thespleenenator

That's actually what the article talks about. He was preaching conference unity for the last few weeks and telling the other Big East teams they had to stick together, and well, now look what happens. We've been talking for the last few weeks how the Big XII was on the verge of destruction and in the matter of two days, I think we've seen the fatal shot to the Big East in football. The conference is now down to 6 teams and unless they raid one of the mid-majors or take the scraps of the Big XII, I think it's likely by the end of next week, two BCS conferences will cease to exist. FYP

Apparently, the ACC wants to add to more teams, and Texas has made a pitch to them.

Just read it on the bottom crawl, they've been accepted. Can't find a link, but it said BREAKING NEWS while I was watching the Stanford-Arizona game that they'v been voted in.

It's official: Pittsburg and Syracuse are part of the ACC.

I have no idea how the hell you think the SEC would take Baylor but not Louisville. Plus, a 32 team bracket would make the season too long.

But OU isn't an AAU school, and neither is OK State. Oklahoma just became a Tier 1 institution this past January. What happened to those precious, unwavering academic standards that the PAC-12 claims to be obsessed with? Money is better than Academics. Boise has neither.

Ahmen.

The Stanford caliber schools will never consort with a jumped-up community college. They've said as much. To add, and I may be naive here, Boise doesn't have any other worthwhile athletics (like basketball, at the least). The Pac-12 is collectively competitive in every sport. Yes, like for example wrestling and, its defending champion, Boise State. If wrestling mattered, Iowa State would be a team conferences would want.

Because all the other schools know, other than Oklahoma (and now texas) know that if A&M leaves, they have a very uncertain future ahead of them, especially Baylor.

And academics. Remember, we have Stanford, Cal, USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado, all of which are known for being good academic schools. Utah and Arizona are no slouches either, especially Arizona's Honors college, S.A.L.T, which is one of the hardest colleges to get into in the world. SALT isn't our Honors College. SALT is the special needs student program. Our Honors College is excellent, though, and we are one of the foremost universities in the world for planetary science and astronomy. Anyway, the fact that eight of the twelve Pac-12 schools are AAU members (ASU, WSU, OSU and Utah are the exceptions) speaks for itself. Well that explains why my parents wanted me to go there. Anyway, if I were to rank to conferences in terms of academics, it would go like this: 1. Pac-12 2. ACC 3. Big Ten (you could interchange those three for the most part) 4. Big East 5. SEC 6. Big nothing

And academics. Remember, we have Stanford, Cal, USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado, all of which are known for being good academic schools. Utah and Arizona are no slouches either, especially Arizona's Honors college, S.A.L.T, which is one of the hardest colleges to get into in the world.

Texas won't end up in the Pac-12(16?). The conference has already told Texas they'd have to fold their baby, the Longhorn Network, into the Pac-12's new TV network. And that alone would be a deal breaker for Texas after the time and money they've put into it. I do think it's likely the two Oklahoma teams make the jump to the Pac-12, but word is Texas would rather explore saving the Big 12 with a slew of new additions (leaving them the king of the hill like they are today), or if that fails going the indy route for football with their other sports in the ACC. Wouldn't the SEC make more sense?

I can tell you one thing. The Big XII is gonna talk with all the teams, and they're going to say "Whatever the cost, T A&M cannot win the conference." That would just be the ultimate insult to injury. Nebraska went to the Big 12 title game last fall, so not ike that can't happen But they didn't win. And A&M might be is the entire reason the conference collapsed.

I can tell you one thing. The Big XII is gonna talk with all the teams, and they're going to say "Whatever the cost, T A&M cannot win the conference." That would just be the ultimate insult to injury.

I asked this to my uncle, who works for the Oregon athletic department, and he basically laughed at my face. Not only do they lack and prowess in any other sports, but their academics are way below Pac-12 standards. They're not even being considered.

Those schools are way too small and have way too little fan support to be in a BCS conference. Both of the schools you bolded have larger enrollment than Wake Forest and Vanderbilt. One could say the same about Baylor. How did they get into the Big XII and not Houston or Rice (SMU I could understand)? Baylor's football program was the laughing stock of the Big XII up until a couple of years ago, and they weren't exactly setting the world on fire in (men's) basketball either. Those schools have much bigger athletic departments than Rice and SMU. And they actually have people show up to their games (Wake Forest nearly sells out most of their football games). It's possible that SMU could work if they garner enough fan support, but Rice is just too small and doesn't have any athletic support except in baseball.

Those schools are way too small and have way too little fan support to be in a BCS conference. From what I've heard, they're looking at BYU.

Link to Geoff's comment http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6861385/sec-extend-invitation-texas-leaves-options-open

That makes perfect sense except that Texas will go independent. If that happens, Notre Dame is staying. That means that the B1G would have to go for a non BCS school (Navy perhaps?). The absolute best option for the Pac-16 would be AIr Force. It would give them a national following, along with a very athletically competitive school.

Yes, Kansas basketball makes money. Basketball and football are the two revenue sports of college athletics, but as we saw from last year, football is king. Football is driving all the decisions of conference expansion. When the Pac10 was trying to add 6 Big 12 teams last year, they went for Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Colorado. The only discussed variation was Butler instead of Colorado. If basketball was a factor, Kansas would have factored in or some other big conference would have at least been waiting to swoop them up. Instead, Kansas was faced with the sad truth that, basketball and all, conference realignment was about to leave them in the dust with the other 5 unwanted members of the Big 12. Football and the money it makes drove every decision and discussion for realignment last year. I seriously doubt that has changed. Wait... what? Butler? I'm pretty sure they're aren't going to leave the Pioneer league any time soon. Butler is in the Horizon League first, then please wait until later with a better formed realignment position. football money is what builds athletic departments is what makes for non-DVR tv for most ratings. Read that to yourself again and see if you can make out what your saying.

Yes, Kansas basketball makes money. Basketball and football are the two revenue sports of college athletics, but as we saw from last year, football is king. Football is driving all the decisions of conference expansion. When the Pac10 was trying to add 6 Big 12 teams last year, they went for Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Colorado. The only discussed variation was Butler instead of Colorado. If basketball was a factor, Kansas would have factored in or some other big conference would have at least been waiting to swoop them up. Instead, Kansas was faced with the sad truth that, basketball and all, conference realignment was about to leave them in the dust with the other 5 unwanted members of the Big 12. Football and the money it makes drove every decision and discussion for realignment last year. I seriously doubt that has changed. Wait... what? Butler? I'm pretty sure they're aren't going to leave the Pioneer league any time soon.

You honestly don't think Kansas Basketball makes money? Kansas is the Texas of Basketball, maybe Kentucky is a close second.

Iowas State and K-State are a bit iffy I'll given you that, but Mizzou and Kansas? Who wouldn't want those schools. In terms of football, yes, you're correct. But Kansas plays basketball too. They also have great track. Also, Iowa State is, along with Oklahoma State, are the top wrestling programs in the nation.

You might want to try your math again when you add up the three scores, but at least you finally see what the data shows. And where are you getting UNR is one of the fastest growing universities? Enrollment hasn't really spiked up since 2007. UNR's 4-year graduation rate is 15%. It's 6-year rate is 48%. Less than half the undergraduates finish school in six years. It's tough to grow when people are leaving. I meant physically growing. Apparently, according people in the area, there are cranes running every day, and they're apparently going to renovate their stadium. Look, I'm probably the biggest Nevada Wolfpack supporter on this board, went to the university (Didn't graduate form there due to many reasons, class offerings was one though), and live about 50 miles from Reno, but the idea that UNR could be accepted into the Pac 12/4/6 is really crazy. Sure, the city is growing, but that's mainly due to lower real estate prices than just across the boarder in California and the fact that work is insanely hard to find in this part of the state. Nevada's economy for the most part depends on two things, the fortunes of their meal ticket to the west, and gambling. California is in debt up to their eyeballs right now, and Nevada is paying because of it. EVERYTHING in the state is underfunded, including the school systems. Nevada has by far one of the worst educational systems in the entire country in terms of funding. Both UNR and UNLV have had major financial cutbacks in the past few years that have all but crippled their educational offerings. And when it comes to gambling, just look at the city of Vegas. You'd be hard pressed to find any other area of the country that was hit worse by the poor economy than Vegas. It's gotten so bad in Vegas that people are leaving at a faster rate than coming into town now. I for one would be giddy as a schoolgirl to see the Wolfpack find a way to join the PAC #, but there is simply no way that either of the Nevada Universities have the resources to do so any time soon. Well, not going to argue with a native. Who's the next best bet then, Air Force? They have a big national following and great academics, but would a service academy join a BCS if given the chance?

You might want to try your math again when you add up the three scores, but at least you finally see what the data shows. And where are you getting UNR is one of the fastest growing universities? Enrollment hasn't really spiked up since 2007. UNR's 4-year graduation rate is 15%. It's 6-year rate is 48%. Less than half the undergraduates finish school in six years. It's tough to grow when people are leaving. I meant physically growing. Apparently, according people in the area, there are cranes running every day, and they're apparently going to renovate their stadium.