Apocalypse Comes Early: The 2011 College Football Realignment

[Kizarvexis]

Why would any conference want to have more than 12 teams? You only need 12 teams to have a championship game, so having more teams means you spread the money out among more teams.

[Atlanta Bull]

Beacher Report is like the Enquirer, 50% is dead wrong but 50% is usually right! That said, it seems pretty certain the B10 will expand. Pretty certain ND will not join. My sense is they would add a B12 team (Missou or Nebraska) before a BE team. But all it takes is one school to get the whole ball moving (see Miami 2005). Every big time school is greedy and that means they want TV revenues. Now you have the PAC 10 looking for more and who can blame them, basically a one or two team football conference. So it actually makes sense to me for the ACC to raid the BE again and add USF and a few other schools. When you have the 9th largest school in the 12th largest TV market with 900 D1 players living within 200 miles of the school you will be a desirable school. I enjoy reading about expansion because it means USF will benefit, at least that's what I think until we get screwed over and join some conference for rejected schools

[callmesuperman]

I think the Big 10 will not add more then one team. The prime candidates are Pitt, Rutgers,and Syracuse. I think the Big 12 will stay put. If the PAC 10 does expand I think it will either be BYU, Utah, Boise State, or Hawaii. The Mountain West will replace their losses with Conference USA teams or WAC teams (Houston,UTEP, Boise State,Idaho...), while the Big East will look at other conferences as well. The Big East cannot just sit back and wait to be raided and must do some raiding of their own!

The Big East should be approaching Houston and TCU, and if they don't bite consider ECU, Memphis, Southern Miss, or Temple. Any other teams the Big East should be looking at?

[Guest nybullsfan]

I think the Big 10 will not add more then one team. The prime candidates are Pitt, Rutgers,and Syracuse. I think the Big 12 will stay put. If the PAC 10 does expand I think it will either be BYU, Utah, Boise State, or Hawaii. The Mountain West will replace their losses with Conference USA teams or WAC teams (Houston,UTEP, Boise State,Idaho...), while the Big East will look at other conferences as well. The Big East cannot just sit back and wait to be raided and must do some raiding of their own!

The Big East should be approaching Houston and TCU, and if they don't bite consider ECU, Memphis, Southern Miss, or Temple. Any other teams the Big East should be looking at?

IMO, TCU and Houston would be tops, since they're both big-city commuter schools with strong athletic programs. Memphis, Tulane, and UCF/FAU/FIU are in the next group. Beyond that, I don't really see anyone being a candidate. ECU is not (too small of a city, and Holtz is now gone), Southern Miss is too rural, and Temple's not going to be invited back in.

[locus000]

USF in the ACC  ;D

Just no UCF in the BE that is all I can ask.

[Cow Pie]

The Big East is doomed because it is arrogant and thinks its basketball programs will keep it safe from raids... this is what they thought back before the first raid by the ACC.

I'd like to be part of the ACC... would be a much better fit for USF, WV, LV, and Pitt.

[mikebeau]

The Big East is doomed because it is arrogant and thinks its basketball programs will keep it safe from raids... this is what they thought back before the first raid by the ACC.

I'd like to be part of the ACC... would be a much better fit for USF, WV, LV, and Pitt.

if the apocalypse came I see the SEC trying to get a 2nd team in FL and preventing the ACC to get a 3rd. 

[bulldozier1]

The Big East is doomed because it is arrogant and thinks its basketball programs will keep it safe from raids... this is what they thought back before the first raid by the ACC.

I'd like to be part of the ACC... would be a much better fit for USF, WV, LV, and Pitt.

if the apocalypse came I see the SEC trying to get a 2nd team in FL and preventing the ACC to get a 3rd. 

I hope thats the case. If the men basketball program continue to grow, that would be attractive to some big conference like the SEC.

[Atlanta Bull]

This is a longshot, but Georgia State (located in Atlanta) has started a football program. The school has not history or tradition but huge TV market, fertile recruiting and it is in the South. It's pretty similar to USF pre football. Bill Curry is the head coach (HC at Alabama and GA Tech). I like the idea of adding TCU or Houston. Of course Memphis will be added if the BE stays together. ACC would the be best, hope it happens.

[Danm1983]

The original article brings up some similar thoughts I've had about good candidate schools, but I disagree with any of the "superconference" talk. As much as the sport is dominated by money these days, I would hope the NCAA can implement a cap at 12 teams in a conference, especially for football. As much as the Big East 16 team basketball conference works, any more than 12 teams in a football conference only water down the strength of scheduling, as well as dilute the rivalries.

12 team conference with two 6 team divisions: 5 games in division + 3 from other division, so only 3 teams aren't played each year.

14 team conference with two 7 team divisions: 6 games in division + 2 from other division, so now 4 teams aren't played each year.

16 team conference wouldn't work at all with two 8 team divisions. It would be like playing in the current Big East and then playing an ACC team and counting it as a conference game. Using four 4 team divisions may work, but you still are barely playing half of the conference. It will eventually happen that someone ends up playing all of the down teams one year, and none of the strong teams, and then gets a pass to the playoffs/BCS/whatever, and has a questionable SoS.

Cap the conferences at 12, at least for the BCS. I'd allow 13 or 14 for non AQ conferences, but BCS conferences should only be missing out on two teams from their conference per year. Florida gets lucky sometimes and doesn't play Auburn and Alabama one year, and what happens if those are the 2 strongest teams in the SECW? And what if the SECE is down? Then they get knocked for not playing such a great schedule (granted, they always do because they won't schedule a true road OOC game (FSU doesn't count, it's a 2 hour drive in state).

I do hope they do something about the BCS and/or the conferences, or else there's going to be some geographically screwed up conferences (TX in the Pac 12? srsly?), and the luster of the scheduling is going to be lost.