FSU to B12?

[Triple B]

This is one huge cluster**** ...

[South_Florida_Flip]

This is one huge cluster**** ...

Not a surprise.

The 4 16 team super conferences are not too far off now.

[macphisto]

If FSU and Clemson leave I could see some other poaching happening, depending on how large the Big XII and other conferences wish to get. A merger would make some sense with the remaining Big East schools that play football, allowing the BE name to stay with Georgetown, Seton Hall, etc. I doubt that SMU or Houston would be included. UCF, maybe. I could also see Temple being brought along. Their football program has improved and their basketball is good.

If the B1G expands then they would target Maryland, Rutgers, Virginia, or UNC - possibly all four. Duke and Wake are outliers, but I'm not sure they'd be appealing due to athletic issues and the fact that the B1G is all public schools except for Northwestern. I could see the SEC taking an interest to prop up their academics, but they'd prefer to take VT over anyone and probably would take NC State to get into North Carolina or might try to do a tandem of UVa and VT.

Will the Big XII stop at 12? Who else out there really adds value? Georgia Tech? Possibly, but mainly due to the presence in Atlanta. That might open the door for Louisville.

It is very possible that the ACC will become a shell of its former self and even a merger between the remaining BE squads and the remaining ACC schools will leave a diminished conference, especially if the NC schools bail.

I think most of what will happen depends on the B1G. If they stay put then the ACC may be able to stem the bleeding or if the B1G only goes to 14. Truth is, I don't think they have a play that adds tons of value to their conference. UNC would be a nice add, but mainly for basketball. They won't consider another school unless they have AAU membership. Georgia Tech? Maybe, but how much value do they add?

[charsibb]

I wish I could go back and pull some of the conversations from last year when most were declaring the Big 12 dead. Until I see all these schools jet, I won't believe it.

It looks like FSU and Clemson are probably gone, but until official word comes from anyone about any team it's still up in the air.

The ACC will survive.

B12 was only dead because Texas and Oklahoma were talking about leaving. WHEREVER thise two schools are, that conference is a major conference. When the B12 caved to all their demands, they stayed put, and the B12 was right back at respectability.

TAMU and Mizzou jumped because the SEC was better, not because B12 was dead.

FSU, Miami, and VaTech are the UT and OU for the ACC. If they stay, they ACC might hold together. If they jump, the ACC is dead man walking. UVA and Maryland are on the phone immediately. As would be UNC and Duke.

[Who'sYourData?]

This is one huge cluster**** ...

We've been heading in this direction for at least the last two or three years, despite most not believing it.

The question is whether USF can weasel into one of the big four. I think that largely depends on how much they expand. The Pac 12 outsmarted itself last year. Now they are stuck at 12 or they add some mediocre teams. They could/should have had two Texas schools and two Oklahoma schools. Though admittedly Texas demands had a lot to do with that falling apart.

Texas being stupid actually is what got the Big 12 straight. By necessity of survival, Texas and the remaining Big 12 schools agreed to some things they didn't want to. Then ESPN went and did Texas the huge favor of grossly overpaying for a Longhorn network they can't sell to anyone. Which means the rest of the Big 12 can now do what they want, because Texas can't go anywhere else and keep their sweetheart deal for $15mil per. Meanwhile, the other schools agreed to let Texas have their deal because most couldn't get as much money without Texas.

The stare down resulted in the grant-of-rights TV deal, which suddenly makes the B12 the most stable conference out there. It was pretty much all an accident. The ACC, meanwhile, was too dumb to realize the ramifications. For that matter, the Big East should have only added enough to get to 10 teams for a year or two so there would be more flexibility to pick up stragglers.

[Doc]

I don't see the four big-boy conferences making an exclusive playoff system where only their members are eligible (anti-trust stuff would resurface). The Pac12 can't get to 16 without raiding the BigXII and this doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon, so the 16x4 thing is off the table for now.

Sure, I can see the BigXII taking up FSU/Clemson to get to 12, and maybe ND/BYU as well (they seem to be OK with letting schools keep separate sweet TV deals), while the SEC can get to 16 with VT/NCState and the B10 can get to 16 if they should take Duke/UNC/UMD/UVA as previously suggested. This would essentially remove the BBall/Academic "snobs" from the ACC and a merger with the old-guard BigEast FBall (plus Temple) would form a decent conference with plenty of BRAND names to help it survive in ALL sports.

To be perfectly honest, the prior FBall setup was pretty much a sham, and the attraction of winning the BigEast just to play in a glorified bowl game few would watch (yeah, that includes the Orange and Sugar, anything that isn't for a national championship) was getting old. As it was, and as it will be, USF will have very little chance of playing for a national championship in football. I would be happy as long as we belong to a conference that remains visible (in ALL sports), and this means aligning ourselves with brand name schools, not just southern-based, mediocre football, no-name programs that most of our fans still wouldn't travel to see. Should we be so fortunate to join up with Miami/GT/WF/BC, and rejoin Pitt/Cuse, we would ensure visibility, viability, recruiting, and competitiveness in all of college athletics.

[Joe]

I wish I could go back and pull some of the conversations from last year when most were declaring the Big 12 dead. Until I see all these schools jet, I won't believe it.

It looks like FSU and Clemson are probably gone, but until official word comes from anyone about any team it's still up in the air.

The ACC will survive.

B12 was only dead because Texas and Oklahoma were talking about leaving. WHEREVER thise two schools are, that conference is a major conference. When the B12 caved to all their demands, they stayed put, and the B12 was right back at respectability.

TAMU and Mizzou jumped because the SEC was better, not because B12 was dead.

FSU, Miami, and VaTech are the UT and OU for the ACC. If they stay, they ACC might hold together. If they jump, the ACC is dead man walking. UVA and Maryland are on the phone immediately. As would be UNC and Duke.

That's the thing. All this talk about VT and UNC, etc is all sourceless speculation.

Even after Texas and Oklahoma committed, people swore the smaller schools would want out like Texas A&M and Mizzou and the league would implode.

Until it happens, it's all a shot in the dark.

What we do know is FSU and Clemson are likely heading to the Big 12. That's it. Everything else is all BS.

[Who'sYourData?]

I don't see the four big-boy conferences making an exclusive playoff system where only their members are eligible (anti-trust stuff would resurface).

Yeah, but realistically how often could someone outside of the top four conferences get into the Top 4 rankings? The BCS system to this point "included" the little guy because they had four, then five bowls. That means a little guy only had to crack the top 8 or so. Pretty near impossible, but they managed it a couple of times. Now they've reduced the number of slots back down to four. Then the most exclusive bowls will once again freeze out the little guy, since they won't have to pick teams by a system anymore.

What the big schools have done is placated the masses while tightening the grip on the big money. Brilliant, from their perspective.

[Who'sYourData?]

That's the thing. All this talk about VT and UNC, etc is all sourceless speculation.

LOL. Less than a week ago, people were saying the same about FSU and Clemson. There is absolutely no doubt the Viriginia and NC schools are talking to anyone who will listen.

[Joe]

That's the thing. All this talk about VT and UNC, etc is all sourceless speculation.

LOL. Less than a week ago, people were saying the same about FSU and Clemson. There is absolutely no doubt the Viriginia and NC schools are talking to anyone who will listen.

Not really...once the FSU trustee came out, FSU's intentions were well known. That is when the story blew up.

Of course the other schools will talk/listen. Texas listened to the ACC a year ago according to Chip Brown. Doesn't mean they're leaving. The other conferences have to want to expand first anyway.