We are amidst a major change in the landscape of college athletics; namely, college football. With Colorado bolting for the Pac-10, Boise State moving to the Mountain West, and Nebraska moving to the Big 10, the domino effect has been triggered. When all is said and done, I predict that we will have a collection of “super” conferences that will dominate the politics in college football. By politics, I mean the steps that will go in place to institute some type of playoff that, believe it or not, the college presidents have wanted for a long time.
Here is what I think will happen (and obviously, by the middle of next week we will know if I am correct or not, as many more changes are on their way in the near future). Joining Nebraska in the Big 10 will be Missouri. Not only does this make sense geographically, but Missouri already has a longstanding rivalry in place with Illinois, and it would compliment their schedule to become a part of the Big 10. Next, Texas will leave the Big 12 high and dry, as they, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State will join the Pac-10. This will give the Pac-10 a total of 16 teams, completing what will be our first “super” conference. This also leaves the Big 12 limping to the barn with four teams, obviously not enough to be a full conference. This will prompt the remaining teams (Kansas, Iowa State, Baylor, and Kansas State) to combine with the Mountain West Conference, who are actually a very respectable conference with BYU, Utah, TCU, and Boise State. The Big 10 will still be at twelve teams by the end of next week, but will be hungry to expand their conference to sixteen as the Pac-10 will have done.
That is what I believe will happen by the end of next week. The next section is pure speculation; or rather, what I think will be done to ensure that a playoff can be achieved.
Since the Pac-10 has sixteen teams, the other “power” football conferences, the Big 10 and SEC, will try to follow suit. It makes sense for the SEC to take Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech. This will complete our second “super” conference. The third “super” conference will come as a result of a mass merger between the remaining eight teams in the ACC and the eight teams in the Big East. For those clever readers out there, I know what you’re thinking: “What about basketball? You can’t have a 24 team conference.” Number one, basketball isn’t the major revenue generator for a university. Number two, yes you can. Make two divisions. Eight teams from each division qualify for the conference tournament, and BOOM, you have the same setup you had before the merger.
Now that just leaves one more conference. The Big 10, having run out of opportunities to further expand, only have one possible team left that they can attempt to add. That would be Notre Dame. Notre Dame, seeing the “super” conference picture almost complete, will realize that without joining a conference, it will be close to impossible to get into the playoff system that will soon be devised. The Fighting Irish let go of their beloved independence and their NBC contract, and join the Big 10. This gives the Big 10 thirteen teams, three short of the sixteen that all the other “super” conferences have. However, it won’t matter, because now the power is in the college presidents’ hands to institute a playoff.
Let’s take a look at what we have so far.
Pac-10- 16 teams
SEC- 16 teams
Mountain West- 16 teams
ACC/Big East (which name is kept is unimportant)- 16 teams
Big 10- 13 teams
Now, you can have an eight team playoff by doing the following. Take the conference champion from each of the aforementioned “super” conferences, as well as one team from one of the smaller conferences (MAC, Conference USA, Sun Belt, WAC) or an independent team that is the highest ranked. The final two spots will go to the highest ranked teams that have not already qualified for the playoff.
What will this do? Well, not only will it solve the problem of not having a college football playoff, but it is a goldmine (no pun intended) from a money making perspective, which is what the college presidents are most interested in. Not only that, but every bowl game can be preserved. The two teams in the playoff finals will play for the national championship, and the six remaining teams will go to the other three BCS bowl games. Notice that I called them BCS bowl games. Yes, for ranking purposes, the BCS will still be around. However, since it will no longer choose the two teams that play for the national championship, it won’t be hated. As for the rest of the smaller bowl games, they will be played as usual.
As I said, only the second paragraph is what will likely happen. The rest of the post is pure speculation. However, this should generate a lot of conversation, and I’m excited to hear all your thoughts on the topic. Post a comment in the comments section, or send me an email at aroundthecornsportsblog@gmail.com. I’d really like to hear what you guys think about this issue. Thanks everyone, and be sure to check out the new World Cup scoreboard on the left side of the page.
– K. Becks
Yo kbecks wont that leave the big ten with 14? The original 11 teams + Nebraska + Missouri+ Notre dame? I'm just saying
The answer to your question is yes. One of my buddies told me the same thing after reading the post, and I'm going to address it in my next post.
For the record, having 14 teams instead of 13 makes it even better, because it's possible to have two 7 team divisions.
Again, thank you for pointing out the mistake.
WRONG!
Like I said, everything after the second paragraph was speculation. I like the setup I had come up with, and I'll address the Utah move to the Pac-10 in my next post.
But, as you have pointed out Michael, my prediciton is not entirely correct. However, I still believe that Texas and other Big 12 teams will eventually move to the Pac-10.
i believe it. y wouldnt it happen? oh and notre dame hasnt been good since nobody cares when. So they can just shut down there program and let charlie weis find doughnut money elsewhere