Quick Hits 5/29/12

-As Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany said, "The plate tectonics are still hot under conference expansion." The latest round round of rumors has been caused by Florida State's apparent unhappiness with the ACC's new TV deal and the Big 12 looking to potentially add 2 teams to get back to 12. Speculation is, Florida State and Clemson will be added to the Big 12 at some point this summer, after new commissioner Bob Bowlsby takes office on June 15th and West Virginia and TCU officially join the league on June 30th. There are tons of wild rumors spreading across the internet and it's difficult to figure out what's for real and what's just misinformation, so I'm just waiting for something official before paying any more attention to this.

If these rumors end up materializing, it may or may not open up a spot for Rutgers in the ACC. I really want to avoid talking about this because, a. they could add UConn and Louisville instead, as they are a basketball centric conference and b. I'm not sure a watered down ACC would be a better place for Rutgers, if the Big East hires a football first commissioner and gets a TV deal in line with what they need. There's also the slight possibility the ACC could stand pat with 12 teams, but then ESPN would probably want to restructure their TV deal, and they would be even more prone to possible further expansion from the Big 10 or SEC. I guess it's also worth noting that if the "super conference" doomsday scenario arises, the Big 10 could reach out to Rutgers, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.The situation is worth keeping an eye on, but I'm trying not to get too worked up about it, and I suggest you do the same.

 -There are some (bull shit) rumors going around that Boise State is having cold feet about joining the Big East and can't find a place for their Olympic sports, but I can't imagine them not joining the conference. They stand to gain significantly more money in the Big East's new TV deal than they would in the Mountain West's current deal, and they will probably be able to park their Olympic sports somewhere, whether it's the Big West, WCC, WAC, or elsewhere.

-Pitt is suing the Big East in order to get out of the conference before their 27 month notice period expires. They are claiming that since the 27 month rule was not enforced against West Virginia and TCU, it should not be enforced against them. The Big East should just avoid another court case and let them and Syracuse go after the 2012-13 season. It's time to move on.

-The Big East is probably going to have a conference championship game in 2013, when they will have at least the minimum 12 teams required to have one. The Athletic Directors of the conference voted unanimously to have the game played on campus, at the team with the best league record's home stadium. That is for the best, because a SMU-South Florida game in the Meadowlands in front of an empty stadium would be an absolute disaster. The Pac 12 and Conference USA both use this model, and it has been a success so far.

Also in the article linked above, divisions are being discussed, with north-south, east-west, and non geographic divisions as options. I'm in favor of the East-West format (to save on travel costs), and that would look like this:

East: Rutgers, Connecticut, Louisville, South Florida, Central Florida, Cincinnati, (Navy)
West: Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, SMU, Memphis, Temple, (Air Force/BYU/Other)

It's not perfect, as you can see Temple is in the west, but what are you going to do? Cincinnati and Louisville would make more sense geographically, but I want to keep their rivalry in tact, and Temple is a more junior member. Temple has also said they wouldn't have a problem with this.

-Site note: At some point this summer, I'm going to have "Better Late Than Never Week," "Analysis Week," and "Greg Schiano Appreciation Week." There may be others as well.