Wow, these are some strange times for college football fans and some incredibly bizarre times for college football traditionalists. The bs is hitting the fan so fast it’s like being in the front row of a Gallagher show, and I hope there’s a dude at the entrance somewhere selling programs because I can’t tell the good guys from the bad anymore.
Well, at least I know the USC Trojans are bad guys. I know this because the NCAA tells me so. Seems as though the football dynasty that Pete Carroll built there in LA has come crashing down with a big dull thud, and ol’ Pete slinked off to the NFL just before the Fall of Troy. He must be psychic? Anyways, a two year bowl ban and three years of reduced scholarships make for some serious penalties, and (barring a successful appeal to the NCAA Infractions Committee’s findings) the Trojans have been thrown under the bus and left as roadkill.
Even without these NCAA sanctions to SC, the Pac-10 was moving towards parody throughout most of the league. Look at the upcoming 2010 season previews and you find that as many as six or seven teams have legitimate chances of winning the conference. That’s amazing. But hang on, just as things were looking pretty dang exciting for the future, we notice a somewhat ominous cloud lurking there on the horizon. Hmmm, what could that be? It looks like …. I don’t know …. expansion? What is that? Is that a dust cloud?
No, it kind of looks like a stampede. Yeah, it’s a stampede of freaking buffaloes! Wait a minute, buffaloes? Can that be right?!
The University of Colorado has now officially joined the Pac-10 (11?), and if the raging tornado of rumors is to be believed then this is only the beginning. The old Pac-10 will do a ninja raid on the old Big XII conference and pilfer five more schools. Included are Texas and Oklahoma, along with Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State. I have officially entered Bizzarro World, and I’m not a happy camper.
Again, this is all still rumor and hearsay, but if things play out as suspected then the UofA and ASU will get thrown in with the six newbies to form an eastern division of a Pac-16 Superconference. I liked the idea of a Pac-10 TV Network (like the Big Ten network I get here in Illinois), but I find it hard to believe that the Pac-10 couldn’t have done that without expanding. Of course the engine that drives all of this is money, I get that. With Texas and Oklahoma onboard the revenue for a new tv contract will be more attractive and more lucrative.
Whatever.
I’m sure over time that I’ll grow to like the Great and Powerful Pac-16, but for now I will begin my mourning over the loss of the beautiful symmetry that was the Pac-10. Five pairs of traditional rivals that made for a perfect round robin football regular season and a Thursday-Saturday home-and-home basketball regular season. It just worked so well.
In a way, most of us that follow the Pac-10 are to blame (myself included). We pleaded that the Pac-10 conference should get more national exposure, and for my part I’ve always complained to anyone that would listen that the Pac-10 football games should be on national tv much more often than they are. I wished for the conference to get more national exposure, and I guess I should’ve been careful about what I wished for. Because it looks like I’m going to get my wish.
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Its all your fault Brad! LOL
ReplyDeleteI am watching too much futbol at the moment to really pay attention to this - figure I will give it a few days to filter thru the rumor mill before I freak out that our beloved Wildcats wont ever visit the Bay Area again and I'll have to aw shucks it out to Texas to see them...
A&M isn't a done deal yet. They are extremely opposed to joining a West Coast based conference and have been playing footsie with the SEC for several months now. Regents at Tech, UT, and OU will meet Tuesday and make their decision.
ReplyDeleteSpeculation here is that if not A&M then probably Kansas(football sucks, but they are a men's basketball powerhouse).
Kristen- Austin= SF without the Bridge, the ocean, or the earthquakes. Just watch out for the bats. You'd have a better time in Lubbock(and you'd actually know someone who lives there).
Bring on the Super Conferences. First step towards a football playoff... and the END of the BCS! Hoo-Ray!
ReplyDeletekv- The loss of games in California will definitely hurt recruiting. And I'm talking all UA sports, not just football. One thing's for sure, if the Pac-10 does become a Superconference then UA getting to that elusive Rose Bowl just got even more difficult.
ReplyDeleteSpB- I have noticed that the latest rumors are now saying Texas A&M will join the SEC. If that happens then I've got to believe that Texas vs Texas A&M will still remain as a non-conference game. I just can't see that tradition getting lost in this alignment shuffle. I guess I'm a college football traditionalist because I would hate to see some of the great traditional games get dissolved.
GH- I suppose if there are 4 superconferences that could create an abbreviated playoff. The Pac-16, Big Ten+Six, SEC, and .... ACC? Mountain West? Big East? This conference realignment stuff could get pretty wild.