Lights Out

The handwringing over the Big East picking up these non-AQ's just cracks me up. Firstly, after years and years of the SOS argument and cries of "join a REAL conference", it's very telling that many big conference fans are now complaining because those schools are going AQ. What, did they expect those schools to not jump at the chance to put that lame argument to rest?

Second of all, even the Big East comes with a lot more money and access than a non-AQ conference. You don't have to be absolutely perfect and still hope for other teams to drop games they shouldn't just to make the Fiesta or Sugar. You don't have to slum it on CBS College Sports, the MTN, West Bumblecrap Cable Access, and other boondock channels nobody gets. You can finally think about upgrading your small stadiums and less-than-stellar facilities. Moving to the Big East provides a real growth opportunity to these mid-majors, and crapping on that in the name of tradition is so myopic.

They're still going to have more money and more TV exposure than any mid-major conference, which still makes them a better option for Boise, Houston, SMU, etc. even in that scenario.

Not sure we would get the two BEST teams with a playoff system

Yes we would. It's simple - if you keep beating everyone in your way and make it to the title game, you are one of the top two teams in the country that year.

BCS proposes ony handling Nat'll Championship Game

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.

To go with the Brewers talk on the last page, here's an unpopular opinion:

I actually prefer their current scheme to the old blue and athletic gold. And I like their uniforms and logos, generally. They look better now than they ever have in their history, I'd say.

You're the guy!

Oh, you already knew that I'm that guy. Current scheme = terrific.

Germanic unis > all other Brewers unis.

Sifting through the homer-eroticism in this post

What can I say? It ain't a rivalry without some liberties taken.

Boise didn't exactly have much more of a fanbase

What they did have was more of a potential fanbase. In 1990 (the last count taken at the time), Boise had 125,738 people, while Moscow had 18,398. That's a lot more TV sets in Boise State's market, and that's not even counting the greater Boise metropolitan area (population of 295,851 in 1990). Is that a huge market? No, but certainly far bigger than what Idaho had to work with. Of course, BSU has maximized that and much more by now.

or prestige than Idaho when they came to D1-A

That's debatable. Idaho made the 1-AA playoffs two more times than Boise did, but Boise won a national title at that level in 1980 and made another title game in '94, losing to Jim Tressell and Youngstown State. (This isn't even counting BSU's 1958 NJCAA national title.) I'd say the championship would give BSU the advantage in prestige, but then again, I'm biased.

Athletes who can play at the FBS certianly don't want to spend 4-5 years playing the game they love in what could easily double as a livestock hall.

Or if your program isn't winning. Boise's facilities aren't exactly world-class, but recruits still want to go there because BSU has built up cachet and created a winning tradition. Idaho hasn't, so they can't really convince a 3-star recruit who has both BSU and UI on their list to come to Moscow over Boise.

it sure seems like Idaho belongs in the Big Sky where they can play the likes of Idaho State and the Montana schools.

Exactly. And they can compete from Day 1 in the Big Sky. The fans can finally enjoy winning on a regular basis and having a program that they can be proud of.

Don't look now, but Eastern Michigan is actually one win away from being bowl eligible for the first time since 1987. It looks like Ron English is turning that program around.

Isn't that what we said about Robb Akey and Idaho just a couple years ago?

I wasn't saying that a couple years ago, but then again, I hate dislike now no longer care about the Vandals.

On the field, Idaho was better than Boise head-to-head (although, BSU was no slouch in 1-AA, they won a national title and appeared in another title game). But BSU already had a larger market and a larger stadium, and they were called crazy at the time for trying to move up. You can imagine what the chances of Idaho, in tiny Moscow with their 16,000-seat stadium, moving up on their own would have been - slim to none.

Don't look now, but Eastern Michigan is actually one win away from being bowl eligible for the first time since 1987. It looks like Ron English is turning that program around.

Speaking of the Big Sky, what are the chances of Idaho admitting defeat and moving back down there? Let's face it, other than two trips to the Humanitarian Bowl spaced over a decade apart, they've been completely outmatched in FBS football. Their stadium is a dump and way too small, and their appeal is hyperlocal at best. They're only in the FBS because they begged the Idaho State BoE to be allowed to move up along with Boise State. There's no shame in Idaho moving back down to a level where they can have success and be competitive - to the contrary, there's more shame in staying in the FBS and getting boatraced pretty much every year.

Hawaii is going to trade an upgrade in football for a downgrade in every other sport.

Just goes to show how much bigger football is than the other college sports.

So it's looking like BYU will join the Big East. This likely clinches Boise's departure to the BE as well. According to the rumors, the divisions will look something like this:

West:

BYU

Boise State

Houston

SMU

Air Force

UCF(!)

East:

UConn

Rutgers

USF

Louisville

Cincinnati

Navy

No, I you not - UCF would likely end up in the West division. Why? Because Louisville and Cincy have already flat-out refused to go to the West and get smashed by BYU, BSU, Houston, SMU, and AFA every year. Can't say I blame them, but the geography sticklers will be whining even more.

Any of these uniforms are infinitely better than the crap Virginia Tech wears now:

Miami looks better in green jerseys:

The Gators' ProCombat from last year is the best uniform they've worn:

Best BYU uniforms:

Why can't we have a system like they have in Canada with Junion Hockey?

You mean the same junior hockey system that has gone through a child-molestation scandal of its own and has been described as a hockey sweatshop, where drug use and mistreatment are common? That junior hockey system?

They're better off staying in the Mountain West until the bigger dominoes fall into place.

Yeahhhhh, no. Not with that awful TV contract, the clown-college nature of the MWC/CUSA merger, and the inequitable share of money come BCS season.

Fixed. That's renegotiation D-Day for the Big East.

There are no clearly published, transparent guidelines from the BCS for losing AQ status. It'll either be that the Big East keeps their AQ status with minimal fuss, or there will be a huge mess complete with threats of legal action.

I think it's a moot point anyway, because the BCS has already come out and said they need six AQ conferences to function, and if all those schools join, the Big East is clearly still at very least the sixth-best conference in America.

Both the WAC and the Big West have offered to take on BSU's other sports.

Boise and Air Force are getting football-only invites. Problem solved.

I could really see Boise State and Air Force declining.

I don't. Having AQ status until 2015 is better than not even sniffing AQ status in that ridiculous merger. Might as well take the Big East money now and move up to a better conference the second one comes calling.

I loved the '90s Reebok college basketball uniforms with the elaborate scripts.

Pathetically, there's actually serious talk of the Big Least, Conference USA, and Mountain West merging into a 32-team conference. No, I am not making this up. Boise State and Houston need to get the hell out while they can.

No... Oregon fans don't like Boise because after all the smack you talked to us Boise fans, your team ended up 0-2 against BSU.

University of New Hampshire

University of Delaware

This just in: the Mountain West is desperate and pathetic.