DCDuck

Can the Spiders actually upgrade Robins Stadium to FCS standards, or is there a bigger facility off campus? At a glance, Robins Stadium seems to be somewhat difficult to expand to 20,000+ to qualify for FBS football. The stadium is boxed-in by a road on one side of the field and by a building/tennis courts on the other side. Not saying it couldn't be done, but it might be better to relinquish the stadium back to the soccer/lacrosse/track programs and build a new facility elsewhere if they are looking at joining the Big East for football. Good luck with that. They just built Robins Stadium two years ago.

Can the Spiders actually upgrade Robins Stadium to FCS standards, or is there a bigger facility off campus? There isn't a bigger facility worth using. Richmond City Stadium is a dump - it makes Memphis's digs look top-of-the-line - and is a big reason why VCU hasn't been actively pursuing a football team.

Good to see the TICKS keeping their options open. The funny thing is that UR is probably the fifth-most followed program in the city of Richmond, behind VCU, Virginia, Va. Tech and Old Dominion. And then you still have the other CAA football schools.

The Big East? TLN isn't part of basic cable, is it? If not, it'll probably end up like The Mtn. - unwatched and irrelevant, and more trouble than it's worth. Hopefully, for the sake of college athletics as a whole, Texas cuts its losses sooner rather than later. Unintentional puns, HURRAH! In all seriousness, I would like to see OU, Ok St, TT, and Houston to join. That would not only make the conference much more competitive, but it would also expand the market a bit. The only other option other than Houston would be Nevada or UNLV, and we've discussed that to death. Any combination of those teams would get Colorado steamed for bringing in schools that would divide the conference into east and west (even if it is in four-school segments - it would still be NE/NW/SE/SW). Pod system I saw kicked around was round robin against your pod and 2 games against the other 3 pods. That guarantees every "east" school two trips to the West Coast per season. Only two? Colorado has at least three trips to the west coast guaranteed - four if they don't play at Utah - every season with the deal they have in place now. It's entirely possible with the addition of OU, Okie State, TTech, and ____ that they play a conference schedule in football one season without ever setting foot in the state of California.

Dan Beebe would have to be in charge for something that brazen to happen. Anyone else with a spine would kick Texas out completely. "You want your football independence? Fine. Have fun playing your olympic sports in the Great West conference with Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley State." True, but remember this is Texas. If it isn't played with a ball made from pig hide, it doesn't matter. Baseball's actually pretty big at UT. Men's basketball as well. They're not at the fanatical level of importance as football, but they're not irrelevant.

The Big East? TLN isn't part of basic cable, is it? If not, it'll probably end up like The Mtn. - unwatched and irrelevant, and more trouble than it's worth. Hopefully, for the sake of college athletics as a whole, Texas cuts its losses sooner rather than later. Unintentional puns, HURRAH! In all seriousness, I would like to see OU, Ok St, TT, and Houston to join. That would not only make the conference much more competitive, but it would also expand the market a bit. The only other option other than Houston would be Nevada or UNLV, and we've discussed that to death. Any combination of those teams would get Colorado steamed for bringing in schools that would divide the conference into east and west (even if it is in four-school segments - it would still be NE/NW/SE/SW).

Dan Beebe would have to be in charge for something that brazen to happen. Anyone else with a spine would kick Texas out completely. "You want your football independence? Fine. Have fun playing your olympic sports in the Great West conference with Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley State."

The Big East? TLN isn't part of basic cable, is it? If not, it'll probably end up like The Mtn. - unwatched and irrelevant, and more trouble than it's worth. Hopefully, for the sake of college athletics as a whole, Texas cuts its losses sooner rather than later.

We're too lazy to look up what happened before 2005, and we don't particularly care.* Don't deny it, it's true. *Except in the case of Notre Dame. Because Irish fans demand that we know how many titles they won 15 years before any of us were born.

Depends where you are in the state. You get west of Eureka and you can practically hear the banjo music wafting into your car. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing! You can make the best of it and pretend that John Law's comin' for ya. Game over, man, game over. Not to mention the state of Missouri is contiguous with three states already represented in the SEC (Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee).

The Longhorn Network is the 800-pound gorilla in the room. The B1G and SEC won't take Texas with that baggage, and evidently neither will the Pac-12. How Texas is still hanging onto it is beyond me. Maybe because it was UT's and Dan Beebe's love child? So I guess now TLN is just for Texas's olympic sports?

My basic cable package includes FX, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNews, along with Comcast Sports Net and MASN (Mid Atlantic Sports Network) which has a contract with the Big East. So I can see games from most all of the BCS AQ conferences. My basic cable does NOT include Versus or CBS College Sports. As such, I'm unable to see any Mountain West conference game. Ever. I'm sure many other people are in a similar situation. I don't want to have to pay $15 a month just to watch The Mtn. football games for four months - then keep paying the cost even when football season is over until my contract is up. I guess I have to do without being able to watch Air Force ever. Or Boise State. Ever. That is why I hate the Mtn. with a fiery passion and wished that it was the conference getting picked apart instead of the Big XII and the Big East.

Once again ensuring future generations of the ability to watch a completely undeserving B1G team play in a BCS bowl against a much superior Pac-12 opponent, a la Illinois/USC 2007.

If the PAC is not expanding and OU is genuine about staying in the Big 12 with conditions to be met and the Big East is going to solder on minus Pitt/Syracuse + 2 new members...does this mean that conference armageddon has largely been averted? I have a feeling conference armageddon has just been postponed. The ACC has added two teams with still possibly more, the SEC is still looking for a 14th, and we're not sure if Oklahoma's conditions will be met. If anything, OU and OK State could jump to the Big 10 now. Oklahoma State's academics are not very good, and that's putting it mildly.

Hey, at least Dan Beebe can go become head of Linens n' Things, KB Toys, Borders, Lehman Bros. or Circuit City. Wait, what? He can't? ... oh.

I don't see Jim Calhoun sticking around for three more years. Not even with him bullying players into giving up their scholarships for more highly-touted recruits encouraging players to be selfless for the sake of the team.

Butler football plays in the Pioneer League - which is pretty much the equivalent of table scraps for FCS teams.

It might have to do with the unofficial slogan "Win or lose, we still booze!". At least it's not as bad as Maryland's "Win or lose, we still cause seven-figure dollar totals worth of property damage!"

It's also worth noting that Air Force has little to gain from joining a BCS AQ conference, since the Service Academies are all run by the U.S. Government, and attending the US Air Force Academy comes with some pretty considerable commitments.

Maybe among members of the Air Force, but not among a general nationwide audience... not even close. Part of that is because nobody ever gets to see them play (Thanks again, The Mtn.!). Air Force has one of the most exciting brands of football around.

I think the bigger news is, the Big East was targeting AIR FORCE? I thought TCU was a sketch but JESUS, that's almost Pac-12 territory! Might as well change their name just The Big, if you're going to go that far west. New Jersey Tech plays in a conference called the Great West. Nothing is sacred. In other news, I'd finally be able to watch my beloved Falcons play on TV. I hate The Mtn. with a fiery passion.

Navy is better in football than half the teams in the ACC. I'm sure 'Cuse and Pitt will enjoy playing against such football powerhouses as Duke, Wake Forest, and Boston College week after week.

Texas still must agree to equal revenue sharing, something that they did not agree to with the reformed Big XII and LHN is still a sticking point. Wither they take a 1/16th share or they kick rocks to the next sandbox. This, absolutely. I think Texas might rather go independent than share revenue equally with schools like Washington State.

I look for Colorado to block or vote against any Pac-12 expansion involving Texas and/or Oklahoma. They didn't want to be part of a conference that had divisions along east and west.

Maryland is a basketball school first. Their biggest basketball rival is Duke (and you know it's a rivalry when students riot after every Duke game, win or lose). Duke plays in the ACC. Therefore I don't see any reason for Maryland to leave aside from money. ... Unless Kevin Anderson really believes football could actually be a big draw at that school... which it has never been, not even when Maryland was winning 9, 10, and 11 games a year back in Fridge's early years. Which is a definite possibility.