illwauk

Are you referring to the football schools, or the Catholic 7(+2)? The Metro name would be more appropriate for the football schools, since a lot of them (Lousiville, Cincy, Memphis, South Florida, Tulane) are former Metro members.

If the Big Ten goes to 20, I hope they split the divisions into the "classic" Big Ten and the schools that joined after 1990... then don't have inter-divisional play until the championship game. That way, they appease the traditionalists while expanding their footprint and give the championship game a true "bowl game" atmosphere. Same thing with the Pac-12 if they go to 16.

That whole set would be bomb a$$ if the blue were swapped out for brown.

That's why I pretty much only listen to 88.9. Everything else sucks (unless you're said housewife or mullet guy). Same here, my FM dial never goes past 91.7.

Have you seen a game in Dallas? They were near the bottom of the league in attendance last year and this start sure isn't going to help that this season. Then you have a team like Tampa Bay that regularly sells out the TBTF, including all games this season. To be perfectly honest, it's been awhile since I actively followed the NHL. Dallas is also more convenient geographically since Tampa Bay would throw off the entire alignment.

Interesting, I'd say just the opposite. The old one looks like it could've evolved from something from the early-mid 20th century. The new one screams "1999" to me.

I do remember Jack FM. We're going to play all the Bon Jovi and U2 we want no matter how offended people get by it because we're anti-establishment. Think that lasted about six months. We still have a Jack station here in Buffalo. For those that don't know, the idea behind the Jack format was to emulate the variety of music people might carry around with them on their iPods... with the idea that most people don't just listen to rock or just country, etc. I loved that station when it first came out, but now it's 90% bad 80's music with some other decent stuff sprinkled in. We have Lake FM in Milwaukee... same crappy format as Jack under a different name. It started off playing a good mix of music from different eras with no DJs, then they got DJs and started playing Madonna and hair bands every other song. Now it's like every other commercial FM radio in Southeast Wisconsin which apparently thinks everyone here is either a housewife or a guy with a mullet who thinks it's still 1989.

I wanted to keep at least one team in the south and they're the only one with something that resembles a fanbase. Of course, in this alternate universe where I'm king, the Spirits of St. Louis are still around because no team with that awesome of a name would ever fold.

King illwauk's Alternate Universe NHL Eastern Conference Canadian Division Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Senators Quebec Nordiques Toronto Maple Leafs Central Division Buffalo Sabres Chicago Blackhawks Detroit Red Wings Pittsburgh Penguins Coastal Division Boston Bruins Hartford Whalers New York Rangers Philadelphia Flyers Western Conference Canadian Division Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Vancouver Canucks Winnipeg Jets Central Division Brew City Outlaws Colorado Avalanche Dallas Lone Stars Minnesota North Stars Coastal Division Los Angeles Kings Portland Winterhawks San Jose Sharks Seattle Thunderbirds Schedule Breakdown: 2 games (1H, 1A) vs. interconference opponents, 4 games (2H, 2A) vs. non-divisional conference opponents, 8 games (4H, 4A) vs. divisional opponents (80 games overall). Playoff Format: Division champs get bye to second round. Two wildcards from each conference play in first round with winner going on to play one-seed. 5-game series in rounds 1 & 2, 7-game series for conference championships and Stanley Cup finals.

It's a lot older than that.

I agree with both of these. The Sharks started out with a really nice set in their first few seasons, but that went to hell pretty quickly with changes. And adding that unique yellow/orange brought some life back (what can I say... I like color), at least with the teal jersey version. Last I saw they screwed it up again by switching to black as a primary. And the Lightning uniforms have always blown. Those logos above are terrible. And I absolutely HATE royal blue and black together... tried over and over, never suscessfully IMO. Agreed. I can tolerate black and blue in the same logo if executed correctly, but on uniforms they don't have enough contrast.

At least your citing something sid. However, I still read on different articles googled (espn, sporting news, etc) from the announcement of their departure in December that they do indeed get to keep it and the Big East would need to re-apply for one, though that it was more than likely to be approved. Not disagreeing with the notion that don't keep it, but I'm just not seeing it actually stated anywhere that they, the actual "Catholic 7" and not just a general rule, don't get to keep it. If it is, please show me where. I'm just trying to get the actual facts straight. Article 31.3.4 goes over the main requirements for automatic conference bids but Men's Division 1 Basketball as more conditions, like the one I posted previously. Article 20.02.5 defines multi-sport conference membership and gives the guidelines which you are talking about, line Continuity (20.02.5.4) as well as the two year Grace Period (20.02.5.5), but a Grace Period is defined for a conference which becomes non-compliant, not a newly formed one with members who were together for eight consecutive years. And specifically for Men's Basketball, current Bylaws require that the tournament has a minimum of 34 at-large bids. Breakaway conferences may help the push past 68 teams. WHY?!?!! 64 is such a perfect number for this tournament. I don't have a problem with making new conferences prove themselves worthy of an auto-bid, but once they earn it, it should come from one of the at-large spots. Umm... they haven't been at 64 for several years now. But I agree, any new autobids should come out of the at-large pool. I'm fine with 68, they just need to make all the "play-in" games be the last of the at-large schools playing into like the 12th/13th seeds. Whatever the highest seeds are before you get into the lower autobid schools from the smaller conferences. Theoretically they could go to 72 and have 2 play-in games per region. I'd prefer it stay at 68, but never any more than 72. I know that... it doesn't change what I said. The reason 64 is perfect is because every team in the tournament plays the same number of games. If they're willing to have uneven brackets again, then the number of at-large bids should be reduced, not expanded. Though I do agree the play-in games should always be between at-large teams. Not only would this mean better, more well-known (read: ratings) teams, but you don't end up punishing autobid teams for playing in small conferences.

At least your citing something sid. However, I still read on different articles googled (espn, sporting news, etc) from the announcement of their departure in December that they do indeed get to keep it and the Big East would need to re-apply for one, though that it was more than likely to be approved. Not disagreeing with the notion that don't keep it, but I'm just not seeing it actually stated anywhere that they, the actual "Catholic 7" and not just a general rule, don't get to keep it. If it is, please show me where. I'm just trying to get the actual facts straight. Article 31.3.4 goes over the main requirements for automatic conference bids but Men's Division 1 Basketball as more conditions, like the one I posted previously. Article 20.02.5 defines multi-sport conference membership and gives the guidelines which you are talking about, line Continuity (20.02.5.4) as well as the two year Grace Period (20.02.5.5), but a Grace Period is defined for a conference which becomes non-compliant, not a newly formed one with members who were together for eight consecutive years. And specifically for Men's Basketball, current Bylaws require that the tournament has a minimum of 34 at-large bids. Breakaway conferences may help the push past 68 teams. WHY?!?!! 64 is such a perfect number for this tournament. I don't have a problem with making new conferences prove themselves worthy of an auto-bid, but once they earn it, it should come from one of the at-large spots.

I would prefer the Northwestern stripes if they were to do that. Normally I prefer UCLA stripes, but that would mean the Vikings would essenitally be wearing LSU's jerseys. Unless of course they go with a proprietary font, which I'm hoping they do based on this:

I do too, just without the toilet-seat collars, and without the monochrome combos. Best uniforms in Vikings history. SMDH @ how easily those collars could easily be incorporated into the design of the uniform. I like these uniforms in a vacuum and think they'd look great on a college team called the Vikings (wasn't Cleveland State looking into starting football?), but they're way too out of place in the NFC North. Even the Lions toned it down the last time they refreshed their look. Give me the traditional northwestern stripes at home, UCLA stripes on the road, and maybe a custom number font that matches their wordmark.

UTEP is a reach, but I'm having a hard time seeing why the Mountain West wouldn't want Houston and SMU. Back when the Mountain West was formed, 16-teams was a sign of a diluted, unmanageable conference. Things are obviously much different now.

I see your 'Nique Spurs pic, and raise you: 'Nique in a Magic uni, during his final comeback in '99. WHY did they ever get rid of these? Especially when subliminated designs became all the rage in college hoops just a few years later.

i think everyone does It's one of the best uniforms in sports. Jeez, some of you have really bad opinions. It's not better than this:

^ Until this year, I would've agreed.

Adding basketball schools when you are a football league is insanely stupid. If Georgetown, Villanova, and St. John's wanted to join the ACC, these things would have to happen: -Georgetown's football program (which is currently in the FCS) would have to upgrade their stadium to FBS standards; same with Villanova. -St. John's would have to relaunch their football program, which they discontinued in 2002. Neither of these things are happening. Villanova was prepared to go FBS, but by the time they finally decided, the Big East took the offer off the table. I think that would be a mistake though. As for the stadium situation, they could share Franklin Field with Penn while deciding what to do about their own stadium (which IMO is not much, because that area can't support the traffic that a big-time program would bring in.) Wasn't Villanova eyeing Phily Union's facility at some point?

Actually the latter should be more financially damaging because you lose the autobid and Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, and Rutgers are so going to either sue for their exit fees back or argue that they shouldn't pay them. Not sure that's really an issue. Could you really see the champion of this conference not getting an at-large bid? The ESPN article also mentioned that they're looking to start a national catholic conference with Butler, Dayton, Creighton, Gonzaga, Saint Louis, Xavier and possibly St. Mary's, but even with the former Big East 7, I don't see a scenario where they don't get at least one at-large invite.

The Big East's fate was sealed long before the most recent moves because of its inability and unwillingness to adjust and react strongly to the football-driven economy of college sports. Over the last ten years, they're the only Automatic Qualifier conference that didn't add new members from another Automatic Qualifier conference, and the one that's had the most defections to others. They've been operating from a position of weakness for the last ten years, owing to poor leadership that was out of touch with the reality of modern collegiate athletics. This final episode is telling: the schools that are now plotting to leave are doing so because the value of their basketball TV deal is weakening. They were oblivious to conference realignment until they started losing schools that brought value to their basketball rights, like Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Louisville. The league's failure to take bold action with an understanding of the modern college sports landscape was driven by this basketball-centric mindset, and their response to these losses is now driving away the assets they clung so stubbornly to. I'm not so sure the Big East's fate had to do with a lack of leadership so much as it had to do with the fact that eastern college football has been on the decline since before the Big East was even formed, and they served the only geographic area where college basketball was more popular than football. Aside from letting Penn State in during the 80s, I'm not sure what they could've possibly done to prevent this... and even then, Penn State would've been one of the first schools picked off by either the ACC (who probably would've went after them instead of BC in the mid-2000s) or the Big Ten in this current REEL LINE MINT shuffle.

Y'know, for being the commissioner of what are supposedly the best academic institutions in the Midwest, he sure seems to lack a lot of respect for peoples' intelligence.

That's what the Big East has become. Conference USA featuring Temple. ...and Conference USA was just the old Metro featuring a couple schools from the Midwest.

There is a lot to be disagreed with when it comes to his analysis. He makes some decent points, nothing new or profound though. His default answer is either BIG 10 or SEC. My only issue is that he completely disregaurds the possibility of an Eastern/Atlantic Coast conference surviving. It is very possibly that the ACC and Big East can work together and form a super conference. I think an east coast conference could not just survive, but even do somewhat decent. If they can keep Viriginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Florida State, Miami, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, and Cincinatti... Along with lesser schools like a UConn, NC State, or UCF/USF... If they can convince Notre Dame to become a full member... then they have a respectable, 14-16 school football conference. By no means would they be a power house, they would still likely be 4th or 5th on the list behind the BIG 10, SEC, and PAC... and possibly the Big XII, but they would have a large foot print and good competition. Not to mention, they would still be the premere basketball conference, especially if they can retain basketball schools like Marquette, Vilanova, St. John's, and Georgetown. If the ACC/Big East can work together for the mutual gain, they could end up leaving the Big XII on the outside looking in (instead of the other way around, as it currently appears). Besides... with the BIG 10 going to 14 in 2 years, and the much criticized new logo, curious to see how the G in B1G start to look more and more like a 6 instead of a 0? If you ask me, it already looks more like a 6 than a 0.