Big 10 / Pac 10: Listen.
Posted: November 9th, 2008, 12:18 am
USC is crying so hard that I think California is about to be under a flood watch. The USC fans are very adament that USC is the best team in the country. They do have a good defense, no doubt. But the offense does not play well when given slight resistance, and they already lost to an unranked Oregon State.
Penn State fans as well had been crying foul about Texas Tech jumping them. PSU, like USC, lost to an unranked team. Now, I do think Iowa and Oregon State are underrated nationally, but the fact remains that both PSU and USC should have clobbered those opponents.
There's no chance Penn State plays for a national title unless everyone loses 6 more times, which obviously won't happen. Even had they won tonight, there was still a 90% chance they were going to be left out. Why??? Because the Big Ten is looked down upon this year. Likewise with the Pac-10.
One of the things we keep hearing so much about is that it hurts the Big Ten and Pac-10 that they do not play conference title games. I really think we are seeing a lot of stock put into those games more and more as the seasons pass. Even though I STAUNCHLY feel that if you already beat a team you should not have to play them again, it is time that both of these conferences add more members and play title games.
Big Ten has been chasing ND for a long time, which everyone knows, but as ND has any success at all, there is no reason why ND should want to share revenue with conference members. ND makes enough money on their own, they don't need shared revenue. Its smart business for ND to stay independent. But ND is not doing all that well, and it seems like this Weis experiment is a failed one. Could ND possibly be persuaded to join the B10 in the foreseeable future?
Who else would the Big Ten conceivably acquire? There have been rumors about Iowa State, Syracuse, even Pittsburgh. I'm not opposed to any of those additions, but ISU and Syracuse are both disasters right now and will be for the near future, at least. Pitt still pulls a Pitt at least 2-3 times a season.
As for the Pac-10, they need 2 members to play a conference title game. The obvious choice to me is Boise, who has shown the ability to beat the Pac-10, and they are something like 54 out of their last 55 in the WAC. It's time to move up. That leaves another spot, which I am sure Fresno will want, but it should be BYU or Utah, both of which have shown the ability to compete with the Pac-10 and win.
People are dogging the Pac-10 badly, the Big Ten badly, and even the Big East. It's time to play conference title games.
Another thing is this... When Joe Tiller steps down at the end of this season, 8 of 11 Big Ten coaches will be "new". If Paterno says the hell with it, that'll be 9 of 11. It is important for you B10 haters to realize that we were saying the same stuff about the Big XII a few years ago, and now the Big XII is being classified alongside the SEC... another conference that was dogged at one time.
The ACC right now is also going through growing pains. 7 of 12 teams right now have new coaches. If Bowden retires, that's 9. Frank Beamer said he's not sticking around much longer as well. The longest tenured guy would then be Al Groh at UVA, a situation that is very shaky. Groh hasn't been there all that long to begin with. Friedgen also hasn't been there all that long. But the ACC will get much, much better as these teams find identities. It is a conference wide growing process, that the ACC and Big Ten are now involved in.
4 of 10 teams in the Pac-10 have new coaches. If Stoops gets fired in Tucson as expected, that's 5. Willingham, next season, is 6. Rumors about Tedford's job being on the line at Cal, as well.
The bottomline is this: add a few more teams, pray someone in the other division will go undefeated, and play a title game.
For the Big Ten, if they decide to add one more, they'll look to add a team which brings a nice market increase. I really believe that team will be Syracuse. For the Pac-10, 2 spots open, one will go to Fresno State. The other... who knows. You would think Boise, but if Whittingham stays at Utah and doesn't take a bigger job (which is expected) then I think you have to pick between the two. UNLV could also be a play here.
And for anyone asking who would fill-in the open WAC spot, it'll be North Texas. UNT has long been on the WAC wish-list, the hold up was basketball, and now UNT's basketball program is "decent". They'll be in the WAC soon.
Penn State fans as well had been crying foul about Texas Tech jumping them. PSU, like USC, lost to an unranked team. Now, I do think Iowa and Oregon State are underrated nationally, but the fact remains that both PSU and USC should have clobbered those opponents.
There's no chance Penn State plays for a national title unless everyone loses 6 more times, which obviously won't happen. Even had they won tonight, there was still a 90% chance they were going to be left out. Why??? Because the Big Ten is looked down upon this year. Likewise with the Pac-10.
One of the things we keep hearing so much about is that it hurts the Big Ten and Pac-10 that they do not play conference title games. I really think we are seeing a lot of stock put into those games more and more as the seasons pass. Even though I STAUNCHLY feel that if you already beat a team you should not have to play them again, it is time that both of these conferences add more members and play title games.
Big Ten has been chasing ND for a long time, which everyone knows, but as ND has any success at all, there is no reason why ND should want to share revenue with conference members. ND makes enough money on their own, they don't need shared revenue. Its smart business for ND to stay independent. But ND is not doing all that well, and it seems like this Weis experiment is a failed one. Could ND possibly be persuaded to join the B10 in the foreseeable future?
Who else would the Big Ten conceivably acquire? There have been rumors about Iowa State, Syracuse, even Pittsburgh. I'm not opposed to any of those additions, but ISU and Syracuse are both disasters right now and will be for the near future, at least. Pitt still pulls a Pitt at least 2-3 times a season.
As for the Pac-10, they need 2 members to play a conference title game. The obvious choice to me is Boise, who has shown the ability to beat the Pac-10, and they are something like 54 out of their last 55 in the WAC. It's time to move up. That leaves another spot, which I am sure Fresno will want, but it should be BYU or Utah, both of which have shown the ability to compete with the Pac-10 and win.
People are dogging the Pac-10 badly, the Big Ten badly, and even the Big East. It's time to play conference title games.
Another thing is this... When Joe Tiller steps down at the end of this season, 8 of 11 Big Ten coaches will be "new". If Paterno says the hell with it, that'll be 9 of 11. It is important for you B10 haters to realize that we were saying the same stuff about the Big XII a few years ago, and now the Big XII is being classified alongside the SEC... another conference that was dogged at one time.
The ACC right now is also going through growing pains. 7 of 12 teams right now have new coaches. If Bowden retires, that's 9. Frank Beamer said he's not sticking around much longer as well. The longest tenured guy would then be Al Groh at UVA, a situation that is very shaky. Groh hasn't been there all that long to begin with. Friedgen also hasn't been there all that long. But the ACC will get much, much better as these teams find identities. It is a conference wide growing process, that the ACC and Big Ten are now involved in.
4 of 10 teams in the Pac-10 have new coaches. If Stoops gets fired in Tucson as expected, that's 5. Willingham, next season, is 6. Rumors about Tedford's job being on the line at Cal, as well.
The bottomline is this: add a few more teams, pray someone in the other division will go undefeated, and play a title game.
For the Big Ten, if they decide to add one more, they'll look to add a team which brings a nice market increase. I really believe that team will be Syracuse. For the Pac-10, 2 spots open, one will go to Fresno State. The other... who knows. You would think Boise, but if Whittingham stays at Utah and doesn't take a bigger job (which is expected) then I think you have to pick between the two. UNLV could also be a play here.
And for anyone asking who would fill-in the open WAC spot, it'll be North Texas. UNT has long been on the WAC wish-list, the hold up was basketball, and now UNT's basketball program is "decent". They'll be in the WAC soon.