Saw on BCN..
The only thing becoming clear with college conference realignment is that in the coming weeks, the landscape of college sports will be drastically different. What exactly it will look like, however, is still anyone's guess, but everyone will be affected.
While conference realignment has been a hot topic for several months, talk of major moves has stepped up over the last week. Is the talk still conjecture, or are conferences starting to act? ESPN quoted a political figure connected to Texas who said: "I know the war drums are beating. This is way beyond gossip."
Reports flooded media outlets this weekend alleging that the Pac 10 - not the Big 10 as originally expected - will be the catalyst for the biggest conference shift ever seen in college sports. The Pac 10 reportedly has offered conference positions to Big XII powers Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado, according to Orangebloods.com.
The Pac 10 would form a 16 team mega-conference (presumably changing its name for the sake of accuracy), grouping the 6 former Big XII teams with Arizona and Arizona State in one 8 team division, with the remaining west coast teams in a second division.
The other near-certain move after the Pac 10 raids the Big XII will be made by the Big 10. The Big 10 has made no secret of its desire to expand and has been eying Big East and Big XII teams, in addition to its dream school Notre Dame, to do so. The Big 10 will likely seek to add Nebraska and Missouri to its ranks, along with Big East members Rutgers and Connecticut in addition to the Irish.
The odds are that the move by the Pac 10 and Big 10 to 16 teams will force the members of the three remaining major conferences - the SEC, ACC and Big East - to join 16 team conferences as well. The powerful SEC will likely make no-brainer moves such as adding Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson, says Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews.com, putting the SEC at 16 teams.
The only realistic option for the Big East and ACC, given the above moves, is a merger between the two conferences. Cincinnati, Louisville, West Virginia, Pitt, South Florida and Syracuse would all become ACC members, along with East Carolina and UCF from Conference USA.
What does this mean for Cincinnati? Oddly enough, a drastic move by the Pac 10 is the best case scenario for the Bearcats. The creation of a 16 team Pac 10 will force the hands of the Big 10, SEC and ACC to keep up by adding teams. Should the dominoes fall in that manner, Cincinnati will without question end up in the ACC.
Fiutak guesses that such an ACC would look like this: Atlantic Division - Boston College, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Maryland, Pitt, Louisville, Syracuse and West Virginia; Coastal Division - Duke, North Carolina, NC State, South Florida, UCF, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. If Bearcats fans thought the Big East made for a compelling lineup, wait until North Carolina and Duke roll into the Shoemaker Center or Viginia Tech heads to Nippert for a bit of revenge.
If the Pac 10 fails to act, Cincinnati may be on the outside looking in as the remaining major conferences may not see a need to act. A very pared down Big East could remain, without much of an argument for BCS Bowl consideration.
Whatever happens, it appears Bearcat Nation will know the future of UC sports sooner than expected.''
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-30967-Cincinnati-Bearcats-Examiner~y2010m6d7-With-conferences-poised-to-realign-Cincinnati-is-left-in-limbo
The only thing becoming clear with college conference realignment is that in the coming weeks, the landscape of college sports will be drastically different. What exactly it will look like, however, is still anyone's guess, but everyone will be affected.
While conference realignment has been a hot topic for several months, talk of major moves has stepped up over the last week. Is the talk still conjecture, or are conferences starting to act? ESPN quoted a political figure connected to Texas who said: "I know the war drums are beating. This is way beyond gossip."
Reports flooded media outlets this weekend alleging that the Pac 10 - not the Big 10 as originally expected - will be the catalyst for the biggest conference shift ever seen in college sports. The Pac 10 reportedly has offered conference positions to Big XII powers Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado, according to Orangebloods.com.
The Pac 10 would form a 16 team mega-conference (presumably changing its name for the sake of accuracy), grouping the 6 former Big XII teams with Arizona and Arizona State in one 8 team division, with the remaining west coast teams in a second division.
The other near-certain move after the Pac 10 raids the Big XII will be made by the Big 10. The Big 10 has made no secret of its desire to expand and has been eying Big East and Big XII teams, in addition to its dream school Notre Dame, to do so. The Big 10 will likely seek to add Nebraska and Missouri to its ranks, along with Big East members Rutgers and Connecticut in addition to the Irish.
The odds are that the move by the Pac 10 and Big 10 to 16 teams will force the members of the three remaining major conferences - the SEC, ACC and Big East - to join 16 team conferences as well. The powerful SEC will likely make no-brainer moves such as adding Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson, says Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews.com, putting the SEC at 16 teams.
The only realistic option for the Big East and ACC, given the above moves, is a merger between the two conferences. Cincinnati, Louisville, West Virginia, Pitt, South Florida and Syracuse would all become ACC members, along with East Carolina and UCF from Conference USA.
What does this mean for Cincinnati? Oddly enough, a drastic move by the Pac 10 is the best case scenario for the Bearcats. The creation of a 16 team Pac 10 will force the hands of the Big 10, SEC and ACC to keep up by adding teams. Should the dominoes fall in that manner, Cincinnati will without question end up in the ACC.
Fiutak guesses that such an ACC would look like this: Atlantic Division - Boston College, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Maryland, Pitt, Louisville, Syracuse and West Virginia; Coastal Division - Duke, North Carolina, NC State, South Florida, UCF, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. If Bearcats fans thought the Big East made for a compelling lineup, wait until North Carolina and Duke roll into the Shoemaker Center or Viginia Tech heads to Nippert for a bit of revenge.
If the Pac 10 fails to act, Cincinnati may be on the outside looking in as the remaining major conferences may not see a need to act. A very pared down Big East could remain, without much of an argument for BCS Bowl consideration.
Whatever happens, it appears Bearcat Nation will know the future of UC sports sooner than expected.''
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-30967-Cincinnati-Bearcats-Examiner~y2010m6d7-With-conferences-poised-to-realign-Cincinnati-is-left-in-limbo
