mainejeff

LOL.........like others are saying........this is a DONE DEAL.

hoopcat

yeah, I was thinking the same thing, moving to the Big10 in itself will not help you with research dollars, the Big10 network will though.

mainejeff

Maryland has accepted an invite from the Big Ten.......announcement at 3:00pm.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/st...n-join-big-ten

mainejeff

Tons of stuff out there right now as many schools/conferences start to scramble. Seems like the next shoes to fall will be:

1. Rutgers to Big Ten - Seems inevitable now......rumored announcement tomorrow.
2. UConn to ACC - Most prevalent rumor out there regarding ACC additions

Tons of other stuff out there.......Louisville to Big12, Florida State to SEC seem to have the most legs. Of more local interest......seems that UMass might get a sniff from the Big East, although I have MAJOR doubts that Big East Football will survive long enough to see that come to fruition even if they are invited.

ccd494

Assuming Rutgers and UConn leave, what is left of Big East football?

Cincinnati
Louisville
South Florida
Temple
Central Florida
Houston
Memphis
SMU
----------
Boise State
Navy
San Diego State

so basically, the old Conference USA. Gotta believe SDSU and BSU will look to the Mountain West again, that conference is no worse than the new Big East. Navy may rethink its commitment.

I think we finally get the Basketball Catholic Conference of:

Providence
Seton Hall
Villanova
Georgetown
St. John's
DePaul
Marquette
St. Joe's?
Xavier?

mainejeff

This might sound crazy (or maybe it doesn't considering what has been happening?), but I have a funny feeling that UNC and Virginia are going to become Big Ten members #15 & #16. They are both AAU members and have markets that the Big Ten desires.

Here is my take on what happens from here on out:

Big Ten: Adds #13 Maryland, #14 Rutgers, #15 UNC and #16 Virginia
SEC: Adds #15 Florida State and #16 ???(Clemson/Virginia Tech/NC State/GA Tech........or #15 Kansas and #16 K-State
PAC12: Adds #13 Texas, #14 Texas Tech, #15 Oklahoma, and #16 Oklahoma State

ACC: Man.....things could get really sticky here. Depending on how many members they lose.........

If they just lose Maryland: Adds #14 UConn

If they lose Maryland, UNC and Virginia: Adds #12 UConn, #13 Georgetown and #14 St. Johns

If they lose Maryland, UNC, Virginia, FSU and ???: Adds #10 UConn, #11 Temple, #12 Louisville, #13 Georgetown and #14 St. Johns.

Cripes........the ACC is a craphoot if the bottom falls out.

BingGrad

I think the move to 4 16-team football super-conferences continues to happen in slow motion. That Big East football minus Rutgers and Connecticut is just "Conference USA redux" is an excellent point.

But what is ACC football minus Maryland and FSU? How long do football-first schools Virginia Tech, Clemson and Miami really hang around?

If the ACC can't be one of the four super-conferences for football (and it certainly appears that they will not) then are they better served by having 12 "OK" football-playing schools and replicating the recent Big East with a 16 or 18-team basketball conference that is obviously the best in the country? Suppose you had a 12-team Football ACC of:

North Carolina
Duke
NCSU
Georgia Tech
Wake Forest
Boston College
Virginia
Connecticut
Pittsburgh
Syracuse
UMass
South Florida

and then added

Notre Dame
Georgetown
Villanova
St. Johns

for basketball.

I think this is where the ACC is headed. UMass and South Florida are the huge winners in this.

mainejeff

I like your thought process.

Here's the thing.......if Texas remains in the Big 12 (instead of moving to the PAC-12).......then I think that your scenario has a really good shot at playing out. The Big 12 will become football Super Conference #4 if Texas remains. They will attract 6 of the best programs left including some from the ACC. Big 12 candidates include: Florida State, Clemson, VA Tech, GA State, NC State, Miami, Louisville, Cincinnati, Boise State and San Diego State.

BingGrad

Makes sense. Texas is the king-maker. You should count Notre Dame as one of the schools that could go to the Big 12 for football, but remain in the ACC for all other sports. They are probably the only school that can potentially split conference affiliations at the highest level.

Aceinthehole

My head hurts ... this is is crazy.

UCONN is just begging to get the call from the ACC.

umainealum

Wow! This whole thing is just nuts...

Regarding FSU & Clemson to the SEC - that would have happened already but Florida and South Carolina have been preventing it from happening...don't know if what is currently going on will help sway their minds, but seems like that is a big sticking point. If the SEC doesn't happen, speculation is that the Big XII would welcome them both with open arms.

Regarding the B1G (Big 10/12/14, maybe 16) - Maryland & Rutgers makes sense from an expansion point of view, more so than Pitt and Missouri did for them. They are now expanding into markets where they have no teams and can really look to get the Big Ten Network in more homes. I have also heard that the B1G is planning on making another move to get to 16 and have heard lots of things thrown around, including UVA, VA Tech, UNC, GA Tech. Based on the fact they only expand into states that border states with current members, I don't see how they get to GA Tech unless they totally scrap their philosophy. I can't see Delany doing that however. I also have a hard time seeing North Carolina moving to a different league without Duke, but that could just be the outside perception and not really the reality amongst the institutions.

ACC - it's funny, the $50 million exit fee was originally looked at a sign of strength, but it's now been looked at as a show of concern...concern that they aren't as solid as they wanted people to think. In all honesty, I couldn't even tell you what the exit fee is from the Big Ten or the SEC and I'm guessing those leagues don't feel like they really need one...what school in either league in their right mind would leave? And if they do, it's pretty obvious there are plenty of others that will line up to fill an opening. Anyway, the ACC is in a very precarious position...UConn appears ready to move there and could be all that is needed. However, there appears to be a lot of smoke surrounding a couple other programs so who knows.

The Big East - good bye, so long...it is now time to figure out what you are going to be because this cast of misfit schools from across the country just isn't going to cut it for anyone anymore. If UConn does get picked from the tree, I have to think the basketball only schools decide it is just time to cut bait and move on. It's obvious that football is going to continue to split leagues and the only way to prevent that from happening is to not be affiliated with bigtime football schools.

Big XII - not sure what is going to happen there...keep hearing Louisville to the Big XII but not sure it plays out that way unless the UConn domino does fall. I have been told they really want to add the Florida State/Clemson duo and if that did happen, like has been mentioned above, not sure what the ACC can do at that point. My guess is if that did happen, the Big Ten would certainly have their choice of whoever they wanted from that league, including UVA, VA Tech, UNC, etc.

Anyway, looks like the next wave is just getting underway...

__________________
UMaine - the epitome of mediocrity

Proud supporter of an AMERICA EAST team that made a coaching change...

Binghamtonswag

Does anybody see a way some America East schools can benefit from eventual fallout. The AE is in a weird situation were a lot of its school are highly regarded national education institutions but none have huge sports programs. Anyway some AE schools get into the mix with some bigger programs after the dust has settled?

UVM Hoop Cat

With all the change recently the best BU could do is Patriot League and Stony Brook didn't get into CAA for all sports so.....no. I can't imagine the AE is able to attract anyone right now either.

I think it would have to take a lot of change- by a lot I mean Big East would have to completely dissolve or something- for the AE schools to be affected by something like Maryland moving to Big Ten.

A lot of this is just musical chairs between big power conferences.

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005

Aceinthehole

The only way this really gets to the AE level is if the Big East "splits"

I assume right now, the musical chairs would just continue with C-USA schools backfilling the Big East. However, if the remaining Big East hoops powers (Catholics) actually split off, they likely raid the A-10. That then has some effect on the CAA and even the AE, but IMO that's still way off.

I would imagine the lower tier (AE/CAA/MAAC/NEC) conferences won't make any moves until they know what's happening with the Big East/A-10.

ccd494

Suggested B1G football divisions:

LEGENDS: Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Penn State
LEADERS: Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota
LOSERS: Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers, Maryland