thespleenenator

The only difference between that Lions uniform and what they wear now is the number font... ...and the pants and helmet striping, and the logo. And you call yourself a Lions fan, pfft. To me, those aren't major changes. The Sanders-era look was the last iteration before what we have now, IMO. But that's a matter of opinion, I guess. Wait, you don't consider a logo change, a pants stripe change and a helmet stripe change major changes?

Thank god. Watching the Big East was like watching an old dog slowly and painfully die, until finally someone has the heart to put him out of his misery.

That is an insanely good conference right there. I don't think we have the same idea of what an "insanely good conference" is. I don't know about insanely good, but that would certainly be a 3-4 bid conference.

I'm just saying, I don't think they are going to be approached by any conference any time soon.

Southern Miss also went 0-12 this year, so....

I think they are getting by on two things. To make FSU feel at home in the Big12. Also, Miami still brings in ratings. Strange, I know. I can see Fox wanting them. Miami's also about to get carpet bombed by the NCAA. I'm not sure Florida State will want to bring along Miami after that. They wont get it as bad as people think. No way they get it worse than Penn St. There's no dispute about the NCAA's jurisdiction here and Miami has far fewer resources with which to build a recovery. The NCAA also just flat out said that they'll assume the testimony they got is truthful unless the former Miami players come to them to contradict it. I have a feeling Miami's self imposed bowl ban is going to save them a lot of trouble (the NCAA seems to get off on schools punishing themselves).

I see in your future Oregon and Oregon State have no football teams.

Here's a crazy thought I had: Vanderbilt to the ACC. First of all, Vandy is having a hard time competing in the SEC. They're getting better, but they are a long way off from seriously contending. So Vandy would be going to an easier conference, while still being in a BCS conference, and a conference that has a better academic prestige (which is what is important to Vandy). The ACC would get a team that is very competitive in most other sports (and is even starting to be competitive in football), and it would be a HUGE academic acquisition. It would also replace Maryland. Crazy, but it's something to think about.

The Pac-16 and ACC got screwed.

Virginia is a good team. Mike London is doing a great job there.

If they can, the A-10 should try to get North Alabama, if they aren't already taken. It would give them a southern fanbase, and a relatively large one at that. You actually believe the A-10 should take an institution which just started their six year plan to become a Division 1 school when there is little indication that they can handle it financially over the course of season, less the $1.4M needed to apply to move up? Not to mention North Alabama is a football school and the damn Conference doesn't even support football. I gave bigger importance to the fact that UNA is still D-II as more important since they must add a 13th and 14th sport to attain D-I status since they currently just have 12. They are already planning on moving up http://www.usatoday....ivision-I_n.htm And you failed to look at my original reply to your North Alabama thought since it had the university's own timeline, if they can actually afford it. I saw that, but you contradicted yourself. Your last reply implied that UNA can't go D1 because they will have to add more sports, but they already have a plan to do that. Unless you think that the A-10 should be worried about whether or not they can go through with there plan. The A-10 is not going to go to 16 teams this year (at least I don't think so). If UNA proves that they can make the jump, they would be a great addition within the next few years.

If they can, the A-10 should try to get North Alabama, if they aren't already taken. It would give them a southern fanbase, and a relatively large one at that. You actually believe the A-10 should take an institution which just started their six year plan to become a Division 1 school when there is little indication that they can handle it financially over the course of season, less the $1.4M needed to apply to move up? Not to mention North Alabama is a football school and the damn Conference doesn't even support football. I gave bigger importance to the fact that UNA is still D-II as more important since they must add a 13th and 14th sport to attain D-I status since they currently just have 12. They are already planning on moving up http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2011-06-14-north-alabama-division-I_n.htm

If they can, the A-10 should try to get North Alabama, if they aren't already taken. It would give them a southern fanbase, and a relatively large one at that.

Besides the aforementioned ugly dump of a stadium they play in, the real reason is because they don't belong at the highest division. They saw BSU moving up to FBS years ago and demanded that they be allowed to move up too, despite lacking the infrastructure or support to have a successful program at that level. Idaho would be right at home in the FCS, and I don't mean that as an insult. When they both moved up, Idaho was the better program. I do agree that Idaho is probabley better off as an FCS program. Rob Akey needs to get his stuff together, otherwise, I could see them dropping down in about 2-3 years.

And with that, as if there was any doubt before, barring a merger with the Big Sky (not happening), the WAC is officially dead. Anyone else have the feeling that a new conference will be added? The Sun Belt and C-USA are getting awfully large. Nope. Unless a I-AA conference decides to jump up en masse, the NCAA places enough hurdles to new Conference formation that it won't happen. I really wouldn't but completely surprised if either the CAA or Big Sky decides to do that. They could compete with some of the smaller conferences from the start (especially the CAA. Just look at James Madison, RIchmond, Delaware, etc.). THe CAA would compete more, but the Big Sky would probabley be able to replace the audiance that preivously watched the WAC (which, considering how small the confernce was, probabley doesn't justify the bump up in competition).

And with that, as if there was any doubt before, barring a merger with the Big Sky (not happening), the WAC is officially dead. Anyone else have the feeling that a new conference will be added? The Sun Belt and C-USA are getting awfully large.

So, we're looking at a C-USA super conference?

A repurposed Furby. I lol'd.

100% agree. EDIT: Also, apparently this is unpopular, but the new Oregon helmet is my favorite part of their Rose Bowl uniform.

Why? At that point, there's really no point to the BCS. And once again, I'd like to point out that without a playoff system, we'll never know if the top two teams are really the two best teams. Not sure we would get the two BEST teams with a playoff system, but certainly it would give the opportunity for other teams that aren't seen as stylish or hyped (blown) by the media to show what they are really all about. But you are absolutely CORRECT. We will never know who is good enough to make the cut. TCU beating Wisconsin last year in the Rose Bowl to me was proof that it's time to let more than just the two highest ranked teams in. Hell, the basketball tournament is expanding more! Why does this BCS have to continue with football? Money.

Wasn't Idaho kicking your ass, and wasn't Boise 2-9 when you guys moved up?

Should this continent-spanning realignment/expansion come to pass, the Big East should rebrand itself as either the Big America Conference, the Great America Conference, or the Great American Conference. That name is already taken. http://www.greatamericanconference.com/

Have you ever been to PSU? It's absolutely huge. Maybe not bigger than Oregon as in area wise, but that's because UO is more spread out. Plus, it's the only university in a big city. If they got an on campus stadium, they could do it.

I can see Louisiana Tech returning to the Sun Belt myself. On the FCS level though, I can see Portland State, Sacramento State, and Montana wanting to jump to FBS, but there's no way Idaho can support 3 FBS teams. That said though, you do make a fair point with Montana State. TS-San Marcos and UT-San Antonio do make a lot of sense though. Didn't know about Texas State's intentions to move up though. You guys are joking, right? Portland State averages less than 6,000 in attendance per football game (80th in FCS). That means they fill 31% of their seats. And when Montana State visited this year (and Montana last year), the crowd could have been mistaken as being for the visiting team. Sacramento State averages a little over 8,700 (47th in FCS) and 41% of their seats. Meanwhile, Montana State averages 17,577 per game with the Brawl of the Wild this next weekend sure to top 20,000 despite temps in the teens and snow. Nearly 100% capacity every game (with the first weekend of hunting being the lowest attendance.) The Bobcats travel well, making up nearly half of the crowd at Northern Colorado, Weber State and Portland State this season. Montana averages 25,662 in Washington-Grizzly stadium. That's over 100% capacity. And they travel very well. Not to mention, the Griz (#7) and Bobcats (#1) are the two most successful Big Sky teams of the last decade, with only Eastern Washington coming close. Last year ended the Griz run of 18 straight playoff appearances and 12 straight shares or outright league titles. The Bobcats have had a share of the Big Sky in four of the last ten seasons. (Eastern Washington has three and were National Champions last season.) The Idaho State football program is a joke and the chances that Mike Kramer (former EWU and MSU coach) will turn it around quickly are slim. He's good at rebuilding programs, but they are at least two or three seasons from being much more than a decent NAIA squad, much less FCS or FBS. The only two programs that would have a chance in FBS from the Big Sky are Montana and Montana State. The facilities are first class and the programs are doing very well. However, I don't believe either program has an interest in moving up to FBS. Montana all but had an invite and decided they'd be better off as a big fish in the FCS pond. Actually, Portland State is the largest university in Oregon. If they put more emphasis on athletics, they could make it to the FBS. The problem is that they have the Oregon Ducks in the same state. I will say, however, that the PSU fans actually traveled relatively well when we played them last year. If PSU were to get an on campus stadium (which I don't know why they haven't already), and schedule more games on weekdays, they would get fans.

Is that why you gave it 0/1 stars?