Alright, I need to chime in on the mass hysteria that is currently happening in the world of college football (which is my favorite thing in the world, by the way). There is one way that I can sum up the state of affairs; Holy crap! As you might expect, I have a somewhat unique/biased perspective, being a huge fan of Boise State. For me, it will all come down to whether or not the Broncos make the jump to the Mountain West Conference or not. But a lot needs to happen before that invitation will or will not happen. It's the waiting game, just like it has been for years for the Broncos. So in other words, nothing has really changed for Boise State, yet…
It seems that everybody is jumping ship, bailing from the Big 12 Conference. I still haven't figured out a real good reason to do that, as it has been one of the strongest conferences in the nation. Oh wait, money, that's right! Nebraska is in for a HUGE yearly paycheck from the lucrative Big 10 Conference and their TV/marketing deal. Colorado may have made a lateral slide financially speaking. However, they have played "bottom-of-the-barrel" status in the BIG 12 for quite a while and sometimes new scenery and new friends is the best way to break out of a funk. We will see what happens with that. Look on the bright side Buffalo fans; it really can't get any worse. It will be interesting to see what happens with ex-Boise State Bronco coach Dan Hawkins and Colorado this season, as he was mercifully granted another year to lead the team. It's bowl game or bust for Hawk and the Buff's. We will see if he makes it to be a Pac 10 coach.
But what happens now? I have two options that I think will happen. Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A & M, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State will leave the Big 12 and join the now Pac 16, making it a super conference. That will leave Missouri, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas, and Baylor left, which is 1 less than the needed 6 to maintain legitimate NCAA status as a conference. They may try and snag TCU, Utah, BYU, or maybe a SEC, ACC, or Big East school or two to recreate the Big 8. I have a hard time seeing someone from the SEC, ACC, or Big East leaving, but TCU would love to get back into the prime time, and BYU and Utah deeply desire automatic qualifying status. After all, if you take Utah you have to take BYU, preserving the rivalry. If that doesn't happen, option two is the Big 12 dissolving with the 5 schools mentioned above going to the Pac 16. Missouri may end up going to the Big 10 anyway, so the other 4 schools would try and get snagged by the other BCS conferences. Kansas and Kansas State should go to the ACC, as they have rich basketball tradition. Think of Kansas vs. NC and Duke each year! That would be great. The Mountain West will try and snag one or two of them as well, be it Iowa State, Baylor, or Missouri. They want to become a BCS conference and getting one or more of those three teams would help, maybe even push them over the top to achieve it. Baylor, Iowa State, and Missouri will put up huge resistance to join a "lesser" conference, not wanting to take a step back. If the Mountain West can't get one of the schools from the former Big 12, then Boise State is the back up plan. The Broncos may not be quite enough to give them the elite status of achievement needed to become and A.Q. school, but it will help a lot and will get them even closer.
Alright, let's take a step back and a deep breath. Ready? So it seems that Boise State is relegated to "just in case" status. I'm OK with that and it makes a lot of sense for the Mountain West to do that. It's like when the best-looking chick rejects you and so you have to go for the not-as-good-looking friend as a consolation prize. The kinda' pretty friend feels a little bad, but what other options are there? Boise State needs a better conference than the WAC and needs better competition. The Mountain West will provide that, even if TCU, BYU, or Utah leave.
Just a side note to all of this, I think Notre Dame is in huge trouble if they don't join a conference. It appears we are heading to a few super-conferences in the college football world and if Notre Dame doesn't jump on the bandwagon they may be left out in the cold. Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground.
As with the rest of what has been said and will be said on the subject of conference realignment, we will have to wait and see what happens. So whether we have a complete collegiate apocalypse, just a few schools moving, or something in the middle, the education system, er, college sports, is about to change forever. It should be good, really crazy, but good.
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