College Football 2011

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Did y'all hear the A&M may be joining the SEC? I imagine they will have to bring some other school from back east to balance. I hope it will be Clemson.

[Mike]

Did y'all hear the A&M may be joining the SEC? I imagine they will have to bring some other school from back east to balance. I hope it will be Clemson.

Not necessarily. The SEC could bring in two teams to join the western division (A&M and Oklahoma, hopefully), and move Auburn to the eastern division. Auburn sits about twenty miles from the AL/GA border, so geographically it makes sense. Auburn used to have yearly games with Florida and Tennessee that a lot of the older fans miss, and it would keep us away from the Alabama rivalry, which has become poisonous. Let Auburn play Oklahoma and Georgia play A&M yearly (or vice-versa) to start new rivalries.

[Gold Storm]

I can also see Kansas with Mizzu joining the Big-10 (I do not see Kansas joining the Big East, that would make for an insanely hard basketball conference). Another question that would have to be answered is , would the schools in the same state follow each other or slit into separate conferences? Iowa and Iowa State and GT and Georgia are separated, so I was curious to see if they could separate OSU and UO and Kansas and KSU.

[lokisnow]

It's doubtful, imo that Oklahoma would go to the SEC without Oklahoma State. Oklahoma only has two rivalries that really matter and they're not going to use up two nonconference games every year to play both. Texas gets the obvious non conference priority, but that leaves OkState out in the cold. I'm not sure if the state legislature has a say in conference changes, but if they do, don't expect Oklahoma to go anywhere without OkState.

Oklahoma and Texas could both go Independent though.

iirc, the kansas legislature has said that Kansas doesnt' go anywhere without Kstate. so if the big 10 were to poach Kansas, they'd take K State over Missouri.

[Gold Storm]

Ok I was not sure about that.

I think things are about to get crazy if SEC adds A&M and maybe FSU and/or Clemson. Texas said no to the PAC 16 because of the equal revenue sharing, but I can see Oklahoma and Okie state going. They might do an independence run with ND, Texas, and BYU too.

[S John]

I've also heard that OU and OK Lite are a package deal. One of the more far-fetched (IMO) rumors I've heard is that the Pac 12 might take OU and OK St.

Personally, I don't think that the SEC will offer OU. First of all, I don't think they want OK State too. Second, all the SEC needs from the states of Texas and Oklahoma they get by adding Texas A&M. A&M expands thier footprint into Texas. If you look at OU's roster, like 50% or more of those kids are from Texas anyway. Oklahoma as a state has like 3 million people. No, the prize here is already won by taking A&M - a foothold in Texas.

As for the others, supposedly FSU has said they aren't interested. But I suspect that if the SEC really does ad 4 to get to 16, the others will be Florida State, Clemson, and possibly Missouri. I still think the Big 10 might go after Missouri.

The Big 10 is a big variable here that nobody is talking about right now. Supposedly they've issued a statement that they're happy to stand pat at 12 for right now, but I don't think they'll let the SEC gobble up 4 more teams, potentially one right in thier back yard (Missouri) without staking a claim. I think that they'll look at grabbing 4 of - Kansas, K State, Missouri, Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, Maryland and maybe UConn.

I've said it before, but if I were the ACC I'd immediately try to lock up Syracuse, UConn, Pitt, and West Virginia and go to 16 right now. Those additions would lock up the East Coast and may help prevent Clemsucks and FSU from defecting to the SEC. If they leave anyway then also look at adding 2 of Rutgers, USF, and Louisville to round out 16 (and make a killer BBall conference, btw).

In a weird twist of irony, I have a feeling that the new ACC is going to look a lot like the old school Big East with VT, Miami, West Virginia, Boston College, Pitt, and Syracuse all back in the same conference. That's basically everyone. :lol: Granted, both Miami and Syracuse were better in those days, but that conference was not a bad one at all. Those teams belong in the same league, imo.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

SJohn,

"Clemsucks"? Damn, you sound like a South Carolina fan.

;)

[S John]

SJohn,

"Clemsucks"? Damn, you sound like a South Carolina fan.

;)

Haha, I'm not a South Carolina fan, but I do have an irrational dislike of Clemson in that they've never done anything to me, but something about them pisses me off.

I think its that they are perennial under-achievers but sports media hasn't caught on yet. They seem to always get some pre-season hype and follow it up with a mediocre season. I haven't heard much out of them lately though, so maybe I can stop hating them soon. I don't think they would do very well in the SEC, for what its worth.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

SJohn,

The hatred between SC and Clemson is quite intense. If you recall Lou Holtz's last game for SC that's an example of the hatred spilling out into the open. I've never quite understood it myself but it is a very intens rivalry. It would be interesting to see SC and Clemson in the same conference again so that the rivalry game once again takes on greater important than the possibility of one team being a spoiler for the other.

If Dabo's tigers lose to SC a third year in a row he's going to have a very hard time keeping his job regardless of how the remainder of his season went.

[Gold Storm]

College sports is based on irrational hatreds. Iowa and Nebraska will play a rivalry game for a trophy (it is the Big 10 after all), Arkansas fans still hate Texas, and people are already tring to some up with rivalries in the PAC 12 for Utah and Colorado.

[S John]

The nature of rivalries is pretty interesting. I mean WVU has played Syracuse and Rutgers nearly as many times as Pitt, but Pitt is the one who gets the hate. In the case of Rutgers I understand, I think Rutgers has only beaten WVU like 4 times ever and you have to be a threat to win every time in order to be taken seriously as a rival. But the Syracuse series is pretty even, I'm actually not sure who leads that one.

I guess Pittsburgh and Morgantown being only 70 miles from one another, battling for recruits in the same territory and having guys play each other who went to high school together contributed to it. Even though they are out-of-state rivals WVU and Pitt are closer geographically than many schools who share a state with a rival. Familiarity breeds contempt I guess?

Additionally, WVU and Virginia Tech have only played about half the amount of times that WVU and Pitt have played, yet towards the end of that series the level of hate on both sides definitely rivaled the Backyard Brawl in intensity. In fact, due to my age, I've always hated VT a little bit more than Pitt. But for the older fans who remember the 70's when Pitt was awesome, Shittsburgh will always be #1. VT's rise to national prominence really only extends back as far as the start of the Beamer era. As such, old school West Virginia fans remember a time when WVU would regularly beat Tech - while my memories skew a little bit to Tech beating us more often than not, though we did ruin their fucking day a few times. While with Pitt, minus the biggest bed-shitting of all time in 2007, my memories of Pitt in football are usually memories of West Virginia kicking their ass as WVU has done well against them over the last decade or so.

But, I feel like overall the most hated rivalries actually are the out-of-state battles. Kansas/Missouri, Georgia/Florida, Ohio State/Michigan, Texas/Oklahoma. There are definitely some serious in-state rivalries, like Alabama/Auburn, but I feel like most of the in-state duels are the kind of situation where the hate only really comes out when they are playing each other.

In West Virginia, Marshall is not considered a serious rival for WVU and WVU sports dominate the state. Until we started playing annually most WVU fans would tell you that they also were fans of Marshall. That has changed a bit now. But, having also lived in Virginia I know that a lot of VT or UVA fans will sometimes pull for the other team for the sake of having a Virginia team do well. That isn't quite the level of hate between say Kansas and Missouri where each hopes the other loses every single game they play.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

SJohn,

I don't think the Kansas/Missouri rivalry can be topped. It's source is a real war after all. There is a fair amount of actual blood between Kansas an Missouri.

[S John]

SJohn,

I don't think the Kansas/Missouri rivalry can be topped. It's source is a real war after all. There is a fair amount of actual blood between Kansas an Missouri.

I agree. Your Oklahoma/Texas and Oho State/Michigan type rivalries usually get more attention due to those teams being true CFB bluebloods and those games often having national significance. But in terms of pure hate, I'd definitely vote for Kansas/Missouri.

Army/Navy is actually a pretty decent rivalry too. Though Navy has dominated recently. I've been to a couple Army/Navy games.

[lokisnow]

It's very easy for Missouri to be left out in the cold in the current possible scenarios in my opinion. They're one of the best university's academically in the Big 12 but they're by themselves like Iowa State when the Oklahoma Texas and Kansas teams are all paired up/connected by in state associations.

Yeah, the KU/MU rivalry is rather heated. My cousin, who's a senior this year is allowed to apply to any college he wants to apply to except to KU. We'd probably kick him out of the family if he went there. KState is okay, KU is untenable.

I don't think it's been said, but I think a reason that other conferences are finding it very easy to poach teams off the Big 12 is the unequal revenue sharing. The pac12, SEC and Big10 all have equal revenue sharing, whereas you have Texas and Oklahoma soaking up something like 50% or more of the revenue of the conference between themselves. That's why virtually all of the teams of the Big 12 are happy to leave for any other automatic bid conference, it's pretty much always an easy sell.

It's also funny that it wasn't any of the conference poaching that caused the big 12 conference to implode, rather it was the sheer greed of Texas overreaching themselves with their longhorn network that may trigger the total dissolution of the conference.

[S John]

Personally I think Missouri will be OK because they are one school who is of interest to both the Big 10 and the SEC. The big 10 says that they are happy to remain at 12 teams for now but I think that the Big 10 and SEC see each other as rival conferences and I don't see the Big 10 letting the SEC go to 14 or 16 teams without the Big 10 following suit. The SEC wants to be the premier conference in college football, but the Big 10 doesn't want to let them. I'd be more worried if I were a KU, K State, TTU, Baylor, or ISU fan. There does not seem to be a natural home for those schools outside of the Big 12. They may be forced to stay with Texas no matter how shitty of a deal they get just to maintain their auto-bid. Such is the power of Texas. The Big 12 could lose Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Okie State, and I think that they could replace them with SMU, Houston, Rice, TCU and still maintain their BCS auto bid. It would be the 'Texas beats everyone up and goes to the BCS every year' conference.

But I do agree that this latest round of expansion anxiety is all Texas' fault. If teams like Missouri, or WVU, or Pitt, or Kansas, or Texas Tech end up in a shit situation or without a viable home, it will all be because Texas greed fucked everything up. The unequal revenue sharing is bullshit, I do not blame A&M or Nebraska one bit for wanting out. I jsut hope that when its all said and done, that everyone who deserves to be in a BCS conference for football is in one. There are a lot of programs at risk for getting the shaft that, while not traditional powerhouses, are programs that are solid enough that they deserve a place at the table. This applies to about half of the current Big 12 and Big East. My hope is just that all of this is over with soon. Hopefully before the season starts. I hate having to worry that Texas may finish the job that the ACC started in 2003 - fucking WVU over once and for all. So I definitely keenly understand the anxiety of a Mizzou fan in these troubled times. :lol:

[Mike]

Things aren’t looking good for my second favorite team: Danny Sheridan, who knows his shit, is staking his reputation on intelligence he’s received that says that up to $200,000 was given to the family of Cam Newton by Auburn. Sheridan is an Alabama alumni, but he is reported to be close friends with Pat Dye and Tommy Tuberville, so I think a personal agenda can largely be ruled out.

Link: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/783907-auburn-football-according-to-danny-sheridan-the-axe-is-soon-to-fall-on-auburn

Auburn is fine (except, of course, that they have to replace a ton of starters and seniors, two of which were the Lombardi and Heisman winners).

Bleacherreport articles are written by fans. Look at the guy's profile. His hobbies are SEC football and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Danny Sheridan has already changed his story since then. He hasn't been a relevant sports reporter in forever, and makes his living as an oddsmaker. Which means that he cannot have inside contacts with the NCAA. So he changed his story. He has sources who have sources inside the NCAA. His Friday deadline to name the bagman has passed, so he tweets that the NCAA feels that they have the alleged bagman, and he will reveal it on Finebaum this week. Thing is, Finebaum is pretty much the Jerry Springer of SEC football, and Auburn, according to pretty much everyone that knows, has not received a letter of inquiry. And this isn't the first time that some Alabama homer has made up shit to slander us. Scott Moore had a sports show in the Huntsville, AL listening area, and screamed to high heaven that he had incriminating tapes of Cecil and Cam, but it turned out that he was full of shit and lost his job.

So just like last time, I'm going to wait until someone has more than proof than just a bullshit anonymous source, or the NCAA actually says something, or Auburn gets the official LOI before I start to worry. If Auburn did something wrong then we should be punished, but I'm not going to believe that we did because some Alabama homer says he has inside information.

[HokieStone]

Well, looks like aTm is the bride left waiting at the altar. Or are they? Despite the SEC saying they won't expand, new rumors are saying this is just a formality, because aTm hasn't officially applied for the slot. There also seems to be a bit of a problem finding that 14th school. Lots of hints that VT was quietly approached, but turned the SEC down (we'd been pining to be in the ACC for 50 years...not quite ready to dump them after just 7 years apparently). I also see a lot of chatter that Florida, UGA, and USC have a "gentleman's agreement" to not vote for FSU, GT and Clemson...apparently none of those schools want their in-state rival in the league. Oklahoma apparently has to be packaged with OKST, and the SEC doesn't want the Cowboys.

So, where does that leave us. Possibly still aTm to the SEC...but starting in 2013...which gives them a year to find a 14th (and 15th&16th?) school(s). Will the ACC remain unscathed? VT could rethink if it's hinted that the current ACC may lose some members. Despite the "gentleman's agreement" that's rumored, if FSU or Clemson to the SEC picks up some steam, VT might try and get in there. There's also rumors that the Big10 may approach Maryland. Unfortunately the ACC seems to have the least "visionary" commissioner. I'd try and talk to ND and see where they stand. Barring that, extend offers to Pitt and UConn at the least, and possibly Syracuse and Rutgers. Doesn't do much for football, but it would make the ACC the #1 basketball conference without a doubt.

[Gold Storm]

I am thinking that the SEC saying no to A&M is a lot like a coach saying that he has no plans to leave and coach at a new school, when his agent is working a deal with the new school. They might be saying no now because there has not been a formal announcement yet, and the SEC is looking for a 14th team and will not announce A&M till they get one.

I think there is more hate between Oregon and Washington than the interstate rivals OSU and Wazzu. They still like playing against them, but there is more pure hate with Oregon and Washington. I have some friends who are Duck fans and they hate the Fuskies more than they hate Oregon State.

[lokisnow]

Interesting, I wonder what the SEC would think of an aTm+Mizzou or an aTm+WV scenario?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Well, I suppose Clemson doesn't want to play SEC schools consistently. That would ruin their old school reputation as one of the better football schools around. I'd hate, hate I tell you, to see Clemson's fans bubbles of self importance and arrogance burst in such a manner.

;)