I have written recently some thoughts I have on the "new" ten team "Big XII." I have been thinking a good bit about this league of late and wonder where it will be in the next couple of years. Will it have the same ten team format (along with the same ten schools)? Will it add a couple of programs to get back to a twelve team league, or will it go the way of the old Southwest Conference? I don't know of course but it will be interesting to watch.
I mentioned that one thing that this league must do is schedule "up" in non conference play. That may be harder to do than it appears what with everyone of the top programs in other leagues looking for likely wins in their non conference games. The Sun Belt, WAC, Mid American, and some IAA programs earn their bread and butter by taking on the "big boys." That may make it difficult to schedule a tier one or two program for every non conference game. Still the effort has to be made.
This year for instance the old Nebraska/Oklahoma rivalry is not to be played. I know the Huskers moved onto "greener pastures" but this rivalry is a time honored contest. One of the premier games in the land. It is every bit as big as the Longhorn/Sooner, Aggie/Longhorn, Ohio State/Michigan, Auburn/Alabama, USC/UCLA and Florida/Georgia games. It is a shame that it will not be played this year. The reasons for this I do not know. I would suspect that it has something to do with the Nebraska AD's aversion to scheduling top teams in non conference play.
Will the Big Twelve have the need to add a couple of teams in the future? It is pretty hard to see who would be a good fit. Raiding the Southeast Conference is out of the question. In fact I would not be totally surprised to see the SEC try to entice Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and perhaps Mizzou or Baylor. Anyway if the Big Twelve tries to get back to twelve teams, who would they go for? The University of Houston come to mind. The Cougars would be able to compete (most years) fairly well in this conference. Louisiana Tech? Probably not but maybe not totally out of the question. Tulsa? Maybe. New Mexico? Might be a good fit. UTEP perhaps would also be an option. Southern Methodist would probably jump at the chance to affiliate with a major conference. TCU would be a boon to the league but next season they jump to the Big East. That is a travesty but also another story for another time.
What does the future hold for the Big XII? Your guess is as good as mine.
Utah dominating the Pac10/12 you think? I would not be too sure about that. They have moved to a bigger pond than they think it is. They may be confused by Oregon, since they will never be able to recognize the uniforms in the films they study and may not be sure who they are playing. The clue is to look for the silly ass feathers, of course, but...
ReplyDelete"the SEC try to entice Texas..." etc.
SEC already has twelve teams. More than that does them no good, so I don't see them snapping up any more.
Utah may not dominate the PAC 12 but they will certainly be able to compete. Year in and year out. I agree the SEC is big enough and I would hate to see them attempt to raid but there was a good bit of speculation last year that they had an interest in Texas and the Aggies (with perhaps some others schools as "second" choices). Enough speculation on the matter to believe that something was up.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the silly uniforms the Ducks show up in. College football should not be a circus. Silly of me to believe that I know.
O, Utah will be competitive, I have no argument with that. I was just questioning the "dominate" thing.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm wondering is what the sam hell does BYU think it gains with its independence? Sure, it has it's own television station, or network, or whatever, but how does it get a bowl bid? That hasn't worked very well for the military academies or for Notre Dame, has it?
I do not agree with the BYU decision. I believe that any D1 program should have to be affiliated. BYU is a perfect fit for the MWC and the service schools for the Big East. Notre Dame? Big Ten would have been the best bet but since it now has 12 teams I would think the Big East would be where I would place them. Whether they like it or not.
ReplyDelete