FriarReb98: This whole realignment mess just gets stupider by the minute. Going from a conference where one team out of all of them is that far away (almost exactly, oddly enough) to where ALL of them are at least that far away can't be pretty on an athletic department's budget.

\and yet again, this leads me to want to say FARK MARINATTO
\\then again, I've felt that way for fifteen years now

The increase in TV money that WVU, Louisville, and Cincy will make after the move to the Big XII should more than cover the increase in travel costs. And when the Big XII renegotiates 1st tier rights in 5 years, they will be rollin in TV money.

I'm a WVU fan, but I wish they would stay in the Big East.

A Big East with WVU pretty much guarantees that one of the service academy schools sign on pretty soon, which in turn brings Boise, which in turn brings the other service academy, which in turn brings the CUSA schools they were looking at. And while a conference of --

WVU / Cincy / Lousiville / UCONN / USF / Rutgers in Division A, and
Boise / Navy / Air Force / UCF / SMU / Houston in Division B

--isn't a superpowerhouse, it's more than enough--by the numbers and by more subjective standards--to keep their AQ status, while attaining some semblance of geographic sense.

And yeah, I'll also admit: it'd be easier for WVU to get to a BCS game through that lineup than in the Big12

That's a lot of bus trips through the mountains.

namatad: if only schools went back to educating the students and left the sports to the minor leagues.

Went back?

Colleges invented football. They pre-date the major leagues, let alone the minor ones.

CalvinMorallis: A Big East with WVU pretty much guarantees that one of the service academy schools sign on pretty soon, which in turn brings Boise, which in turn brings the other service academy, which in turn brings the CUSA schools they were looking at.

Does it now?

Methinks you give the BE way too much credit here.

I can't think of a single good reason Boise St. would join the BE let alone any of those other increasingly unlikely situations happening.

The BE will be a Basketball only conference in 5 years. All the schools that actually play football on any level are scurrying right now for a reason. The BEFC is dead.

FriarReb98: This whole realignment mess just gets stupider by the minute. Going from a conference where one team out of all of them is that far away (almost exactly, oddly enough) to where ALL of them are at least that far away can't be pretty on an athletic department's budget.

Works for Louisiana Tech being in the WAC.

Of course, I don't think that WVU can make Tech's strategy of "Lose to LSU for $$$ to shore up the budget" work for them.

I don't get all the Iowa ha... oh, ISU?? Carry on.

/Go Hawks! gonna be a tough year...

I wonder if the Big East will hold WVU hostage like it's doing Syracuse and Pitt? If so, the Big XII will have to deal with less than 12 for the next 2 years. Same situation applies to Louisville, too.

The Homer Tax: CalvinMorallis: A Big East with WVU pretty much guarantees that one of the service academy schools sign on pretty soon, which in turn brings Boise, which in turn brings the other service academy, which in turn brings the CUSA schools they were looking at.

Does it now?

Methinks you give the BE way too much credit here.

I can't think of a single good reason Boise St. would join the BE let alone any of those other increasingly unlikely situations happening.

The BE will be a Basketball only conference in 5 years. All the schools that actually play football on any level are scurrying right now for a reason. The BEFC is dead.

Boise's in the MWC now, and that conference's hail-mary to get AQ status was to merge with CUSA, which is a longshot even with the teams they have now. Moving to the B.E. (again, a B.E. with WVU) assures them access to an AQ conference for at least the next 2 seasons, and probably for as long as this whole superconference business is held off.

As for the other "unlikely situations": Air Force and Navy have both expressed interest, but have both said they want to see stability first. WVU staying = stability (WVU has had a tremendous amount of success over the years, and they have a large national following). That's enough to get one of the service schools to sign on, which starts the dominos falling.

At what point does somebody in the NCAA step in and basically say that enough is enough, we're blowing the conferences up and starting from scratch?

/I'm guessing when somebody donates a billion dollars and tells them to

Being a WVU fan, I hope it happens.
They went from a program that put together a decent team every 4 years when there would be mostly all seniors that played together for the 4 years to a team that does well against sub-par conference foes. To get to the next level they need to get deeper with recruiting. No way will that happen if they stay in the BE. Against LSU they held up pretty well but the depth of an LSU type program will always be a stumbling block. They beat some good teams in past bowl games but to do that game in and game out they need the recruits.
I'd rather take a couple 3 loss seasons instead of sacrificing 5 years down the road.
Their AD Oliver Luck is probably selling his son's rights as we speak. Pull some strings. Make it happen. Some NFL owner is probably friends with a big 12 committee member and presto.

I have solved the realignment problem.

I have taken all the FBS teams and randomly divided them into ten 12-team divisions. Each and every one gets to have a championship game. When new schools declare themselves FBS, just tack on as need be until you get 12 new ones, at which point you make a new division. (Also, if you want playoffs, give wild cards to the four best division runner-ups. to make 16.)

According to the Random Number God, your realignment is as follows:

DIVISION 1: Akron, Cincinnati, Wyoming, Syracuse, Louisiana Tech, Arizona St., Central Florida, Rutgers, California, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Oregon St.
DIVISION 2: Marshall, Buffalo, Ball St., LSU, Tennessee, Colorado, Stanford, Navy, Tulane, Maryland, Miami (OH), Florida St.
DIVISION 3: Utah, USC, BYU, Oklahoma St., Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas, Nebraska, Kent St., Boston College, Bowling Green, Purdue
DIVISION 4: Utah St., Georgia Tech, Oregon, Fresno St., Florida International, South Florida, Iowa, North Texas, Penn St., Notre Dame, Northwestern, Southern Miss
DIVISION 5: Nevada, New Mexico St., Ole Miss, Missouri, Idaho, Arkansas St., Ohio, Rice, Wake Forest, Mississippi St., Texas, Miami (FL)
DIVISION 6: Florida Atlantic, New Mexico, UCLA, Louisiana-Lafayette, Troy, Hawaii, SMU, Boise St., Houston, Washington, Alabama, Army
DIVISION 7: Georgia, Toledo, Indiana, Auburn, Iowa St., Duke, Michigan, Temple, Western Kentucky, Connecticut, Central Michigan, Colorado St.
DIVISION 8: East Carolina, West Virginia, Western Michigan, Minnesota, Tulsa, Air Force, Wisconsin, San Jose St., Florida, Louisiana-Monroe, San Diego St., Kansas St.
DIVISION 9: Eastern Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Baylor, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Washington St., Clemson, Memphis, UTEP, Arkansas, Michigan St., Ohio St., Kentucky
DIVISION 10: Oklahoma, UNLV, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Illinois, Virginia Tech, UAB, Arizona, Louisville, North Carolina St., Northern Illinois

There. Now stop realigning, dammit.

Seems to me the Big Ten's the only conference that cares about staying within its region...and it's being poached of schools who could expand it if need be.

/But if the Big 12 finally breaks down, you can bet the Kansas teams will try and come knocking...

angry_scientist: I don't get all the Iowa ha... oh, ISU?? Carry on.

/Go Hawks! gonna be a tough year

I don't know if it could happen based on tie-ins, but Iowa State and Army really should play in a bowl, so we could have the QB matchup of Steele Jantz vs. Trent Steelman.

(And I really wish Army had a back or receiver named Max Power to go along with Trent Steelman).

I love realignment! Now lets get some of that money into the player's hands!

WVU can still schedule Pitt out of conference, if the teams involved want to play each other. Kansas City could hold the Big XII basketball tournament if Mizzou leaves.

All in all, If a tradition is strong, it'll be strong enough to withstand teams not being in the same conference. A real rivalry should not depend on conference affiliation. The thrill of a rivalry is your team beating the other team. You don't need to be in the same conference to do that.

Posted in a previous thread:

BIG XII
NORTH - Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, BYU, Lousiville, West Virginia
SOUTH - Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas Christian

National Athletic Conference
BIG EAST - South Florida, Cincinnati, Temple, East Carolina, Central Florida, Navy, Memphis
BIG WEST - Air Force, Boise State, Nevada, Fresno State, Southern Methodist, Houston, San Diego State

Starting to come together folks

Gosling: I have solved the realignment problem.

I have taken all the FBS teams and randomly divided them into ten 12-team divisions. Each and every one gets to have a championship game. When new schools declare themselves FBS, just tack on as need be until you get 12 new ones, at which point you make a new division. (Also, if you want playoffs, give wild cards to the four best division runner-ups. to make 16.)

According to the Random Number God, your realignment is as follows:

DIVISION 1: Akron, Cincinnati, Wyoming, Syracuse, Louisiana Tech, Arizona St., Central Florida, Rutgers, California, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Oregon St.
DIVISION 2: Marshall, Buffalo, Ball St., LSU, Tennessee, Colorado, Stanford, Navy, Tulane, Maryland, Miami (OH), Florida St.
DIVISION 3: Utah, USC, BYU, Oklahoma St., Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas, Nebraska, Kent St., Boston College, Bowling Green, Purdue
DIVISION 4: Utah St., Georgia Tech, Oregon, Fresno St., Florida International, South Florida, Iowa, North Texas, Penn St., Notre Dame, Northwestern, Southern Miss
DIVISION 5: Nevada, New Mexico St., Ole Miss, Missouri, Idaho, Arkansas St., Ohio, Rice, Wake Forest, Mississippi St., Texas, Miami (FL)
DIVISION 6: Florida Atlantic, New Mexico, UCLA, Louisiana-Lafayette, Troy, Hawaii, SMU, Boise St., Houston, Washington, Alabama, Army
DIVISION 7: Georgia, Toledo, Indiana, Auburn, Iowa St., Duke, Michigan, Temple, Western Kentucky, Connecticut, Central Michigan, Colorado St.
DIVISION 8: East Carolina, West Virginia, Western Michigan, Minnesota, Tulsa, Air Force, Wisconsin, San Jose St., Florida, Louisiana-Monroe, San Diego St., Kansas St.
DIVISION 9: Eastern Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Baylor, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Washington St., Clemson, Memphis, UTEP, Arkansas, Michigan St., Ohio St., Kentucky
DIVISION 10: Oklahoma, UNLV, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Illinois, Virginia Tech, UAB, Arizona, Louisville, North Carolina St., Northern Illinois

There. Now stop realigning, dammit.

The way things are going now this actually may make sense.

Of course my one question is how effective is the 27 month hold on movement that the Big Least is trying to enforce. My guess is it doesn't last the year.

This is all Misery's fault. Their Little Brother Syndrome has reached pathological levels.

WfVU, welcome to a real conference. It'll be good to have Huggie-bear back to kick around.

/Seven consecutive conference championships
//And counting...

Gosling: I have solved the realignment problem.

I have taken all the FBS teams and randomly divided them into ten 12-team divisions. Each and every one gets to have a championship game. When new schools declare themselves FBS, just tack on as need be until you get 12 new ones, at which point you make a new division. (Also, if you want playoffs, give wild cards to the four best division runner-ups. to make 16.)

According to the Random Number God, your realignment is as follows:

DIVISION 1: Akron, Cincinnati, Wyoming, Syracuse, Louisiana Tech, Arizona St., Central Florida, Rutgers, California, Texas A&M, North Carolina, Oregon St.
DIVISION 2: Marshall, Buffalo, Ball St., LSU, Tennessee, Colorado, Stanford, Navy, Tulane, Maryland, Miami (OH), Florida St.
DIVISION 3: Utah, USC, BYU, Oklahoma St., Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas, Nebraska, Kent St., Boston College, Bowling Green, Purdue
DIVISION 4: Utah St., Georgia Tech, Oregon, Fresno St., Florida International, South Florida, Iowa, North Texas, Penn St., Notre Dame, Northwestern, Southern Miss
DIVISION 5: Nevada, New Mexico St., Ole Miss, Missouri, Idaho, Arkansas St., Ohio, Rice, Wake Forest, Mississippi St., Texas, Miami (FL)
DIVISION 6: Florida Atlantic, New Mexico, UCLA, Louisiana-Lafayette, Troy, Hawaii, SMU, Boise St., Houston, Washington, Alabama, Army
DIVISION 7: Georgia, Toledo, Indiana, Auburn, Iowa St., Duke, Michigan, Temple, Western Kentucky, Connecticut, Central Michigan, Colorado St.
DIVISION 8: East Carolina, West Virginia, Western Michigan, Minnesota, Tulsa, Air Force, Wisconsin, San Jose St., Florida, Louisiana-Monroe, San Diego St., Kansas St.
DIVISION 9: Eastern Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Baylor, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Washington St., Clemson, Memphis, UTEP, Arkansas, Michigan St., Ohio St., Kentucky
DIVISION 10: Oklahoma, UNLV, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Illinois, Virginia Tech, UAB, Arizona, Louisville, North Carolina St., Northern Illinois

There. Now stop realigning, dammit.

As an Ohio State fan, I'm ok with this. Arkansas and MSU are the only other two perennial decent teams in that division.

xtalman: Of course my one question is how effective is the 27 month hold on movement that the Big Least is trying to enforce. My guess is it doesn't last the year.

Either the Big East is already dead, with Boise staying where it belongs out West, and there will soon be no football Big East to enforce the holding period, or it will look like the disgruntled fat, bald divorced man who can't let go of anything, even if it causes himself harm. While it would hurt the ACC (no new TV deal until the expansion occurs in football), it's not like the Big East will suddenly lose their AQ if they let Pitt and Cuse free, or that they will somehow convince the BCS that because they held (at least) two teams hostage for 2 years, they still deserve that AQ.

So far I don't see a reason for either Boise or the military academies to join the Big East. The academies are three of the very few teams who need to be in a conference to get coverage. Now I'm in no way comparing Air Force to Notre Dame, but there are enough people invested in the military academies, especially around DC and Baltimore, plus some chunk of the NY market.

Seems the Big 12 actually got better from all this nonsense. Colorado sucks, Nebraska and A&M usually sucks, and who cares about Mizzou?

Now That's What I Call a Taco!: This is all Misery's fault. Their Little Brother Syndrome has reached pathological levels.
.

So what you're saying is we should punch Missouri?

*punches Missuori*

As a WVU fan, I think this would be the best outcome for the football team, as I don't think the Big East would keep it's AQ spot even if they landed a few of the current targets.

video man: Krieghund: the1hatman:

So the winner of BYU WVU plays the winner of OU Texas for the championship every year?

And? It used Nebraska v. OU/Texas every year.

In 15 years, North Big 12 Championship Game representatives:

Nebraska - 6
Colorado - 4
K-State - 3
Missouri - 2

"Every year" is a stretch.

TheJoe03: Seems the Big 12 actually got better from all this nonsense. Colorado sucks, Nebraska and A&M usually sucks, and who cares about Mizzou?

Those four schools were a combined 4-10 in the B12 Championship Game and had zero BCS bowl game wins in the last decade. Pathetic to say the least.

The greatest thing about this is that Notre Dame has gone rouge and said nothing about joining a conference.

namatad: FriarReb98: This whole realignment mess just gets stupider by the minute. Going from a conference where one team out of all of them is that far away (almost exactly, oddly enough) to where ALL of them are at least that far away can't be pretty on an athletic department's budget.

\and yet again, this leads me to want to say FARK MARINATTO
\\then again, I've felt that way for fifteen years now

if only schools went back to educating the students and left the sports to the minor leagues.

The money generated from those sports at the major schools buys a lot of chemistry labs and supplies.

Funk Brothers: The greatest thing about this is that Notre Dame has gone rouge and said nothing about joining a conference.

No, they went gold. Not rouge.

Good for WVU. They're good at football and thus don't belong in the Big Least.

ongbok: namatad: FriarReb98: This whole realignment mess just gets stupider by the minute. Going from a conference where one team out of all of them is that far away (almost exactly, oddly enough) to where ALL of them are at least that far away can't be pretty on an athletic department's budget.

\and yet again, this leads me to want to say FARK MARINATTO
\\then again, I've felt that way for fifteen years now

if only schools went back to educating the students and left the sports to the minor leagues.

The money generated from those sports at the major schools buys a lot of chemistry labs and supplies.

No, it doesn't. Most schools lose money on their athletic departments.

tommyl66: At what point does somebody in the NCAA step in and basically say that enough is enough,

probably sometime after they acquire the power to do something like this, so never

pion: ongbok: namatad: FriarReb98: This whole realignment mess just gets stupider by the minute. Going from a conference where one team out of all of them is that far away (almost exactly, oddly enough) to where ALL of them are at least that far away can't be pretty on an athletic department's budget.

\and yet again, this leads me to want to say FARK MARINATTO
\\then again, I've felt that way for fifteen years now

if only schools went back to educating the students and left the sports to the minor leagues.

The money generated from those sports at the major schools buys a lot of chemistry labs and supplies.

No, it doesn't. Most schools lose money on their athletic departments.

You missed where I said the Major Schools didn't you?

pion: Most schools lose money on their athletic departments.

Currently true, but it'll be interesting to see how long this stays true. Some of the larger TV deals haven't started paying out yet. I doubt anyone in the PAC will be losing money after their new TV contract kicks in, for example. I would expect the same for the Big XII.

The Big Least is gone. While this move makes absolutely ZERO farking sense from a logistical standpoint (I know, I know, they said that about Penn State, too), The Big8 needs to rebuild, and in a hurry.

At the rate things are going, that whole 4 superconference model is starting to make more sense, and in some bastardized way, these alignments are going to set up that much coveted D1-A playoff people have been biatching about for...

How to fix college football:
- Trim I-A to 80 teams
- Have eight, 8-12 team conferences
- Eight conference champs, eight at-large bids qualify for a playoff

If the bowl system continues to operate outside of the playoff, here's how I would do it:
- Stage 16 bowl games for 24 teams
- No victories over I-AA teams count toward bowl eligibility.
- End bowl organizations. Conferences set up bowls--set up contracts with other conferences and opponents to get the best match-ups, agree on a venue, sell tickets, pocket all the money

I don't mind four 16-team super-conferences as long as there are four divisions in each conference and a four-team playoff for each conference title. Then the four conference champs would play in a +1 playoff for the national title. It's like having a de facto 16-team playoff, and I think having four division per conference would make for a much more compelling season than six, seven or eight-team divisions that would basically give many second-tier and basically every third-tier team nothing to play for.