Fiesta Bowl and conference realignment thoughts

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enisthemenace

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Dec 5, 2009
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We've already been through a wave of conference realignment talks, with the Big 11 starting their every 3 - 4 year expansion talk. Well, last night's game really got me thinking of it on a much grander scale. I believe Boise State and TCU should be in BCS conferences (at least from a football perspective), but so should some of the other schools in the west (i.e. Utah, et al).

Here is what I was thinking (you will notice, I am not touching the Big East, except one basketball school, or CUSA. Let ESPN figure out what to do with that ******* mess):

- First, all BCS conferences should have 12 teams, and should be forced to have a conference championship.


- Leave the SEC and ACC alone
- Notre Dame to the Big 11 (12 schools; the Big East would trim one basketball school...give it back to CUSA)
- Boise and Fresno State to the Pac 10 (12 teams)
- Split the Big 12 into two new conferences
- New Northern Conference, named the "Former Big 8, minus-two-who-never-should-have-let-the-SWC-schools-in-so-we're-going-to-drop-those-tools-and-bring-in-quality-schools-who-aren't-out-for-themselves Conference" (12 teams)
- Iowa State
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Kansas State
- Kansas
- Colorado
- Utah
- BYU
- Air Force
- Wyoming
- Utah State
- Colorado State
- New Southern Conference, named "The Texas and the rest Conference" (12 teams)
- Texas
- Texas Tech
- Texas A&M
- TCU
- Baylor
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- New Mexico
- New Mexico State
- Louisiana Tech
- Utah State
- UNLV

Idaho to the Big Sky (I know...they did just win a bowl game, but there is nowhere else to put them but the FBS).

Hawaii becomes a state run institution where all athletics are intramurals and financed by the tourism industry.

This leaves San Jose State and San Diego State without a conference. They either play each other, or move to a "Big Sky" type conference in the southwest. Nobody gives a rip about them anyway, except for an easy win on the schedule.

I know a lot of you out here know more about the rules than I do, but I did do my best to play by them and make sure each school was geographically in line.

 

jbhtexas

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Oct 20, 2006
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- Split the Big 12 into two new conferences
- New Northern Conference, named the "Former Big 8, minus-two-who-never-should-have-let-the-SWC-schools-in-so-we're-going-to-drop-those-tools-and-bring-in-quality-schools-who-aren't-out-for-themselves Conference" (12 teams)

This one would be more aptly named:

The If-you-think-the-Big-12-TV-deal-sucks-now-,-wait-till-you-see-the-trainwreck-TV-deal-that-this-hodge-podge-of-schools-would-muster Conference

Seriously, TCU is a small private school with a small fanbase and limited facilities in a market that is dominated by other large BCS schools. They aren't a notable academic or research institution. I just don't see them as a fit in a major conference.
 
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ketelmeister

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Oct 24, 2006
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We've already been through a wave of conference realignment talks, with the Big 11 starting their every 3 - 4 year expansion talk. Well, last night's game really got me thinking of it on a much grander scale. I believe Boise State and TCU should be in BCS conferences (at least from a football perspective), but so should some of the other schools in the west (i.e. Utah, et al).

Here is what I was thinking (you will notice, I am not touching the Big East, except one basketball school, or CUSA. Let ESPN figure out what to do with that ******* mess):

- First, all BCS conferences should have 12 teams, and should be forced to have a conference championship.



- Leave the SEC and ACC alone

- Notre Dame to the Big 11 (12 schools; the Big East would trim one basketball school...give it back to CUSA)
- Boise and Fresno State to the Pac 10 (12 teams)
- Split the Big 12 into two new conferences
- New Northern Conference, named the "Former Big 8, minus-two-who-never-should-have-let-the-SWC-schools-in-so-we're-going-to-drop-those-tools-and-bring-in-quality-schools-who-aren't-out-for-themselves Conference" (12 teams)
- Iowa State
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Kansas State
- Kansas
- Colorado
- Utah
- BYU
- Air Force
- Wyoming
- Utah State
- Colorado State
- New Southern Conference, named "The Texas and the rest Conference" (12 teams)
- Texas
- Texas Tech
- Texas A&M
- TCU
- Baylor
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- New Mexico
- New Mexico State
- Louisiana Tech
- Utah State
- UNLV




Idaho to the Big Sky (I know...they did just win a bowl game, but there is nowhere else to put them but the FBS).



Hawaii becomes a state run institution where all athletics are intramurals and financed by the tourism industry.



This leaves San Jose State and San Diego State without a conference. They either play each other, or move to a "Big Sky" type conference in the southwest. Nobody gives a rip about them anyway, except for an easy win on the schedule.



I know a lot of you out here know more about the rules than I do, but I did do my best to play by them and make sure each school was geographically in line.



There are lots of way that make more sense than the current conference makeup, but money is always the driving force.
 
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aeroclone

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Oct 30, 2006
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*Sigh...

Well, there are the obvious issues of Notre Dame has no reason to join the Big 10. Plus if they do you can't ignore the Big East, as Notre Dame is in there for every other sport, so some changes will need to be made.

From what I have heard, Boise State wouldn't cut it in the Pac 10 from an academics standpoint. I have no idea about Fresno.

As for the new conferences that emerge from the Big 12, you have created the same problem that pushed the creation of the Big 12 in the first place: No TV markets. The new north conference would have no media pull at all, and for the new south conference, you pretty much just have Texas.

And if you want to find a place for Idaho, they could go to either one of the new conferences in place of Utah State, which currently appears to exist in both places....
 

Tre4ISU

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The northern conference would be considered the worst in the Nation.
 

aeroclone

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Face it guys, there just aren't really any other programs out there that belong in BCS conferences. Sure, some of these schools have had some success in a single sport for a few years, but when you look at the big picture of all of their sports, facilities, fan support, and yes even academics, there just aren't that many schools out that that belong in these conferences that aren't already there.

Seriously, there are a lot of people out there that think schools like ISU or Baylor don't belong in the conference. If that is the case, what business do Utah State or Louisianna Tech have being here?

The only real problem here is the Big 10. All the other conferences have a true champion. The Big 12, ACC, and SEC all play a title game, and the Big East and Pac 10 play every team in the conference every year. The Big 10 needs to add a team or play a round robin schedule and the problem is solved. That is really the easiest option here.
 

PackerClone

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Nov 7, 2007
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People calling for the removal of Iowa State from the Big 12 need to remember a couple of things too before you go on this crusade again:

1. Recruiting.- All athletic success starts with this and our ability to market ourselves to the high schools in Texas and Oklahoma is a major reason for any success we might have in football, our top revenue sport. Yeah we have started recruiting california more but when you look at recruiting in the North only, its a sink or swim and schools like Nebraska, Missouri, and Big Ten schools like Iowa are currently in better positions then us. Yes we could improve on that but it takes time and there is no guarantee we would get anywhere near where we are now. I could go on and on about this but hopefully you get the point.

2. T.V.- Unfortunately todays athletics, football, basketball, and any other major college sport is based on money, and you get that money from exposure. When coverage of your sports as a conference and an individual institution are limited to things like radio and newspaper because you only have two or three games on T.V. a week in limited markets, your programs will suffer, end of story.

3. Academics.- Despite what some people may say, ISU is an extremely solid and renowned institution. We actually fit extremely well into the current Big 12 structure with our Engineering and Agriculture programs that are nationally renowned on top of everything else. The northern conferences that people are throwing out there would be a significant step down no matter how you look at it and the regents and president of Iowa State hopefully realize this and understand that as much as we like athletics, our academic reputation should be first and foremost in any decision made.

In the end, Iowa State is almost a perfect fit for the current Big 12 structure from purely an Institution perspective. There is plenty of room for success at Iowa State within this conference. Of course it wont be easy but at the same time the Big 8 success' we had weren't either. As far as the Big 12's viewpoint on Iowa State's worthiness i cant guess at. Im hoping that if they were to look at dropping us or whatever, places like K-State, Kansas, Missouri, and maybe even places like Okie State, and Baylor would step up and stop it based purely on things like tradition, history, and the fact that all of those institutions share many similarities with Iowa State and would see this as a threat to their own involvement.

Sorry for the rant but im getting tired of people calling for ISU to move on. I just dont see it as viable.
 

IsUaClone2

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May 12, 2006
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I think we should use the approach Britain uses for soccer. We could have the Premier Conference of 12 teams where the bottom four are relagated each year to the First Division where there would be 24 teams split into an East and West subdivisions and the top two in each subdivision would be promoted into the Premier Division and the bottom two relegated to the Second Division each year. The Second Division would have four regional subdivisions promoting one team each year. Carry the pattern on through the remaining number of schools that want to participate. You could even double all the numbers of tems in each division but hold the relegation constant to provide a little more stability in scheduling. I suppose it would be possible for a school to be in different divisions for different sports.

I'd think this would solve the play-off questions as well as the balancing conferences questions.
 

everyyard

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We've already been through a wave of conference realignment talks, with the Big 11 starting their every 3 - 4 year expansion talk. Well, last night's game really got me thinking of it on a much grander scale. I believe Boise State and TCU should be in BCS conferences (at least from a football perspective), but so should some of the other schools in the west (i.e. Utah, et al).

Here is what I was thinking (you will notice, I am not touching the Big East, except one basketball school, or CUSA. Let ESPN figure out what to do with that ******* mess):

- First, all BCS conferences should have 12 teams, and should be forced to have a conference championship.


- Leave the SEC and ACC alone
- Notre Dame to the Big 11 (12 schools; the Big East would trim one basketball school...give it back to CUSA)
- Boise and Fresno State to the Pac 10 (12 teams)
- Split the Big 12 into two new conferences
- New Northern Conference, named the "Former Big 8, minus-two-who-never-should-have-let-the-SWC-schools-in-so-we're-going-to-drop-those-tools-and-bring-in-quality-schools-who-aren't-out-for-themselves Conference" (12 teams)
- Iowa State
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Kansas State
- Kansas
- Colorado
- Utah
- BYU
- Air Force
- Wyoming
- Utah State
- Colorado State
- New Southern Conference, named "The Texas and the rest Conference" (12 teams)
- Texas
- Texas Tech
- Texas A&M
- TCU
- Baylor
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- New Mexico
- New Mexico State
- Louisiana Tech
- Utah State
- UNLV

Idaho to the Big Sky (I know...they did just win a bowl game, but there is nowhere else to put them but the FBS).

Hawaii becomes a state run institution where all athletics are intramurals and financed by the tourism industry.

This leaves San Jose State and San Diego State without a conference. They either play each other, or move to a "Big Sky" type conference in the southwest. Nobody gives a rip about them anyway, except for an easy win on the schedule.

I know a lot of you out here know more about the rules than I do, but I did do my best to play by them and make sure each school was geographically in line.


I love the people who don't take tv into account in their thoughts on conferences.
 

enisthemenace

Well-Known Member
Dec 5, 2009
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Yeah...not very well thought out. My fault. I was really thinking with a narrow, football mindset. I'd just like to see these two schools have the opportunity to play another team other than each other every year. I also think some of the other western schools have shown they can contend with more than half of the other, now BCS conference schools (unfortunately, I put us in that category) from a football perspective.

Where's the recall button? :confused:
 

aeroclone

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Oct 30, 2006
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I do think a case could be made for merging the top schools from the WAC and the Mountain West to form a new conference that would be an automatic BCS qualifier. Put together something like this:

TCU
BYU
Utah
Air Force
Wyoming
Boise State
Nevada
Fresno State
Idaho
Hawaii

With the BCS expanding from 8 teams to 10 now, I think a conference like this would be deserving of a spot. Heck, out of that group you have BSU and Utah already with BCS game wins and Hawaii and TCU have also appeared in BCS games. I could see that conference having at least 3 or 4 teams ranked in the top 25 at all times. Would they really be that far below say the Big East? Heck, I wouldn't say the Big 12 or Pac 10 were all that impressive this year either.
 

cyhiphopp

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Jan 9, 2009
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Here's the thing. TCU and BSU gain more from not being in a BCS conference. Do you think either would have gone undefeated in the Big12 or Pac10 respectively? I do not. I am not sure what the revenue sharing deals are like for the MWC and WAC, but I am guessing TCU and BSU get a big chunk of their BCS bowl money.

TCU and BSU are benefitting from being big fish in their respective small ponds.

They are even getting touted as championship contenders, even with their relatively light schedules.

The reason I want to see them both join BCS conferences is not for thier benefit, it is so that they are forced to play a tougher schedule every year. Right now TCU has to play BYU and Utah as their toughest conference games. BSU has to beat who... Idaho, Fresno State?

It is ridiculous. I would like to see the MWC and the WAC merge to a 12 team conference of the best schools available and play a conference champoinship. That would most likely end up being:

BSU
Fresno State
Nevada
Idaho
Hawaii

TCU
BYU
Utah
Air Force
Wyoming
UNLV


and add one more team from the following that I guess has a good television market:
Utah State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, San Jose State, San Diego State, Colorado State (Louisiana Tech has no business in any Western conference).

This conference would actually have some good in-state rivalries that are currently split between the two conferences.
 
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heitclone

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I do think a case could be made for merging the top schools from the WAC and the Mountain West to form a new conference that would be an automatic BCS qualifier. Put together something like this:

TCU
BYU
Utah
Air Force
Wyoming
Boise State
Nevada
Fresno State
Idaho
Hawaii

With the BCS expanding from 8 teams to 10 now, I think a conference like this would be deserving of a spot. Heck, out of that group you have BSU and Utah already with BCS game wins and Hawaii and TCU have also appeared in BCS games. I could see that conference having at least 3 or 4 teams ranked in the top 25 at all times. Would they really be that far below say the Big East? Heck, I wouldn't say the Big 12 or Pac 10 were all that impressive this year either.

Many people forget that the MWC was pretty much an attempt to do this. Every team in the MWC was at one time a member of the WAC. IMO the best bet for an automatic bid for the MWC is to try to drag BSU and Fresno away from the WAC or steal another team or two from CUSA(that worked out pretty well for them already).
 

heitclone

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Here's the thing. TCU and BSU gain more from not being in a BCS conference. Do you think either would have gone undefeated in the Big12 or Pac10 respectively? I do not. I am not sure what the revenue sharing deals are like for the MWC and WAC, but I am guessing TCU and BSU get a big chunk of their BCS bowl money.

TCU and BSU are benefitting from being big fish in their respective small ponds.

They are even getting touted as championship contenders, even with their relatively light schedules.

The reason I want to see them both join BCS conferences is not for thier benefit, it is so that they are forced to play a tougher schedule every year. Right now TCU has to play BYU and Utah as their toughest conference games. BSU has to beat who... Idaho, Fresno State?

It is ridiculous. I would like to see the MWC and the WAC merge to a 12 team conference of the best schools available and play a conference champoinship. That would most likely end up being:

BSU
Fresno State
Nevada
Idaho
Hawaii

TCU
BYU
Utah
Air Force
Wyoming
UNLV


and add one more team from the following that I guess has a good television market:
Utah State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, San Jose State, San Diego State, Colorado State (Louisiana Tech has no business in any Western conference).

This conference would actually have some good in-state rivalries that are currently split between the two conferences.

No disrespect to Boise but I'm not sure they would go undefeated in the MWC. Sure they beat the MWC champ last night but its a step up in competition week in and week from the WAC.
 

cyhiphopp

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I do think a case could be made for merging the top schools from the WAC and the Mountain West to form a new conference that would be an automatic BCS qualifier. Put together something like this:

TCU
BYU
Utah
Air Force
Wyoming
Boise State
Nevada
Fresno State
Idaho
Hawaii

With the BCS expanding from 8 teams to 10 now, I think a conference like this would be deserving of a spot. Heck, out of that group you have BSU and Utah already with BCS game wins and Hawaii and TCU have also appeared in BCS games. I could see that conference having at least 3 or 4 teams ranked in the top 25 at all times. Would they really be that far below say the Big East? Heck, I wouldn't say the Big 12 or Pac 10 were all that impressive this year either.


You just beat me dude.
 

cyhiphopp

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No disrespect to Boise but I'm not sure they would go undefeated in the MWC. Sure they beat the MWC champ last night but its a step up in competition week in and week from the WAC.

I agree. If they were in the MWC they could get beaten by TCU, Utah, or BYU any year.