McCall

Apparently West Virginia has applied to join SEC.

I'm seeing multiple sources on twitter (sports news is pretty much the only thing I look at on there) saying they're finalizing bringing Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Ok State to the PAC. It says Texas will have to give up some Longhorn Network money, but will still by far be the richest program in the country.

On twitter, they're saying it's very likely Texas to the PAC. Don't know how reliable that is yet.

I guarantee baseball and lacrosse are not even coming up in any way shape or form in all these conference talks. They're probably considering basketball because it is a decent money-maker, but in the end, what's best for football is gonna win out.

How does a school in New Jersey provide a natural rivalry with Duke? UNC is the natural rival of Duke. Heh. I guess you're unaware of a certain nickname for that school in Durham. I don't see how that would create a "natural rivalry". That usually means rivalry formed by location, nearby schools. I actually don't see any rivalry forming at all between these schools.

There's been no talk of Louisville to the ACC and I personally don't believe they'll end up there. UWV is being mentioned in both SEC and possibly ACC. Rutgers, ACC and Big Ten. It seems like UConn and Rutgers may end up in the ACC with UWV in the SEC. At least from what I've been reading.

Louisville could have a real shot at the SEC.

How does a school in New Jersey provide a natural rivalry with Duke? UNC is the natural rival of Duke. And West Virginia is very much not out. If the 16-team superconferences do form, UWV is very much in the mix of being in one. They could probably go to either the ACC, SEC or Big Ten. Along with the PAC, all 4 conferences have traditions of being high standard-academic conferences. But it might occur that not all the schools entering a conference would necessarily meet their criteria. I think UWV brings enough to football and basketball that their shortcomings might be overlooked. Besides, it's not like their Hillbilly U. I think them and probably UConn are gonna end up joining Pitt and 'Cuse in the ACC. Rutgers had a little flirtation with the B1G last year, so I could see them heading there. Louisville, I believe, could end up in the SEC. With the likelihood of FSU and Clemson going to the SEC took a near-fatal blow with the ACC upping their buyout to $20M, Louisville, with the uncertainty of the Big East, may be a potential 14th school, and if they go 16, they would become a very big possibility. Cincinnati? The Big Ten would probably be the only superconference that they'd even have a chance at and I don't know if that would really even be a possibility, both due to their lacking academic levels and Ohio State probably not approving them.

This makes since, though I don't thin they are going to 16 yet unless they somehow get Texas in as a full member (not looking good on that front). That means one of the NC-based schools need to switch to the North. I think it's a very real possibility that they go 16. The Big East/12 are gonna be raided so the others will have to go somewhere.

...in terms of football, yeah. If they want to stay viable for football, the ACC has to be proactive about expansion. With Clemson and Florida State keeping an eye towards the SEC, the ACC has to give them a reason to stick around. Now there's word that the Big East has contacted the 7 remaining schools in the Big XII (excluding Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M) about joining their conference. Next week could be fun, if not frenetic about expansion and all the rumors that come of it. I read in the espn article about Cuse and Pitt that the ACC has upped their buyout for leaving the conference to $20M which would all but squash any chance of FSU and Clemson heading to the SEC.

I bet Pitt, Cuse and UConn win up in the ACC, with maybe West Virginia or Rutgera too. The one of those two that don't will probably go to the Big Ten. Unless Texas goes ACC then both UWV and Rutgers go Big Ten.

Texas has become one of the highest money-making entities in College Football. Though you can say the same about the players at Miami, Nevin Shapiro just doesn't pull the same weight as Bevo does.

Supposedly, the ACC has no problem with Texas keeping the Longhorn Network, unlike the Pac-12 and SEC do. And, Texas would still be a big fish in the ACC. That's because with Florida State and Va Tech as their only real possible threat, they'd dominate the ACC. Isn't that what people said about Miami joining the ACC in 2005? The U isn't at the level Texas is.

Supposedly, the ACC has no problem with Texas keeping the Longhorn Network, unlike the Pac-12 and SEC do. And, Texas would still be a big fish in the ACC. That's because with Florida State and Va Tech as their only real possible threat, they'd dominate the ACC.

Some quick notes: Kansas and K-State, not seperating. KU needs K-State for a legitimate football draw. Them being paired with KSU is really the only way they'd stay in a power conference, except attaching to Mizzou. SEC would only take Baylor to get aTM, and I'm sure they'll find a way around that. Baylor would probably end up as a last entry into one of the lesser power conferences, not the best one. More than likely they'd end up in Conference USA. TCU is already going to the Big East, so how would the Mountain West folding cause them to be without a conference?

SMU? No. TCU is fine as the lone Dallas-FtW market rep. If you're going to include one of either KU or K-State, when it comes to football, you keep K-State. KU has fleeting success once every 10 years or so. KSU's been down for a little while and slowly climbing back, but they've had the success in the past. Btw, I'm a Mizzou fan, hate both Kansas schools, but I'm being objective here. Baylor seems to be the redheaded stepchild of the Big XII, and apparently all of College football. And they're usually one of the first ones I'd leave out. But they're sometimes competitive and I'm sure there are some other teams left in that are worse, so I don't know. I've been cooking up some SuperConference ideas that I need to refine and then I may post them.

Officially? No. Probably? Probably.

As long as this level of athletics is associated with universities and colleges, academics will play a factor in conference makeup. That and if you're a full athletic member, then you're a full academic member. Their is no "academic conference". Its the overall "academic reputation" of the member schools that are the determinating factors. Wrestling is small enough that having them as a member does not really effect their academic reputation. Bringing them in for a sport like football would.

And who's to say Boise State would accept an invitation to a 5 team conference with Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, and Missouri. If Texas, TT, Oklahoma and Ok State leave the conference, there won't be any Big XII left to save. An AQ bid is an AQ bid. Read up a couple. The NCAA would probably not accept a 6 team conference or at least allow them to maintain an AQ bid.

If the Big 12 admits Boise State it's a sign they're going down the same path as the WAC and C-USA, in which all the real power schools have moved on and they're hanging in by bringing in the in between mid major and major schools. C-USA used to have likes of Cincinnati and Louisville. Now Memphis is their premier school and not much else. And the WAC went even worse.

Larry Scott said he'd prefer the Big XII doesn't dissolve or the PAC remain at 12. He's playing PR. He said it was his preference, not what would happen. He was at a PAC 12 team vs a Big XII. How would it look if he said yeah we're looking to poach a few of their teams. He used non-committal wording, one way or the other.

At the moment, that would probably be my guest as well for super conferences forming. The Oklahoma and Texas schools are more likely to head to the PAC than the SEC. It would also make sense for the Big East and ACC to just merge for football at least, although that would include their oddball geography like The Midwestern members... and TCU, who I don't see on your list.

Mizzou is downplaying talks because of last year where it looked like they were going to the Big Ten only to then have them come out and say that they never offered Mizzou an invite. I wouldn't go by what an OU writer from Tulsa says about Mizzou.

Ok. All hell seems to have broken loose. I had heard in the last hour that aTm and Mizzou were the only 2 additions to SEC and now Big 12 presidents and ADs are meeting so I have no clue anymore.

Texas and A&M are not a package deal. Last year when they were all being included in PAC 10 talks, aTm actually started talking with the SEC because they didn't want to be some tag along to Texas, wanted to be counted as themselves, which is why this is not surprising. They've wanted to separate themselves from Texas.