NCAA Confernces expanded and disappearing

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heyzel

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#241
Jul 24, 2005
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CUSA, MWC consolidate into one for football

Conference USA and the Mountain West announced Friday a football consolidation of their combined 22 schools "in one large association."

The plan is for the champion of each conference to then play in a championship game perhaps as soon as 2012. The unique, first-of-its kind arrangement will span five time zones and reach from the East Coast to Hawaii. The arrangement had been discussed by the two leagues for more than a year and even had its own new conference name, at least in this blog.

There are no assurances that the champion of the new consolidation will get a BCS bid moving forward, a high-ranking BCS source said.

The current BCS deal with ESPN extends through the 2013 regular season and 2014 bowls.

"Who knows whether there will even be a BCS [beyond 2013]," said Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky. "There are some folks who believe if you play at the highest level you deserve it, regardless if you're champion of a particular conference. We will stand up as one champion and speak with one voice and expect our champion to be recognized at the highest level. "

How long the association stays at 22 schools is up for debate. CBSSports.com's Brett McMurphy reported Friday that the Big East is poised to invite four schools, three of them from Conference USA and the Mountain West -- Boise State and Air Force from the Mountain West, Central Florida from Conference USA and Navy, an independent.

"I believe Boise and Air Force are gone [to the Big East]," said one source familiar with the Mountain West.

If that's the case, there are plenty of schools left over for the "Big Country". The Mountain West has been around since 1999. The league is currently at eight members, but is losing TCU after this season to the Big 12. It will grow to 10 in 2012 after gaining Hawaii (football only), Nevada and Fresno State from the WAC. The 12-team Conference USA has been in existence since 1995.

The new consolidation could grow and shrink with ease because of its size. The consolidation most likely will debut in 2013, even though 2012 remains possible. There will need to be a change in NCAA legislation allowing the two CUSA championship game participants to play 14 games. CUSA will continue to have its own conference championship game before that champion meets the Mountain West champion.

The current NCAA limit is 13 for regular-season games.

"I don't think it's nutty at all," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said of the new arrangement. "It's proactive. It's bold in some way. We're trying to position our members in the best light possible."

On its face, the move seems to be part of a gold rush for an automatic BCS bid that could be up for grabs. The Big East holds one of those six automatic bids through the 2013 season. However, that bid is in danger with the Big East down to six members after the loss of TCU, Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

It is trying to rebuild with the addition of Central Florida, Air Force Navy and Boise State.

"We've got 22, and they're at 6," Banowksy said. "I will tell you there is room for everybody in this college football world."

One industry source said there are only four schools with television appeal among the 22 in the new consolidation. The Big East would be taking two of them, Air Force and Boise. SMU and Houston are the others.

The same source that the Big East's addition of Air Force, Navy, Central Florida and Boise would make up for the loss of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and TCU in terms of football, markets and television appeal.

Thompson said the Air Force and Boise presidents participated in the vote to form the new consolidation.

"They both mentioned they were in contact with the Big East, but did not elaborate," Thompson said.

Banowsky said he does not expect to lose Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the country.

It the modern world of cutthroat college athletics, the Big East's move could essentially keep Conference USA and Mountain West out of the BCS until at least the 2018 season.

"They [Mountain West/Conference USA] could still merge but the value is gone," one source said before Friday's announcement.

"It's all about inventory and it's all about programming" Thompson said. ""Better is better and more is better in the television industry."
 
F

Fucky McFuckerson

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#243
May 9, 2002
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#243
Source: Big East invites 5 schools

If all goes according to plan, the Big East will end up replacing outgoing Pittsburgh, Syracuse and TCU with full-time members Houston, Southern Methodist and Central Florida, while adding Air Force and Boise State in football only.

According to a source with direct knowledge of Friday's Big East conference call, the conference has sent conditional invitations to Houston and SMU for all sports and Air Force and Boise State for football only.

The Big East informed the four schools that if all four agree to join the Big East then the remaining schools would agree to an increase in the exit fee from $5 million to the $10 million range to show a commitment to the incoming schools.

The Big East leaders are scheduled to vote Monday on the exit fee increase, a conference official told the Associated Press Saturday.

However, the six remaining football playing schools won't commit to raising the fee unless all four commit to joining the Big East in football with Houston and SMU joining in all sports.

Meanwhile, the Big East sent a separate all-sports invitation to UCF and are expecting the Knights to accept, the source said.

An official in the Big East, speaking on condition of anonymity because the conference had not authorized anyone to speak publicly about its plans, told The Associated Press that commissioner John Marinatto was in Cincinnati on Friday meeting with UCF's president and athletic director.

The Big East also is working on a separate deal with Navy, the source told ESPN, but the Midshipmen are skeptical.

If Houston, SMU and Central Florida accept for all sports that would restore the Big East to 17 teams in men's basketball, while adding Air Force and Boise State in football only would get the conference to 11 team in that sport, pending a Navy decision.

The Big East was considering adding Temple, but that is a backup plan now, according to a Big East source. Temple, which was kicked out of the Big East in 2005, plays football in the Mid-American Conference.

The Big East announced earlier this week it wanted to expand to 12 football schools.

The two conferences affected by the Big East's expansion plans -- the Mountain West for Boise State and Air Force and Conference USA for UCF, SMU and Houston -- announced Friday they would form a 22-team merged league in football only, with two divisions and a conference championship game.

According to a source with direct knowledge about Boise State's and Air Force's situations, the conferences went ahead with the alliance when Boise State indicated to the MWC that it didn't plan to leave the conference.

The source also said Air Force had soured on the Big East deal a bit when Army decided against joining the Big East and Navy became skeptical of the plan.

MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said on a conference call to announce the alliance he had been notified by the leaders of Boise State and Air Force that they had been in contact with the Big East, but the presidents of those schools also participated in the league's unanimous vote to approve the merger with C-USA.

Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said the president of UCF took part in his conference's vote and that he and Big East commissioner John Marinatto have been in contact about Central Florida.

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"I hope UCF will stay," he said. "But if a school feels like it's in a better situation somewhere else that's OK."

The source said that if Boise State and Air Force had reservations about the MWC, C-USA or the alliance between the two, they would would have abstained or been absent from Friday's conference call. The source cited Missouri's absence from the Big 12's conference call announcing the addition of TCU as an example. Missouri The Tigers are currently deciding whether to leave the Big 12.

Big East officials made protecting the league's automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series their expansion priority. That pushed Boise State, which is in its first season in the Mountain West after a decade in the Western Athletic Conference, to the top of the Big East's most wanted list, along with the service academies.

The Broncos are 71-5 since 2006, finished 10th in the final BCS standings last season and are 5-0 and ranked No. 5 entering this weekend's games. Big East officials believe putting Boise State's record on the Big East's ledger when the BCS reviews which leagues should have automatic bids beyond 2013 should allow the conference to make the cut.

Right now, the Big East has only six schools committed to play football in the league beyond this season.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse have announced they will move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, though Big East rules require them to stay in the league for the next two seasons, and Marinatto has said he will hold the Panthers and Orange to that. However, that seems unlikely if the league can't grow to 12 teams for next season without them.

TCU was slated to join the Big East in 2012, but the Horned Frogs reneged on that commitment and accepted an invitation to the Big 12 last week.

Trying to recruit new members has been tricky for the Big East because its remaining members might also be looking for new conference homes.

Louisville and West Virginia are possible targets for the Big 12 if it needs to replace Missouri, which is pondering a move to the Southeastern Conference, or decides to expand back to 12 teams.

Connecticut has interest in joining the ACC if it expands again, and there has been speculation about Rutgers moving, too.

By agreeing to conditionally raise the exit fee, the Big East is trying to ensure the schools it is recruiting that the conference will be viable in the long run. Boise State, Air Force and Navy, an independent in football, all had reservations about the Big East's long-term health.

A veteran conference commissioner told Katz that he would be surprised if Boise State would accept an invite without knowing the long-term security of the Big East.

The source also said the Mountain West-Conference USA alliance could persuade Air Force, Boise State, Central Florida, Houston and SMU to say no to the Big East.

Thompson previously told ESPN.com he was hopeful the merger would gain a BCS automatic qualifier for the winner of the merged leagues.

The Texas schools would replace the presence in the state the Big East thought it was going to have with TCU, and help make the move to the Big East more palatable to Boise State.

Boise, Idaho, is nearly 1,900 miles from the closest current Big East member, Louisville. Though the trip to Houston is about as far, having a presence in Texas is alluring to Boise State.

Houston's athletic director Mack Rhoades, wouldn't comment on the speculation about this school's conference future.

"We are flattered to be mentioned as an athletics program of national importance and we are grateful for our strong traditions and the dedication of our fans, alumni, staff and student-athletes," Rhoades said in a statement from the school Friday.

Boise State and Air Force would have to find a conference to house their other sports. A return to the WAC is possible for both, though WAC commissioner Karl Benson said Friday he has only had hypothetical conversations with Boise State and Air Force officials about those schools joining as non-football members.

The departures of Pitt and Syracuse leave the Big East with six football members: Louisville, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Rutgers, Connecticut and South Florida. Notre Dame remains a football independent but is otherwise a full-sport Big East member.

The Big East also has seven schools that do not play in the football bowl subdivision: Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall, Marquette and DePaul.

Notre Dame's goal is to remain a football independent. But if the Big East crumbles, the Fighting Irish could end up with no place for their basketball, baseball and Olympic sports to compete. That could force Notre Dame to finally give up football independence and put its storied program in a conference, as it's unlikely another league will give the Irish the same deal they have in the Big East.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...east-sends-invites-five-schools-hike-exit-fee
 
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heyzel

Sicc OG
#244
Jul 24, 2005
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#244
I Pukokeki Ioulo Momu said:
Who woulda thunk that the CUSA and MWC would be the first "super conference". Take that SEC and Pac-12. Love the ballsy move.
Click to expand...
this move makes perfect sense, it looks like the bcs is on it's last legs thank god I just hope everybody put their egos aside and make this college football playoff a reality it's too much money on the table for it not to happen
 
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heyzel

Sicc OG
#245
Jul 24, 2005
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#245
FSU to Big 12? School has inflated idea of self-worth

1:45 pm May 14, 2012, by Jeff Schultz
Jimbo Fisher and Florida State should know leverage comes with winning.

Jimbo Fisher and Florida State might think brand is worth more than it really is. (AP photo)

There is only one thing that throws me about this Florida State-to-the-Big-12 rumor that has been growing and mutating over the past several days: Do school officials consider themselves some kind of super power? Because I believe time machines are not applicable here.

In the last six years, Florida State has played in the Emerald Bowl, the Music City Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl, the Gator Bowl, the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the Champs Sports Bowl again.

They have played in one BCS bowl (Orange) in the last eight seasons (and lost). They haven’t won any BCS bowl game since the national title 12 years ago.

They haven’t won the ACC since 2005. They have played in only one ACC championship game in the last six seasons.

Before a school starts making financial demands and threatening to change conferences, shouldn’t it at least have to win the ACC Atlantic Division more frequently than Boston College?

This, of course, is all about money. The problem is that Florida State is living in its super power past. It’s frustrated that the ACC is not the SEC. Every conference is frustrated that it’s not the SEC. But, sorry, when a conference wins six straight national championships, the result is not going to be a level playing field, least of all when it comes to television revenue.

The ACC and ESPN recently announced a 15-year, $3.6 billion contract. That averages out to $17.1 million per school per year, which certainly seems good. But the fact that the deal is back-loaded — it will take nine years before schools see a $17.1 million take – has some members grumbling, particularly Florida State, whose athletic department is facing a $2.4 million shortfall.

Andy Haggard, an FSU trustee, mouthed off to Warchant.com. He complained that the ACC surrendered its third-their television rights to ESPN for football but not basketball, seeming evidence that the conference was favoring the North Carolina-based schools for basketball reasons.

There was a problem with that statement: It wasn’t true. The school had to issue an apology Saturday night. This goes back to my theory that many members of a school’s Board of Trustees are little more than more than big-money boosters who get to go to meetings and, it follows, talk too much.

Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher also said, “…I think you always have to look out there to see what’s best for Florida State. If that [jumping to the Big 12] is what’s best for Florida State, then that’s what we need to do.”

This from a coach who last season finished behind Clemson and Wake Forest. I’m not sure what Fisher believes the Florida State brand is worth right now, but I doubt the school can do better than what it has right now. Leverage comes with winning something.
 
SC_408

SC_408

Sicc OG
#246
Oct 3, 2006
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#246
I personally would love that move, I like the Big 12 and hope they can make this happen. Maybe they can bring in Miami, or Louisville to make it 12?
 
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heyzel

Sicc OG
#247
Jul 24, 2005
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I think it's a bad move why leave the acc when you are getting a fair split of revenue to go to the big 12 and be texas bitch texas is pimping everybody in the big 12 I think it like a55-45 split texas way
 
JLMACN

JLMACN

JLMACN
#250
Aug 26, 2002
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WWW.YABITCHDONEME.COM
#250
It's simple......The ACC is a basketball conference.....the Big 12 is a football conference....


Football controls college sports


Florida State is leaving a basketball conference for a football conference. Florida State is a football school anyway, they don't care about basketball much.
 
F

Fucky McFuckerson

Sicc OG
#251
May 9, 2002
37,066
16,282
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#251
JLMACN said:
It's simple......The ACC is a basketball conference.....the Big 12 is a football conference....


Football controls college sports


Florida State is leaving a basketball conference for a football conference. Florida State is a football school anyway, they don't care about basketball much.
Click to expand...
FSU has being doing just fine in bball over the last several years. But i see what youre saying.
 
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SC_408

Sicc OG
#254
Oct 3, 2006
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#254
I can't wait till San Diego St goes back to being a fuckin doormat and regrets going to the Big East. A couple years of being mediocre and they think they are hot shit. I will laugh each time they gotta fly thousands of miles just to get embarrassed by a fuckin Rutgers or UConn team
 
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