Where Do We Go From Here?... - 3/23/10

Everyone has been thinking about it for quite some time. It's long been the elephant in the room. And now, with the current BCS contract expiring in 2014, it's the hot topic of conversation on the college football landscape. Anyone who follows the sport, from beat writers to casual fans, is filled with ideas regarding this topic. Spring practice is already underway for some teams but no one wants to talk about that. All the focus is on one thing...

Conference expansion and realignment.

It's only a matter of time before the NCAA realigns its Division 1-A (I still refuse to call it Division 1 Bowl Subdivision.) football conferences. Commissioners in both the Big Ten and the Pac-10 have recently followed through with studies exploring the possibility of expanding their conferences to 12 teams, allowing them access to that exclusive conference title game club, generating millions of dollars in extra revenue.

The Big East has been a popular place for those seeking expansion. Syracuse, Rutgers, and Pitt have all been linked to the Big Ten in various rumors and studies. Let's not forget the ACC raid in 2004 that took Boston College, Miami (FL), and Virginia Tech to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Naturally, that move had its own ripples as Louisville, South Florida, and Cincinnati relocated to the Big East from Conference USA (DePaul & Marquette also defected but those schools do not play football.). C-USA then put its hand into the MAC to replace those teams wtih Central Florida and Marshall.

Shockingly, the Big XII has also been subject to poaching rumors. The Pac-10 is rumored to be interested in Colorado...again. The Big Ten is rumored to be interested in both Texas and Missouri. It's hard to believe that Texas would leave the Big XII but it actually stands to make significantly more money in the Big Ten, exposing its product to a whole new media market. Plus, it would give the Big Ten a new media market to put its television network in, adding to the large revenue stream the conference already has. However, Texas makes more money than any other Big XII team based on the fact they have made the most national television appearances in the conference in recent years and the Big XII revenue sharing contract calls for those teams that make more national TV appearances to get a larger chunk of the pie.

The Pac-10 is also looking at Utah in the Mountain West and I could spend hours (or even days) talking about the pros and cons of all the rumored teams moving versus staying put, especially my alma mater, Syracuse. But there is something else that bears examination and it's something I never thought I would admit...

The Division 1-A conference structure as it stands needs to be torn down and remodeled.

We have to admit that there is a very good chance that the conference structure in 2014 will look nothing like it does now. In the late '80s the SEC decided to flex its muscles and wanted to expand into America's first superconference. So the SEC poached Arkansas from the old Southwest Conference, setting off a chain reaction. The end result was the demise of both the SWC and the Big 8, along with the creation of the Big XII.

It is very possible that we are in store for a similarly seismic shift in the college football landscape. Conferences such as the Mountain West and the WAC could cease to exist. Even the Big East, an established BCS conference, could be on the chopping block. Another part of the problem (in addition to those conferences looking for a seat at the conference title game table) is the inherent bloating in Division 1-A football. There are a number of programs that just don't belong at this level. Some of the 1-A independents and some schools in the Sun Belt and the MAC could drop down to the 1-AA level and the college football world would go on without experiencing even a blip on the mishap radar.

College football is not college basketball. There is the occasional fairy tale (Utah, TCU, Boise State) but for the most part the so-called "mid-majors" can't line up with the big boys on a regular basis. Cinderella is an integral part of the fabric of college basketball. That regular opportunity doesn't exist in college football. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that those schools can't play with the big boys. Boise State and Utah have already proved that as have some 1-AA schools (Appalachian State over Michigan; New Hampshire over Rutgers) but it's funny how everyone forgets about how overmatched Hawaii was against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl a few years back. Division 1-A college football needs Boise State, Utah, and TCU among others but it can most certainly exist without Western Kentucky, North Texas, and Arkansas State to name a few.

We need to think outside the box: 16-team superconferences, non-traditional geographic setups (i.e. I read a column proposing a merger between the Big East and Mountain West, playing in an East vs. West conference title game while maintaining their current league formats.), more daunting crossover and/or non-conference games. Everyone under the sun has a plan for realignment and I'm no different but I will wait until my next post to officially unveil that plan.

Some news and notes:

- The first uncapped NFL off-season in nearly two decades is well underway with a flurry of activity. In an unexpected development, many of these moves have been on the trade market. Trade deadlines in other major sports get big-time media coverage but the NFL trade deadline goes by with nary a whisper. Now all of a sudden trades are happening in a fast and furious manner. Brady Quinn to the Broncos. Seneca Wallace to the Browns. Antonio Cromartie to the Jets. Kerry Rhodes to the Cardinals. Anquan Boldin to the Ravens. And don't worry as there's been plenty of activity on the free agent scene as well. Jake Delhomme to the Browns. Derek Anderson to the Cardinals. LaDainian Tomlinson to the Jets. Antrel Rolle to the Giants. Julius Peppers to the Bears. Can't wait to see how this off-season continues to unfold with the free agency, the trades, and of course the draft.

- The first weekend of March Madness is officially history and what a weekend it was. After recent tournaments where practically all the top seeds advanced, upset order was finally restored to the tourney this year. Three double-digit seeds and a #9 seed all advanced to the Sweet 16. Saint Mary's (a 10 seed), Cornell (a 12 seed), Northern Iowa (a 9 seed), and Baylor (a 3 seed) will all be making their first-ever Sweet 16 appearances. Butler and Xavier (perenially tough mid-majors) will also be at the Sweet 16 party. Saint Mary's defated Big East heavyweight Villanova. Much-maligned Washington (an 11 seed) took down Marquette. Cornell took down Temple & Wisconsin. Purdue is marching on without injured star Robbie Hummel. Northern Iowa took down UNLV and overall #1 seed Kansas with a pair of last second threes by Ali Farokhmanesh. And the most important thing, the 'Cuse is still alive, dancing into the Sweet 16 after manhandling Vermont & Gonzaga in the first two rounds.

And don't forget all of the first round madness. Old Dominion upset Notre Dame. Ohio slayed mighty Georgetown. Murray State made Vanderbilt a repeat upset victim. And how about Texas? In January, the Longhorns were ranked #1 in the country and riding high. Then it was just an absolute free fall. Losses to unranked teams, losses at home, a poor Big XII Tournament showing, forced to play in an #8/#9 game in the tourney, and finally the loss to Wake Forest in the first round of the tournament. Still hard to believe what happened to Rick Barnes's squad.

- The NHL playoff push is in full swing. Detroit is Detroit again. With all the injuries and poor play behind them, the Wings are 9-2-1 in their last 12. The Washington Capitals continue to streak towards the Presidents' Trophy as they have already clinched the Southeast Division. The Caps made some fortifying moves at the deadline, picking up tough defenceman Joe Corvo and rugged forwards Scott Walker & Eric Belanger. The Blackhawks and the Coyotes, yes you read that right, the Phoenix Coyotes, are battling (along with the San Jose Sharks) for the top spot in the West. The Desert Dogs recently jumped the Sharks for first place in the Pacific Division. Phoenix made some solid deadline moves in picking up Wojtek Wolski, Lee Stempniak, and reacquiring Derek Morris. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has been lights out in net with a 2.28 GAA and 8 shutouts. And don't sleep on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. GM Ray Shero made a few solid deadline moves in acquiring Alexei Ponikarovsky and Jordan Leopold. Add those moves to the pickups he's made in recent years (Bill Guerin, Chris Kunitz, & Marian Hossa among them) and Shero is gaining quite the reputation as the trade deadline magician. But don't forget that the Devils (my team, always playing consistently tough hockey) have taken all six meetings from the defending Cup champs this year.

- Spring Training is in full swing now. So glad to see that Joe Mauer is practically a Minnesota Twin for life after signing that 8-year, $184 million dollar extension. Baseball finally got something right. The ESPN report last week that Cardinals and the Phillies were discussing an Albert Pujols for Ryan Howard trade was exciting. You just don't see old-time player for player trades anymore. Everything has payroll ramifications or players to be named later or something else that waters down the blockbuster deal. Although the Cards trading Pujols is highly unlikely, just the mere mention of a straight-up blockbuster deal is enough to whet the appetite. And after a succesful 2009 in which I did not once mention PEDs, I'm making that pledge once again in 2010, no mention of PEDs in any of my baseball posts.

- There will also be no Tiger Woods stories here.

- Somebody wake me up when the Nets matter again, Lebron picks a team for the forseeable future, and the NBA regular season is over.

- And let me tell you, I miss Olympic hockey so much right now. The two-week, 42-game international hockey bonanza was absolutely fantastic. The global reach of the game has never been more apparent and it's possible that the 2010 Olympic Tournament in Vancouver may have been the single greatest assembly of hockey talent ever. A few notes from the tourney: Congrats to Finnish winger Teemu Selanne. The Finnish Flash set the career Olympic scoring record in Vancouver. Selanne now has 38 career points (20g-18a) in his five Olympic appearances for the Suomi ('92, '98, '02, '06, '10). This was, in all likelihood the final Olympic go-round for the 39-year old Selanne. He also holds NHL records for most goals and points in a single season by a rookie when he netted 76 goals and scored 132 points for the Winnipeg Jets in the '92-'93 season. Selanne has always been nothing but a class act and will be greatly missed by both Finland and the NHL when he finally decides to hang up the skates for good.

The push by Slovakia to a 4th-place finish (the best in the country's history) was great to watch as the whole country got behind its team. The Slovaks beat Russia and Sweden before falling to Canada in the semifinals and then falling to Finland in the bronze medal game. However, this may have been the last chance for a while for the Slovaks as the eight players that make up their core are all over 30 years old: Zdeno Chara, Lubomir Visnovsky, Pavol Demitra, Marian Hossa, Ziggy Palffy, Miroslav Satan, Jozef Stumpel, & Richard Zednik.

The gold medal game was a phenomenal back-and-forth contest watched by 27.6 million viewers in the United States, the most Americans to watch a hockey game since the 1980 US-Finland gold medal game. Zach Parise tied it up for the Americans after they pulled their goalie for the extra attacker at 19:35 of the third period. A fast-paced 4-on-4 overtime ended when Sidney Crosby further cemented his status as a Canadian national hero, netting the gold medal winner 7:40 into the overtime. Ryan Miller and Roberto Luongo were both stellar in net and with the young cores of both teams hopefully remaining intact, the US-Canada rivalry will continue to heat up.

American goaltender Ryan Miller was named the MVP of the tournament, ending up with a .946 save percentage and 1.35 GAA, allowing just eight goals in 355:07. Zach Parise and Brian Rafalski paced the Americans in scoring with eight points each. There had been some talk of the Summit Series (Canada-Russia) returning on the road to the 2014 Games in Russia but let's get real here. The hottest rivalry in international hockey right now is US-Canada so why not let them have a Summit Series of their own and allow the emotions to continue to boil over.

And don't forget about the last night of the preliminary round where we were treated to the exact matchups from the previous three gold medal games: Czech Republic-Russia (1998), US-Canada (2002), and Sweden-Finland (2006).

Let's just hope NHL commissioner Gary Bettman realizes the NHL should send its players to Sochi in 2014 so we can have a chance at seeing another incredible two weeks of hockey.

- Finally, some WrestleMania XXVI predictions: Edge over Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship; John Cena over Batista for the WWE Championship; Triple H over Sheamus; Undertaker over Shawn Michaels, ending HBK's career; Bret Hart over Mr. McMahon; CM Punk over Rey Mysterio; Ted DiBiase over Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes in a Triple Threat Match; Big Show & The Miz retain the Unified Tag Titles over R-Truth & John Morrison; MVP beats nine other superstars to win Money in the Bank.

Until next time.

-Meech