Everyone is talking about the break up of the Big 12 and the potential for the Super Conference Era of College Sports. For those not familiar with the scenario, it is that there will be 4 and only 4 16-member conferences in a new division of College Sports. If the Big 12 break up, and Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma state make the PAC-12 become the PAC-16, other conferences will follow. We know that the Big 10 and the SEC will be 2 of the other 3 conferences. The fourth will be either the Big East or the ACC. But, we also know that there are really about 80 elite universities in the world of college athletics, so some universities will be left out. Here is who will be left out.
Big East or ACC...One of these two conferences will not be part of the new super division of college sports. Not everyone in the other conference will make it to the one that survives. This one is going to be ugly. If you are a fan of Maryland, Rutgers or Syracuse, hope your school makes the right choice. I will give you a hint as to which one will be the winner. Whichever one U Conn goes to. Why? U Conn is near Bristol, Connecticut...the home of the World Wide Leader in Sports...ESPN.
Big 12...those not going to either the PAC 16 or the 16 member Big 10 are at risk. Missouri seems destined to be part of the Big 10. Kansas may make it there as well. So if you are Baylor, Kansas State and Iowa State and you have a choice between the ACC and Big East, you had better pick wisely.
But if your school does not become part of the new Super Division of college athletics, don't be dismayed. You will be in good company. Here is a list of 6 other elite programs that you will join in the new middle sub-division of Division I.
Air Force, Army and Navy. There is no room for the US service academies if there are only 4 16-team conferences. With all of the tradition and pomp and circumstance that many other college programs attempt to mimic, the service academies will be left on the doorstep. Forget Army's 2 national championships and 3 Heisman Trophy winners. How about Navy, their National Championship and 2 Heisman Trophy winners? What about Air Force, probably the most respected program in the west? If they can to play for a championship in the top division of college football, they can still play for the Commander in Cheif's trophy and national pride.
Boise State. Even though the Broncos have captured the imagination of college football fans in recent years, the masters of the blue turf, the hook-and-lateral and Statue of Liberty plays will be relegated down. There is, after all, justification for this. Boise State has only been a 4-year college since the 1940s where other colleges in the west have been around since the 1880s. In other words, other universities have had another 6 decades to work on their elitism.
Brigham Young. LaVell Edwards built this program from the ground up since 1972. They have won a National Championship, have a Heisman Trophy winner and since 1972 have only four losing seasons and two shutouts. But it is OK for them to be left out because their sports programs will not play games on Sundays and because their sponsoring church lobbied for Proposition 8 in California.
Houston. Remember the old Southwest Conference. These Cougars joined in 1972 and won that league 4 times. They boast the 1989 Heisman Trophy Winner, Andre Ware. They reside in America's 4th largest metro area. But were left out of the Big 12 in favor of Baylor, probably because scandal hit them at the wrong time. Timing is everything.
Some other programs on the outside looking in include SMU, Tulsa, Hawaii, Fresno State, Nevada, Central Florida and Southern Mississippi. Basketball powers on the outside looking in include former NCAA champions Wyoming, UTEP and UNLV as well as Gonzaga, Crieghton and St. Louis which do not have football teams.
3 comments:
I disagree. Boise State would easily be in over any Big East School, and most ACC schools. And that is a fact.
Beloved, everyone that is left out is going to have an argument as to why they should be included...even someone like Middle Tennessee or Ohio. I agree with you about Boise, but can you provide, however, a more concrete argument for Boise State? For example, record or RPI of something else concrete? For example; according to Sagarin's computer rankings, which are used by the BCS, Boise State would finish second in the PAC-12.
Also, what conference would take Boise State? Obviously not the Big 12 because they are not going to exist. Why should the PAC-12 take them over Oklahoma?
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