I haven't heard anything about this. I hope they do, so that the 5 legit BCS conferences would now all have championship games (SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, ACC all now have 12 teams starting in 2011). They should pick up TCU for sure. And then add on someone like UTEP, SMU, Tulsa or Rice.
I thought about Boise State but geographically it would be pretty far away and make little sense from that perspective. I don't think Boise wants to join any other conference. And why should they? Go 11-1 or 12-0 every year guaranteed with that master mind of a head coach. And one year might even win a national title if everything falls into place. Could be this year.
Nothing could excite me more, than knowing my team gets to play Boise St. in mid November in Idaho. Of course by then you won't have to worry about that blue turf. Except when the occasional snow plow comes through. :lol:
Big East seems to be a lost cause for trying to get to 12 teams and make it a more legitimately qualified BCS conference. They would definitely have to add Notre Dame and pray they return to prominence. Notre Dame could still schedule Michigan, USC, Boston College and Navy every year as their must have games in out of conference. Actually the Big East could add Navy as well and allow Notre Dame to play Michigan State OOC instead. East Carolina and Memphis would be 2 more candidates I would think. The conference would still stink to high heaven, ultimately.
What worthy teams do you think would want to leave their current conference alliance? Only a few BCS caliber teams that make geographic and financial sense even exist. To do it, you have to answer "What's in it for us?" from both the university's and the conference's perspective. The feasible ones that stand out to me are U of H and TCU. They make sense geographically, tradition wise, and competitively. Who else?
I'm sorry, I used to enjoy the Big 12 until I moved to Dallas. Then it got to be too much. If you were ever on Greenville Ave night before the shootout in the last 10 or so years, and not an OU or Texas fan you would understand. I have alot of friends who love both Texas and OU, I actually have a bud who came over to the national championship game in 03 and was the only OU fan in a house full of LSU fans. I love the Sooner fans, Texas fans, eh, I like some of em, but most of em can suck it. However, I lost all respect for "not so big game" Bob St. Oops at halftime of the 03 national championship game. If I can find a video link i will post it.
The Big East wants TCU. Believe it or not, since TCU would be traveling to Boise next year, that's just as far a trip to UConn or Rutgers, so the travel really is virtually the same in both conferences. Depending on how far they want to go, I'd take UCF 2nd, and Memphis 3rd(because they are offering $10,000,000 for joining). If you really want to make things interesting, find a way to snatch Kansas, KState, Iowa St, and Missouri away from the Big 12. I have no idea how loyal they are and if the offer was right, who knows, they might bolt for possibly more stable ground.
The biggest issue with the Big East is the current deadlock in the balance of power between the football members (UConn, Syracuse, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Cincinatti, Louisville, South Florida) and the non-football members (Providence, St. Johns, Seton Hall, Villanova, Depaul, Marquette, Georgetown, Notre Dame). It's 8-on-8, you need majority vote to do anything (expand, contract, invite new members, change any rules), and the seven CNF members (minus Notre Dame) are a block of solidarity against Big East football becoming anything better than it is now. They have this stupid "football is a threat to basketball" mentality and you cannot reason with them. That's why there is all this smoke about Villanova upgrading their program. If 'Nova takes their program FBS and crosses over to the dark side, the non-football schools are one step closer to being completely outflanked and football driving the Big East bus. Then it gets dicey. Notre Dame would never outright join the Big East for football, but they are tied to them through rivalries, scheduling, and bowl tie-ins. It is not in ND's best interest for Big East football to suck. They will vote with the footballs schools. 'Nova crosses over, it's 10-on-6. If the non-football schools feel backed into a corner, and the football schools try to impose their will, the Big East could rip apart. I would think more compromises could be made though. Invite schools strong in both football and basketball. Temple (if they stay on the path to improvement and they are finally willing to leave the A-10). Memphis maybe. Perhaps once the Big East gets to 10, they can change the by-laws to once again allow affiliate membership, and invite Army and Navy as football-only members. Who knows?
Regarding the Big 12 (and I have no inside info, just an amalgam of info and speculation I've heard on the boards and from the people who know stuff and know what the conferences and the schools are looking for) The mentality on conference expanion, for all conferences, and all the power player schools within the conferences, is NOT, "Let's put together the biggest, baddest, mamma-jamma of a competitive conference with winning schools we can." The mentality is, "Let's make us some money." That means putting together a nice package for TV. That means emphasis on markets and appeal to the markets; who can bring the most TV sets and eyeballs to the conference table? Who can bring new territory? Forget TCU into the Big 12. Not. Gonna. Happen. Ever. Between UT, A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor, all of whom have massive alumni presence in the DFW market, and command a sizeable chunk of the DFW media market's attention at varying times of the year, they think they've got DFW pretty well covered. They don't need TCU. TCU brings nothing new to the table. Ask Big 12 insiders, they will freely admit, when they formed up the Big 12 in the mid-90s, they picked the wrong private school. They will freely admit that. Hindsight is 20/20. But you can't go back again. Baylor is in and that is that. The door is closed. Also forget anyone already in the Big 12's existing footprint (any school in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas or Missouri) Will the Big 12 go back to 12? Definitely, but not right away. The vibe out there on the interwebs is that Texas will decide when and who, and A&M and Oklahoma will have some say, and maybe even veto power over one or two choices, but it's UT's call all the way. And the Longhorn brain trust is in no hurry to make this decision. They are being very careful because they want to make the right move this time. When? It maybe 2013 before we know for sure. Who? Expect BYU's name to come up. BYU is still stinging from the snub by the Pac-10 and Utah's promotion, and maybe is being rash in it's new independence status. But make no mistake, they bring a distinct national fan following. They also, culturally, fit much better in the Big 12 than the Pac-10. BYU is helping and advising Texas a lot in building up UT's own Longhorn TV network and they have a deal inked for a long-term home-n-home football series. Some coziness is there. The Big 12 also may try to make a play for Arkansas. I don't think Arkansas will leave the SEC, so I think the other candidate will have to come out of the Mountain West. The 12th member (if the 11th is BYU) has to bring major market presence, either by being a big flagship state university or being in or close to a major TV market. I think the short list may break down like this: 1. Colorado State 2. New Mexico 3. Air Force 4. Memphis 5. Tulane CSU or Air Force would bring presence in Denver and put the Big 12 back in Colorado. Air Force also commands a national fan following. New Mexico is a big state flagship U with a great basketball program that would bring Albequerque and Santa Fe, decent-sized markets. If the Big 12 feels it needs to go further east and get confrontational with the SEC to raise it's profile, it could look east to either Memphis or Tulane. Both would give the Big 12 a foothold on SEC turf. New Orleans is a great sports market to be in and an awesome fan destination. Memphis, not quite as sexy as NOLA, but U of M is arguably more competitive in football and especially basketball (Big 12 already strong enough in baseball), and would make an easy rival for Kansas in basketball and the Oklahoma schools in just about everything. It will be BYU and one of the five I listed, probably Colorado State or Memphis.
