares. Wouldn't this at least be more fun?

WTF is Ohio State doing wih us?

[tarcone]

Personally I would drop Iowa State and put Fresno State. But I hate Iowa State. Seeing them drop into Division II would be a cool thing.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by duckman

My sources told me that Missouri was starting a one team conference. This will give them more opportunities to play with themselves.

.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Personally I would drop Iowa State and put Fresno State. But I hate Iowa State. Seeing them drop into Division II would be a cool thing.

We should allow the winner of the Div 1-AA play the following year as teh 64th team

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Personally I would drop Iowa State and put Fresno State. But I hate Iowa State. Seeing them drop into Division II would be a cool thing.

After last week, it should be Iowa that drops, not Iowa State.

[Buccaneer]

MBBF is the most ignored regular poster on FOFC. There is a reason for that.

[molson]

I think MBBF is a good guy who has some strange mental blocks that relate to Missouri athletics. Which wouldn't be the first time someone has an irrational connection to their team or school - a lot of us have at least at some point in our lives. It's certainly nothing that makes me root against Missouri, and I think it's a little odd that anyone would have that reaction.

[MacroGuru]

Sigh....this bullshit that is going on, as a fan of a school that is actually caught in the middle of all of it...is beginning to hate this.

Our Rivalry week is this week, all I see on our top MB is post after post of the Big 12. Ugh.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

After last week, it should be Iowa that drops, not Iowa State.

Bah. I poop on you.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by molson

I think MBBF is a good guy who has some strange mental blocks that relate to Missouri athletics. Which wouldn't be the first time someone has an irrational connection to their team or school - a lot of us have at least at some point in our lives. It's certainly nothing that makes me root against Missouri, and I think it's a little odd that anyone would have that reaction.

If it were just related to athletics, I'd think you have a point. GoldenEagle and EaglesFan27 are two that jump to mind whose posts for their school are much different than on other topics. But MBBF acts this way in most other topics he posts about.

[SackAttack]

He's got a strange mental block that pertains to just about everything, really.

[Ksyrup]

This is from an ESPN article. I hadn't heard anything about Missouri to the ACC until seeing it here:

A source said Missouri is confident that if the SEC is pursuing a 14th school then the Tigers are high on the SEC's radar. The ACC would be next if the Tigers were to look elsewhere. The Big East, according to the source, would be the third choice and the worst it could be for the Tigers in football (in basketball, obviously, would be a plus). The source said there has been no contact or presumed interest from the Big Ten and that Missouri assumes that the Big Ten isn't interested in it or additional expansion.

[Toddzilla]

Missouri in the ACC? Cool, more cannon fodder for VT

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

This is from an ESPN article. I hadn't heard anything about Missouri to the ACC until seeing it here:

If that's the case, that means UT has already moved to a more serious level of discussions with the Pac-XX.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

dola

http://www.ou.edu/regents/official_a...inalAgenda.pdf

Item 28 - ISSUE: CONFERENCE ALIGNMENT – NC

ACTION PROPOSED:
The Board of Regents will discuss potential legal ramifications of athletic conference
realignment options and/or consider new athletic conference membership and take any
appropriate action. An executive session may be proposed pursuant to Section 307B.4 of the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act.

[General Mike]

I can assure you, that no matter who the ACC loses, they aren't adding Mizzou.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by General Mike

I can assure you, that no matter who the ACC loses, they aren't adding Mizzou.

Agreed. Texas was a non-starter as well.

[BigDPW]

Who is this MBBF character you speak of? I vaguely remember something about like that from years ago before we had an ignore option on the board...

[panerd]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

Who is this MBBF character you speak of? I vaguely remember something about like that from years ago before we had an ignore option on the board...

What post number are you on in this thread? 1500?

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by panerd

What post number are you on in this thread? 1500?

I lol'd

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Another article on OU meeting. Spends quite a bit of time discussing that MU is waiting on OU before making their decision.

Oklahoma Sooners regents to meet on Big 12 Conference affiliation Monday - ESPN

Another article suggesting that UT is left with few options due to overplaying their hand.......

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-foo...acc-acceptance

[dawgfan]

Texas has always had few viable options if they insist on keeping their Longhorn Network intact. And they'll have multiple options if/when they relinquish that requirement. It's all part of the negotiating process.

[miked]

I still don't see how any of this is bad for Texas. They will still be a power, they have their own TV deal, and any conference would love to have them (of course for the right price). The idea that Texas cares what MU and OU are doing is laughable.

[Ksyrup]

What conference is going to take Texas and allow them to keep the LHN as is? That's what put us in this mess to begin with. Only the ACC, and that's just a rumor because people are speculating ESPN might be willing to make it worth the ACC's while to take them and let them keep it.

[kcchief19]

This won't end bad for Texas, it's just that their control and situation will be less than it is now. If the Big 12 stays together, it's because Texas makes some concessions on revenue and content on LHN. If they go to another conference, it will be the same deal. Going independent may seem attractive, but it's not a panacea.

The only reason people are "excited" about the prospects of Texas getting hosed is that they spent 15 years hosing the Big 12. They pushed as much as they could and built alliances like an episode of Survivor. The LHN is just a final example; they misled the rest of the conference on the content and timing of the network and expected everyone to take it as usual.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

What conference is going to take Texas and allow them to keep the LHN as is? That's what put us in this mess to begin with. Only the ACC, and that's just a rumor because people are speculating ESPN might be willing to make it worth the ACC's while to take them and let them keep it.

As is? I could see the ACC using it to found an ACC Network and let Texas keep extra cash for having funded the startup. ESPN would love it for ACC basketball...

[Ksyrup]

That's not as is. It's the Longhorn Network for a reason - branding and egocentric coverage. If Texas was OK with it being turned into something else, then why wouldn't they just go to the PAC-16 and turn it into the PacTex Network with TT?

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

What conference is going to take Texas and allow them to keep the LHN as is? That's what put us in this mess to begin with. Only the ACC, and that's just a rumor because people are speculating ESPN might be willing to make it worth the ACC's while to take them and let them keep it.

The ACC, the Big East, or a reconstituted Big 12. I am leaning more and more toward thinking that they will reform the Big 12 (anywhere between 8-12 schools) and see how well it serves them.

Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas State, and probably Kansas and Missouri are obviously good enough to keep their BCS bid. As a conference, their average attendance would probably still be higher than or equivalent to all the other BCS conferences aside from the SEC and Big Ten, so they would still be able to keep a quality bowl line up (or probably still better than the Pac, ACC, and BE). With Texas and Kansas, they have the foundation for a strong basketball conference. Add in Houston, Air Force, and then see if they want to try develop a potential program like maybe Tulsa, New Mexico, UTEP, or even go outside the box like Memphis or UCF.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

The ACC, the Big East, or a reconstituted Big 12. I am leaning more and more toward thinking that they will reform the Big 12 (anywhere between 8-12 schools) and see how well it serves them.

Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas State, and probably Kansas and Missouri are obviously good enough to keep their BCS bid. As a conference, their average attendance would probably still be higher than or equivalent to all the other BCS conferences aside from the SEC and Big Ten, so they would still be able to keep a quality bowl line up (or probably still better than the Pac, ACC, and BE). With Texas and Kansas, they have the foundation for a strong basketball conference. Add in Houston, Air Force, and then see if they want to try develop a potential program like maybe Tulsa, New Mexico, UTEP, or even go outside the box like Memphis or UCF.

Wow. Talk about worst case scenerio for Mizzou. Outside of KU, ISU, and KSU (with the last two being stretches) I have no interest in any of those teams. We will have lost 4 of the Big 8 schools at that point. I hope Mizzou doesn't get stuck with this.

[sooner333]

Texas is in a bad spot because they've managed to piss off both the teams they've bullied and the team's they've allied with in a business sense.

Texas could always get away with unequal revenue sharing becase they had allies in OU, Nebraska, and A&M. Teams that are getting on TV a lot because they are national names, were pretty good, or both. They lost Nebraska and A&M because they threw around their power too much in other ways. Nebraska was always weary of Texas due to the academic issues at the beginning, the conference center shifting from North to South, and probably the TV Network. The Ags left because of the TV network and because I think their fans got riled up when Nebraska left last time.

That leaves Oklahoma and Texas as the big boys in the conference. Texas has pissed OU off by running the other big names out. OU's interest is to be alligned with a conference that is both a benefit financially and exposure. The inequality of revenue sharing helped financially even if they revenues haven't been quite as high as other major conference as a whole. The exposure is hurting because OU isn't playing as many other big time teams.

Texas can make all the concessions they want financially, but it's going to make the deal worse for OU, the team that really controls things. Missouri might also now get hurt by TV-appearance-based revenue. Essentially they've made everyone against them and now they can't appease everybody. They are shooting for the have-nots so they can keep the conference and the network together in some form if they want.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That's not as is. It's the Longhorn Network for a reason - branding and egocentric coverage. If Texas was OK with it being turned into something else, then why wouldn't they just go to the PAC-16 and turn it into the PacTex Network with TT?

That is one of the options that is floating out there.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, but isn't that the ONLY option that the PAC12 would allow? And isn't that precisely the problem from Texas' perspective?

[cartman]

It is in the contract that if Texas moves conferences, then the LHN must be modified to fit the bylaws of the new conference. Yes, they would prefer to keep it as is, but they also saw the need to change if necessary. As some have theorized, the talk of moving to the ACC because they would possibly let the LHN remain unchanged is a bargaining tool in the discussions with the PAC-12. But if push came to shove, and Texas felt that the PAC-12 was their best option, the LHN would be changed to fit into the PAC-12 family of networks.

[Cuckoo]

From discussions I've had with other OU fans, I'm clearly in the minority, but I really hope that Oklahoma stays and that, somehow someway, the Big 12 can be saved. I think it's a damn shame, nay a travesty, that all of this had to happen with what has been one of the top football conferences around since its inception. Middle America needs a conference, but yet it has all fallen apart due to egos, and when all the chips fall, very few are going to have what they wanted. So very pointless...

[Ksyrup]

johnehoover John E. Hoover by BryanDFischer
So Texas' Board of Regents schedule meeting for 2 hrs after OU's BOR meet Monday at 1. Bet I can guess outcome of this one: Big 12 funeral.

[kcchief19]

Curious what Texas plans to do at this Board of Regents meeting in response to OU. If OU announces it is leaving, does Texas announce the same? Do they declare indpendence? Do they conduct a coup d'etat and start sending out Big 12 invites?

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

The ACC, the Big East, or a reconstituted Big 12. I am leaning more and more toward thinking that they will reform the Big 12 (anywhere between 8-12 schools) and see how well it serves them.

Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas State, and probably Kansas and Missouri are obviously good enough to keep their BCS bid. As a conference, their average attendance would probably still be higher than or equivalent to all the other BCS conferences aside from the SEC and Big Ten, so they would still be able to keep a quality bowl line up (or probably still better than the Pac, ACC, and BE). With Texas and Kansas, they have the foundation for a strong basketball conference. Add in Houston, Air Force, and then see if they want to try develop a potential program like maybe Tulsa, New Mexico, UTEP, or even go outside the box like Memphis or UCF.

I don't think any of the old Big 8 schools would stick around for that. Missouri would definitely leave; I do not think we have any interest sticking around for a Texas dominated conference. I think KU and K-State would be on the fence.

But it boils down to the options available. The Kansas schools I think would go for a PAC 12 offer to form a division with OU, OSU and CU. I think an invite to the Big East would be preferable to a Big Texas Conference.

Interestingly, I heard from a source I trust that Missoui is closer to the SEC than anywhere else. Missouri still wants the Big 10 but they seem set at 12. But MU to the SEC talks will go into hyperdrive if OU bolts.

[kcchief19]

Well, New York Times reporting Pitt and Syracuse negotiating with the ACC. I wasn't expecting that. Guess ACC could get to 16 with them and Texas and Texas Tech. But if Big East picked up pieces og Big 12, they could hang on.

Guess that OU meeting Monday will shape the future of a lot of conferences ...

[Swaggs]

Looks as if the thought is that Pitt and Syracuse would join as full members. Notre Dame and Texas would join as non-football members, get to keep their individual network deals (NBC and LHN) and would play 4 ACC teams in football per year.

Outside from Rutgers and UConn joining Pitt/Cuse, this is probably the worst case scenario for WVU. Hopefully the SEC rumors are true or this is false.

[DeToxRox]

Pit, Cuse, UT and ND? Nice little hoops conference.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Pit, Cuse, UT and ND? Nice little hoops conference.

Nice little hoops conference = the ACC realizing its purpose in college sports. Yay for that.

[MacroGuru]

Saw a post on one of the boards on BYU with supposed insider info...

1. Oklahoma isn't bolting
2. Texas caved and will give Oklahoma what they want (ESPN was involved here as well.)
3. BYU will be accepting the invite to the Big 12 as they have gotten what they want out of it.

There were other things being thrown around, but I still laugh and do not believe this one bit.

Just someone tell me when this is all done, I am just going to watch football until then.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Curious what Texas plans to do at this Board of Regents meeting in response to OU. If OU announces it is leaving, does Texas announce the same? Do they declare indpendence? Do they conduct a coup d'etat and start sending out Big 12 invites?

They do what they always do. They put together a big statement lamenting how other defectors were to blame for the death of the Big 12 and then promptly follow those teams out the door insisting they had no alternative or ability to change the situation.

[Swaggs]

Brett McMurphy confirming that Syracuse and Pitt have sent applications to the ACC: Pitt, Syracuse send ACC letters of application - CBSSports.com

The Atlantic Coast Conference has received letters of application from Pittsburgh and Syracuse, a high ranking league official told CBSSports.com.

The ACC also has recently been contacted by 10 schools, the official said. However, they would not disclose what conferences those schools were from.

Also, at last week’s ACC presidents meeting in Greensboro, N.C., the league’s presidents “unanimously” voted to increase the ACC’s exit fee to $20 million. This takes affect immediately.

I would imagine that keeps FSU in place.

I pray that WVU ends up in the SEC. Otherwise, it is going to be a crap sandwich of BE and B12 leftovers with some AQ schools.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Brett McMurphy confirming that Syracuse and Pitt have sent applications to the ACC:

I would imagine that keeps FSU in place.

I pray that WVU ends up in the SEC. Otherwise, it is going to be a crap sandwich of BE and B12 leftovers with some AQ schools.

I don't think WVU has much to worry about. The only question at this point appears to be who the 16th team in the SEC will be. The ACC move would also appear to move them in a position to be the 4th superconference and Big East will be the 5th once they pick up the B12 leftovers.

Forgot to add that a Topeka reporter tweeted that KU has been told they have a spot in the ACC if the B12 crumbles. We may have a 'Roy Bowl' in the near future.

[miked]

I guess the standards must have lowered for the ACC if they want Cuse and Pitt.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Rutgers stands to gain the most out of the ACC move. With Pitt and Syracuse to ACC and Mizzou/WVU to SEC, they become one of the better remaining options for both the ACC and Big 10.