Stewart Mandel 16 Expansion Scenarios

[usf97]

I like scenario number 11 except that we would have to earn AQ again.Crazy but it would be a good football and basketball conference.

I hereby propose the following consortium of teams plucked from the potential wreckage of the Big 12 and Big East: Cincinnati, Memphis, Louisville, West Virginia, USF, Connecticut, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor. With a couple of strong years, who's to say this league wouldn't qualify for BCS status?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/06/07/expansion-scenarios/index.html

[Guest]

I like scenario number 11 except that we would have to earn AQ again.Crazy but it would be a good football and basketball conference.

I hereby propose the following consortium of teams plucked from the potential wreckage of the Big 12 and Big East: Cincinnati, Memphis, Louisville, West Virginia, USF, Connecticut, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor. With a couple of strong years, who's to say this league wouldn't qualify for BCS status?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/06/07/expansion-scenarios/index.html

We would have to earn AQ for both BCS and - AND - for the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

Also, it's only 10 teams - so we'd inevitably invite a few C-USA/MAC teams to the mix: Memphis, Houston, Temple, Buffalo, Central Michigan, UCF, ECU, Tulane, and others would be worth considering in the new "Great American" conference...

But I still think this is what ultimately happens:

4. Nebraska bids the Big 12 adieu.

There goes the conference. Nebraska AD/former coach Tom Obsborne has been at odds with Texas nearly since the league's inception, what with much of the conference's policies seemingly tailored to the Longhorns and their Lone Star counterparts. The Big Ten offers more money, equal revenue sharing and a fresh start. If an invite appears imminent, the Huskers head north.

A Big 12 without one of its three marquee franchises will no longer be palatable to Texas. The 'Horns will accept their invite to the Pac-10, and the other five will follow.

5. The Mountain West pounces.

9. The Big Ten goes to 16, adds Rutgers, Syracuse (and maybe Pittsburgh).

14. The SEC goes to 16, adding FSU and Miami plus Clemson and Virginia Tech.

Now the SEC -- which loves to boast about its "speed" -- would officially enter "ludicrous speed" territory. The league's members would boast more combined national championships and BCS title-game appearances than all other conferences combined. (That's an exaggeration -- I think.)

The remaining ACC teams would have no choice but to join forces with the Big East (or what's left of it) to remain a viable football conference.

[Rizman]

The government needs to get involved.  Somebody is not going to be happy.

[dabull80]

The government needs to get involved.   Somebody is not going to be happy.

Oh sure - the government is great at making things right.  That is why that powerhouse Baylor is in the Big 12 now instead of TCU or Houston etc.  Thank you Anne Richards.

[2000bull]

The government needs to get involved.   Somebody is not going to be happy.

:Bang

obama should get right on it

[tampabull]

The government needs to get involved.   Somebody is not going to be happy.

:Bang

obama should get right on it

The government needs to stay the hell out of it.

[2000bull]

The government needs to get involved.   Somebody is not going to be happy.

:Bang

obama should get right on it

The government needs to stay the hell out of it.

just to be clear, I was being sarcastic, if that didn't come across that way 

[Tampabull99]

Now the SEC -- which loves to boast about its "speed" -- would officially enter "ludicrous speed" territory.

Oh no, the SEC is about to go plaid!

[South_Florida_Flip]

Good read. ND could solve plenty of problems if they took their head out of their ass.

[nobull.Bulls]

IF we could get some some people to run these conferences that are more concerned about the game of college football and not making money, that would do a lot more good than this conference realignment.

Ultimately, it is likely to only serve a handful of school and lock out the underdogs and overachievers such as Boise State.