Texas to the Big-11? Supposedly the powers-that-be are in discussions. It’s not gonna happen. Texas does want out of the Big-12, no doubt. They’re too high and mighty to travel to outposts like Ames, Stillwater, and Manhattan (the Kansas version) on a consistent basis. Why not join the Big-10? Too cold. The Horns want no part of visiting Minneapolis or East Lansing for late November football game. Yes, the TV money would be nice, but soon every conference will have similar deals. So, where will big, bad, Texas end up? They’re about to set off a chain-reaction that will destroy the current NCAA landscape into Megaconferences. Fast forward to 2015 and enjoy the “1-800-Flowers Rose Bowl Sponsored by Hyundai Brought to You By Apple On Your 6,00i 3D HD LCD iPad.”
Pac-14
Instead of heading north, Texas stays warm and heads west. Yeah, Pullman, Washington isn’t any better than Ames – well, actually, everything’s better than Ames, Iowa. Plus, Texas can bask in the glow of Los Angeles twice a year, travel to Seattle, hit the Bay Area twice, and relax in Phoenix. That’s a better lineup than West Lafayette, State College, and Bloomington by a country mile. And with Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas A&M tagging along with UT, the Pac-14 owns pretty much every TV eyeball west of the Mighty Mississippi. That equals a pretty sweet TV package. Your new Pac-14 is:
Pac-14
Instead of heading north, Texas stays warm and heads west. Yeah, Pullman, Washington isn’t any better than Ames – well, actually, everything’s better than Ames, Iowa. Plus, Texas can bask in the glow of Los Angeles twice a year, travel to Seattle, hit the Bay Area twice, and relax in Phoenix. That’s a better lineup than West Lafayette, State College, and Bloomington by a country mile. And with Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas A&M tagging along with UT, the Pac-14 owns pretty much every TV eyeball west of the Mighty Mississippi. That equals a pretty sweet TV package. Your new Pac-14 is:
East: Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA
West: Washington, Wazzu, Stanford, Cal, USC, Oregon, Oregon State
Big-10
Ten, fourteen, who’s counting? After losing Texas, they scramble to grab Nebraska (a premiere football program), Missouri (St Louis-KC eyeballs), and Kansas (a big-time hoops name brand). The Big-12 is officially deceased.
Flat: Illinois, Penn St, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, NWestern, Michigan State
Really Flat: Iowa, Minny, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Purdue.
Mountain West
The Mounties are more than happy to pick up the Big-12’s scraps. First, they have to rid those with limited fan bases. Wyoming Cowboy fans are a die-hard bunch, there’s just not enough of them. Wyoming, Air Force, and Colorado State get demoted to the WAC, which now has about 37 members. Texas Tech, Iowa State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State come over from the Big-12. Boise State makes the leap and is also added.
North: Boise State, Utah, BYU, Iowa St, Kansas St, UNLV
South: Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU, New Mexico, San Diego State
SEC
Never to be outdone, the SEC says “Dangummit – if I’s knowns we can have more than twelb, we hab fouwrteen longs times ago!” Because some conferences have 14, the SEC jumps to 16. They pillage the ACC for: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Clemson.
West: LSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Georgia Tech
East: Florida, Florida State, Miami, Tennessee, Vandy, Clemson, South Carolina, Kentucky
(I know this doesn’t make sense geographically, tried to even the playing field while keeping same-state schools together)
Northeast
What’s left of the ACC merges with the Big East to create one hell of a basketball conference.
Old ACC: V-Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, Maryland, Virginia, BC,
Old Big East: Louisville, WV, Pitt, South Florida, Rutgers, UConn, Syracuse, Cincinnati
There you have it. Go ahead and throw some sweet action on this 74 team parlay and watch the money roll in – it’s gonna happen.
If something like this were to actually happen, it presents a true tectonic shift in college football power alignment, and would somewhat weaken the argument for a playoff system, since basically the top 74 teams are already in playoff mode come the beginning of conference play.
ReplyDeleteInteresting speculation to be sure.
Oh, and I think Utah might be more desirable in the PAC-14 than say, A&M or maybe even Colorado.
Puff, puff give, man.
ReplyDeleteSounds like they grow'm good down in lake mills emmit.
But I like what you did here. I will point out though that the Big 12 would absorb the WAC not the other way around. Basically it is semantics but conferences don't "demote" teams. They leave them behind. So everything you said but reverse the Big 12 / WAC names.
Plus hard to believe the SEC makes any change. They already have the largest TV deal, why would the members want to water down their share?
Oh well, what do I know, I'm still waiting on the Catholics only basketball conference.