Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
Nah man, we've got front row seats.
Conference Realignment
- Status
For the time being, yes. I still want to avoid the "Big Ten / Little Ten" scenario.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
I'm a lot more worried that an asteroid is gonna plow into us.
Just to be clear, that is not something I'm worried about.
Last edited:
Memories of the B1G 2 & Little 8 just can't be erased easily...
Please quit trying to make college football into European soccer.
Memories of the B1G 2 & Little 8 just can't be erased easily...
For 13 years between 1969 and 1981 only Michigan and Ohio State won the B10 and represented us in Rose Bowl
When the big ten and sec get to 24 each this won’t be necessary. They’ll run the show and the season will be as long as they want it to be. 48 team playoff, top 16 with a round 1 bye, traditional bracket from there.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
In terms of the entertainment offered by the competition structure that is wildly, wildly preferable to turning college football into the NFL.
Sadly "neither" is out of the barn at this point.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Gritty Tolerators will of course know that I hate this.
But the true Gritty Heads will also know that part of me is thrilled to see another one of the schools that got relegated in the dissolution of the Southwest Conference find their way back to the table.
Rice to the Big 12, feel it in your hearts!
SuperMetroid
- Evanston
Have we finally hit Peak Stupid with this stuff? Let's hope so.
Serious Late
- Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
This feels like a best case scenario from a general fan perspective.
Personal opinion, I would have felt gross seeing college athletics look at Stanford athletics and say "nope, that belongs in the AAC."
Even more gross was the idea of the Pac-4 ripping apart 2 more conferences and create a new conference with the best of the AAC and MWC, something with no rivalries, coast to coast, and mediocre at best (say what you will about the current state of conferences).
SuperMetroid
- Evanston
If we're talking multiple leagues with promotion/relegation, I can get on board. If it's just the top 28 teams that break off and go Super League, I'm not watching that in a million years.
MoCoMdIllini
- Montgomery County, Maryland
Here's a favorite of mine from the past:
Boise State committed to the Big East, says president
Despite the Big East losing out again in the latest round of conference realignment, Boise State president Bob Kustra says the Broncos have no intention of returning to the Mountain West.
www.cbssports.com
I wonder if there's a scenario in which the expanded conference plays the annual championship game in...Pasadena. The Rose Bowl could find a new life as the premier conference championship game for the premeir conference. The Rose Bowl would become as relevant and meaningful as it's been in years.
Facts and opinions:
1. The Big 10.
2. Meat and potatoes of the Pac 10.
3. Bowls have become consolation bracket exhibition games. The Grandaddy of Them All is an empty husk of what it once was.
4. The Rose Bowl would become meaningful the age of college football playoffs as the B1G Championship Game aka The Rose Bowl.
5. College football should be played in college football stadiums anyway.
6. The Rose Bowl as a tradition is an enormously valuable asset. It should be adapted and used in the new reality of the B1G.
Arguments and counter-arguments:
1. It's UCLA's home stadium. This has always been true and it's not much of a home field advantage.
2. It's a long way to travel for most teams. That was the entire point of bowls in the first place.
3. Indianapolis and Arlington Heights are more geographically centered. It's cold in the midwest in the winter. And see #5 above.
Has this been discussed elsewhere?
Facts and opinions:
1. The Big 10.
2. Meat and potatoes of the Pac 10.
3. Bowls have become consolation bracket exhibition games. The Grandaddy of Them All is an empty husk of what it once was.
4. The Rose Bowl would become meaningful the age of college football playoffs as the B1G Championship Game aka The Rose Bowl.
5. College football should be played in college football stadiums anyway.
6. The Rose Bowl as a tradition is an enormously valuable asset. It should be adapted and used in the new reality of the B1G.
Arguments and counter-arguments:
1. It's UCLA's home stadium. This has always been true and it's not much of a home field advantage.
2. It's a long way to travel for most teams. That was the entire point of bowls in the first place.
3. Indianapolis and Arlington Heights are more geographically centered. It's cold in the midwest in the winter. And see #5 above.
Has this been discussed elsewhere?
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
^ Honestly, sign me up. It's more the Big Ten basketball tournament that I think needs to be geographically central (Indianapolis) or in an area flooded with Big Ten alumni (Chicago or to a lesser extent New York). When it's in Minneapolis as it is about to be, once Minnesota loses on Wednesday and Iowa/Wisconsin lose on Thursday, ticket sales will be absolute crap.
Conversely, with football, it's just one game. Given how Indianapolis is filled up every year even though ticket/hotel prices are OUTRAGEOUS (first-hand experience here) and many of the teams like OSU or Wisconsin have been to the game so many different years (i.e., no novelty left), I think fans would definitely travel to the Rose Bowl.
Conversely, with football, it's just one game. Given how Indianapolis is filled up every year even though ticket/hotel prices are OUTRAGEOUS (first-hand experience here) and many of the teams like OSU or Wisconsin have been to the game so many different years (i.e., no novelty left), I think fans would definitely travel to the Rose Bowl.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I bet you they try it.
Here's the problem though: The B1G Championship is ALSO an empty husk of what it once was starting next year.
A CFP bye is the most that will ever be at stake in a B1G or SEC Championship game again. It's going to become an exhibition where you're worried about starters getting hurt. They're going to have to figure something else out, it doesn't really seem viable.
Sources: ACC ramps up Cal, Stanford, SMU talks
The ACC will hold a series of meetings this week to discuss the potential additions of Stanford, California and SMU, including how additional money from the schools would be distributed among ACC members, sources told ESPN..
Cal Stanford lower payments to be non dilutive I get. SMU no payments for 7 years is crazy.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
SMU simply wants a big time schedule and are rolling the dice that they can get legit and national respect going 8-4 or 9-3 in that league.Sources: ACC ramps up Cal, Stanford, SMU talks
The ACC will hold a series of meetings this week to discuss the potential additions of Stanford, California and SMU, including how additional money from the schools would be distributed among ACC members, sources told ESPN..www.espn.com
Cal Stanford lower payments to be non dilutive I get. SMU no payments for 7 years is crazy.
Plenty of rich donors are there to make up the money shortfall.
I have my doubts it works
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I've always just really struggled to understand the very widespread tendency to view the whole conference realignment saga through a lens of sort of academic elitism by proxy.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
I used to think academics had some serious weight in the conference equation. I'm a lot smarter now, lol.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
once upon a time there was a cultural & academic fit criteria for membership
that was a long time ago
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
This is definitely my biggest problem with the turn college football has taken, and really it has nothing to do with realignment but with college football playoff expansion. If the best 4 Big Ten teams are getting into the playoff every year automatically, I don't see why anyone would be motivated to take the conference championship game seriously. If playoff byes are the motivation, who gets one? Are we to believe that the SEC and B1G are willing to hand out first round byes to the Big 12 champion? I doubt it. It's looking more and more like it's just going to be a ranking of the best 12 teams in the country and that's how it all gets seeded.
If I were to try to scramble to try to fix the playoff based on how the conferences are aligned right now, I would say go 6 teams with the four highest rated conference champions automatically in and 2 at large bids. Then, the two highest rated conference champions get a first round bye. That way, the conference championships really do mean something, but you can still make sure a couple extra best teams can get in as well. I honestly wouldn't mind going back to just 2 teams in the championship, but I also don't just want it to be an automatic B1G vs SEC showdown every single year.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
What if I told you can want Stanford athletics to avoid being shunted off into obscurity for reasons other than academics? Stanford has inarguably one of the best athletic programs in the country. Simply look to their domination of the Director's Cup and second most Olympic medals by a college. I mean, come on, we all know this. As a former Olympic sport college athlete, I care a whole hell of a lot about non-revenue sports. Unfortunately, I'm pretty massively in the minority. Look, I absolutely understand why all this has happened and I'm not here to argue about it one way or the other. It's happened. Like @Serious Late, I'm just glad Stanford got some sort of lifeline. And I don't know. I find it profoundly weird that someone who feels like they know all the angles when it comes to conference realignment can't see the most obvious reason why people would want Stanford to avoid being left out. It's flat out one of the most important athletic departments in the country.
- Status