Conference set ups: Look back to the future

[Tugg Speedman]

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=5339


Conference set ups: Look back to the future
February 27, 2013 – 4:30 pm

Much has been written and said and much will be written and said about the current state of big time college athletics and the massive moves of conference reconfiguration which are still occurring.

When did this start, and who is responsible?

Three major moves jump out.

1. The Big East decision NOT include Penn State in the mix when the Nittany Lions were conference shopping 25 years ago. Of all the missteps made by Big East officials, this one remains the biggest.

2 The ACC's move to expand 10 years ago when it raided the Big East and took Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College.

There was NO need for this move. The ACC was not threatened by ANYONE.  It was a good, solid league in football and a premier league in basketball.

But once the move was made, it started a series of tremors which continue to rock college athletics.

3. The third move was not so much a move, but a decision. The Presidents decided they needed more involvement. Nice theory. Horrible performance. The Presidents have been horrendous. Moved by greed and naivety they have made and approved moves that boggle the mind.

With that as a backdrop, I decided to project what the landscape might have looked like if the Big East had taken Penn State.

Some moves, such as Notre Dame, eventually aligning with a conference are just wild guesses.

And then I project what the landscape will look like in five years under the current structure, with more moves still very likely.

Both set ups include a 5 or 6 Super Conference alignment of the major BCS football schools.

If Big East had taken Penn  State.

SUPER 72

Big East (12 teams)

Boston College, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Syracuse, Rutgers, West Virginia, Maryland, Miami, Massachusetts, Central Florida, and South Florida.

A good Eastern block conference, with good rivals, all in the Eastern time zone. Throw in a basketball element of the Catholic schools and you could have a super 18 team conference in basketball as well, if you eliminate DePaul

ACC (12 teams)

1. Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, East Carolina, Louisville and Cincinnati.

A solid 12 team league in football, all in one time zone, with good rivals and very good basketball.

SEC (12 teams)

1. Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida and Kentucky.

Great league in football and basketball, with a true geographic SE core and great rivals.

Big 12 (12 teams)

Texas, Texas A&M, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State, Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, SMU.

Again, a compact league with great rivals, all in one time zone, a true mesh of the Big 8 and SWC.

Big Ten (12 teams)

Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, Notre Dame, Nebraska

Great league in football, great league in basketball, great rivals, tradition. etc.

Pac 12 (12 teams)

1. Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Colorado, Utah.

Perfect West Coast mix of schools with tradition and rivalries.


The way it could be in 2020

SUPER 66 PLUS 10

Big Ten (16 teams)

Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State, Rutgers, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Georgia Tech, North Carolina

The Big Ten raid into the ACC continues with Georgia Tech and North Carolina joining Maryland and Rutgers. The Big Ten television footprint is in the Midwest, the East and the  South. Commissioner Jim Delany can retire with a Super conference which could pay as much as 40 million per team each year.

The 50 million exit fees of ACC teams? The Big Ten right now could write Maryland and the others a check for the amount and simply tell the Terps that for the first 10 years, you will only receive a check of 37 million each year, which is still more than double what they would be paid by the ACC.

The Big 12 (12 teams)

Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, West  Virginia, Texas, TCU, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Baylor,  Clemson and Florida State.

League expands footprint into the South, with two big time draws in FSU and Clemson. It also gets into the fertile Florida recruiting area and has enough teams to host a conference championship game.

SEC (14 teams)

Missouri, Texas A&M, Florida, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, LSU. South Carolina, Tennessee.

Status quo. Great league, No reason to change.

ACC (12 teams)

Louisville, Connecticut, Cincinnati,  Notre Dame, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, Miami, Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

Losing North Carolina, Maryland and Georgia Tech was more than offset by the addition of Notre Dame which breaks down and joins as full member. Covers Atlantic seaboard from New England to Miami and into the Midwest. Not great, but very healthy.

Big East (12 teams

Tulsa, Memphis, UCF, USF, East Carolina, Tulane, SMU, Houston, UMass, Temple, Navy, Army

More Conference USA than anything else (in fact, the Big East should sell the name to the Catholic 7 group with this scenario, but a fairly competitive and compact league.

There you have it, what might have been and what probably (for the most part). You make the call, which was better–for everyone.

[GGGG]

There was not a chance the ACC would have taken, or will be taking, East Carolina.  That shows right there he has no idea what he is talking about with this prediction stuff.

[Groin_pull]

The Big East should have taken Penn State, that's true...but there's no guarantee they would have stayed. Once the money started getting insane, they might have gotten the itch to move to a wealthier conference.

And it's hard to get too angry about the ACC picking off BC, VT, and Miami. That opened the door for MU to enter the Big East. Otherwise, MU would still be in C-USA ...or maybe the A-10, Horizon, or Missouri Valley.

[Jet915]

This dude is churning out the articles, Catholic 7 ready to break away NOW.  BTW, Creighton's president was in DC today, hopefully to convince Georgetown to pick Creighton as #10.

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=5347#more-5347

[Dawson Rental]

"The Big Ten raid into the ACC continues with Georgia Tech and North Carolina joining Maryland and Rutgers."

So, this guy thinks that Rutgers is in the ACC?

His whole "if the Big East had taken Penn State" scenario is dumb.  Of course, Penn State sticking in the big East has conferences expanded was unlikely.  Has is the ACC raiding Conference USA for new members instead of the Big East.  And exactly when would the basketball only schools been kicked out of the Big East?

[Dawson Rental]

There was not a chance the ACC would have taken, or will be taking, East Carolina.  That shows right there he has no idea what he is talking about with this prediction stuff.

And what about the prediction that Notre Dame will join a post raid ACC by 2020?  Equally ridiculous.

[bilsu]

The Big East should of taken Penn St. However, if they did we never would of been in Big East. I hated the Big East until we were invited to join.

[keefe]

This dude is churning out the articles, Catholic 7 ready to break away NOW.  BTW, Creighton's president was in DC today, hopefully to convince Georgetown to pick Creighton as #10.

http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=5347#more-5347

Coulda just needed a Five Guy fix