That’s all she wrote, folks. Major college football, as you knew it from about 1996-2009, is over. The Big XII is done. All that’s left is the finalization of moves from outside the conference and what ends up as some truly bizarre scheduling in the 2012 season. Today, early movements in conference realignment went into overdrive.
Perhaps you heard that the Big Ten and Nebraska are now getting together. Conventional wisdom had previously held that Missouri would go, too, putting seven in the imagined Big Ten West and six in the Big Ten East. Add, say, Iowa State and Pitt and, oh, Rutgers, and you have a 16-team league. Word now is that Missouri and the Big Ten isn’t happening. Iowa State (and Kansas, too) are left in the cold. Any other expansion from the conference is also up in the air.
[Ed. note: Apparently we deleted a whole portion relating to the Pac-10 before publishing on the evening of June 11. Oops.]
Right now, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado are joining the Pac-10. That’s 15, brother. There’s got to be one more in the mix to balance the divisions.
Think it’s Texas A&M? Former Aggies player, coach and national championship-winning Alabama coach Gene Stallings, who is a regent, is reportedly pushing hard for A&M to be the seventh team in the SEC West. Stories coming out have it that A&M has been given a 72-hour deadline to decide if it’s going to make the Pac-10 move. If you can predict what will happen there, you’re a better person than we are.
More word out today is that Miami and Virginia Tech have not been in talks with the SEC, which means that if A&M joins, the best chances for an addition to the SEC East fall to Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State and Louisville. If A&M does join, the SEC will likely end expansion at 14 teams. We really doubt there’s any desire to add Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, SMU or TCU to the West. Each of these teams haven’t been that good, consistently, for a while, or bring money to the conference. Except for TCU, which, while small, has the DFW market to bustle in.
Yet, there’s another problem with the Great Gallopin’ Horny Toads. They’re in the Mountain West, with Utah. And another major move happened, with Boise State leaving the WAC for the MWC. As it is, TCU can stick where it is and do well, especially if the MWC absorbs the Big XII leftovers.
All of the above isn’t even considering rumors that Conference USA will help finish off the Big East as a football conference. Or that if the SEC goes take a team or two from the ACC, that the ACC will go back and take a few more from the Big East.
Ain’t the off-season fun?
You have to hand it to Western criminal justice systems. Those states seem to have had a historical legacy of interesting conventions. In McAlester, Okla., there was an annual rodeo for the prisoners and some competitors who went up against the guys on the inside. It was a big deal in the town of 18,000 in the middle of nowhere. To give you an idea of how small this place is, the nearby McAlester Army Ammunition Plant (home of the “mother of all bombs”) dwarfs it in geographical size. Not that it really needs to, right? Just drop those bombs wherever you damn well please.
Anyway, like all governments, Oklahoma is hurting, so it ended funding of the hootenanny. The town would almost double in size every year and bring in a lot of revenue, but the state figured it couldn’t stick the taxpayers with the $120,000 bill so that inmates can tangle with a bronco or two. Come on, Sooners. Let’s get some sponsorships in there. You know, gun makers, bail bondsmen, Army surplus stores and the like.
As you know, an inmate without a bull to ride is a sad inmate indeed. And what of the clowns? WHO’S THINKING OF THE CLOWNS?
There are 34 bowl games this year, and we’re picking every damn one of them (probably with 60-70 percent success). You can follow the progress or join up and do battle with us through ESPN College Bowl Mania. We’re in “The League” and “The War Against Tebow.” TWAT (jokes!) is the brainchild of decamped S.C. blogger and good time Johnny, Micah Snead, so go there. But beware — Snead’s dad is a total ringer and will probably take the title by 20 points.
Dec. 19, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Fresno State v. Wyoming
Dec. 19, 8 p.m., ESPN
Central Florida v. Rutgers
Dec. 20, 8:30 a.m., ESPN
Southern Miss v. Middle Tennessee State
Dec. 22, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Oregon State v. No. 14 BYU
Dec. 23, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 23 Utah v. California
Dec. 24, 8 p.m., ESPN
Nevada v. Southern Methodist
Dec. 26, 1 p.m., ESPN
Marshall v. Ohio
Dec. 26, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 17 Pitt v. North Carolina
Dec. 26, 8 p.m., ESPN
Boston College v. No. 24 Southern Cal
Dec. 27, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
Kentucky v. Clemson
Dec. 28, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Texas A&M v. Georgia
Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
UCLA v. Temple
Dec. 29, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 15 Miami v. No. 25 Wisconsin
Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bowling Green v. Idaho
Dec. 30, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 20 Arizona v. No. 22 Nebraska
Dec. 31, Noon, ESPN
Houston v. Air Force
Dec. 31, 2 p.m., CBS
Oklahoma v. No. 21 Stanford
Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Navy v. Missouri
Dec. 31, 6 p.m., NFL Network
Minnesota v. Iowa State
Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 11 Virginia Tech v. Tennessee
Jan. 1, 11 a.m., ESPN
Northwestern v. Auburn
Jan. 1, 1 p.m., CBS
No. 16 West Virginia v. Florida State
Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Penn State v. No. 12 LSU
Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m., ABC
No. 8 Ohio State v. No. 7 Oregon
Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m., Fox
No. 5 Florida v. No. 3 Cincinnati
Jan. 2, Noon, ESPN2
South Florida v. Northern Illinois
Jan. 2, 2 p.m., ESPN
South Carolina v. Connecticut
Jan. 2, 2 p.m., Fox
No. 19 Oklahoma State v. Ole Miss
Jan. 2, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Arkansas v. East Carolina
Jan. 2, 9 p.m., ESPN
Michigan State v. Texas Tech
Jan. 4, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 6 Boise State v. No. 4 TCU
Jan. 5, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 10 Iowa v. No. 9 Georgia Tech
Jan. 6, 7 p.m., Fox
No. 25 Central Michigan v. Troy
Jan. 7, 8 p.m., ABC
No. 2 Texas v. No. 1 Alabama
Nike’s bizarre, “tradition ain’t shit” uniform policy will befoul a number of teams for the rest of the month. Alabama, thank God, has been limited to the swoosh, the NCAA-mandated conference pennant and the script A, through there was that houndstooth collar mess for the 2006 Ole Miss game.
It appears the garish ensemble will come out for the Florida State game (but there hasn’t been a definitive statement). The Seminoles will also be wearing the misfit creation, with a black helmet. Don’t drink too much, as you might not recognize who’s on the field. We haven’t found a picture of the side of the Florida helmet, but unless it’s got the old-school F on that white melon case, it’s going to be even more strange. Throw a blue helmet on there, and you’d swear it’s Kentucky.
The other ones are even weirder. LSU’s look like a direct rip from Washington. The helmets are gold. TCU’s entry has pants that look like scales and red stripes on the helmet. Horned frogs, you see, shoot blood out of their eyes. Miami has two-tone numbers, but the only tradition there is thuggery and fairweather fans, so that’s no big deal.
