thespleenenator

Lions vs. Chargers 2007

First year in current Charger unis, second to last year in Lions old unis

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?

http://espn.go.com/c...ess-source-says

The Big East as we know it is dead.

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.

The best line-up:

Butler

Creighton

Dayton

DePaul

Marquette

Georgetown

Providence

Seton Hall

St. John's

St. Louis

Villanova

Xavier

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.

They also went 12-2 and won their conference last year.

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

Same thing last year for the C-USA. Southern Miss won and they haven't been publicly considered yet.

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

If I were the Big XII and I were going to take an ACC team that had orange in their colors, Miami would third on the list of three.

Recruiting standpoint: FSU gets you the SoFla market

TV stand point: FSU gets you the SoFla market

Miami has attendance issues even when they're not in the NCAA's cross hairs. It just doesn't make sense to me.

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).

Personally, in a few years, I think these will be the new conferences (semi-kidding, of course). The NFL D-League will have the top 2 teams from each division compete in a seeded playoff, with two extra wild cards added:

NFL D-League

SOUTH

• Alabama
  
• Texas A&M
  
• Georgia
  
• Texas
  
• Auburn
  
• LSU
  
• Tennessee
  
• Kentucky
  
• South Carolina
  
• Clemson
  
• Ole Miss
  
• Mississippi
  
• Baylor
  
• Texas Tech
  

EAST

• Florida
  
• Florida State
  
• Miami (FL)
  
• Duke
  
• Maryland
  
• NC State
  
• Penn State
  
• Virginia Tech
  
• UNC
  
• Georgia Tech
  
• Syracuse
  
• Boston College
  
• South Florida
  
• Virginia
  

WEST

• UCLA
  
• Arizona
  
• Arizona State
  
• Cal
  
• Washington
  
• Stanford
  
• BYU
  
• Oklahoma
  
• Boise State
  
• USC
  
• Washington State
  
• Oklahoma State
  
• Colorado
  
• Utah
  

NORTH

• Notre Dame
  
• Kansas State
  
• Kansas
  
• Nebraska
  
• Indiana
  
• Wisconsin
  
• Ohio State
  
• Iowa
  
• Michigan
  
• Michigan State
  
• Missouri
  
• Iowa State
  
• West Virginia
  
• TCU
  

*** Vanderbilt and Northwestern are pushed to the Ivy League ***

What's left of the entire Sun Belt Conference, WAC, Mid-American Conference, and Mountain West Conference (40 teams) plus the following teams have been demoted to the Division 1 Non-Bowl Elligible Conference which operates under the same playoff structure as the NFL D-League, but has their own championship. They're recognized as having a football team, however, nobody cares about them.

• UCF
  
• Wake Forest
  

FCS Schols are Added to Division II

At the end of the season, Division II and Division III combine in the playoffs for the "I Pretend I'm Still Playing High School Football" trophy. If you finish dead last in the Division II/III playoff, a ceremony is held where each of the players moms stands in front of the crowd and tells their sons, "It's okay, I still love you anyway," so that they can believe they have at least 1 fan.

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.

OK, so since I didn't see this thread at first.....

This is just my personal view of the landscape 10 years from now. Yeah, I know that there's a lot that can effect one or more conferences and too much has to happen to make any of this possible, so just keep in mind: THIS IS OBVIOUSLY FICTIONAL.

The "SUPER 16" CONFERENCES

- Name: Big North (formerly Big Ten)

- # of schools: 16

- Divisions: Geographic

- Championship Game: Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)

When the playoffs began in 2014, the Big Ten decided to increase its strength by adding 4 more schools. Virginia Tech left the ACC, which lost some of its weight as a "BCS conference", accepting the invite to join the newly named Big North. Cincinatti was also invited after being passed over for Louisville by the Big XII. Notre Dame was practically forced to join for football only, as they were the only independent school left. The Big North wanted to expand to the East Coast and looked to branch out twoards New York, but since Syracuse decided to stay with the ACC, Buffalo was taken instead as what fans of the day call a "potential" program.

- Name: Big XVI (formerly Big XII)

- # of schools: 16

- Divisions: Geographic

- Championship Game: Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, TX)

Along with the Big Ten, the Big XII also decided to change its name as even the presidents themselves eventually thought it was a little ridiculous knowing the number of teams involved with the conference didn't match the name. Also, like the Big Ten, the new Big XVI decided to expand some more by inviting BYU and Louisville. Like TCU, Air Force and Houston decided that the Big XVI would be a better choice than plaing in the Big East. UNlike TCU, they played at least a couple years in the Big East. Jerry Jones (still living at this point... barely) is glad to see the conference championship game back in the The Death Star.

- Name: Pac-16 (formerly Pac-12)

- # of schools: 16

- Divisions: Geographic

- Championship Game:Farmers Field (Los Angeles)

As the Pac-12 got stronger, their expansion came right along with the other "Big Four". Boise's invite came with the twist of an arm, though not as dominant in their WAC/Mountain West days, still were very formidable. Nevada was added not only as a natural rival for them, but there program also grew pretty well. Hawai'i was a big draw "potenial" based on some of their BCS history and Texas was still in mind for expansion, with UTEP being the closest available school. Getting away from the home team field advantage, the Pac-16 decided to chose a neutral site for their big game like everyone else. The absolute best venue available for that was one of the newest stadiums in the NFL: L.A.'s Farmers Field.

- Name: Southeast Conference (SEC)

- # of schools: 16

- Divisions: Geographic

- Championship Game:Turner Stadium (Atlanta)

Since 2014, the SEC hasn't been as dominant as they were before these playoffs. Seeing this as reason to expand, they invited two ACC programs. Georgia Tech, a program that left the SEC in the 60's, and Miami, a program no one ever thought would be part of the SEC.... Georgia Tech and Miami. Because of Texas A&M and Mizzou's additions ten years earlier, the SEC was already one of biggest, but these two solidified the conference's place as one of the "Big Four". The SEC considered moving their championship game, but decided to stay in Atlanta since the Georgia Dome was replaced with a new, state-of-the-art Falcons stadium named after Ted Turner.

The Mid Super Conferences

- Name: ACC

- # of schools: 12

- Divisions: Non-Geographic

- Championship Game:Bacardi Stadium (Miami Gardens, FL)

When the ACC gained 14 teams in 2012, it seemed as if it would be one of the biggest and strongest conferences for some time to come. But, a handfull of ACC schools left to go to other conferences with a few (Umass, Florida Atlantic, Army) invited to join, reducing the conference back to 12. The championship game returned to Florida in the renovated, re-named Bacardi Stadium in 2018.

- Name: Big East

- # of schools: 14

- Divisions: Non-Geographic

- Championship Game:MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)

The Big East seemed to be dead in the water in 2011 until the conference invited several other schools right after TCU bailed, which were from the former Mountain West and C-USA. However, Houston, SDSU, Air Force, Boise State, and Big East member Louisville ALL left as well and even Big East member Notre Dame decided to go to another conference for football. Being labled "dead" again, the Big East didn't give up and did some heavy duty searching for other schools, while being lucky enough to have two basketball schools bring their football programs back to FBS: Villanova and Gerogetown. Like basketball, the conference wanted their first ever championship football game in the New York/New Jersey Metro Area, sticking to MetLife Stadium.

- Name: Conference Sun Belt (Sun Belt Conference + C-USA)

- # of schools: 14

- Divisions: Geographic

- Championship Game:Reliant Stadium (Houston)

The Sun Belt survived the big program grab of FBS realignment... and the C-USA was on its last leg. Both conferences decided for business sake to combine into one, which was ironic for the C-USA since they had plans with the Mountain West to combine into a 22-team conference just a decade ago. Because there were slightly more teams on their side, the Sun Belt basically had top billing as far as the name went, with just a slight modification. Just like every other conference in this time, the C-SB decided to go with a neutral site for a championship game, with Houston and New Orleans rotating every 2 years.

- Name: Mid-American Conference (MAC)

- # of schools: 14

- Divisions: Geographic

- Championship Game:Ford Field (Detroit)

The MAC hasn't been considered a top conference for a long time. With the current landscape, it's not as seperate.... but the perception is still there. With three teams leaving, the MAC was one of the conferences who didn't take as hard a hit as a few others. And since the landscape was a bit more regional again, the MAC decided to take a couple C-USA schools, one Sun Belt and introduce former FCS powerhouse Appalacian State to the fold.

- Name: Mountain Western Athletic Conference (The MW. MWC + WAC)

- # of schools: 12

- Divisions: Geographic

- Championship Game:University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, AZ)

The Mountain West was looking to expand because their heavy hitters had all left, but found that several schools were taken and didn't know where else to turn. Good thing for them (and horrible for the other), the WAC basically became extinct. So, to save some face for the old league, the Mountain West decided to call on a combination of their programs and leftovers from the WAC. With the merger agreed upon from both parties, the Mountain Western Athletic Conference (or simply just "The MW") was born, with Denver fielding their first football team in the later part of the 2010s.

The Pac-16 and ACC got screwed.

Hey y'alls. Super excited to make losing to ing Virginia an annual affair. Let's bring in Wake Forest and speed up their efforts to pass Indiana in all-time winning percentage while we're at it.

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

Butler just joined the A-10, I think its only a matter of time till VCU & Mason join & they'll have to get one more school to make it an even 16 due to UNC Charlotte leaving as well.

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.

Butler just joined the A-10, I think its only a matter of time till VCU & Mason join & they'll have to get one more school to make it an even 16 due to UNC Charlotte leaving as well.

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

Butler just joined the A-10, I think its only a matter of time till VCU & Mason join & they'll have to get one more school to make it an even 16 due to UNC Charlotte leaving as well.

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.

I gotta be honest, every time I see an Idaho home game on TV (mostly clips). It has the feel of watching an FCS game. Something about the Vandals seems like they don't belong at the highest division. I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's the success and popularity of Boise State that makes them look minor in comparison.

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.

Well, Texas State won't stay in the WAC for long.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/the-local-scene/2012/04/sun-belt-expected-to-add-texas-state-ut-arlington/

The Sun Belt Conference is expected to add Texas State University and UT Arlington for the 2013-14 season, sources said Monday.

Both are expected to play one season in the Western Athletic Conference before joining the Sun Belt next summer.

Texas State will enter the Sun Belt as a Football Bowl Subdivision program headed up by Coach Dennis Franchione.

While UT Arlington does not play football, officials haven?t ruled out adding the sport in the future.

Also, tomorrow is the day that the rumors of VCU, GMU & Butler are supposed to join the A-10. VCU's former AD (now with Minnesota) basically said, give it one more year.

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).

Well, Texas State won't stay in the WAC for long.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/the-local-scene/2012/04/sun-belt-expected-to-add-texas-state-ut-arlington/

The Sun Belt Conference is expected to add Texas State University and UT Arlington for the 2013-14 season, sources said Monday.

Both are expected to play one season in the Western Athletic Conference before joining the Sun Belt next summer.

Texas State will enter the Sun Belt as a Football Bowl Subdivision program headed up by Coach Dennis Franchione.

While UT Arlington does not play football, officials haven?t ruled out adding the sport in the future.

Also, tomorrow is the day that the rumors of VCU, GMU & Butler are supposed to join the A-10. VCU's former AD (now with Minnesota) basically said, give it one more year.

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?

Has anyone heard anything recent about what the WAC is doing (or not doing) to save it's football conference? Any word on who will (or might be) be the next commish?

A repurposed Furby.

I lol'd.

I would like to see more color vs color (jerseys) in football beyond the youth level. Nothing agaist white jerseys, but I'd really like to see some NFL matchup with both teams in their team color jersey. Just as long as their in no clashing.

100% agree.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Big East is going to change their name right?

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/

@ spleen: Student enrollment has nothing to do with student support or suitability for an athletic conference. Take the state of Virginia for example. VCU is the largest school in the state by undergraduate enrollment (32,000+), followed by George Mason and Old Dominion. Virginia Tech is fifth in the state by enrollment, while UVA is eighth. Yet those two schools are the only relevant ones when it comes to college football (which is the only thing that matters, otherwise we'd be talking about Baylor to the SEC or Tulane to the Big XII or something).

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.

OK...here's my review for who's left in the WAC.

Hawaii: Big question mark.

Idaho: Staying put unless everybody else leaves.

Louisiana Tech: Conference USA should send an invite.

New Mexico State: MWC will likely try luring them too (UNM-NMSU rivalry in-conference)

San Jose State: Ditto here (now that FSU's in the MWC and the future of SDSU football is pretty murky)

Utah State: Will likely stay unless everybody else leaves.

Which brings us to the question: "Who will the WAC try luring?"

My gut feeling is they'll cherry-pick the FCS Big Sky, so the most logical options would be Montana (football AND basketball juggernaut), Portland State (major market, newly renovated stadium also home to an MLS team), and Sacramento State (to reestablish the Central Valley market). They might try for Eastern Washington (to continue a Portland State rivalry), Idaho State (to give Idaho an in-state in-conference rival again), and Montana State (if Montana wants to play hardball about joining).

Which leaves me wondering how NAU, NCU, and Weber State would do for themselves...

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.

Bobcats Logo and Uniform. Still one of the best logos and unis... IMO. :-)

Is that why you gave it 0/1 stars?