Future of College Sports

I purposely left the name NCAA out of the title because they really don’t have much authority over this.

How does everyone feel about what's going on with the conferences? I’m a Big East fan but I saw the writing on the wall when Boston College left. I won’t be surprised if it ends up being four, sixteen football team conferences, with a bunch of teams left holding the bag.

The Big East will probably end up being a basketball (read: no Div 1-A football) only conference.

Notre Dame and Texas will have a big say in what ultimately happens.

Thoughts?

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Originally Posted by Scar

I purposely left the name NCAA out of the title because they really don’t have much authority over this.

How does everyone feel about what's going on with the conferences? I’m a Big East fan but I saw the writing on the wall when Boston College left. I won’t be surprised if it ends up being four, sixteen football team conferences, with a bunch of teams left holding the bag.

The Big East will probably end up being a basketball (read: no Div 1-A football) only conference.

Notre Dame and Texas will have a big say in what ultimately happens.

Thoughts?

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Radio shows here have been saying this for about two years. That there will be four power conferences eventually.
Personally I do not like it at all.

1. It hurts traditional rivalries
2. Some of these moves make zero geographic sense. And as we all know much of the greatness of college sports is the geography of it.
3. It will destroy some credible teams. If this plays out like people say it will eventually.....Louisville, Kansas, Rutgers, BYU, Boise State, TCU, USF, MTSU, Cincinatti, FIU, Kansas State, etc....all hung out to die.

However I think the tide maybe turning a little.

I think the conferences (Pac 12 and Big 12) are hesitating a little bit because of the public backlash they have been getting recently.

Maybe the Pac-12's decision will slow this down a bit?

The SEC will go 14 not sure whose the 14th team though, and I think it will stop there. The ACC saved itself from being raided by the SEC with their strike at the Big East and then raising their own "leaving" fine to $20 million

The SEC has made it clear it does not want to bring in teams from states already represented.

The Big 10 has made it clear they will only go to 12 if Notre Dame comes aboard.

Really all that needs to happen to keep the old conference system safe for a while longer is for Texas to play nice and work things out with Oklahoma...IMO.

With the Big 12 commish stepping down tonight, Oklahoma got it's wish for new management in the conference. Maybe the Big 12 will stick together for a little while longer, but it's only going to be a band-aid unless something drastic happens. Until Texas and ESPN figure out their TV deal this is going to drag on for years and years, because Texas is going to be the domino that drops every other domino...

I don't think Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech are going to go to Pac-12 anytime soon. They will not take those four with Texas still having the Longhorn Network, so they will survive for awhile in the Big 12 with TCU and a few others as additions.

I'm just trying to figure out which two teams my Gators' SEC will take to get to 16. They already got A&M and Missouri...

West Virginia? USF? Kansas?

I got no idea unless the ACC folds which it doesn't look like will happen. Originally (Years ago when this first started) I thought it would be SEC on the East, Big 10 in the North, Big 12 in the South, and Pac 12 in the West.

That kind of makes the most sense to me, but I guess sense doesn't apply when you are talking about collegiate athletics...

Too bad for Bebee, he's a good guy. He was the OVC commish for like 13 years, and did really well.

I don't think the SEC goes to 16. I am an SEC fan as well. Until the other conferences go to 16 the SEC will not.

I am also not sure Missouri is the 14th team. It makes sense to me but the SEC is denying it. I can see them coming over but it is NOT a done deal.

Actually Virginia Tech makes the most sense however the ACC's $20 million dollar fee could cause trouble.

I think, as I have read all over the southeastern websites.....that patience will be the key. If we stick with 13 so be it. Who knows... what if Oklahoma becomes available after a dispute with Texas? It's just common sense to be patient. Why jump for Missouri?

The SEC is the ONLY conference in the NCAA where we all kind of pull together and root for each other, even if it hurts a little. I think this unity appeals to other schools. Of course the winning and contracts help as well. I think the SEC can sit back and watch. Believe me we could take any team we wanted why in the heck would we settle for Mizzou, or WVU? We could have FSU, VT, maybe even OU, Clemson, or North Carolina....except maybe Notre Dame. And as for the Irish let the Big Ten have 'em we don't need 'em. Just another team for the SEC to beat up on.

I thought all the conference re-alignment issues went out the door 2-3 yrs ago when the Pac 10 became the Pac 12 and the Big 10 and Big 12 switched names ( :D)

As long as there is money real or perceived out there to be grabbed these schools will be looking for the better deal. The way it appeared a couple of weeks ago they were wanting 16 teams in the Pac 12, SEC, ACC and maybe 12 teams each in Big East and Big 10. This would have left close to 70 schools that aligned themselves through conferences to contend for National Championships. Since there are only 120 schools that can "win" a championship these are the only ones who truly can. The major conference contenders.

I propose splitting them up into 4 regions, North, South, East, & West. From these 4 regions split again to 4 teams in a more central regions, say like 8 sub regions. From this point you would schedule games within your group every year. You would try to win or finish 2nd in these groups so you can advance to the next championship level round. The teams that don't finish in the top two would also continue "backwards" and play teams that also finished in the bottom of their "region". This would continue out until there is a champion of the North, South, East, and West. Your Final Four! 2 more games to find a National Champ.

Bowl Games would remain. These would match teams from different regions with like records. So now the bowl games will be competitive, much like the middle and end of season, because it will be a playoff system. Everybody should be happy.