The Rest of College Football

[WM Wolverine]

Agree that A&M fits the SEC much better and if they bolt elsewhere, it'll likely be there.

[entropy]

USA Today: 7 on 7 football for high schoolers getting attention

The National Federation of State High School Associations is normally concerned with the record-keeping and rules-writing for high school sports played during the academic year. But at this summer's annual meeting of the federation in Philadelphia, a growing, out-of-school phenomenon dominated conversation.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Worst thing to happen to college sports since AAU Basketball.

Nothing but a bunch of slime balls figuring out early who they are going to exploit.

Good chance its going to be prohibited but that is going to be tough to enforce.

[Wild Hoss]

Agree that A&M fits the SEC much better and if they bolt elsewhere, it'll likely be there.

It’s a three-way standoff between TX, ATM and OU right now, like the end of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I don’t think the Big 12 can survive losing any one of them, especially if its Oklahoma who bails, and it certainly cannot survive losing not two. All three know it.

In theory, there is room for two in the SEC so once it gets out that one of them is thinking about making the jump it’ll be a free-for-all. Texas will try to outmaneuver ATM for the last chair. They can’t fall back on the PAC-12, not while retaining their network. Same for the Big Ten. In the SEC they could keep it, in some fashion...it’s the only alternative that makes sense.

The irony is that UT has leveraged itself so badly that they are now dependant on the others.

[entropy]

If the gates open again, and I'm not sure they will (more on that later), I would think the BigTen would want to avoid Texas and Texas A&M in the SEC. There would be zero interest in OU, I think. If you wanted to go south, you'd probably want to be part of this shuffle.

Now, what I do think will happen is Texas will back off. They'll get agreements to televise things like the Big12 baseball tourney or track and field events, etc. There will be some compromise to give them in exchage for not showing HS football games. Honestly, I don't think UT believes they can televise HS games. They are just pushing the line to get something else form the Big12 to help their network... content. That is what they need more than anything else. Relevant content. That will drive up subscriptions.

I've seen this play before. Texas is doing what Texas does best. Leverage

[Wild Hoss]

Hard to tell what those squirrely Longhorns are up to, but I think they're serious about the high school games...they need content. Doesn't mean they won trade them away for something, but it takes two to tango...not sure ATM is going to take this abuse much longer.

I'm not convinced they ever fully tabled changing conferences to begin with. I think some power brokers stepped in to derail it last year, but forces are still pushing it.

[Hannibal]

If the Big Ten were to expand into Tejas, it would cease to exist as the Midwest-based conference that it has been since its creation. It would have no identity.

[Wild Hoss]

Texas would destroy the Big Ten, just as they have the last two conferences they were in. Their greed and "divide and conquer" politics are a cancer.

I think this whole thing is headed toward four regional superconferences, after a few more programs hop some fences. North (Big Ten + Notre Dame), East (ACC + selected Big East programs), South (SEC + some ACC and/or Big 12 teams) and West (PAC-12 + BYU and some Big 12 schools) Texas will wind up South or West, in the "warm, sunny, flashy" conferences. That is how they view themselves...as the new California.

[entropy]

hanny... great point.

hoss... A&M has to deal with texas politics as well

[Wild Hoss]

Seems unlikely to me that ATM would be bantering this around publically if they didn't think they had a chance to pull it off. UT knows the score, and there's no need to put on a show for the rest. The one thing it does accomplish, is to rally support for the cause among their own base.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Thread at Rivals with a guy claiming insider information from a Bama boy and one from UT ......

ATM is definately flirting with the SEC. No telling who will be the 14th SEC team.

Thinks Slive and Delaney are coordinating behind the scenes to make 4 super comferences a reality as early as 2013.

Its going to happen .... how and when is not yet clear but smoke signals are present.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Unsubstantiated rumors floating around saying UNC and Duke are "on Delaney's radar".

[entropy]

That would be cool..

[Dr. Strangelove]

The sad saga of Tate Forcier continues

http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/sportsnews/20110720_warriors_end_courtship_of_tate_forcier.html

The Hawaii football team has abandoned its pursuit of former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier.

People familiar with the situation said Forcier did not project to meet the requirements to join the Warriors for UH's fall semester, which begins Aug. 22. If he had chosen to attend UH and met those standards, Forcier would have been allowed to practice but not play in games in 2011, in accordance with NCAA rules.

[Dr. Strangelove]

This appears to be the latest on the Longhorn Network/A&M turmoil

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/21/big-12-am-release-statements-on-longhorn-network-flap/