TCU to the Big 12

Breaking news…the Big 12 just voted to expand and has offered an invite to TCU.  TCU, who is currently a member of the MWC, was going to be leaving next season to join the Big East, but due to the instability of the Big East, they are likely to accept the invitation to the Big 12.  TCU has been chosen to replace Texas A&M.  The conference is waiting to hear what Missouri’s decision will be, but seems resolved to move on with or without the Tigers with a goal of reaching 12 members.  The SEC voted and did not have enough votes to accept Missouri into the conference – whom might have hurt themselves with the arrogant statement made beforehand that they wish they could get into the Big 10, but would accept an offer from the SEC if given.

The Big East on the other hand will be down to 6 football members.  The conference continues to talk about expansion, but several members are rumored to be candidates for the Big 12, ACC or SEC.  The MWC and CUSA are trying to work out a deal where they would each have 12 members and the conference champions would face each other for a BCS berth.  Notre Dame has made a decision to join the Hockey East, ending speculation of a possibility of waiting for the Big 10.  There are rumors of Notre Dame’s independence being in jeopardy because of the Big East football falling apart – but those rumors make no sense.  The only thing that threatens Notre Dame’s independence is the possibility of everyone going to Super Conferences eliminating the BCS.  There are still a lot of things that are uncertain at the moment, but there is one thing that is almost for sure – TCU will be accepting an offer to join the Big 12 and the landscape is still changing.

Conference Realignment Rumors – 9-26-2011

I’m trying to keep from posting too much on the rumors as things change so frequently now a days, I’ll try to limit to once per week unless something major happens.  Now that Texas A&M to the SEC is a done deal as the Big 12 members have released the Aggies and the SEC from any litigation worries, you have to wonder what will happen next.  It appears that we might see some moves by the Big 12 first, however, there are a lot of rumors in that area.  Texas legislature was pushing for universities from Texas to be admitted (Houston, SMU, TCU) but Big 12 members don’t seem to be interested in that move.  They are interested in expanding their base and are trying to work out something with BYU.  Also rumored is Boise St, while they do anything television-wise, they offer one of the most legit programs over the last decade.  If the Big 12 goes with BYU and Boise St, we could also see Air Force being targeted.  Everyone is waiting to see what Missouri will do – will they stay in the Big 12 or will they become the 14th member of the SEC.  If they stay in the Big 12, realignment could see Louisville, Cincinnati or West Virginia in the Big 12 – but without Missouri – there is too much geography between the current schools and the midwest/eastern schools.

The Big East is looking to expand and has expressed interest in the service academies as football only members.  Army has said they are not interested, mainly because they are afraid they will not be competitive.  Maybe they are also seeing through the Big East as it is not a very solid conference at the moment.  Air Force and Navy have expressed interest but it might take a while for Navy to move in this direction because they have already committed their schedule for several years.  Air Force’s interest seems difficult to understand other than being in a possible Automatic Qualifier conference.  Air Force is in Colorado and that is a long, long way from the Big East.  Plus, what would Air Force do with their other sports?  I think they only have 9, so maybe that is not much of a worry.  Where some big issues come with the Big East is that other members might be interested in other opportunities.  Connecticut has all but stated they want to be in the ACC, not the Big East.  Rutgers is another possibility for the ACC.  West Virginia, Louisville and Cincinnati also seem to have other options with the Big 12.  To top it off, the hybrid hasn’t worked in the past, so why do they want to continue down this road?  Recently, there has been a big push by the basketball powers for re-admitting Temple and allowing Villanova to upgrade their football program.  I just think things are extremely shaky for the Big East.

The ACC seems to have a lot of interest in Connecticut, but are in no hurry at the moment as they wait to hear from Notre Dame.  Also, the ACC has to be worried about teams being poached by the Big 10 and SEC.  We’ll see if anything happens in the near future.

Realignment Rumors on Sept 20th

Things just keep getting crazier and crazier and there is no telling where things might go.  Rumors are still abound about Oklahoma and Oklahoma St to the PAC12, but now Oklahoma has made a stance that if they were to stay in the Big 12, there would have to be major changes.  This makes me question whether the PAC12 is going to vote in favor of Oklahoma and Oklahoma St.  Why would Oklahoma all of a sudden change their mind and want to reform the Big 12, something they had given up for no hope?  They want Beebe, the commissioner fired and for their to be limitations on the Longhorn Network.

Other rumors that are that Notre Dame is actually pretty serious about the ACC.  They have also pretty much said they are not interested in the Big 10 because of the travel to the midwest, but more interested in the ACC and the northeast.  I think the plan is still to stay independent, but to find a league for their other sports now that the Big East is imploding.  This would also give them a fallback if the super conferences ever do happen.  So it is looking more and more like a strong possibility of Villanova and Notre Dame to be 15 and 16.

Other rumors are that the MWC and CUSA are talking about a merger.  Now that the Big East looks like it will be merging with the Big 12, there will need to be another automatic qualifier for the BCS – the MWC and CUSA are pushing for the winner of their combined championship to get that berth.  The MWC has offered an invitation to TCU and BYU to come back and join them.

Navy was set to join the Big East until Syracuse and Pitt had left for the ACC.  The Big East was also looking to pull in Air Force as well – but now with things in limbo, this isn’t happening.  West Virginia applied to both the SEC and the ACC and was rejected by both.  It appears Missouri is the targeted 14th team for the SEC, though the SEC denies making any contact.

Lastly, it is reported that James Madison University will be looking at upgrading from FCS to FBS in the next 2 years.  New players on the block in that time will be Charlotte, JMU and Appalachian St – if they can all find a conference that will accept them.

Big East and Big 12 about to Crumble

The ACC accepted Pittsburgh and Syracuse into the conference early this morning.  UConn is now pushing really hard to get into the ACC.  The rumors of the possibility of Texas and Notre Dame to the ACC for all sports but football is now about all dead.  So now the rumors are that UConn and Rutgers will be the next in the ACC.

There are also rumors of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma St to the PAC12 being revived.  Seems like we will hear something soon about this being a reality because Texas will be able to work something out with the Longhorn Network.

This all means that the PAC12, soon to be PAC16 and ACC will be at 16 schools.  The leftovers from the Big East are TCU, South Florida, West Virginia, Louisville and Cincinnati.  It is likely that West Virginia will be moving to the SEC, leaving 4 schools that will need a home.  The Big 12 leftovers will be Baylor, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas St, and Iowa St.  Could Missouri be heading to the SEC or will they get an invite to the Big 10?  Will the Big 10 expand beyond 12?  Will we hear something about Notre Dame to the Big 10 soon?  Is Kansas an option for the Big 10 or SEC?  Will the Big 12 and Big East leftovers come together and invite other teams from CUSA or will some of these teams go to the Mountain West?  We shall find out very soon.

Realignment Rumors – ACC

It was announced Friday night that Pittsburgh and Syracuse have both applied for membership to the Atlantic Coast Conference.  Earlier in the week, the ACC solidified its commitment to stay together by pushing the exit fee from $12-14 million to $20 million.  All members voted on and approved that movement that takes place immediately.  The ACC also states that it is interested in increasing membership.  This would be a huge move by the ACC to take more of a footprint into the Northeast, giving Boston College more natural rivals.  The ACC would be insane not to take this opportunity to add these two programs (and possibly 2 more) to solidify their conference as one of the top 4 in the Super Conference movement.  There have been rumors that up to 10 teams have contacted the ACC about membership.  Also rumored are Texas and Notre Dame being interested in the ACC, not sure how true that is, but it is a rumor.  Another rumor has Boston College supporting Villanova to the ACC with an upgrade of their football program.

Outside of this, it has to make you wonder what else is going on.  The Big East had been in talks of expanding, but now 2 members apply to join another conference.  It must mean that rumors of West Virginia to the SEC, might be true.  It also might mean that Texas may stay committed to the Big12 as they look to raid the Big East.  We all know there is a lot of talking going on behind closed doors, I’d expect the dam has just broken loose and we will be hearing a lot more this week.  Who knows what else will develop at this point with all of the rumors?  It seems like we are about to lose either the Big East or the Big 12.

NCAA Conference Realignment Update

While Texas A&M waits in limbo because of the threat of litigation, mainly from Baylor, there has been a ton of talking outside of this.  Baylor has already been talking with the Big East and feels confident they could get a Big East invite.  It is expected that Oklahoma may be making an announcement by Monday, September 19th that they are leaving the Big 12.  Apparently, they will apply for membership with the PAC12 with Oklahoma St.  The PAC12 has stated they are not interested in expansion unless the landscape changes – basically meaning, we are not going to make the first move.  Rumors have been rampant that Oklahoma has now twice contacted the Big Ten, but have been turned down both times because of academic issues.

The biggest rumor that has finally gotten some legs on Northwestern’s and Orangeblood forums is that Texas and Notre Dame have approached the Big 10 with terms of their acceptance into the conference.  They want an 8 game schedule, as opposed to 9 so they can preserve rivalry games and other things.  Rumor has it the Big 10 is agreeable with these stipulations and could possibly see both Texas and Notre Dame joining by 2012.  Notre Dame hockey is still waiting to make an announcement of what conference they will be joining – W Michigan, who was waiting for Notre Dame, because they wanted to go with them has now stopped waiting and made their decision who they want to join.  It is also rumored that Missouri is now having meetings about their membership, would that be SEC, Big 10 or PAC12?

All I know is that things are going to start falling like dominoes very soon.  We will see what happens but it looks like Oklahoma is adamant now they do not want to be part of the Big 12.  Oklahoma St is attached to the hip of Oklahoma.  BYU has stated they would be interested in joining the Big 12 if Oklahoma stays, but it just doesn’t look like the Big 12 will have much of a chance now.

Death of the Big XII?

The President of Oklahoma has just announced they are exploring their conference options now that Texas A&M is leaving the Big XII.  In his own words, “I don’t think OU is going to be a wallflower when all is said and done.”  But he did say that he would feel better if the Big XII were at 12 teams.

The interesting thing is that they say they have been approached by 2 conferences about their interest.  Last year, it was both the SEC and PAC10 that expressed interest and it is likely to be those two conferences again.  If Oklahoma decides to leave, that will be the end of the Big XII.  You can pretty much say the ACC will be safe if this were to happen.  Looks like we are heading to 16-team super conferences.

Texas A&M is Leaving the Big 12

Texas A&M released a statement today that they would like to leave the Big 12 by 6/30/2012 to join another athletic conference.  That is no big surprise as I have been following the story in the previous posts:

1. Texas A&M Denied SEC Invite – Not So Fast
2. NCAA Conference Realignment on the Horizon
3. Is Conference Realignment Hell About to Break Loose?

There is a stipulation that they receive acceptance to the conference before they leave the Big 12 – but even though we don’t have any proof, it is pretty certain that the SEC outlined the steps for Texas A&M and they are following them.

Now there will be many questions:

1. Who will be the 14th member in the SEC?  Rumors are flying surrounding quite a few schools, this one is difficult to predict.
2. Will the SEC go with more than 14?  Highly unlikely, but don’t hold your breath.
3. Will the SEC stay with 13?  It’s unbalanced, but the MAC has had 13 members for several years.
4. Who will the Big 12 add?  We have heard BYU is the target, but not sure they will accept.  SMU is the only school to publicly proclaim they want in.
5. Will the Big 12 collapse?  Could Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Texas and Texas Tech head to a PAC16?
6. Will there be a huge realignment shift ahead and the beginning of mega conferences?

What are your thoughts?  I would love to hear them!

NCAA Conference Realignment on the Horizon

I recently broached this topic a couple of weeks ago when I suggested that all hell was going to break loose.  You can read that post here.  Rumor has it that Texas A&M has all but decided to leave the Big 12 for the SEC.  Rumor also has it that the SEC is planning to offer an invitation to Texas A&M for 2012 and then another school in 2014.  While the rumors for the fourteenth school are not as solid (FSU, Missouri, or Virginia Tech), things appear to be imminent and will likely kick off a new series of expansion.

The Big 12 is looking to replace Texas A&M with someone like Houston or Louisville.  But if it is Missouri that leaves for the SEC, then that could spell the end of the Big 12.  Another potential loser could be the Big East, as if the ACC gets poached, they will likely target Big East schools.  Will the PAC12 look at the other Big 12 schools?  Will the Big 10 react?  One thing is for sure, the ACC should be proactive here and make a move soon.

Texas A&M has a meeting this coming Monday, August 15th – I’ll be watching earnestly as the excitement begins.

Is Conference Realignment Hell About To Break Loose Again?

We could be in for yet another wild ride in NCAA football conference realignment.  Texas A&M and Oklahoma are now expressing their displeasure over the Texas Longhorn Network which will air one conference game and Texas High School football games.

Texas A&M and Oklahoma are both talking again about the SEC but it doesn’t really seem the SEC is ready to jump.  Previously, the SEC was waiting to see if the Big 10 or Pac 10 (now 12) would take the jump to the super conference of 16 teams.  Can the SEC resist to have Oklahoma and Texas A&M in their conference?  If anyone can resist, it would be the mighty SEC which is by far the top conference in football.  Would they stop at 14 or would they take Oklahoma St or raid the ACC for Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida St or Miami?  Also another factor may be the Texas legislators who seem to want to have a Texas based conference and could block A&M from leaving.

If this does happen, then the rest of the Big 12 members will be scrambling to find other homes and the ACC will likely raid either the Big East or CUSA.  Once the first conference takes the jump to 14 or 16 teams, others will likely follow suit.

One thing is for certain though, the Big 12 is not going to last.  There is no way that conference members will continue to allow Texas to basically run the conference.  Texas very well might be best served being an independent with Notre Dame and BYU.  I guess we will all have to stay tuned to see what will happen.