College Football 2010: So it begins

[SlowwHand]

About what I thought. My question was meant generally, but that makes it clear both the question and the presumptive "no" answer apply specifically to that game, too.

I said from the start "that game". It's not my fault that you don't read, but rather jump in so quick to criticize me.

[Solomwi]

Oh, Slowwy. It must be... interesting inside your head.

On an unrelated note, the SEC has ten bowl eligible teams. The ACC has nine, the Big 10 and Big 12 eight each, and the Big East six. The Pac-10 has three, with Oregon State and Washington each a win away with a game left to play (and USC with a good enough record, but ineligible due to probation). Also, the SEC West is 38-4 against non-SECW teams, with three of those losses being incurred by Ole Miss (34-1 without Ole Miss' contribution). Any of the top five teams from the West would have most likely won the East this year.

[Tupac Shakur]

Oh, Slowwy. It must be... interesting inside your head.

On an unrelated note, the SEC has ten bowl eligible teams. The ACC has nine, the Big 10 and Big 12 eight each, and the Big East six. The Pac-10 has three, with Oregon State and Washington each a win away with a game left to play (and USC with a good enough record, but ineligible due to probation). Also, the SEC West is 38-4 against non-SECW teams, with three of those losses being incurred by Ole Miss (34-1 without Ole Miss' contribution). Any of the top five teams from the West would have most likely won the East this year.

More simply put, the SEC plays the weakest non-conference competition, while the Pac-10 plays the toughest plus an extra conference game.

[Solomwi]

More simply put, the SEC plays the weakest non-conference competition, while the Pac-10 plays the toughest plus an extra conference game.

Easy to do when the middle and bottom of the conference are so consistently bad.

[reismark]

That's not a very smart pick. Also, no bowl is going to take the Big East champ unless they have no other choice. Sorry, Fiesta Bowl.

Stewart Mandel's projecting pretty much exactly what I'm saying. Yes, simple logic says the Fiesta gets stuck with the Big East champ, but balancing out the money says otherwise.

[Imran Siddiqui]

In other news, TCU accepts the invitation to join the Big East:

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5862368

[-Jrabbit]

Ripe for the taking...

[H Tower]

Can they take the Big East's auto bid this year?

[SlowwHand]

From the cited link:

The conference change allows TCU to play in an automatic BCS-qualifying league beginning in the 2012-13 school year.

[SlowwHand]

I don't think this was posted yet.

Oklahoma wins BCS tiebreaker for Big 12 title game
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — No. 9 Oklahoma is headed back to the Big 12 championship game to face No. 13 Nebraska after winning a tiebreaker based on the Bowl Championship Series standings.

[Guynemer]

Jesus H Christ, TCU in the Big East? You've got to be ****ting me. It makes no sense geographically, and it makes no sense competition-wise, as the MWC is light-years ahead of the Big East. Sure, the Big East has an auto-bid now, but the MWC has a great chance to take it.

As soon as Boise joins the MWC, the top three MWC teams all jump ship...

[Guynemer]

And another thing... hasn't it been speculated (almost assumed) that the Big East (at least in football) will cease to exist following the next round of conference re-alignment? If the Big Ten plucks two or three schools (Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, UConn being the likely candidates), the conference is toast. I think TCU took a misstep here.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Does anyone really think the MWC is going to be handed an automatically qualification?

Furthermore, the Big East is in no danger of losing its own because while it won't get anyone in the Top 15 in final BCS rankings, last year Cincy finished 3rd, in 2008 Cincy finished 8th, in 2007 West Virginia finished 9th, in 2006 Louisville finished 5th.

The 5 year average for the top team in the conference is well above 15, even if the final BCS has the top Big East team at 24 (WVU is 24 right now).

[Guynemer]

If the MWC had retained TCU & BYU while adding BSU, Nevada, Hawai'i, and Fresno State? **** yeah, they'd have gotten an auto-bid.


I think the bigger argument against TCU/Big East remains the uncertain status of the entire conference over the next 5 years or so.

[Imran Siddiqui]

That's wishful thinking. Knowing what we know about the BCS, MWC would have kept clamoring while the BCS kept ignoring.

And TCU can only see it as a jumping point if the BE falls. At least get paid at a much higher rate than the MWC (In addition to the ESPN contract have you seen BE average attendance compared to MWC - one of reasons Houston wasn't asked by the BE).