The Big 12 Crumbles: Or, Strike's School is Now in the Same Division as Mine

[Crazed Rabbit]

Well, for reasons I don't know, the Big-12 college football league is crumbling, 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, has punished USC for daring to compensate an athlete and not exploit their talent for free as the NCAA demands.

CR

[woad&fangs]

Ha! The Pac-10 now has 11 members. Your conference's name makes no sense! Go Big 10!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[seireikhaan]

You think its bad for your team? ISU is looking like it'll either end up in the Mountain West (Oh, those will be fun road trips), or the Big 10(uh.... no).

I've spent the last day spamming a Nebraska friend's facebook page with allegations of turncoat.

[drone]

Ha! The Pac-10 now has 11 members. Your conference's name makes no sense! Go Big 10!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'm not really sure I understand the reasoning behind this. Granted, the Big 12 doesn't really have much history (being a product of the Big 8/SWC collapse-merge), but geographically it makes sense and the conference has been fairly successful. It's possible this breakup is going to shake up a lot of conferences.

[Gregoshi]

Ha! The Pac-10 now has 11 members. Your conference's name makes no sense! Go Big 10!

Not that I've been following this closely, but the first news I heard (a day or two ago) had Nebraska defecting to the, ahem, Big 10. With that, rumours (at the time) has most of the rest of the Big 12 scattering elsewhere with some of the Big 12 teams being invited to the Pac 10, leaving three teams left holding the fort in what once was the Big 12. Now it appears that Colorado has made the first move. I may not have gotten all the number right - there are just too many of them floating around. Note to self: never name a conference after the number of teams in it.

Does this mean that Nebraska will actually not leave the Big 12 when they leave the Big 12?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

For those who don't follow American college sports, the "Big 10" actually has 11 teams at the moment.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Ha! The Pac-10 now has 11 members. Your conference's name makes no sense! Go Big 10!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Heh, if the Texas and Oklahoma colleges join, it's going to stretch the meaning of both Pacific and 10.

CR

[woad&fangs]

Boise State has decided to join the MWC, essentially ending any rumors that the Pac-10 is going acquire BYU and Utah. link

[Subotan]

College football is really big in the States, right? The closest thing we have to that is the Oxbridge Rowing Race on the Thames

[GeneralHankerchief]

I wonder how all this will affect the harping about the BCS. One less power conference means one less at-large bid up for grabs, right? Should be fun to hear at least a different sort of complaining come mid-December.

[drone]

My guess is that the Mountain West takes the Big 12's automatic bid. They deserve it.

[Viking Prince]

It is not just the Big 12 that is shaking -- the WAC is showing trains as well. -- Boise State bucks WAC for Mountain West

My guess is the it will be the Pac 16, the Big 16 (or some number to allow for two divisions), and perhaps with 12 or more in the Mountian West. This is all about the money. Personally I wuold hare preferred Colorado to down size their programs and cut the payroll for the big money programs, but then I am not paying the bills.