The Rest of College Football

[whodean]

The SEC

#1 doesn't want to bring on any school in a state where they already have a presence (ie no Clemson or FSU)

#2 wants the St. Louis market

That is why Missouri is being considered.

[Hannibal]

Having a meh program to dilute the difficulty a little bit is pretty nice too. Missouri is probably the most economically viable candidate to do that.

[hack]

Cuse does seem to be on the decline as an institution in general, so DSL's comment makes sense.

[WM Wolverine]

SEC is also adding school #14, after a #13 (A&M) who is imo a top 15 program (in fan base/ratings, prestige, past success, etc.) who gets the SEC into the populous state of Texas...

Not only does the SEC gain a foot into the excellent recruiting hotbeds in Texas but it gets Florida, Alabama, Georgia and company on television in Texas as well. A&M is a home-run addition for a combination of reasons and allows them the luxury of taking a complimentary addition in Missouri.

[WM Wolverine]

Just rumor at this point; SEC will take Missouri AND Big XII will take WVU...

Losing TCU, WVU, Pitt & Syracuse is a crippling blow to the Big East's football. The only 'states' the Big East has as a stronghold on (aren't the #2/#4 program) are New Jersey & Connecticut... They would be a Mountain West level conference after these moves. What they have left: Rutgers, Connecticut, Cincy, Louisville & USF.

[hodgkal]

"Cuse does seem to be on the decline as an institution in general, so DSL's comment makes sense."

We drove through downtown Syracuse recently and I was struck at the amount of urban decay. I would think it would be very difficult to recruit for that school, and that part of the east is not noted as a football hot bed anyway.

[entropy]

Missouri has had great QB play for the last 5 yrs or so. They have done a better job keeping Missouri kids at home and have recruited Texas fairly well. They are a better program than before due to better coaching and better recruiting, but I suspect they'll be an 8 win team going forward, occassionally landing the QB that gets them more wins.

Fact is Missouri still doesn't sell out and this state is either St. Louis or KC focused when it comes to sports.

[entropy]

The big 12 is still [Callahan's Ugly Stepchild] with the big 10. Dammit.

Notre Dame to the Big 12?

Don’t blow your Dome. We’re talking basketball and the second-tier sports, all the stuff that needs a home if the Big East blows up. Makes sense for ND. The Big East is unstable. The Big 12 is willing to try anything to solidify itself. In fact, Texas AD DeLoss Dodds offered a Notre Dame spot in the league to park its non-football sports. That was before the 2010 season and the tongue-in-cheek “offer” fizzled almost the moment it left Dodds’ mouth.

Now the stakes are higher. With the Big East’s future uncertain, the Irish may need a new home for non-football sports. There are rumblings that the Big 12-Notre Dame talk has started again. It has caught the attention of at least one Big 12 writer.

The detailed document regarding the SEC given to Missouri’s board of curators and obtained by the AP earlier this month included Notre Dame among future Big 12 expansion candidates.

It is known that the Irish desperately want to stay independent in football, but might face a decision with its other sports. Playing in the far-flung (for Notre Dame) Big 12 could be a logistical problem (the closest Big 12 school would be Iowa State), but there aren’t many options left. ACC commissioner John Swofford quashed any Notre Dame speculation recently when he said his league is an “all-in, revenue-sharing conference.”

Notre Dame definitely isn’t into revenue sharing. Its football contract with NBC nets the school a reported $15 million per year. It also wants to start a school-centric network similar to the Longhorn Network. But if the Big 12 can live (barely) with the LHN, what’s another dedicated network between friends?

The attraction for the Big 12 would be to have a relationship if and when the Irish decide to join a conference in football. The product on the field isn’t helping that solidify that independence. The Irish were all but eliminated from BCS consideration after Saturday’s lost to USC. In his two seasons at the school, Kelly is a mediocre 12-8. Charlie Weis’ two BCS bowl seasons are starting to look pretty good.

The disadvantage would be flying over several states to play in Oklahoma and Texas. But, again, what options does Notre Dame have? A minor sports alliance with the Big Ten makes total sense but the NBC contract would almost certainly be a deal breaker. Like the ACC, the Big Ten shares its revenue equally and is just starting to realize the profitability of the Big Ten Network.

--------------------------------------------


Big 12 may be Notre Dame's best option

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Blair Kerkhoff - Posted on 24 October 2011 The Kansas City Star

Notre Dame as an associate member of the Big 12? The league can make a strong case.

Speculation about the Irish joining the conference for sports other than football has gained steam lately for a variety of reasons.

The Big East, where the Irish parks its basketball and most non-revenue teams, faces an uncertain future. Pittsburgh and Syracuse have cast their lot with the ACC. West Virginia has been speculated as a leading Big 12 expansion target if the league loses Missouri.

The Big East, eager to reach 12 for football, hasn’t issued invitations, although Houston, SMU and Central Florida have been reported as targets for full membership.

“We have our concerns,” Irish basketball coach Mike Brey said at Big East basketball media day last week.

The Irish in the ACC has been suggested but only if that league expands to 16. Commissioner John Swofford all but eliminated the idea of a partial (non-football) membership to any school.

“We’re an all-in, revenue sharing conference,” Swofford said. “That’s very basic to us…I don’t see that changing.”

So, if Notre Dame wants in it has to bring football, and we know how much the Irish covet football independence.

Hmm. Keep football free and a join a more stable league for other sports, assuming the standoff between Notre Dame and the Big Ten continues and that conference isn’t an option. That leaves the Big 12.

What does the Big 12 offer?

A solid home for men’s and women’s basketball, and the non-revenue sports, for starters.

Geographically, it’s beyond the league’s footprint, but the same can be said for the ACC.

But probably more than other league that would accept Notre Dame with its football independence, there could be some flexibility with that sport.

The Big 12 could welcome non-conference games with Notre Dame in exchange for access to the league’s bowl contracts. Irish in the Cotton Bowl? That’s always worked.

The NBC deal remains, and Oklahoma and Texas, which already have future series with Notre Dame, become regulars along with Michigan and Southern California.

How about Kansas State-Notre Dame at Arrowhead on the Big 12 package?

Last month, when details of a 45-page conference realignment report distributed to Missouri officials were leaked to a reporter, Notre Dame was listed as a “possible future candidate.”

Plus, the Notre Dame-to-Big 12 speculation just won’t go away. Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds is on record supporting Notre Dame’s candidacy, and throughout the realignment drama, it seems more conferences are making a case against than for the Irish. Not the Big 12.

Notre Dame won’t deal with conference structure until after football season. But don’t be shocked if Irish eyes one day smile in the Big 12’s direction.





Read more: http://campuscorner.kansascity.com/node/2173#ixzz1bo0OwVG7

[entropy]

Notre Dame football, finally, willing to consider joining a conference
PUBLISHED 1 hour and 38 minutes ago

If you believe what has transpired—goodness, what is transpiring—in the realignment of college athletic conference qualifies as insanity, you haven’t seen anything yet.

What if Notre Dame joins a conference for football?

Notre Dame's boosters prefer its football program to remain as an independent, but it's still possible that Brian Kelly and Co. join the ACC. (AP Photo)
That option is on the table as the Irish face the continued regression of the Big East Conference, with West Virginia likely to follow longtime members Pitt and Syracuse out the door.

Notre Dame’s administration now is concerned about whether a re-imagined Big East would be the best possible home for its Olympic sports, which might be of more importance at ND than at some other universities.

Worrying about Olympic sports won’t force the Irish into a football league, of course. That decision would be in reaction to the substantial shifts in the college football landscape that, by the end of October, will have seen perhaps nine major schools change leagues over the course of 18 months.

But that concern could lead to Notre Dame shifting out of the Big East and into the Big 12 for all sports but football, something conference officials privately have suggested is an option.

ACC and Big Ten officials have informed Notre Dame that a hybrid membership is not possible, that the Irish would have to join for all sports or not at all. The desire on the part of influential alumni and donors to keep Irish football independent has led the school to twice decline opportunities to join the Big Ten, the most celebrated of those coming in 1999.

So this is what’s being considered at Notre Dame, with “all options open,” as a source close to the program told Sporting News:

1. Rebuilding the Big East. It is the easiest and least consequential option, and it keeps an attachment to the Big East that is important particularly to the men’s basketball program.

The loss of West Virginia as opposed to Louisville is probably better for Notre Dame’s continued interest in the Big East because the Cardinals operate a more robust overall athletics program. With West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse following Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech out of the league, the Big East still retains the vast majority of the league’s championship programs over the past decade.

The only sports in which that is not true: men’s golf (three of 10 left), men’s swimming (five), basketball (four) and football (five, including shared titles).

2. Moving to the Big 12 for all sports but football. This would remove the notion of Notre Dame having to play football vs. such programs as SMU and Houston, but it’s hard to imagine TCU and Texas Tech having that much greater appeal.

The Big 12, though, is the only other major conference willing to consider a hybrid membership, so Notre Dame has to consider it because it’s unclear whether such core Big East programs as Louisville, UConn and Rutgers will remain in the league if presented with other options.

The Big 12 obviously is a highly competitive basketball league with elite programs such as Kansas and Texas. It also has excellent women’s basketball with Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas.

3. Joining the ACC for all sports. The smart people in the Notre Dame administration have known, over the past 15 years, football independence no longer works for the Irish. But they’ve been unwilling or unable to challenge the big-money donors who adhere to the program’s enduring independence in the belief that ingredient keeps Notre Dame as a national program.

Had the Irish joined the Big East for football back when Miami left in '03, they could have fulfilled both desires—playing in a league with access to a BCS bid, with a schedule that wouldn’t be so demanding as to discourage non-league matchups against the likes of Michigan and Southern Cal, and with the school’s NBC contract intact.

If the Irish jump to the ACC for football now, they might have to tone down the schedule and almost certainly will have only four non-league games available in a given season.

Had Syracuse and Pitt not panicked in September at the prospect of the Big 12 imploding and four key members joining the Pac-12—an unlikely prospect, at that, given the certainty that Texas would not abandon the Longhorn Network—there would have been no real impetus for them to leave for the ACC.

To keep the Big East intact, Notre Dame likely would have been willing, at the least, to increase its commitment to Big East football by scheduling as many as six games per season against member schools.

Instead, Pitt and Syracuse jumped without warning and Notre Dame was left having to make some difficult choices.

And none seems ideal.



Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2011-10-25/notre-dame-football-finally-willing-to-consider-joining-a-conference#ixzz1bpDr3OT4

[entropy]

Source: Big 12 approves WVU to replace Missouri

A person with knowledge of the decision says the Big 12 has approved West Virginia to replace Missouri when the Tigers complete their move to the Southeastern Conference.

More...

[entropy]

West Virginia's move to the Big 12, thought to be a done deal on Tuesday, appears to be on hold -- at least for the moment -- Wednesday.

The West Virginia Gazette reports that the Big 12 Board of Directors has what the newspaper called "put the brakes" on plans to expand. The report comes after West Virginia issued a Tuesday night statement saying no news conference had been scheduled to announce a move to the Big 12, and that a visit by Big 12 officials to the West Virginia campus, scheduled for Wednesday, also has been called off.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that West Virginia was in a "holding pattern."

Tuesday brought a flurry of activity which seemed to point to the Mountaineers leaving the Big East Conference to join the Big 12.

ESPN reported that the Big 12 told West Virginia it will be accepted into the conference pending formal approval, citing a Big 12 source. Earlier Tuesday, The New York Times reported that West Virginia had "applied and been accepted" to the Big 12.

Wednesday morning, The Associated Press reported that the Big 12 "approved bringing in West Virginia to replace Missouri when the Tigers complete their move to the Southeastern Conference," citing a person with direct knowledge of the decision.

Wednesday, the West Virginia Gazette said that sources who had discussed the move to the Big 12 earlier were not talking.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that U.S. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, had lobbied Big 12 officials including David Boren, the president of the University of Oklahoma and a former senator, to include Louisville in expansion plans. The Times quoted a person with direct knowledge of the plans as saying: "I think it's 50-50 right now between West Virginia and Louisville."

One possible holdup is that Missouri, expected by many to join the SEC, has yet to formally withdraw from the Big 12. Last week, the Missouri Board of Curators authorized school chancellor Brady Deaton the right to make a final call on whether to leave the Big 12.

"We're not looking at a long time frame," Deaton said on Friday. "We want to confirm where we are & as rapidly as possible."

Meanwhile, Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that he is actively lobbying the Big East and its member schools to add Memphis and Temple, regardless of whether the Big East adds Central Florida, Houston or SMU.

Pitino said Wednesday that he has expressed his opinion to Big East commissioner John Marinatto and wants the conference to seriously consider raising its basketball profile during what has been a turbulent time of conference realignment.

[entropy]

blauds: No mystery in Big 12 shuffle. Just look at Texas. Texas wants 10 teams. Tex favors ville over WVa. Want to bet how it will turn out.

[entropy]

I can't help but laugh how the Big 12 works through the media instead of behind closed doors


Oklahoma officials confused by Big 12 Network talk

CBSSports.com wire reports
Oct. 26, 2011

LAWTON, Okla. -- Oklahoma officials say they don't understand how a proposed Big 12 Network could work considering that Texas already has an independent channel and the Sooners are working on one of their own.

University president David Boren told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Oklahoma still plans to form its own network and that he was surprised the Big 12 went public with the consideration of a conference network. The same third-tier television rights control what would be aired on either a school's channel or a conference channel.

Oklahoma intends to keep those rights -- just as Texas has in creating its Longhorn Network through a 20-year, $300 million deal with ESPN.

So how could the Big 12 form a network without its two most powerful programs?

"I don't know because I don't see quite how the conference network would work," Boren told the AP. "I'm confused by that myself."

Athletic director Joe Castiglione said he, too, was caught off-guard when the Big 12 announced Monday that there were discussions by the league's board of directors about creating a "conference dedicated TV network."

"I really don't have the information to support why they made that statement," Castiglione said, noting that athletic directors weren't part of the board meeting. "It has not been broached, or at least not recently."

"Maybe they're trying to build a consensus or excitement and anticipation," he added. "I don't know."

If recent developments in the Big 12 have shown anything, it's that the conference -- which has had its membership in flux for the past year and a half -- still seems to be in a state of confusion.

A U.S. senator from West Virginia issued a statement Wednesday suggesting an investigation might be necessary after the Mountaineers believed they had been extended an invitation to join the Big 12, only to find out that wasn't the case and Louisville might instead be targeted.

Even internally, there seem to be some mixed signals in the league.

"My understanding is that schools that have their own network, such as the Longhorn Network, that would continue to exist and that the other schools would just bundle their third-tier rights collectively and form their own channel representing multiple institutions," league spokesman Bob Burda said.

Many of the league's schools, including Oklahoma, already air their third-tier programming on the Internet or on television -- just not on a network dedicated solely to one school. That includes games from football, men's basketball and other sports that aren't picked up through the league's contracts with ABC/ESPN or Fox Sports.

"Well, a conference network is to offset the Longhorn Network. But I saw the Sooners, I saw where they said they'd do their own network," Oklahoma State booster T. Boone Pickens said.

"I don't know how this thing is going to turn out."

Boren said that Big 12 schools are in the process this week of signing and sending in their agreements to provide the conference their grant of television rights -- a move that would allow the league to keep a school's television revenue even if it leaves for another conference.

Boren refused to comment on the reports surrounding West Virginia and Louisville, including ones that linked him to conversations with Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Pickens said he had a "long conversation" with McConnell on Wednesday morning, discussing his natural gas-oriented energy plan. He also said he'd have to "be convinced on West Virginia" as a potential new member of the conference.

"To me, you go out of here to West Virginia, you're going to go a long way," Pickens said. "I didn't like the Pac-10 for that reason. That's the only reason. I feel like the Pac-10 you were going to end up in the east division and play the same schools you played before, so why not just hold the 12 together?

"I still believe we can save the Big 12, but I still say that Texas is going to have to look like the rest of us in the Big 12 instead of looking like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I don't like that."

Pickens said the key is equal revenue sharing.

"Just get the same contract for everybody. Everybody's equal," Pickens said. "If you'd have had that, you wouldn't have lost the [Texas A&M] Aggies, you wouldn't have lost Nebraska and Colorado and it looks like Missouri's going. But it's because things are not equal is what it is."

Oklahoma State president Burns Hargis said he still hopes Missouri won't leave for the Southeastern Conference, but that feeling is dwindling.

"Honestly, I don't have a lot of confidence," Hargis told the AP. "I think it's gone on long enough that it'd be tough. But if they stay, that's great. If they leave, we'll figure something out. There's no shortage of teams interested in being in the Big 12."

Neither Hargis nor Boren would comment specifically on the West Virginia situation, except to say that the Big 12 has options. Boren steered around a question about a Kansas City Star report suggesting Texas supported West Virginia as a new Big 12 member while Oklahoma wanted Louisville.

"I can't confirm the accuracy or inaccuracy of that report. All I'd say is Texas and Oklahoma are working very well together right now," Boren said. "You can draw your conclusions from that.

"I know of no differences of opinion we have on any subject without saying who's for who and what's for what, but we're working very well together right now. All the members of the board are. So, we're just trying to sort it out."

One thing is certain: Hargis said if Missouri does leave, "we'll definitely replace them."

"I think we'd probably initially do 10 [members]," said Hargis, who is chairman of the Big 12 board of directors and sits on the expansion committee. "But that doesn't mean we won't go to 12."

[entropy]

Big 12 football: More madness in conference realignment
Posted by berrytramel on October 26, 2011M at 10:39 pm

West Virginia, and new coach Dana Holgorsen, seemed destined for the Big 12 just a couple days ago. Now, it seems the Big 12 is stumbling over itself once again. AP PHOTO
You can’t blame this one on Dan Beebe.
The Big 12 tells West Virginia an invitation will be forthcoming, the whole danged state celebrates, then the Big 12 says, well, maybe. What a joke. What an absolute joke.
Various reports say most of the Big 12 wants West Virginia, but some prefer Louisville, including OU president David Boren. Fine. Whatever. And forget, for a moment, the obvious solution, which is invite them both and get on down the road to 12 schools in the league.
Can we please some have some honor in the league? Can we please some have some leadership? Can we please conduct business with just a smidgen of decorum?
After this nonsense, it’s clearer than ever that the only the desperate would be interested in the Big 12. After this nonsense, it’s clearer than than ever that getting anyone to trust this leadership, be it interim commish Chuck Neinas or defacto commish DeLoss Dodds or any school president, is fruitless. After this nonsense, it’s clearer than ever that it’s a waste of time trying to talk Missouri into staying.
Talk about turning something good into something rotten. Remember the glee down in Fort Worth when the Big 12 added TCU? Same kind of thing spread over West Virginia on Tuesday; the Mountaineers and their fans were thrilled at the prospect of joining the Big 12. Only to have the brakes applied the next morning.
If West Virginia makes it back to the good graces of the Big 12, rest assured the glee will not be so grand. West Virginia had a revelation. Let this be a lesson learned, Mountaineers. If you get into Conference Chaos, sleep with one eye open.
I think West Virginia will get in, eventually. That’s what the networks want. Louisville-Texas Tech doesn’t attract many eyeballs. West Virginia-Oklahoma State does. At some point, the Big 12 has to listen to the networks — Fox, which just shelled out that huge contract to make the Big 12 feel good about itself, and ESPN, which figures to do the same in a few years.
But to embarrass the Mountaineers like this is unforgivable. I have no idea who to blame. I think Neinas is the least likely suspect. This kind of madness was going on before he arrived and this kind of madness was going on after Beebe was beheaded. So the common denominators are the leaders at the schools.
Out here, we sort of care who. But out in West Virginia, they only care about what. As in, what is going on with Conference Chaos? And the Moutaineers have to be asking themselves. Is this really our only option?

[entropy]

I guess Mitch McConnell didn't have enough clout.

Friday, October 28, 2011
Sources: WVU invited to join Big 12
ESPN.com

West Virginia, a member of the Big East Conference since 1995, was formally invited on Friday to join the Big 12, a source within the conference told ESPN's Joe Schad.
The conference plans to remain at 10 schools, according to that same source.
On Wednesday, ESPN reported that the Mountaineers had been notified by the Big 12 that the conference's expansion process had been put on hold as officials waited for Missouri to withdraw for its move to the Southeastern Conference.
Just a day before that, the Big 12 had told West Virginia that it would be accepted pending formal approval. The Mountaineers even scheduled a news conference to announce their move, which it later canceled.