College Football '10 - Conference switching chaos!!

[Drake Tungsten]

I kind of like these proposed divisions...

PROPOSED DIVISIONS

(Division names can be decided later. For now, I'll use the many spellings of the commissioner's last name)

Delany Division

Penn State
Nebraska
Iowa
Northwestern
Indiana
Purdue

Delaney Division

Ohio State
Michigan State
Michigan
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Illinois

PROTECTED CROSSOVERS

Like the SEC, the new Big Ten will have one protected crossover for each team ...

Penn State-Ohio State
Nebraska-Michigan
Iowa-Minnesota
Northwestern-Wisconsin
Indiana-Illinois
Purdue-Michigan State

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/13285/my-proposal-for-big-ten-divisions

The biggest problem seems to be that Wisconsin and Iowa wouldn't play every year with these divisions, but I'm unsure of how big a deal that actually is to both fanbases.

From the perspective of a Nebraska fan, playing Penn State, Michigan and Iowa every year is pretty much the dream scenario as far as potential rivals go. PSU and Michigan fans already have reason to hate Nebraska (and vice versa), while Iowa fans are already busy convincing themselves that getting destroyed by the Huskers in the final week of the season is the best thing for them. Should be fun.

[Guynemer]

I'd just make Iowa-Wisconsin the crossover, both for the rivalry and to preserve the competitive balance of the crossovers, as they would both be the "third" of each division's "big three", at least from a historical perspective.

[Drake Tungsten]

I'd just make Iowa-Wisconsin the crossover

And kill the Floyd of Rosedale? Are you mad?

Besides, Iowa is going to need to keep Minnesota as their end-of-season game once the Big Ten does the smart thing and makes Nebraska-Penn State one half of an end-of-season doubleheader with Michigan-Ohio State.

[Drake Tungsten]

Speaking of rivalries, I'd really like to see Nebraska-Kansas (FBS football's longest uninterrupted series) kept alive in non-conference. That being said, I'm not sure either school could work the game into its 2011 schedule on such short notice and I'm not sure Kansas would want to do so anyway. Having to play Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas every year is pretty daunting for any school that has hopes of making a BCS game.

[OzzyKP]

So... am I right that the Big 10 now has 12 teams and the Big 12 now has 10 teams?

The structure of college sports is so dumb.

[Drake Tungsten]

So... am I right that the Big 10 now has 12 teams and the Big 12 now has 10 teams?

OK, the Big Ten has 12 teams; Big 12 has 10 teams. We get it. Cute. And 289,532 people have used it.

http://twitter.com/slmandel/status/16196005009

[Guynemer]

Okay, so which school that is moving will have the most success in its first year in its new conference? Which will be the first to win its new conference.

Now, given that all the teams in question are still at least one season away from their new homes, but if I had to speculate and rank them, top to bottom...

Boise State
Utah
Nebraska
Colorado...

...for just general success. For first conference championship:

Boise State
Nebraska
Utah
Colorado

[OzzyKP]

[Drake Tungsten]

Meet the Texas Longhorns: The Biggest Coward Program in College Football

Conference realignment died because the Texas football program is made up of cowards who are aware that the Longhorns program can't compete at the top levels of the SEC or the Pac-10. That's what your takeaway from the past two weeks of conference realignment really needs to be. Yep, the state that values masculine swagger more than any other in the nation features a top football program that is yella.

All hat, no cattle.

The Longhorns had offers to move on to compete with top echelon talent in the SEC and the Pac-10. Instead, like recalcitrant female cattle, they balked, choosing to remain in a weakened Big 12 that is minus two of the traditional powers in the league.

How bad is Texas' schedule now even with a round-robin nine-game slate to come in 2012? It's likely the Longhorns will have one top 25 conference game a season, the annual Texas-Oklahoma tussle in October. Meaning Texas will try and back door its way into the BCS title game each season by avoiding challenges rather than competing with the best in college football.

If Sam Houston had known the cowardice of the Longhorns in 2010, he would have forgotten the Alamo.

What's more, while Texas is a coward in the larger universe of college football, the Longhorns are a bully in their own conference, the equivalent of a mob boss extracting loyalty payments from the five weakest members. Why did Texas (along with Oklahoma and Texas A&M) take a larger share of contractual payouts owed by Colorado and Nebraska for leaving the conference?

Because it could.

But that's how bullies always behave, right?

They beat up on the weak and then get their asses kicked or turn tail when someone steps to them. Ask Colt McCoy and Texas about that. The Longhorns quarterback threw for 4 billion yards in his career against the sisters of the poor defenses in the Big 12. He lasted for less than a full quarter against an SEC defense. Yep, the SEC and the Pac-10 would have been the barbed wire to Texas' BCS title dreams.

And that's what the Longhorns feared more than anything. Once it joined the SEC or the Pac-10, Texas is just another program, packing a six-shooter with no bullets. Waving that gun around in the air and yelling ain't scaring away Marcell Dareus on the blitz. He's calling your bluff and slapping you with your own empty gun. People might start to realize that for all the swagger, the Longhorns have just one national title in the past 39 years, nearly two generations of failing to capture the ultimate prize. They might also realize that most years, Texas can't even get past Oklahoma, the overrated team you've last seen being stomped by whatever opponent the Sooners draw in the BCS games, title or otherwise. ...

http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/06/16/meet-the-texas-longhorns-the-biggest-coward-program-in-college/

So true.

[SlowwHand]

Who cares what this numb nuts says? I mean, other than a fellow numb nuts like you?

Clay Travis
FanHouse NCAA Writer
Clay Travis is the author of the bestselling books Dixieland Delight and On Rocky Top. He also hosts a daily radio show in his hometown of Nashville. He wrote the ClayNation column for CBSSports.com for three years, has been an associate editor at Deadspin.com, and served as a mediocre lawyer specializing in punishing the oppressed and rewarding the guilty.

He hates jogging, the Soap Box derby, and fat girls from Florida. Not necessarily in that order.

http://www.fanhouse.com/staff/clay-travis/

[Drake Tungsten]

Sloww is an exemplar of all the cowards that live in Texas, an undistinguished old man who jumps at any opportunity to talk the talk but does everything in his power to avoid having to ever walk the walk...

[H Tower]

Now that Conference realignment has settled down, (at least until Drake and Sloww catch their breath) there is only 32 days until powerhouses Presbyterian and Wake Forest kickoff to start the 2010 season.

34 days until until Illinois gets walloped by Missouri.

[Drake Tungsten]

Missouri could definitely use something positive after the offseason they've had.

[H Tower]

Which quarter will it be that ESPN shows a sign saying something along the lines of: "Yeah, you might be beating us, but you still wish you were us" ?

[Guynemer]

The WAC bleeds off its two remaining decent programs, as Nevada and Fresno State jump ship to the MWC, amidst rumors that BYU is going to leave the conference to become an independent. (!) (?)


The **** is going on out there?