Conference Expansions

Colonel_Reb

Colonel_Reb

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Although most of the current talk centers around the Big Ten and Pac-10, future conference expansions will likely affect most, if not all, BCS and non-BCS conferences. I'm sure this topic will grow in the future.


STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- If it were up to him, Penn State
coach Joe Paterno would expand the Big Ten by three members to 14,
adding two schools from the east and one from the west.

Paterno said Saturday before the Nittany Lions spring game that
it's just his preference, and he doesn't know if anyone else in the
conference agrees with him.

But the Hall of Fame coach says he has
a "gut feeling" the Pac-10 will expand first, and the Big Ten will have
to grow, too, if that happens.

The league has said it is
exploring expansion options and has a timetable of 12 to 18 months to
make a decision.

If the conference grows by one to 12 teams, it
can add a championship game, which Paterno has been touting for several
years.http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5132705
 
SEC commish: We won't be left in lurch</font>


<hr width="100%" noshade="noshade" size="1">

Associated Press



</font>
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Southeastern Conference
commissioner Mike Slive says the league isn't considering adding teams
but is working on a plan to keep up with other conferences if they
expand just in case.

The commissioner said Monday that the 12-member SEC hasn't talked to any
institutions about joining and has no plans to do so. The expansion
exploration is just an internal look at the potential advantages and
disadvantages in case there is a "significant shift in the conference
paradigm," he said.

Slive didn't elaborate on how much expansion would fit that billing.



http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=5138055&amp;type=story


"But I'll know," he said.

League expansion has been a hot topic since the Big Ten announced in
December that it was considering expanding.

SEC teams have won the past four national titles in football and have
lucrative TV deals with CBS and ESPN.

"That doesn't cry for change," Slive said. Any changes would only be
made if the league deems it necessary to maintain its prominent
position, he said.

"We've always been known to be a creative league, be on the cutting
edge," Slive said. "We're not going to allow ourselves in any way, shape
or form, to be anything less than what we are now."

He declined to talk about what factors the SEC might look for in
potential new members.

"The important thing is we're paying attention, we're going to be
strategic, we're going to be thoughtful, but we're not going to
relinquish our role as one of the premier conferences," he said.

Slive spoke to editors and writers from the Southeast Region of the
Associated Press Sports Editors across the street from his office in
downtown Birmingham.
 
Looks like the Big 12 is going to start its inevitable collapse. Foolish TV contracts and $$ arrangements are the primary reasons, among other things. I think that Nebraska is a good fit for the Big 10 (or whatever they decide to call it).


<H1 ="line">Report: Nebraska Ready To Leave Big 12</H1>
<H2 ="Sub">Newspaper Says Announcement Expected Friday</H2>



<DIV ="posted">POSTED: 7:17 am CDT June 9, 2010
<DIV ="updated">UPDATED: 8:16 am CDT June 9, 2010



<DIV ="Story"><B ="Dateline">KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- [/B]A new report says that the University of Nebraska may be ready to bolt from the Big 12 Conference.


The Omaha World Herald reported that an unidentified Nebraska university official expects the school to announce it's joining the Big 10 on Friday.


The board of regents will meet Friday in Lincoln.


The University of Missouri is refusing public comment on rumors that it also is leaving the Big 12 to join the Big 10.


The University of Colorado regents met behind closed doors Tuesday night to discuss the school's membership in the Big 12. Colorado is one of several Big 12 schools rumored to be part of a possible Pac 10 expansion.


U.S. Senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts will discuss the future of the Big 12 during a news conference at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.
 
Well looks like Nebraska will be in the Big Ten! I have a positive outlook because 1) Nebraska is a storied program that will bring even more publicity and a strong fan base to the Big Ten. 2) Nebraska actually is in the midwest, a lot better then getting eastern schools like UConn, Rutgers, or Syracuse. I believe the Big Ten should remain "midwestern". 3) Nebraska plays a lot of whites and will make the Big Ten whiter!

On the flip side I do not like that the whole Big 12 will be disbanded
smiley21.gif
It seems that the Pac 10 will steal 6 more Big 12 teams...
Kansas is worried about it's future http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5265439
 
Yep, here's an announcement that just showed up in my mailbox. Nebraska is outta there!



<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=720>
<T>
<TR>
<TD>
<DIV align=center>Nebraska to Join the Big Ten</TD></TR></T></TABLE>
<HR>

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=720>
<T>
<TR>
<TD>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">



ESPN is reporting that Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne has already informed his staff of the school's move to the Big Ten.


The Nebraska Board of Regents reportedly met informally today...and agreed to move to the Big Ten and that a formal announcement Nebraska is leaving will come Friday -- the deadline set by the Big 12.


This could all have a domino effect with Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado bolting for the Pac 10..and spelling the end for the Big 12.
</TD></TR></T></TABLE>
 
Will the Big 10 continue to call it self that? If Nebraska moves that will make 12 teams and so the Big 10 will actually be the Big 12, and I guess that name will be available. Although I guess there are more teams coming.

As I understand it the impetus for all this moving is TV$ as always. The Big 10 is driving this because of the BIG revenue they have made with their own network. But honestly the reason I watched the Big 10 network is because I have been watching Big 10 football for 40 years and had developed a fondness for the conference schools and the rivalries and personalities. But if they add all of these other schools I don't think it will be the same.

I liked the Big 10 network because it was a concentrated view of a very big picture--- college football on Saturdays in the fall. Which is over saturated in my opinion. For the same reason I used to pay little attention to the National League because my home team was in the American League (I don't care much about either anymore) I could just focus on the conference and not worry about what 110 other teams were doing.

I think they should play a 120 game schedule and each team in Div 1 should play each other. That's what we are headed for anyway, one big fat conference.
smiley5.gif
 
It's official, the Pac 10 is now the "Pac 11" with the addition of Colorado.....


<DIV =hd>
<H1 property="dc:title">Colorado accepts invitation to join Pac-10</H1>
<DIV =byline>
<DIV rel="dc:creator">
<DIV of="vcard:VCard">
By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer
<DIV =bd>
<DIV id=copy>
<DIV ="_copy 0">


DENVER(AP)â€"The Colorado Buffaloes have bolted from the Big 12, accepting an invitation Thursday to become the 11th member of the Pac-10 Conference.
<DIV id=sidebar>


It's the first expansion of the league since it added Arizona and Arizona State in 1978. More teams could follow Colorado from the Big 12 to the Pac-10. Reports say Texas, Texas A&amp;M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State could accept invitations soon.


Colorado's move was first reported by The Sporting News.


Before the Buffaloes jumped ship to another conference, Nebraska looked poised to become the first team to leave the Big 12, possibly exiting for the Big Ten as soon as Friday.


With Colorado gone and Nebraska on the verge of maybe moving on, this could seriously damage remaining members' hopes to keep the Big 12 intact. Schools such as Missouri, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State might be left on the sidelines.


Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott announced in February that the conference was exploring possible expansion. He was given the authority last weekend from the schools to offer invitations to potential new members.


"The University of Colorado is a great fit for the conference both academically and athletically,"Â￾ Scott said in a statement.


Colorado president Bruce Benson echoed those thoughts, saying, "Our achievements and aspirations match those of the universities in the conference and we look forward to a productive relationship."Â￾


Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne wasn't at all surprised by the Buffaloes' move out West.


"That's something we thought might happen,"Â￾ he said.


Could Nebraska be next?


"Until we have a definite decision, I'm not saying anything else,"Â￾ Osborne said.


AP Sports Writers Eric Olson and Josh Dubow contributed to this story.
 
With family who went to both Colorado and Nebraska, I don't like seeing them drift apart, and I don't like the possible formation of huge conferences. If Nebraska goes Big 10 that lowers the amount of games they will play against blacker teams, and we will see some great games like Iowa vs Nebraska, or Ohio St. vs Nebraska.
I think the main thing for us at CF to be rooting for is for these conference shake ups to keep the mix of whiter friendly teams in with blacker teams. The more Iowa vs Illinois, or Nebraska vs Oklahoma St type games the better, for our argument to gain validity that more white players equal more victories.
 
Nice point there referendum!

Yeah I don't like all this Super-conference stuff either...looks like College Football isfollowing in linewith the global Government thing going on(political thread)..with the love of the almighty $$dollar$$ what else should we expect....Just a sign of the times...or a time of the signs...

Nebraska could not stand Texas arrogance any longer...and geography should still count for something; hard to see Texas in PAC 10....LSU is as close to the Great Lakes as Texas is to the Pacific Ocean...that's just silly to me....a new/old Southwest Conference thing might not be so bad..since that isn't going to happen I won't waste your time with my proposal

Edited by: TwentyTwo
 
I thought this conference was deep. Two divisions with Texas the natural leader in the south and Nebraska or Missouri the leader in the north. The all mighty dollar destroyed this conference. It's no different then when the SWAC died or the defection of Miami and Va Tech from the Big East.
 
I like Nebraska moving to the Big 10. It will make the conference whiter. What I don't like is the fact that the only really black team they play would be Illinois. In the Big 12, they'd play Baylor, Oklahoma State, or Oklahoma.
 
Jack Lambert said:
I like Nebraska moving to the Big 10. It will make the conference whiter. What I don't like is the fact that the only really black team they play would be Illinois. In the Big 12, they'd play Baylor, Oklahoma State, or Oklahoma.
Click to expand...

Yeah but what this shift can produce is potentially very good. Imagine the Big 10 just kickin butt all over the place. Winning a majority of their bowl games every year and a couple of BCS Championships. Then before you know it the Big Ten is talk of the town (ESPN/MSM) as the best (and one of the whitest) conference in college football; overtaking the coal black SEC. That would be the best scenario.
 
whiteCB said:
Jack Lambert said:
I like Nebraska moving to the Big 10. It will make the conference whiter. What I don't like is the fact that the only really black team they play would be Illinois. In the Big 12, they'd play Baylor, Oklahoma State, or Oklahoma.
Click to expand...

Yeah but what this shift can produce is potentially very good. Imagine the Big 10 just kickin butt all over the place. Winning a majority of their bowl games every year and a couple of BCS Championships. Then before you know it the Big Ten is talk of the town (ESPN/MSM) as the best (and one of the whitest) conference in college football; overtaking the coal black SEC. That would be the best scenario.
Click to expand...

I agree, I think the shift will be very good for us. The Big 10 gets two BCS bids, and a lot of good bowl games. We'll have strong white teams like Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio State at the top of the conference who kick the crap out of the like of Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. And hopefully, dominate the SEC in the bowl games.
 
Oh, lets not overlook Boise St joining the Mountain West next year. I think this really hurts the WAC, but really helps the MWC. The winner of the Mountain West will now have more credibility, and now we can't have a TCU vs. Boise St bowl game like last year.
 
Texas State, Texas-San Antonio, and Denver will join the WAC in 2012.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5792840

DALLAS -- The Western Athletic Conference is turning to Texas to deal with life after Boise State.

The
WAC said Thursday it was adding the University of Texas-San Antonio and
Texas State to a football lineup that will lose the BCS-busting Broncos
next year and key members Fresno State and Nevada in 2012.

The
Texas schools and the University of Denver, which doesn't have football,
will join the WAC in 2012. The current expansion plan gives the WAC
eight football members.

"The addition of these three schools
clearly sends a message that the WAC and its member schools are prepared
to move forward to build a new WAC," Commissioner Karl Benson said.

UTSA
is starting a football program that will begin play next year under
former Miami coach Larry Coker, who won the 2001 BCS national
championship.

The Roadrunners compete in the Southland Conference in nine other sports, including men's and women's basketball.

Texas
State started playing football in 1904 and won consecutive Division II
national championships in 1981-82. The Bobcats made the move to FCS two
years later. While they are 1-4 in the Southland this year, they've
reached the FCS playoffs twice since 2005.

Boise State, Fresno
State and Nevada are headed to the Mountain West Conference, which is
losing Utah and BYU after this season. Utah is joining the Pac-10, and
BYU is going independent in football.

The WAC was interested in
adding Montana, but the school said Thursday it was staying in the FCS
as a member of the Big Sky Conference. School President Royce Engstrom
said the FCS, in which playoffs determine the champion, "provides our
student-athletes and fans with a great experience."
 
Lol wow horrible move by the WAC. That conference is toast!!!
 
No MWC expansion, this year. So they will have 8 football members for the 2011 season and 10 in 2012.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6058281



SALT LAKE CITY -- The Mountain West Conference will not expand further to include either Utah State or Hawaii as a full member.

The
conference board of directors on Tuesday issued a statement saying the
configuration already established works best going forward.

The
announcement came at the conclusion of its annual meeting in Las Vegas,
where topics included television contracts, membership and efforts to
change the Bowl Championship Series structure.

The Mountain West will have eight members as of July, with BYU and Utah departing and Boise State joining current members TCU, New Mexico, UNLV, San Diego State, Colorado State, Wyoming and Air Force.

In
July 2012, TCU departs and Fresno and Nevada join in all sports. Hawaii
joins the MWC in football only, while its other teams will compete in
the Big West.
 
I'd never heard of "Texas State" (at least by that name). Then I went to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_State . It's the alma mater of Lyndon B. Johnson, exactly 53 years (to the day)my senior and the first U.S. President I remember being in office (and vaguely at that). It was SW TX State Teachers College (which I think I *had* heard of) when he went there.

John
 
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There has been a lot of talk about conference expansion over the last few weeks, especially within the SEC and Big-12. I think this issue will be here for a while yet.

Pac-12 doesn't want to expand

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...-12-commissioner-larry-scott-expanding-pac-12


Baylor sells 830 tickets to game at A&M
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/6948869/baylor-returns-tickets-game-texas-am

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- While Baylor is pushing an email campaign to preserve the Big 12 Conference and rivalry games in the state, Texas A&M said Friday that the Bears purchased only 830 tickets from a possible allotment of 3,850 for their Oct. 15 football game at Kyle Field.
Those figures were released by Texas A&M, whose departure from the Big 12 to a pending spot in the Southeastern Conference is on hold after Baylor and other schools refused to waive their right to sue over such a move.

Baylor said later Friday that it had requested 2,000 tickets for the game by July 1, the deadline set by the Big 12.
"Earlier this week, based on tremendous demand, Texas A&M asked for Baylor to return tickets it did not expect to sell, and we returned 750 tickets as a courtesy," Baylor spokesman Nick Joos said in a statement. "Many of our fans have indicated that they acquired tickets from third-party sources since the seat locations available are superior to the back corner end zone location provided to visiting teams at Kyle Field."

Texas A&M said that Idaho, with 264, was the only opposing team that will play at Kyle Field this year that purchased fewer tickets from the Aggies than Baylor, whose Waco campus is less than 100 miles away. Texas was the only team to keep its full allotment of 3,850 tickets available to all visiting teams. SMU took 1,988 tickets, followed by Kansas (1,750), Missouri (1,600) and Oklahoma State (1,428).
Texas A&M said those figures do not include bands and other complimentary seats.
Baylor said the tickets it kept included seats for its band and family members of players and staff.
Texas A&M was prepared this week to announce its entry into the SEC, but that league's unanimous approval of the Aggies becoming its 13th member came with the condition that all legal issues had to be cleared up.
Oklahoma State president Burns Hargis told The Associated Press on Friday that his school has "no intention of filing suit against the SEC or anybody else."
Hargis described the situation surrounding the Big 12 as very complicated.
"Honestly, I don't think anybody knows what's going to happen. I really don't," Hargis said. "I do think everybody would like the conference to stay together, but I don't think anybody knows because you've got 10 teams and everybody's got their own ideas about what's best for their institution. It would be impossible, I really think, for anybody to predict accurately what's going to happen at this point."
Hargis said he tried to get Texas A&M to stay in the Big 12.
Oklahoma president David Boren said last week that multiple conferences have expressed interest in the Sooners and he expects a decision within a few weeks on what his school will do. That could be a move to the Pac-12 with Oklahoma State, which could have happened last year, or remaining in a revised Big 12 that would then likely look for a team to replace the departing Texas A&M.

On Baylor's main university website is a link for the school's alumni and fans to "Rise Up For Texas Football." The page includes a letter saying that football is "the fabric of this great state" and asks if Texans will "stand by and watch hundred-year-old rivalries be cast aside as the state's largest universities align themselves with other states across the country."
There is even a suggested message to send to the presidents or chancellors of Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech with links to their email addresses included.
 
This stuff is getting way beyond ridiculous. San Diego State a member of the Big East? :rapture: Beam me up, Scotty!

Memphis officially joins Big East, C-USA and Mountain West inch closer to full merger
Current Conference USA members UCF, Houston, Memphis and SMU slated to jump to Big East in all sports July 1, 2013

The Big East officially introduced Memphis as a new member slated to join the league in all sports in 2013, while Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference are reportedly inching closer to a formal merger.

The Big East has poached four current Conference USA members -- UCF, Houston, Memphis and SMU -- following the defections of TCU and West Virginia to the Big 12 and Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Big East also added Mountain West members Boise State and San Diego State in football only. The six schools are slated to officially join the Big East on July 1, 2013.

Independent Navy also is slated to join the Big East in football only at the start of the 2015 football season.

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto introduced Memphis as a new member during a teleconference Wednesday, noting the Tigers' strength as a powerhouse basketball program. He said he was satisfied after extensive meetings with Memphis administrators that the school's struggling football program is heading in a positive direction.

"It became clear to me that they are truly dedicated to rebuilding Memphis football," Marinatto said.

USF President Judy Genshaft, who represented Big East presidents and chancellors on the teleconference, said she was pleased to see Memphis join the conference.

"We have every confidence in Memphis' ability to build a solid football program in the Big East Conference," Genshaft said.

Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson, who is slated to retire this summer and was criticized late in his tenure for failing to lead the Tigers to an automatic qualifying Bowl Championship Series conference, said he it was a great day for the Tigers.

"With this move, the future of Tiger athletics is brighter than ever," Johnson said.

Memphis is the latest school to defect from Conference USA.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz reported Conference USA's board of directors will meet later this week to discuss the possibility of a full-scale merger with the Mountain West Conference. Katz attributed the news to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Once UCF, Houston, Memphis and SMU depart for the Big East, Conference USA's members will include East Carolina, Marshall, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB and UTEP.

The Mountain West Conference will add Nevada and Fresno State in all sports and Hawaii in football next year. Once it loses Boise State and San Diego State, its members will include Air Force, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming.

The two conferences signed an agreement for a football-only merger, but they have negotiating for months to completely disband both leagues and form a new conference. If they disband, the conference members could be released from their television contracts and free to negotiate new agreements in a more competitive television negotiating environment that has driven up prices paid by networks.

It also would end a difficult television agreement the Mountain West Conference signed with CBS Sports to create The Mtn. network. While the Mountain West's TV network provided extensive coverage of all of its schools in a variety of sports, limited carriage agreements with cable and satellite companies made it difficult for fans to follow their teams and a major point of contention that helped accelerate BYU's decision to leave the league and compete as an independent program.

It is unclear how quickly Conference USA and Mountain West could execute the merger and what impact the merger could have on teams slated to depart to the Big East in 2013. UCF and all other departing members are currently slated to play a typical C-USA football schedule in 2012.

The Big East is still working out the exit and entrance of its members, which has had a major impact on C-USA and the Mountain West.

Marinatto said during the teleconference the Big East had achieved its goal of reaching 12 football-playing members, but he stopped short of saying the league was done with expansion. He said he learned you can "never say never" when it comes to college conference expansion.

Louisville's status could alter the game plan. The Big 12 came close to plucking the Cardinals from the Big East when it officially added West Virginia.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...nsion-memphis-officially-joins,0,147591.story
 
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What a crock! What's next?...Hawaii in the Big East & U of Maine into the PAC 10 (or is that 11 now?)?!
 
DixieDestroyer said:
What a crock! What's next?...Hawaii in the Big East & U of Maine into the PAC 10 (or is that 11 now?)?!
Click to expand...
Don't be ridiculous! Hawaii is joining the ACC and U of Maine is going to the MWC. That makes sense, right? :wink:
 
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