The Big 12 Conference: RIP 1996-2010
On this day the Big 12 Conference, once considered to be the ultimate super conference, took its last breath.
With Nebraska waving goodbye to tradition by officially bolting to the Big Ten, the Big 12 won't be able to pick up the pieces.
As Yeats famously said, "things fall apart, the center cannot hold."
The Cornhuskers have left the building possibly bringing independent Notre Dame with them into the Big 10.
Like a shark smelling blood on a wounded prey, the Pac-10 has jumped into the foray by landing Colorado last Thursday. The conference will extend invitations to Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State.
If all of them to go, it will create a real super conference - the Pac-16.
The Pac-16 will include an Eastern Division featuring the six newcomers, along with Arizona and Arizona State. The West Division will have the original Pac-8 schools: UCLA, USC, California, Stanford, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, and Oregon State.
Pretty impressive to say the least.
Not to be out-done, word has it that the SEC may pursue Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M.
The Big 12 could stay together and try to add two teams, but if Texas leaves, and it's looking more and more like it will, the conference is toast.
The Big Ten is making tons of money, but the idea of a 12-or-14-team conference with all the glitz, glamor, and mega-bucks from a championship game appealed to everyone in the conference.
Expansion has been on their minds for quite some time.
With Nebraska in the fold, the Big Ten gets one of the all-time great football schools, and with it, hopes to put the pressure on Notre Dame to swallow its pride and come on in.
Despite its TV contract with NBC, Notre Dame will eventually cave and join the Big Ten. They have to. This isn't the Fighting Irish of the past. Their muscle and clout is at its lowest. They'll have no choice but to align themselves with a major conference as soon as possible.
All of this is happening because of one overriding reason - money, or the lack thereof for the Big 12 programs.
With the Big Ten and SEC creating their own TV networks, the revenues generated have been astounding.
The Big Ten schools made about $20 million each last season from television revenue. The SEC made around $17.5 million per institution.
Compare those figures with the $7-8 million each school received in the Big 12 and the reason why the conference will be no more after 2010 are pretty clear.
Coaches and athletic directors may try to dress it up, but it's all about the money.
The Pac-10 understands this and made the move to expand so they can get more revenue from TV contracts that end in 2011. Now the conference can have a championship game, which will bring top dollar. In addition, the soon-to-be Pac-12 or Pac-16 cable channel is in the works.
If the conference loses out on gaining the four Big 12 schools, look for them to offer an invite to Utah, making it a 12-team league.
Other so-called power conferences like the ACC and the Big East should be afraid, very afraid. What's to stop the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10 from going after their teams?
The Big East in particular is vulnerable.
West Virginia and Pittsburgh would be very attractive to the Big Ten, if they decide to expand to 16 teams.
Another interesting topic of discussion is where Kansas and Kansas State will end up should the Big 12 crumble? Everyone is looking at the conference shakeups from just a football standpoint, but what about college basketball?
The Jayhawks are a legit basketball powerhouse and the Wildcats are on the verge of being a national power. What conference will step up and make a play for them?
The landscape of college football is changing drastically. With so much money on the line and recruiting being so dog-eat-dog, the raiding of conferences is just beginning.
No one is safe. Money talks and schools and conferences will follow the greenbacks.
Case in point is Memphis State, a long-time hoops power, with not much going for it in other sports.
Fred Smith, CEO of Fed Ex, is offering $10 million a year to any major conference if they let the Tigers join. His son Chase plays on the Memphis football team.
Forget about earning it through on the field play, like a Boise State. Heck no, we'll buy our way into a power conference.
For better or worse, this is the future of not only college football, but all of collegiate athletics.
Welcome to the era of the super conferences where only those with money and prestige, but mostly money, need apply.
My Way-Too-Early College Football Top 10
Spring football practice has long since faded into memory as the boys of summer take center stage. Baseball is king for now.
Still, that doesn't mean college football has to be left in the dark. The season never really ends anymore. Does it?
What with recruiting, spring practice, and the explosion of the Internet and mass media, college football is never out of the sports lovers consciousness for long.
Mel Kiper has already come out with his list of the top seniors in the 2011 NFL Draft and many top writers and Internet bloggers have released early Top 25 rankings.
Not wanting to feel left out, I decided to compile a way-too-early Top 10 list. I was going to have a Top 25, but I'm a little lazy so a Top 10 list seemed much more appropriate.
The Way-Too-Early Top 10 College Football Poll
10. Nebraska
The Cornhuskers will once again be the favorites in the Big 12 North and even with the loss of DT Ndamukong Suh, should have another stingy defense in Lincoln. The problem with Nebraska has been through the air, where QB Zac Lee has been inconsistent. Taylor Martinez is a better runner and pushed Lee during spring ball. How that battle sorts itself out will go a long way to determining the Cornhuskers 2010 season.
9. Florida
Urban Meyer lost all-everything Tim Tebow and defensive stalwart Joe Haden to the NFL, but the Gators are loaded with talent and shouldn't fall too far down in the national picture. John Brantley, who had a solid spring, takes over for Tebow at quarterback. Brantley doesn't have Tebow's wheels, but he does have a better arm with plenty of solid receivers to chose from. Losing as much talent as Florida did will drop them some, but this is still a very good team.
8. Oregon
The Ducks were primed for a National Championship run until QB Jeremiah Masoli was suspended for the 2010 season. Oregon may have to adjust its national title hopes, but this squad has all the firepower to capture another Pac-10 title. Nate Costa and Darron Thomas will battle for Masoli's spot this fall and both may get significant playing time. The offense is loaded with feature back LaMichael James ready to lead the way.
7. Iowa
The Hawkeyes enter the 2010 campaign with one of the best defenses in the country with DE Adrian Clayborn and DT Karl Klug leading the way. QB Ricky Stanzi returns on offense, but he must cut down on his mistakes from last season. The offensive line has to be rebuilt, but Kirk Ferentz has the makings of a pretty good team and should challenge Ohio State for the Big Ten crown.
6. TCU
The Horned Frogs lost a ton of talent on defense, most notably DE Jerry Hughes and LB Darryl Washington, both high NFL draft picks. Coach Gary Patterson is a defensive guru and should be able to build a solid unit with the returning talent. Offensively, TCU returns almost everyone, including QB Andy Dalton and running backs Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley. For the first time in Patterson's outstanding tenure, the offense will be the workhorse for TCU.
5. Texas
The Longhorns are like Florida. No matter how much skill they lose, there is even more talent replacing what left. This season will be no different. QB Colt McCoy is gone but Garrett Gilbert, son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert, had a great spring and is ready to take the reins of the Texas offense after playing the majority of the BCS title game when McCoy went down. The Longhorns have an abundance of talent at every position and that makes them the favorites to claim another Big 12 championship.
4. Virginia Tech
The Hokies have one of the best offensive backfields in all of college football. QB Tyrod Taylor is getting better as a passer, but his bread-and-butter is his legs. Darren Evans, a 1,000-yard rusher in 2008, returns after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. His replacement, Ryan Williams, had a record-setting season and was named ACC Freshman of the Year. The defensive front must be rebuilt and the offensive line must find a suitable replacement for T Ed Wang. Even so, Virginia Tech is clearly the class of the ACC in 2010.
3. Ohio State
Jim Tressel brings a veteran club into the Horseshoe and with QB Terrelle Pryor leading the way, should win another Big 10 championship. The Buckeyes will have to win tough road games at Wisconsin and Iowa, but with an explosive offense that features Pryor and running backs Dan Herron and Brandon Saine, and a defense led by DE Cameron Hayward, Tressel and his squad should be able to pull it off. It all comes down to how Pryor develops in his junior season. If he can keep improving as he's been, the Buckeyes are the team to beat in the conference.
2. Boise State
The Broncos are no strangers to the BCS party anymore. Coach Chris Petersen is one of the most successful and innovative leaders in the college game. Boise State is loaded for bear in 2010. How loaded? Try 23 of 24 starters returning from a team that went 14-0 and finished No. 4 in the country last season. If they can beat Virginia Tech on the road and Oregon State at home in September, another unbeaten season and a chance to play for the National Championship is in the works. They are that good.
1. Alabama
The defending national champs have to replace seven players who were selected in the NFL draft, but Nick Saban is a master recruiter and an excellent coach. He has the talent to bring the Tide back-to-back championships for the first time since a coach named "Bear" did it in 1978-79. QB Greg McElroy hasn't lost a football game since the eighth grade and the backfield tandem of Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, is the best in college football. Add WR Julio Jones to the mix and you have the most explosive offense in the SEC. The defense has some holes, but Dont'a Hightower returns from injury and no one is better at coaching defense at the college level than Saban.