So where do the leftovers go?

[samikeyp]

UT, A&M, CU, NU, OU, OSU and Tech all gone or going somewhere. Even Baylor is mentioned as a throw in...so where does that leave Mizzou, K-St, KU and ISU? Mizzou is still maybe on the radar for the Big 10....ISU would be a good geographic choice there but I doubt that happens....the Kansas schools? C-USA? Mountain West? I think its the latter. Some talking head mentioned KU as an independent...that won't happen.

Thoughts?

[IceColdBrewski]

Rumors now are that A&M isn't wild about joining the Pac 10, and Kansas or Utah would be their replacement in the "Pac 16" plan.

As far as where the leftovers go, they'll all end up in one of the "Superconferences" eventually.

[IronMexican]

Rumors now are that A&M isn't wild about joining the Pac 10, and Kansas or Utah would be their replacement in the "Pac 16" plan.

Seems like UT doesn't want to join without aggy.

[IceColdBrewski]

Seems like UT doesn't want to join without aggy.

Waco Tribune is apparently reporting that the UT pres wants to join the Pac, but the AD and Coach Mack want to stay in the Big 12. Like I said before, who knows what to believe at this point. Rumors keep changing by the hour.

[IronMexican]

Like I said before, who knows what to believe at this point. Rumors keep changing by the hour.

True. This time yesterday, it looked like a surefire thing aggy and UT were joining Pac 10. All I want for is UT. Don't care for A&M. Be better than Baylor, though.

[Blake]

If in the end there are 4-5 superconferences of 16 teams each (64-80 teams) where do the leftover 40-50+ teams go?

[Blake]

UT, A&M, CU, NU, OU, OSU and Tech all gone or going somewhere. Even Baylor is mentioned as a throw in...so where does that leave Mizzou, K-St, KU and ISU? Mizzou is still maybe on the radar for the Big 10....ISU would be a good geographic choice there but I doubt that happens....the Kansas schools? C-USA? Mountain West? I think its the latter. Some talking head mentioned KU as an independent...that won't happen.

Thoughts?

here's some from the NY Times:


WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE BIG 12? Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri and Baylor will be scrambling to find homes. (Missouri officials said Thursday that they did not receive the Big Ten invitation that they wanted.) These universities would struggle to stay together because they no longer fit the N.C.A.A.’s definition of a conference. That means that they would lose their automatic N.C.A.A. bids for the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments and the B.C.S berth.

Their ultimate destination depends greatly on what the other conferences do. The SEC does not want to expand, but if it feels pressure to go to 16 teams, then the Atlantic Coast Conference would almost certainly take a hit. That would inevitably have repercussions for the Big East.

If the changes winded up being limited, the Big East would be a logical home for some of the Big 12 colleges, as the league needs to boost its football profile.

The Mountain West is the other logical home for orphaned Big 12 colleges; the league in on track to earn a B.C.S. berth and could put itself in a much better position if it adds programs like Kansas and Missouri that have had strong recent seasons.

But there is a wrinkle to that possibility. While basketball has played a minuscule role in the impending realignment, it is hard to imagine Kansas basketball recruiting blue-chip athletes if it plays teams like Wyoming and Colorado State in the Mountain West.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/sports/11colleges.html

[DesignatedT]

A&M and UT are very hesitant in splitting with each other. A&M does not want PAC 16 and UT doesn't want SEC. Common ground would be to both join big 10 or try and keep the big 12 alive but if they can't get on the same page then don't rule out either one of them going on their own.

The PAC 10 will do anything to get Texas and rumors are SEC have already offered A&M and Va Tech.

[samikeyp]

If in the end there are 4-5 superconferences of 16 teams each (64-80 teams) where do the leftover 40-50+ teams go?

I would guess that quite a few would drop to 1-AA.

[vander]

I just have this feeling that whatever happens, it's going to be bad for BSU :(

[AFBlue]

Baylor AD is pushing hard to prove the validity of a 10-team conference from the remaining schools. Obviously Texas is the major piece that must agree to it, but I read a Washington Post article where the AD was actually stating each school would receive greater revenue from the reduced conference size.

Dunno if it'll work, but it's worth a shot. I'm not sure where Baylor ends up if this thing goes south.

[dallaskd]

wow this fucking hurts Kansas basketball so bad.. who knows where my wildcats will fall. Probably Mountain West.

[dallaskd]

I just have this feeling that whatever happens, it's going to be bad for BSU :(

nah automatic bcs bid basically every year

[The Reckoning]

UT is all one huge bureaucracy with everyone having different incentives. interesting to see how this plays out with the athletic department having record profits and the academia making budget cuts and firing profs.

i dont understand how UT has to downsize itself because of its budget when the athletic dept can just donate millions of dollars to keep the mother ship strong. austin doesnt see any support from UT other than just being there. the UT bureaucracy is going to implode on itself eventually.

[The Reckoning]

Dunno if it'll work, but it's worth a shot. I'm not sure where Baylor ends up if this thing goes south.


probably the Sun Belt where they belong

[AFBlue]

probably the Sun Belt where they belong

:rolleyes

Baylor has reputable sports teams that are at or near the top of the Big 12 consistently...baseball annually and most recently basketball. They're football team may not be UT or OU, but it's much better under Art Briles than it has been in recent years. And it's not like Baylor wasn't ever a powerhouse program (see '80s SWC).

But whatever, I understand that Baylor will always be at a disadvantage because of its private status and higher academic standards...and I'm cool with that. Still, I don't expect it to be laughed off like it's some second rate school.

Baylor deserves to be in a major conference, I'm just not sure which one fits.

[JMarkJohns]

I've heard rumblings that if Kansas/Kansas State don't end up in the Pac-10, then the Big East has interest. Both are basketball schools, and the Big "East" already extends far enough west to include Marquette (Wisconsin), Notre Dame (Indiana), Louisville (Kentucky) and DePaul (Illinois), so why the hell not?

It this point, my guess is (and this is based upon Chip Brown and inside sources through the site I work for (a Pac-10 recruiting site via Rivals).

Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State join Colorado from the Big-12 in the Pac-10, with Utah joining from the Mountain West. Utah isn't stupid enough to turn down the invite by the Pac if the get it, as they have to know their clout to join a major conference will never be higher, and the money to be made will never be better.

Missouri joins Mountain West, Iowa State joins Nebraska in Big-10, Baylor joins Conference USA, A&M joins Southeast, Kansas joins Big East and Kansas State is unknown.

If the Big East reaches out to Kansas, they'll likely take Kansas State to maintain the rivalry/even number of teams. Should K-State decline, look for Memphis to be reached out towards by Big East to add another solid basketball program to even/shore up the numbers/region.

[AFBlue]

From ESPN Rumor page...


No MWC because of TCU grudge?

Top Email Sources told Mac Engel, writing for The Dallas Morning News, that TCU is expected to lobby the Mountain West Conference against the inclusion of Baylor in any expansion scenarios.

Why? It's payback time.

Engel writes: "Some TCU officials and powerful alums remain irked over the way Baylor was included in the Big 12 after the breakup of the Southwest Conference. The Horned Frogs were left out."

You'll recall that then-Gov. Ann Richards, a Baylor alumna, successfully pressured the other Texas schools to insist on Baylor's inclusion, rather than TCU?s, in the Big 12. Now the Horned Frogs may get the last laugh. Ah, karma.

Conference USA might end up being the Bears' only option.

I wonder how effective TCUs lobby would be to keep the Bears out. Not that C-USA is a terrible option, but the MWC has to be the preferred one if the Big 12 desolves.

[Obstructed_View]

I wonder how effective TCUs lobby would be to keep the Bears out. Not that C-USA is a terrible option, but the MWC has to be the preferred one if the Big 12 desolves.

I'm not sure how much pull TCU has with the conference, not sure how it's really useful to waste any political capital trying to keep Baylor out, and don't think it really makes a difference one way or the other, as the decision by the conference will be what's best for the conference financially.