Crazed Rabbit
06-11-2010, 19:16
Well, for reasons I don't know, the Big-12 college football league is crumbling (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/sports/11colleges.html), with members abandoning it, Colorado first.
And apparently they're heading to my school's league, the Pac-10 (which hasn't added a team for 32 years), and five more teams (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech) likely headed our way as well.
This is of course terrible news for my school, which will no longer be tenth in the rankings for the immediate future but sixteenth (Though at least we won a game last year. HaHA Huskies!)
One of the most chaotic off-season days in the recent history of college sports left the Pacific-10’s signature member, Southern California, bludgeoned by a landmark N.C.A.A. ruling. Although the penalties included a two-year postseason ban and the loss of 30 scholarships, the most significant development Thursday was the major restructuring of the landscape of collegiate athletics.
The Pac-10 hastily announced Thursday morning that Colorado would be joining the conference — perhaps in an attempt to soften the public relations blow of U.S.C.’s potentially debilitating penalties.
Depending on how that announcement is counted, Colorado’s move is either the first or second significant domino in conference realignment. Nebraska has already done everything but change the logos on its gymnasium from the Big 12 to the Big Ten. A meeting of the university’s regents in Lincoln, Neb., on Friday is expected to make the move official.
With Colorado and Nebraska gone from the Big 12, the fallout is beginning to spread, and the questions are coming from every corner.
WHAT’S NEXT? In the short term, the Pac-10 appears to be on course to expand to 16 teams by early next week. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech seem likely to join Colorado in the Pac-10. Twitter jokes about having the conference’s west and east division named Surf and Turf have already popped up.
The only thing that could save the Big 12 is a stunning change of heart by linchpin teams or by governmental action. Neither looks imminent.
“It sounds like by next week this Texas and Pac-10 thing will come together,” said a Big 12 athletic director who asked to remain anonymous because he was not allowed to speak publicly. “It’s probably a little more complicated and sensitive than we realize, as we didn’t know how many problems would be associated with this.”
Also interesting is how the NCAA, monopoly of the year (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_49/b3811038.htm), has punished USC for daring to compensate an athlete (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/sports/ncaafootball/11usc.html) and not exploit their talent for free as the NCAA demands.
CR
And apparently they're heading to my school's league, the Pac-10 (which hasn't added a team for 32 years), and five more teams (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech) likely headed our way as well.
This is of course terrible news for my school, which will no longer be tenth in the rankings for the immediate future but sixteenth (Though at least we won a game last year. HaHA Huskies!)
One of the most chaotic off-season days in the recent history of college sports left the Pacific-10’s signature member, Southern California, bludgeoned by a landmark N.C.A.A. ruling. Although the penalties included a two-year postseason ban and the loss of 30 scholarships, the most significant development Thursday was the major restructuring of the landscape of collegiate athletics.
The Pac-10 hastily announced Thursday morning that Colorado would be joining the conference — perhaps in an attempt to soften the public relations blow of U.S.C.’s potentially debilitating penalties.
Depending on how that announcement is counted, Colorado’s move is either the first or second significant domino in conference realignment. Nebraska has already done everything but change the logos on its gymnasium from the Big 12 to the Big Ten. A meeting of the university’s regents in Lincoln, Neb., on Friday is expected to make the move official.
With Colorado and Nebraska gone from the Big 12, the fallout is beginning to spread, and the questions are coming from every corner.
WHAT’S NEXT? In the short term, the Pac-10 appears to be on course to expand to 16 teams by early next week. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech seem likely to join Colorado in the Pac-10. Twitter jokes about having the conference’s west and east division named Surf and Turf have already popped up.
The only thing that could save the Big 12 is a stunning change of heart by linchpin teams or by governmental action. Neither looks imminent.
“It sounds like by next week this Texas and Pac-10 thing will come together,” said a Big 12 athletic director who asked to remain anonymous because he was not allowed to speak publicly. “It’s probably a little more complicated and sensitive than we realize, as we didn’t know how many problems would be associated with this.”
Also interesting is how the NCAA, monopoly of the year (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_49/b3811038.htm), has punished USC for daring to compensate an athlete (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/sports/ncaafootball/11usc.html) and not exploit their talent for free as the NCAA demands.
CR