The Rest of College Football

[Jamie H]

I might be increasingly alone in that belief, but regardless -- you could have a playoff with what we've got now and it wouldn't be less enjoyable than a playoff that comes from 4 16-team superconferences. And please allow me to point out -- these moves are not being made with a playoff in mind. They are done for other reasons, some of which I think are highly questionable.

Well yah, you COULD do a playoff now, but no one will get it done. Plus it would almost have to be at least 8 teams to be legit. If we end up with 4 16-team superconferences, then a 4-team playoff can be implemented pretty easily. That eliminates anyone not in those 64 teams, but I suspect most everyone that is relevant will end up in there. But maybe not.

I'm not saying I like the superconferences, but since no one will move on a playoff with what we have currently, I'm for anything that takes us in that direction. There is no reason to destroy regionality with this, except that greedy f'ers like Texas are driving teams away from them.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Supposedly Baylor is the one school holding up A&M to the SEC

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6939017/texas-aggies-accepted-sec-legal-threat-delays-move

Karma, Baylor. Karma. Remember when you dicked over SMU, Rice, Houston, and TCU back in the mid-90's?

[Jamie H]

Of course Baylor is suing. The second the Big 12 collapses, they are permanently irrelevant.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Of course Baylor is suing. The second the Big 12 collapses, they are permanently irrelevant.

Not necessarily. Baylor's pretty much been irrelevant despite playing in a BCS conference all this time. I'm sure it looked grim for TCU in 1995 but a decade in a weaker conference might actually let their program build up stronger momentum. TCU has certainly been far more successful than Baylor since they went their separate ways.

[entropy]

[entropy]

I'm not sure VT wants to go to the SEC or not, but they have a history of following Virginia around. Virginia got them into the ACC. I'm not sure VT could leave if they wanted to leave...

[Jamie H]

LOL! Turns out the Maryland helmets were 100% stolen from, get this, the "Charm City Roller Girls All Stars", a Roller Derby team based in Baltimore.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/music/midnight-sun-blog/bal-are-the-terps-new-helmets-too-much-like-to-those-by-charm-city-roller-girls-20110906,0,2734737.story

So not only do they look like clowns, but they are thieves too.

[Mike]

Oh. My. God. They should have to vacate that win.

[WM Wolverine]

Those are some stupid ugly jerseys/helmets... (yes, I understand their history with the state flag.)

Some of Nike's Oregon uni's are actually pretty pleasing to look at; these look like something you'd see designed by someone tripping on acid in the 70's.

[Jamie H]

I keep reading all these Maryland people talking about "THE BEST STATE FLAG IN THE COUNTRY!!!"

First of all, who give a **** about state flags? And second of all, why is a flag that is as ugly cross between a British coat of arms and a Checker Cab so awesome? Is this the kind of stuff that happens when your football team has never been relevant?

I mean, really? This is considered awesome in Maryland?

[Hannibal]

Well yah, you COULD do a playoff now, but no one will get it done. Plus it would almost have to be at least 8 teams to be legit. If we end up with 4 16-team superconferences, then a 4-team playoff can be implemented pretty easily. That eliminates anyone not in those 64 teams, but I suspect most everyone that is relevant will end up in there. But maybe not.

I'm not saying I like the superconferences, but since no one will move on a playoff with what we have currently, I'm for anything that takes us in that direction. There is no reason to destroy regionality with this, except that greedy f'ers like Texas are driving teams away from them.

Let's run with this. Let's say that you have a 4-team playoff. Right away, I can see problems. The conferences are going to be very unbalanced most years. Specifically, the SEC will be the toughest. Especially if they add Okie and Okie State. The Pac-16 could be brutal if they get a couple of Texas schools and the Okie schools. The ACC (if they are one of the "supers") will be complete crap. Whoever wins that conference has, by far, the easiest road to the playoff. In a year like this, the Big Ten would be relatively easy unless they add Notre Dame (still might not make it tough). IMHO four teams is a non-starter if you're concerned about fairness.

So then there's 8. Which leaves you essentially where you are now, voting or using committees to decide who the bubble teams are. You'll never have enough common opponents or scheduling parity to do it any other way. The only advantage is that you no longer have a bad Big Least team taking an at-large bid away. The controversy over selecting 4 at-large teams from 4 superconferences will be bigger than the controversy that you get now from the selection of the non-championship BCS games.

With 4 supers, I can just about guarantee you that Boise State gets left out. I think that even TCU probably gets left out. And probably Cincinnati. And then if the Big 12 powers go out West, BYU has no home. Conferences are looking only for TV revenue, and there are lots of teams that have been nationally relevant at least one time in the last 20 years that don't provide it (e.g. Kansas State, Marshall, and even some crap programs like Tulane). And if you thought that the non-AQs were bitching before about unfair treatment... hooo boy -- wait until they are officially excluded from a playoff. It's unlikely that Congress doesn't step in and break up a 4-conference oligopoly.

[lineygoblue]

And second of all, why is a flag that is as ugly cross between a British coat of arms and a Checker Cab so awesome?

Ok .. that was funny ... I almost spewed Diet Pepsi all over my computer screen when I read that ...

[Mike]

Four conference champs (auto bids and 1-4 seeds) and four wildcards, 5-8?

[lineygoblue]

I'd like that.

[entropy]

Texas A&M accuses Big 12 of backtracking

http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-09-07-Big%2012%20Mess/id-f3fddbd3e6dd48d99eacdc528cb65bc8

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — The Big 12 erupted in infighting Wednesday, with Texas A&M angrily accusing the commissioner of going back on his word and suggesting one of its fellow league schools was deliberately slowing its departure to the Southeastern Conference.

Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin pointed to two different statements from Commissioner Dan Beebe sent within the past week.

The first was a letter sent Sept. 2 to SEC Commissioner Mike Slive that said the Big 12 "and its members" had agreed to waive the right for legal action against the SEC over the Aggies' move. Loftin then shared with The Associated Press a copy of a Sept. 6 email sent by Beebe to Slive that said the legal waivers from each school were actually far from being secure.

"You have notified me that the SEC is willing to accept the application of Texas A&M to become a member of the SEC, provided that the Big 12 member institutions individually waive any legal actions against the SEC for its decision," Beebe wrote.

"I recognize that this issue has been raised due to Baylor University's indication that its governing board has not waived the university's rights," Beebe added. "As you know, the attached letter waived the right of the Big 12 Conference Inc. to take legal action against the SEC. Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton, chair of the Big 12 Board of Directors, has told me that he informed Texas A&M President Bowen Loftin that such action by the Big 12 Conference Board of Directors was not binding on the individual institutions' governing boards.

"If you seek waivers by the individual institutions, you must receive them from those institutions directly. I regret any confusion on this issue."

The email was sent late Tuesday even as SEC presidents and chancellors agreed to accept Texas A&M if the league has guarantees it won't be sued over the latest move in conference realignment. That announcement came early Wednesday and an SEC spokesman had no additional comment.

Loftin, however, was clearly angry about Beebe's statement.

"I felt that was really a violation of trust right there," Loftin told the AP in an interview. "We took this letter very seriously. We asked for such a statement. They gave it to us freely. It says here unanimous vote was taken and yet when we look at Beebe's letter last night it says: 'No we didn't really mean that,' and I find that to be rather difficult to digest."

Texas A&M officials don't understand the last-minute switch and don't understand why Beebe changed his tune, Loftin said.

"We are being held hostage right now," Loftin said of being forced to stay in the Big 12. "Essentially, we're being told that you must stay here against your will and we think that really flies in the face of what makes us Americans for example and makes us free people."

The Big 12 accused Texas A&M of making an extraordinary request that will put some members at risk of losing millions of dollars in revenue, presumably from the 13-year, $1 billion television deal reached with Fox Sports in April.

"This is the first time to my knowledge that a conference has been requested to waive any legal claims toward another conference for any damages suffered with a membership change," Beebe said. "The Big 12 Conference was asked by Texas A&M University and the Southeastern Conference to waive any such claim to help facilitate Texas A&M's departure from the conference without any consideration to the Big 12. ... If the departure of Texas A&M results in significant changes in the Big 12 membership, several institutions may be severely affected after counting on revenue streams from contracts that were approved unanimously by our members, including Texas A&M.

"In some cases, members reasonably relied on such approval to embark on obligations that will cost millions of dollars."

Loftin said he believes Texas A&M is "replaceable" when it comes to the TV contract.

"We can argue how good we are compared to others, but I think we're replaceable," he said. "It was clearly stated to me by leadership of Fox that they felt like a school could be found and put in our place to satisfy their interests and therefore their contractual agreement would not be changed in any way. So we feel that was a good way to say that we would not be destabilizing the conference by leaving."

Loftin was in meetings most of Wednesday, trying to figure out what A&M will do next. He said he spoke with SEC officials Wednesday and that they are trying to take in the recent developments. Loftin said he was disappointed that A&M wasn't introduced as the SEC's newest member on Wednesday, but he empathizes the predicament the SEC is in.

"We believe we have no real future in the Big 12," Loftin said. "That's clear to us and how that plays out right now I can't really tell you. That's still actively being worked through. We really appreciated the support shown yesterday by the SEC leadership, a unanimous vote to let us in. But they're rightly concerned about themselves getting involved in extensive litigation that might distract them from their purpose as a conference and I can understand that."

The Big 12's future has been the subject of intense speculation for more than a year. Nebraska (Big Ten) and Colorado (Pac-12) left in July, while Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are rumored to be the subjects of courting by the Pac-12 with an eye toward building a superconference.

Not as clear was where schools like Iowa State, Missouri Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Baylor might wind up if the Big 12 falls apart.

"We are basically sitting in a traffic jam and going nowhere fast," Texas Tech President Guy Bailey said of discussions with Big 12 school officials on Wednesday.

"Recent events have put conference discussions in a holding pattern," Bailey said. "However, we will continue to closely monitor the situation and actively pursue a course in the best interest of Texas Tech University."

At Missouri, Chancellor Brady Deaton -- chairman of the Big 12 board -- said the league "remains a strong conference, highly respected academically and athletically."

A person with knowledge of the Big 12 discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are considered private, said that after the Sept. 2 letter, Baylor was the first to "raise its hand" in numerous conversations with Big 12 and SEC officials, along with other conference members, about retaining its legal rights.

That person said Wednesday that there has been no threat of a lawsuit or other legal action. Texas Tech spokesman Chris Cook also said it was "not our intent" to sue anyone, while Iowa State spokesman John McCarroll said the university had not waived its right to pursue potential litigation regarding A&M.

Without naming the school, Loftin said one Big 12 school had been trying to stop A&M's move from the beginning.

"Clearly for quite some time, one school has been specifically the one trying to both bring pressure on us politically for a while and now raising the threat of legal action," he said. "In fact even calling members of the board of the SEC directly and the commissioner of the SEC directly and speaking to them and leaving voicemails for them."

Loftin said that "nothing really changed" after a conference call among seven of the 10 Big 12 presidents on Wednesday. Much of the call was filled with Baylor explaining its position and the group said discussed if it should start looking at why schools want to leave the Big 12, Loftin said.

For Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy, Texas A&M's departure could mean the end of one of college football's greatest games.

"I just hope they don't lose the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry," said McCoy, the former Longhorns star. "My junior and senior years that was it — Thanksgiving night, under the lights, that's football, man. The Lone Star Showdown or whatever. Those are the biggest schools in Texas. You just can't lose that."