NCAA Football '11-'12

[MadBurgerMaker]

I've been seeing some stuff saying Beebe is out and Chuck Neinas is in as Big XII commissioner.  Don't know if it's true or not, but there is a Fake Chuck Neinas twitter account now.

First Fake Chuck Neinas...er....tweet (I hate myself for typing that word):

Whats a Beebe? @DanBeebe

Followed by:

Hey @DanBeebe could you be a dear and set the thermostat to 61 on the way out. Leave the bowl of Werthers.

http://twitter.com/#!/ChuckNeinas



Fake Dan Beebe seems to have found out he might be fired about two hours ago.

[CountDeMoney]

The more this goes on, the less I even want Texas in the Pac-10 no matter what kind of deal they agree to - they seem to think they are the combination of the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys of college football.

Too high maintenance. They are like the super model bitch girlfriend. Sure, they look hot and everything, but eventually you just get tired of their shit and wish they would just shut the fuck up already.

Of course, they really do bring a hell of a lot of money to the table, so my boredom with their histrionics is not really relevant. Poor Okies.

So very true.

[jimmy olsen]

I think this a pretty good analysis of things as they stand. Still very unstable.

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/21/as-the-expansion-dust-clears-whats-next/

As the expansion dust clears, what's next?
Posted by John Taylor on September 21, 2011, 1:59 PM EDT
Monty Python

So we've wasted all of that time, effort and angst — in the midst of a football season, no less — for... that?

After two months worth of daily speculation, rumor and innuendo, the Pac-12 put the kibosh on Expansionpalooza v2.0 very late last night, announcing, in essence, "never mind, we're good" with their current 12-member makeup.  At least, we think the kibosh has been put on a seismic shift in the conference landscape; with Texas, Oklahoma and the rest of the Big 12 dealing with myriad issues that some feel can be "resolved" by the laughably short-sighted, delaying-the-inevitable notion of a five-year promise of peace, anything is and will continue to be possible.

    Wife: You're not happy, I'm not happy.  May be it's time to go our separate ways.

    Husband: Yeah, maybe you're right.

    Wife, realizing she still wears the only pair of pants in the family: Or, we could stay together for a few more years and see if things change.

    Husband, remembering getting shot down by the hot chick at closing time: Yeah, what the hell.  Might as well give it a shot.

Many thought the Pac-12′s decision to eschew expansion at this time would result in some immediate conference clarity.  That's far from the case for a situation even more fluid than it was just 24 hours ago, and with a plethora of additional questions as an added bonus.  Don't believe me?  Read on as I attempt to wade through the mass of fact, fiction and most everything else in between.

What's known...

    * In 2010, Texas' unwillingness to bend on the issue of The Longhorn Network prevented the then-Pac-10 from expanding to 16 members.  In 2011, Texas' unwillingness to bend on the issue of The Longhorn Network prevented the Pac-12 from expanding to 16 members.
    * Texas A&M will become the 13th member of the SEC, whether it's in 2012 or 2013.  With the Big 12 "saved from extinction", any incentive for Baylor et al to pursue legal means to prevent a move has vanished, meaning the Aggies should be free and clear to officially move to their new conference next summer.
    * In a pair of public statements, the SEC denied two reports regarding Missouri, that the an offer of membership is on the table and that and an informal agreement among presidents is in place to bring the school into the conference.
    * Pittsburgh and Syracuse will become the 13th and 14th members of the ACC, but probably not until the 2014 season as the Big East appears hellbent on abiding by the conference's bylaws and forcing the two schools to wait the mandated 27 months before departing.  That, of course, could change pending any additions the Big East may make.
    * Following a meeting of the football-playing members Monday night in New York City, the Big East announced that "we are committed as a conference to recruit top-level BcS-caliber institutions with strong athletic and academic histories and traditions."  Commissioner John Marinatto went on to confirm in the statement that his conference "has been approached by a number of institutions", although he would not specify which schools.
    * Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk confirmed publicly that he has spoken to conferences, specifically the Big East, regarding football-only membership.
    * Current Conference USA member East Carolina has applied for membership into the Big East.
    * Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson has confirmed that his conference and Conference USA have discussed a quasi-merger that would involve only the football programs.
    * The Big Ten has no desire to expand unless there's a seismic shift in the conference makeup of college football — sorry, ACC; adding Pitt and 'Cuse doesn't count — or unless Notre Dame suddenly decides to shed their football independence.
    * Unbelievably, there are football games — college football games — that will be played this weekend.

What's known to be rumored...

    * Let's get this out of the way right off the bat: rebuffed by the Pac-12, Oklahoma, and by extension Oklahoma State, will turn their attention to the SEC even as they're publicly stating they are willing to give the Big 12 another go, provided certain concessions are made.  At least, that's the rumor.  Dating back to the first round of expansion apocalypse last May/June, it's long been thought OU has little to no interest in moving to the SEC.  Given the change in circumstances, there's a chance — a very, very slim chance from this vantage point — that OU could have a change of heart and look Southeast.
    * Missouri either has an offer on the table or the presidents/chancellors in the SEC have given an informal go-ahead for the school to join the conference.  As noted above, the SEC has publicly denied either of those have occurred.  Based on the leaks coming from Columbia, it appears MU either has an interest in the SEC or has — or had depending on their reaction to the Pac-12′s non-move last night — an interest in creating the impression that they had options other than the Big 12.
    * West Virginia has been rebuffed in recent days by both the SEC and ACC (Note to 'Eers fans: remember the title of this little section).  School officials have vehemently denied that's the case.  Regardless of the veracity of either rumor — or the semantics involved — the speculation from most observers centers around WVU being what's described as a second-tier candidate — or fourth or fifth option, if you will — if the SEC ultimately decides to make a move to 14 or even 16 members.
    * Both UConn and Rutgers have inquired about potential membership in the ACC.  The latter school is also rumored to be double-dipping, batting their eyes at the Big Ten as well.  Both schools were represented at the Big East football meeting of the minds Monday night — UConn's president and athletic director were represented by individuals from their offices — with RU athletic director Tim Pernetti stating that "[e]verybody is committed to going out and recruiting top-level institutions to enhance the future of the league."  It's believed both school's "loyalty" to the Big East is tied directly to the ACC's willingness to go beyond 14 members.
    * Air Force is one of the double-digit schools that has expressed interest in joining in the Big East, albeit as a football-only member.  Why the Falcons would willingly leave a Mountain West Conference that may or may not become an automatic BcS qualifier for an unstable Big East that may or may not keep their automatic BcS qualifying status is unknown.
    * UCF is considered a second-tier candidate for membership in the Big East.  With a rising football program and significant television market it would bring to the table, it's unclear why they would be that "far" down the list for a conference that needs to add as many quality names as it can.  UCF would seem to meet the criteria on all of fronts except for one: their proximity to USF.
    * Somewhat below UCF on the Big East's radar is Villanova and Temple; separately, Memphis has reportedly been dismissed missed as a potential candidate as has East Carolina, which we noted above has already applied for membership.

Questions that remain unanswered...

What concessions are Texas willing to make in order to ensure the viability, at least in the short-term, of the Big 12?
Per reports, Oklahoma's demands are twofold: one, the removal of Dan Beebe as the conference's commissioner and, two, a vastly revamped Longhorn Network.  The latter was an issue two years running in keeping UT out of the Pac-12, and it would appear the Austin school is now dealing from a position of strength now that their Red River rival's West Coast bluff has been called.  Revenue sharing is the path of least resistance to conference stability (see: Big Ten, SEC); anyone who can't see that is either not the sharpest knife in the chandelier or whose closet is littered with burnt orange clothing.  Will UT be willing to give up some of the power and money they've been allowed to grab in order to keep the Big 12 a viable conference?  That's the $300 million question at this point in time.

Serve Beebe's head on a platter to preserve the Big 12?
Or, more specifically, will Oklahoma back off the condition they leaked to the media Monday, that Beebe must step down as commissioner in order to preserve the conference?  Right or wrong, Beebe is perceived by current and former members of the Big 12 as being nothing but a puppet whose strings can only be pulled by Texas and that school's whims.  We're guessing that condition won't be a significant stumbling block if still required, especially for a Texas school that reportedly didn't want Beebe as commissioner in the first place.

Who the hell would want to join this Big 12 morass?
"We're going to make this work and we're going to be stronger coming out on the other end and blah blah blah..."  OK, whatever.  The fact remains that if Texas acquiesces... if Oklahoma decides it's enough acquiescence... if Mizzou decides to turn its eyes away from the SEC, the Big 12 will be at nine schools once A&M officially leaves.  The consensus is the conference will have to get back to 10 teams to satisfy provisions of its new television deal, or maybe even maintain the desire to get back to 12; the question is, how will a conference with such bitter infighting and outward instability be able to attract one school let alone three?  The big incentives the conference has to dangle, of course, are a membership in a conference that would maintain its automatic BcS qualifying status as well as a TV deal that will pay each member in excess of $15 million annually, perhaps even more if UT agrees to equal revenue sharing.  That would certainly be attractive to schools like BYU, Houston and SMU (West Virginia?) if they can get past the instability.  Besides bodies, though, what would any combination of those schools, or any other schools for that matter, add to the Big 12?  At this point, as long as the Big 12 has UT and OU, everything else is merely necessary window dressing anyway.

How long will the SEC remain comfortable with a baker's dozen?
The public face of the SEC is that they would be fine for the short-term with adding just A&M and sticking with 13 members in 2012.  The reality is a 13-team conference creates a scheduling nightmare, with the very real potential of schools in the seven-team division playing one more conference game than their six-team counterparts.  In a conference as competitive as the SEC, that should be unacceptable.  On the other hand, the SEC doesn't want to add another school just to fill up a slot; it needs to be a fit that strengthens the long-term future of the league.  Such a scenario points directly at current members of the ACC and their newly-implemented $20 million exit fee being in play if the SEC decides to expand.  It's become quite the conundrum for the SEC, thanks in large part to the events out west last night, although it's nothing someone like commissioner Mike Slive can't comfortably and successfully navigate.

Will the ACC stand pat?
Somewhat shockingly, the ACC over the weekend became the first BcS conference to go above 12 members, poaching the Big East (again) to get to 14 members.  Both UConn and Rutgers appear ready, willing and able to accept an invitation to the ACC; it remains a complete unknown whether that conference wants to be the first to create a "superconference" or, now that the Big 12 has been hauled out of the abyss (maybe) and the Pac-12 will seemingly remain at 12,  is comfortable with where they are membership-wise.

Will TCU honor its commitment and move to the Big East?
You have to somewhat feel for TCU.  In 2010, the school announced they were moving from the Mountain West to the Big East, with their eyes firmly affixed on the possible automatic bid attached to membership.  A year later, the conference they will call home beginning in 2012 is in utter disarray thanks to a second round of poaching by the ACC.  The Horned Frogs would appear to have two viable options: follow through and join the Big East or remain in the MWC, which would welcome the school back with open arms.  An expanded Big 12 might also be a possibility, although the Texas schools are said to not want to add any new members from their recruiting footprint.

Is the Pac-12 really done expanding?
This is one to keep an eye on, in tandem with the Big 12′s ability to compromise.  One of the current schools of thought is that the Pac-12′s decision to forego expansion this time around was merely a ploy to force Texas to come off their LHN stance and embrace equal revenue sharing on all levels.  By all appearances, and armed with a mega-TV deal that will go into effect next year, Larry Scott and his bosses appear perfectly comfortable standing pat at 12 members.  If UT decides it would be better to fold their network into the Pac-12′s regional model and share revenue equally instead of making the Big 12 work?  Hello Expansionpalooza v3.0.

Halle-freaking-lujah...

[MadBurgerMaker]

Someone needs to let that dude know that DeLoss Dodds has already said sharing the LHN revenue is "not in play," has "never been in play," and the recent proposal about tier 1 and 2 revenue sharing came from Texas more than a month ago.

I mean, unless Dodds flat out lied to a reporter and allowed himself to be quoted on it.  It would be pretty easy for the other ADs and whoever else is involved in these sorts of things to call him on it though, since he mentioned them as well and said they had approved of the idea.

Anyway, here's a thing about Beebe: http://dennis-dodd.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270202/32165006

The Big 12 is poised to replace commissioner Dan Beebe with former Big Eight commissioner Chuck Neinas, CBSSports.com has learned.

One highly placed source said the conference was moving quickly to replace Beebe who had been under fire from some conference members after recent instability within the league. Neinas, currently a well-known college consultant, is expected to be named interim commissioner.

The official word could come as soon as Thursday when the Big 12 presidents meet by conference call to discuss how to move forward. Based on the news of Wednesday, the embattled league apparently will continue with nine schools while seeking additional members.

The Tulsa World reported Wednesday that the Big 12 had "targeted" Neinas, one of the most respected college figures in the country. Neinas was the assistant executive director of the NCAA from 1961-1971 and Big Eight commissioner from 1971-1980. He currently runs Neinas Sports Services.

Oklahoma and Texas are seemingly in the Big 12 fold after flirting with the Pac-12 for what seems like forever. Essentially, the Big 12 has taken a trip around the world the last few weeks and ended up in the exact same place -- without Texas A&M.

Chick Neinas is celebrating:

Hey @_ChuckNeinas have you "farve'd" T. Boone and Deloss yet?

I have.

[jimmy olsen]

Looks like there's a challenger to the Big East's BCS throne!

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/ncaa_football/110921-c-usa-in-merger-talks-with-mwc#ixzz1YeKe4usa

C-USA in Merger Talks With MWC

Updated: Wednesday, 21 Sep 2011, 4:18 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 21 Sep 2011, 2:04 PM CDT

    * MARK BERMAN
      Sports Director

HOUSTON - Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said he has been in conversations with Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson about creating a partnership between the two conferences for more than a year.

If the talks become reality the goal would be to land an invitation to the BCS.

"The conferences have worked well together in the past, for a long time, and are very similiar in nature, but we're not competitive because we have the western part of the United States taken up by their group and the eastern and southeastern United States and southwestern United States taken up by our group," said Banowsky in an interview with FOX 26 Sports.

"So the idea is to combine all of our football assets into one large creative consolidation that would span five time zones."

Banowsky believes the combined conferences would have the foundation that would be conducive to landing all of the intangibles necessary to make it work.

"It would not only afford us I think a real good television environment, given the number of TV windows on a given Saturday that we could fill, but would also give us a very high profile championship game and an opportunity to place a team into a higher profile postseason situation."

And Banowsky said becoming part of the Bowl Championship Series is the key.

"It's one of the primary goals," Banowsky said. It's something we're working on. I can't tell you right now that it is going to happen, but it's certainly something that we're exploring and it's innovative.

"It doesn't take away from anyone else. It just kind of adds to both of our interests and it's very complimentary."

However, Banowsky acknowledged should the two conferences come together, expansion is necessary.

"We only have 22 collectively and I think our hope would be to get to 24," Banowsky said. "So we would add teams."

And Banowsky said the schools added would play both football and basketball.

He said the new super-conference would have one configuration for football and another for all of the other sports including basketball.

"It would be one big banner for our football programs, but all of our other programming would stay under our existing conference organizations because it makes more sense from a regional scheduling standpoint that way.

Banowsky said a name for the football conference has not been determined.

"We started the conversations over a year ago," Banowsky said. "We're moving. It's somewhat complicated. Anytime you're dealing with as many as 22 or 24 institutions that go from Hawaii to Florida, it's complicated.

"We have to complete our due diligence and once we've completed our due diligence we'll move in a more focused stage with our respective governance groups, our presidents and chancellors and we'll see what happens. We'll see how they embrace it and see if it's a direction they want to head.

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson told the Associated Press his conversations with Conference USA make sense.

"You want to put your membership in the best light possible," Thompson told the AP. "If that includes adding people, if that includes the creative conversation with Conference USA--you just want to be building the best stage for your members."

Thompson said he has spoken with Banowsky many times about merging football leagues.

And the Conference USA commissioner clearly believes a union between the two conferences would brighten the future for all of the schools under the C-USA and MWC banners.

"I'm cautiously optmistic," Banowsky said.

Rice athletics director Rick Greenspan said he is onboard with Banowsky's plan.

Rice is a member of C-USA.

"It's an idea that we have been working on quietly, both at the conference level and at the athletics director level," Greenspan said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports.

"It's an idea that's been broached with presidents and chancellors in the league. Anytime you're looking for this potential major-muscle movement, the devil is always in the details. We have not gotten to that point  yet where we're scrubbing all of the prospective issues, but I think there's been some significant due diligence done in terms of the beginning of legislative thought process, the beginning of some discussion and some thoughts with our television partners and others.

"What we have said, as athletics directors in our conference, is empowered our commissioner to be both bold and creative."

Greenspan points out these talks are not in response to the current activity flowing through the college sports landscape.

"It's somewhat ironic that this discussion between our two conferences has taken place for a long time. It looks a little bit, in some minds, perhaps as reactionary as you see some of the Big East and Big 12 merger talks and all this rest," Greenspan said.

"This has been an idea that's been germinating for awhile. It's intriguing."

[MadBurgerMaker]

The WAC-Sunbelt reactionary merger will dominate them all.  The Welt.

[CountDeMoney]

I like you, MBM, I really do.  But you Texas fans are such cockmunchers sometimes.

[MadBurgerMaker]

I like you, MBM, I really do.  But you Texas fans are such cockmunchers sometimes.

Suck it, Domer. 

[jimmy olsen]

The WAC-Sunbelt reactionary merger will dominate them all.  The Welt.

Great name   

[CountDeMoney]

I like you, MBM, I really do.  But you Texas fans are such cockmunchers sometimes.

Suck it, Domer. 

  I accept the sacrament of Notre Dame football as grace in the union of Christ, Holy Mother Church, and NCAA Division 1.

You, on the other hand, root for the football equivalent of speaking-in-tongues, snake handling Baptist healers.  Ptooey.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Great name   

I'd love seeing a big "WELT" with some sort of bruise logo or something on the front of the UTSA uniforms.

One problem with my master plan:  Did you know that there is apparently some sort of strange rivalry between fans of WAC teams and fans of Sunbelt teams?  I've been cruising the WAC Rivals boards for UTSA football news, since those seem the most popular places (my god they're awful posting-wise, but they're good for up to the minute news), and it seems North Texas and ULL trolls (among others, but those are the majority from what I can tell) frequent the place talking a bunch of shit, etc.

[jimmy olsen]

There are twitter rumblings that WVU is talking seriously to the Big 12.

I hope that that's only in order to scare the SEC into taking them, otherwise it doesn't make much sense in my opinion.

[CountDeMoney]

There are twitter rumblings that WVU is talking seriously to the Big 12.

I hope that that's only in order to scare the SEC into taking them, otherwise it doesn't make much sense in my opinion.

Nobody's going to scare the SEC into taking anybody.  They don't need anybody, especially a middling program like WVU.

[MadBurgerMaker]

  I accept the sacrament of Notre Dame football as grace in the union of Christ, Holy Mother Church, and NCAA Division 1.

You, on the other hand, root for the football equivalent of speaking-in-tongues, snake handling Baptist healers.  Ptooey.

What sucks is that ND and Texas, while being friendly with each other, which is fine, are also apparently all buddy buddy with the Mormons, which is not fine.   

[Eddie Teach]

I hope that that's only in order to scare the SEC into taking them, otherwise it doesn't make much sense in my opinion.

Well shoot, if TCU can join the Big East why not WVU in the Big 12. Not like a few extra hours in a plane every other week will kill them.