Frank the Tank’s Slant Ballot – Week 3
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | — |
| 2 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | — |
| 3 | Boise St. Broncos | — |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks |  7 |
| 5 | TCU Horned Frogs | — |
| 6 | Oklahoma Sooners | 7 |
| 7 | Texas Longhorns |  -3 |
| 8 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -1 |
| 9 | Iowa Hawkeyes | -1 |
| 10 | Wisconsin Badgers | -1 |
| 11 | Florida Gators | -5 |
| 12 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 8 |
| 13 | South Carolina Gamecocks | — |
| 14 | LSU Tigers | — |
| 15 | Utah Utes | 4 |
| 16 | Stanford Cardinal | — |
| 17 | Michigan Wolverines | 6 |
| 18 | Auburn Tigers | — |
| 19 | USC Trojans | -7 |
| 20 | Houston Cougars | — |
| 21 | Miami Hurricanes | -11 |
| 22 | California Golden Bears | — |
| 23 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -7 |
| 24 | Arizona Wildcats | — |
| 25 | Fresno St. Bulldogs | — |
| Dropouts: Virginia Tech Hokies, Florida St. Seminoles, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, West Virginia Mountaineers, Georgia Bulldogs, Notre Dame Fighting Irish | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »
I unfortunately don’t have time to explain my BlogPoll ballot or picks this week, so you can go ahead and fill in the blanks with any mocking/criticism of my opinions. Here are this week’s parlay picks for both college football and the NFL (home teams in CAPS and odds from bodog via Yahoo!):
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
- ILLINOIS (-7) over Northern Illinois
- Texas (-3) over TEXAS TECH
- Iowa (+1) over ARIZONA
Frank the Tank’s College Football Parlay Record
Last Week: 1-2
Illini Games for the Season: 1-0
Overall Season: 2-3-1
NFL FOOTBALL
- Bears (+7) over COWBOYS
- Patriots (-3) over JETS
- BRONCOS (-3.5) over Seahawks
Frank the Tank’s NFL Football Parlay Record
Last Week: 1-2
Bears Games for the Season: 0-1
Overall Season: 1-2
Once again, feel free to use this post as an open thread for the weekend’s games and non-expansion college sports news. If you want to talk about conference realignment in general, please continue the discussion on the Big Ten Division-palooza post, while the college hockey discussion should be under the Big Ten Expansion Hits the Ice post from earlier today. Have a great weekend!
(Follow Frank the Tank’s Slant on Twitter @frankthetank111)
FRANK THE TANK'S SLANT 
Keenum medically cleared to play this week Houston should beat UCLA.
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While I don’t agree with all of your rankings, I can see your reasoning for most of them. Arkansas moving past South Carolina puzzles me when they haven’t yet played a worthy opponent. Both of South Carolina’s victories have come against more worthy opposition.
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Another for the bank.
ND – 30
MSU – 42
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@jj – Yes, I like Michigan State at -3, too. ND always seems to play horribly after Michigan week.
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if they lose mard d is on the hot seat.
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masochist state university at it again
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@jj – Pretty crazy back-and-forth game tonight.
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HOLY F’ING SHIT!
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@jj – That was an unbelievably gutsy call. I wouldn’t have done that even in a video game.
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ballsy call by Lt Dan
nice win JJ
congrats
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mark’s usually good for 1 really nutty play in this game, i was wondering where it was. i cannot believe they did that though. that was nuts. shame on ND too, the dude who caught that had no one within 20 yards.
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all of a sudden i’m ready for some b10 ball, OSU has again sewn the championship of ohio and even MN looked ok today. This is going to be a good year.
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It was a good percentage call. What are your chances that a inexperienced kicker who looked scared out of his mind would make a long boot? 75%? Probably less. 50%? Then say you had a 50-50 chance of winning it even if he tied it. If you thought your chances of pulling off the fake are around 50% or better, you should do it. Of course, most coaches are too wussy to try it because the screaming idiots who don’t understand percentages would crucify him if it failed.
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BTW, you saw the failure of sticking to convention in that play as well. The edge rusher on ND’s left side got in unblocked, but he pulled up when he saw there was a fake to cover the kicker, probably because that’s what his coaches taught him to do, even though if he had rushed straight through to the holder/QB, ND would have had a much better chance of winning, as the holder had plenty of time to throw the ball to a wide-open TE. Put a guy who hasn’t QB’ed since high school under pressure while the TE was still getting off the block, and what are the odds that the holder would still deliver on target or have the presence of mind to check down and dump it off to the kicker along with the kicker being able to catch the ball and run for 20 some yards or so for the first down?
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alls i know is that UM / MSU is going to be a barn burner now. i hope to god they both hold on and are undefeated. with wisky barely beating asu, i think there is a chance.
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I would probably flop everything but the Ioa pick. I just have trouble thinking the Zooker will be successful.
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Northwestern -6.5 @ Rice
Who ya got?
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Loki,
I got NU 34 Rice 20.
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FITZ FITZ FITZ
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@loki_the_bubba – Northwestern will win, but they have a nasty habit in struggling in these types of games. I think that Rice will cover.
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nw
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Yeah, I’m thinking NW 35 Rice 17…
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NW 30
Rice 13
Final
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add
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So, um, I guess TCU showed you enough against Tennessee Tech to justify leaping them over Texas? 🙂
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Games of my interest:
I think Texas covers against Tech. (First time I’ve called for Texas to cover this season, by the way). I’m assuming those who haven’t watched Texas much this season will assume that the Horns are a bit down since we’re only score 34 instead of 52 points a game, but I think tomorrow night’s game will be the statement game that the defense is good enough to win a championship, even with a less proficient offense. (Which I don’t think we will. We could, but we won’t.) Texas 24-6.
And Frank, I really want to take offense to your Bears-Cowboys pick, but I can’t. I think Dallas will win, but I just watched a game with a half-ending play which provoked more profanity than I think I’ve ever muttered watching a football game. The question is which half-ending play from last Sunday earned that distinction. Dallas 13-10.
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@Hopkins Horn – I’m only picking the Bears-Cowboys game because of my pledge to pick every Bears game. Between the Bears not kicking a field goal to take the lead in the 4th quarter against a Lions offense that had a backup QB that wasn’t moving the ball at all (instead getting stuffed at the goal line on 4th and 1) and that horrific end to the Cowboys first half that you mentioned, I don’t want to pick either team. They both looked awful last week.
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For those keeping score, that’s two games out of three in which I nailed the Horns’ points on the nose and only missed the points allowed by a TD after a turnover.
Now that I know where to fine-tune, ignore me at your peril!
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The Conference Count = realignment included
Big 10 (6) = tOSU, UNL, Iowa, Wisconsin, UM, PSU = NC
SEC (6) = BAMA, UF, Arky, USC, LSU, Auburn = +1
Pac 10 (6) = Oregon, Utah, Stanford, U$C, Cal, Arizona = +3
MWC (3) = Boise State, TCU, Fresno State = NC
LC (2) = OU, UT = NC
ACC (1) = Miami = -3
CUSA (1) = Houston = +1
Ind (0) = 0 = -1
BE (0) = 0 = -1
Big 10
Go gophers! take out tommy trojan! Big 10 vs Pac 10 this weekend 3 – 0 🙂 . Loki, I can’t get the Rice game on BTN. IU and Illinois win 🙂
SEC
UF vs UT, how the mighty have fallen! Auburn vs Clemson the best game of the weekend, followed by Arky vs UGA and LSU vs MSU?
Pac 10
When was the last time Stanford vs Wake Forest was a big game? When was the last time an undefeated Houston played a defeated UCLA?
ACC
If ECU beats Va Tech, when was the last time VT started 0 – 3. I can get ECU vs VT on my computer, and not MD vs WVA, dang ESPN 3!
What games will you guys be watching this weekend?
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Well KU went down in flames, and now Cal is struggling
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‘Struggling’ is a bit of an understatement.
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Surprised you didn’t drop Boise after V-Tech lost.
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Remember that P10 publicity tour in NYC to reduce East Coast Bias? Nevada and Cal just canceled out any good that might have come from it.
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Arizona could win back a gigantic amount…
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Frank,
How would you feel if Nevada ran the table? So far they are averaging about 50 points a game and have Boise State at home this year. If they go undefeated, what say you?
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I’ll tell you one match-up I’d love to see, and that’s Iowa-Oregon. That Iowa defensive front against the Oregon run game would be a sight to see.
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It’s good to see that you actually dropped Texas a little, although I’d drop them closer to Florida at 10 or 11. I also think based on what they return, and what they accomplished last year, Iowa should be ranked above Nebraska and Texas. It’s not like they’ve played great teams, but they look unstoppable right now, and if Stanzi can keep this play up, they likely will be.
Here’s a question. If Michigan State wins somewhat handily, something like 30-17, do they make the cut for the top 25?
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Yeah right. Iowa above Nebraska. Iowa unstoppable. Nebraska overrated. ROTFL.
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Did you watch their first two games? Obviously at this point, hindsight is 20/20, but Iowa’s offense looked great the first two weeks, and they return the core of a team that won the Orange Bowl last year.
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Also, I never said Nebraska was overrated, nor would I because I don’t think that #8 for them is (was) over-ranking them.
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Loki, OwlVision sucks horribly.
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Evidently we overwhelmed their technical capabilities by bringing 3 times their normal gameday traffic.
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Frank – I’d usually love to dispute your Bears over Cowboys pick, but … hey, what time do the Rangers play?
Also, Go Frogs. That is all.
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Sorry, Jerry, but the Metroplex has gone baseball-crazy.
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Maybe the Cowboys should borrow the Claw.
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sorry to be the bearer of troubling news but there are reports from Fox Sports and a few others that Mark Dantonio had a mild heart attack last night. Reportedly he was feeling ill during the taping of his show. One report says he had a stent implanted and that he is comfortable and doing well. Reportedly a press conference will be held at 1.
best wishes to Coach Dantonio and hope he is well.
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I’ve been there (stent implanted in January ’06). I too wish him well.
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Looking forward to next week, there are 4 games involving ranked teams
#1 Alabama at #10 Arkansas
#24 Oregon St. at #3 Boise St.
#12 South Carolina at #17 Auburn
#22 West Virginia at #15 LSU
Also, the new AP poll is out. The SEC and the Big Ten have 6 teams each in the Top 25, followed by the Pac-10 with 5, the Big XII with 3, and the MWC with 2. The ACC, WAC, and Big East only have one team each in the Top 25.
SEC: #1 Alabama, #9 Florida, #10 Arkansas, #12 South Carolina, #15 LSU, and #17 Auburn
Big Ten: #2 Ohio St., #11 Wisconsin, #18 Iowa, #21 Michigan, #23 Penn St., and #25 Michigan St.
Pac-10: #5 Oregon, #14 Arizona, #16 Stanford, #20 USC, and #24 Oregon St.
Big XII: #6 Nebraska, #7 Texas, and #8 Oklahoma
MWC: #4 TCU and #13 Utah
WAC: #3 Boise St
ACC: #19 Miami (FL)
Big East: #22 West Virginia
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Aside from Penn State, there are only two ranked teams from “eastern” conferences (Miami in the ACC, West Virginia in the Big East). Add Notre Dame’s 1-2 start, and college football interest in the Northeast is already on life support.
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Vincent – to make matters worse for the “Eastern” conferences, West Virginia should get knocked out next week.
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Agreed. WVU’s win yesterday was due as much to Terp ineptitude than its efficiency.
This is why Maryland and Rutgers’ entry into the Big Ten would aid the conference; it would make more of the northeast Big Ten country (albeit vicariously), and that part of the U.S. is crying for good college football it can call its own — even if it isn’t by its own teams.
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I normally try to see the glass half-full… but am actually a realist. The polls should NOT come out til at least week 4, maybe even after that.
-There’s no way Michigan and MSU should be ranked… IMHO, they are only ranked because of games with ND. These teams have proved nothing. Without the stud (Robinson), Michigan is likely 0-3, their defense looks as porous as my Gopher’s.
-Sorry to hear about Dantonio… hope he recovers nicely… that said, MSU has done as much as Mich…
-Penn State was dominated by ‘Bama, and beating cupcakes proves nothing…
-ditto Wisconsin, they live because of special teams (something Gopher’s need to learn).
-Either Iowa is not as good as advertised, or Ariz is better, either way, the big EGG is laid.
-the only thing I can say about Gopher’s is they looked better against SC than when I saw them live against SD… Special teams play put them behind the 8-ball yesterday…
-IMHO, the only Big Ten team that’s proven anything is the hated Buckeyes…
Looking forward to the start of conference games…
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Frank – even though the AP and the coaches didn’t move my Tigers up toady, I’m lobbying you to move them up a spot or two. LSU’s special teams may be the best in the country. The defense looks to be a great unit. 5 INTs last night. The offense, mainly due to the QB, still needs to improve.
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LSU is the only team with 3 wins over BCS conference foes. That’s top 10 in my book.
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Frank,
Congrats to your Bears.
I’m going to go kick my neighbor’s cats for a little while more now.
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For the sake of your neighbors’ cats, watch the Rangers game and get it out of your system.
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I’m actually a Nats fan. (I assume you’re talking about baseball?) Hicks’ ownership drove me away, and I was a fan free agent and living in DC when the Nat came to town. Though I am more sympathetic to the Rangers now that Hicks is gone.
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Listen, I might have been tempted to kick felines after today’s game in Philadelphia. A 6-3 lead entering the bottom of the ninth, Storen can’t get anyone out and Nat-killer Werth hits a two-run homer to center to give the Phils a 7-6 win. Ouch.
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Wow. Good think I turned off the TV in disgust after the Cowboys game and didn’t stick around for that.
The Washington Nationals: the Phillies’ best friends in Septmeber since 2007.
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Oregon moves up seven spots? Was a win over Portland State really that impressive? Let me know when the Ducks play a real opponent.
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I believe the move up was prior to this weeks games. Pounding U of Tenn at Rocky Top doesn’t constitute a real opponent?
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Not like it used to, no. If a team can’t figure out personal hygiene, I don’t expect much out of them on the field. Oregon-Stanford’s coming up next week, so that should be interesting.
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Trivia question: who was the last Big Ten team to win two out-of-conference road games in the same year (other than Northwestern this year of course)?
I honestly don’t know the answer; I’m not sure it has ever happened before.
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I am guessing you are not counting bowl games?
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Frank,
What are the chances of bumping the Ducks up to the #3 spot in your next poll?
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The SEC TV schedule has just been released for the week of October 2.
CBS will carry a double-header, so no prime-time ESPN family game. All times Eastern.
CBS – 3:30pm: Tennessee at LSU
CBS – 8pm: Florida at Alabama
SECN – 12:20pm: Kentucky at Ole Miss
ESPNU – noon: ULM at Auburn
FSN – noon: Alcorn St. at Miss St.
FSN – 7pm: Georgia at Cal (Pac-10 TV package)
Big East Network – noon: Vandy at UConn (Big East TV package)
Arkansas and South Carolina are idle.
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Thank god the Alabama-Florida game is prime time. I was assuming CBS would do that. Otherwise, we would have had that game and Texas-OU kicking off at the same time.
(And as a random aside for the Big Ten contingent here who might wonder why Texas-OU isn’t ever pushed to prime time . . . the game is played at Fair Park in Dallas. Just an absolutely tremendous atmosphere, but it’s not exactly in a part of town where you want 90,000 fans strolling to their cars at 11 pm. And though the atmosphere generally stays at merely hostile rather than downright dangerous, giving 45,000 Texas fans and 45,000 Oklahoma fans that much more time to consume alcohol on the Fairgrounds before the game wouldn’t be the wisest decision ever made.)
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I actually did always wonder that. Thanks Horn!
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ESPN won’t care. It can put Notre Dame at Boston College on in prime time, and I bet it likely would still outdraw Florida-Alabama in college football-ignorant New York.
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And potentially undefeated Stanford-Oregon for the Midnight Matinee.
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the one that is looking interesting now!
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After watching the preseason, I would not have been surprised if the Bears would be 0-2. That’s said, I’m not complaining about their 2-0 start. God I hate the packers. At lease with Bret Fvre I could respect them.
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Wow. Where’s the love for the Bears on this blog?
That was the single most fun experience I’ve had at a football game (aside from the Super Bowl year). Of the 108K or so at the stadium there had to have been 40-45K Bears fans (my first time at JerryWorld). I personally had a large crew fly in from various parts of the country.
There was so much talk about the NFL experience being better on TV. Not for this game. You could see plays unfolding in a way you can’t on TV, and the Bears looked so much faster than you’d think, both on offense and defense. We never got to Romo (only knocked him down one in 50+ passes), but everyone else was getting the snot out of them (especially the receivers). On a few occasion, Bears fans were able to rock the place with various Bears chants over those of the Cowboys. Even watching the telecast afterwards, the announcers noted that it seemed like a Bears home game.
The best part was after the game. For about 90 minutes after the game, several thousand Bears fans took over the atrium inside the stadium singing, chanting and taking pix. It had to be beyond embarrassing for the Cowboys fans, although no one was rude or obnoxious about it. Thought I was in college again. A good Bears team is a joy to behold.
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@Big Ten Jeff – It definitely sounded like there was a large Bears contingent there on TV. Our fans definitely travel as well as any NFL fan base. The single most insane sporting event that I’ve ever attended was the Bears-49ers game in 2001 at Soldier Field. Starting QB Jim Miller got knocked out in the first quarter, which meant that esteemed backup Shane Matthews had to take his place. Let me emphasize that Matthews probably had the weakest arm of any QB in the history of the modern NFL. With 4 minutes to go in the game, the Bears were down by 15 points. Matthews somehow proceeded to put together a 90-yard drive for a TD in about 2 minutes. After that, the Bears were able to quickly stop the 49ers on downs to force a punt, and then Matthews put together ANOTHER 90-yard drive with less than 1 minute left AND a 2-point conversion to tie the game. Then, on the first play of overtime, Jeff Garcia threw a pass that bounced off Terrell Owens and into the arms of Bears CB Mike Brown, who ran it back for a pick 6 for a Bears win. I was sitting in the north end zone where it happened and it was the craziest scene that you could imagine.
Compounding that experience was the game against the Browns the very next week, where Shane Matthews completed a Hail Mary pass that bounced off a defender and into the arms of James Allen for a TD at the end of regulation to tie the game. In the first play of overtime, Mike Brown intercepted ANOTHER pass for a pick 6 to win! 2 weeks in a row! I don’t think I’ll live to see another team in any sport that’s luckier than the 2001 Bears – so little talent with so many gifts from someone watching above.
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By the way, that 2-week sequence is one of those things where if a Hollywood screenwriter had dreamed it up, you would’ve blasted him for being way too unrealistic. These were the types of plays you wouldn’t even see happen on the computer on Madden. I mean, we’re talking about SHANE MATTHEWS!
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So it was like the atmosphere for a Cowboys game when the Cowboys are on the road.
This seems to be more and more common to have so many away fans at games. I think the noise for the Bears yesterday was nothing like the noise for the Steelers and Packers the last time they played in Dallas. In fact, there were so many Packers fans at Texas Stadium the last time they visited (for that Thursday night battle of 11-1 teams a couple of years back) that the Packers’ defense was actually raising their arms up to encourage more noise from the crown on a crucial play for the Dallas offense.
I’d say any road game for Dallas, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Chicago, and maybe a few more are guaranteed to have 1/4-1/3 fans for the road team. (Any other teams belong in that list?) It’s especially pronounced when the three northern teams on that list visit teams in the Sun Belt, given the population migration of the past few decades. (And I would say the only road games at which I do not notice a lot of Dallas fans are GB and Pittsburgh. I think we tend to have a lot of fans at games played in Soldier Field.)
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@Hopkins Horns – I agree that the Cowboys, Steelers, Packers and Bears come to mind as the top traveling NFL fan bases. I also believe that the Chiefs fan base is very underrated in terms of passion (while the Raiders and Jets fan bases get way too much credit compared to what they deserve).
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PS: I’m glad it sounds like you had a good time at the game. I still haven’t been back for a game at JerryWorld. I do doubt that it was that embarrassing for Dallas fans, though, as, since I’ve mentioned, this isn’t the first time we’ve had this sort of turnout for the road team.
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Tailgating with a lot of the fans, they commented that the Giants had done the same thing last year.
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FTT and HH, one of the things that I found most interesting in my discussions with the many Cowboys fans was that it seems that maybe there’s a 60K base of Cowboys fans who attend the games (it’s so damned expensive). In a 108K capacity stadium, there’s a capability to have the visiting team establish a presence. Over time, this could prove to be a competitive disadvantage to them.
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@Big Ten Jeff – I think that’s happened in Washington, where the Redskins’ massive stadium has not translated into much of a home field advantage and fan bases like the Steelers and Cowboys have taken large chunks of tickets when they’ve played there.
The Bears have the opposite problem – with only 61,000 seats and massive market/fan base, the only way that you can get tickets is by paying a huge premium in the secondary market. Packers fans still find a way to show up in force, though. Ugh.
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BTJ:
You’ve hit the nail on the head, or however that cliche goes.
Growing up in Dallas as a life-long Cowboys fan, one of the things that I’ve always noticed is that the Cowboys have always had a relatively soft attendance base. This goes back for years, well before the move into JerryWorld. When I was growing up, figuring out how to watch blacked-out games was commonplace (once or twice a season in the late 70s-early 80s). I know they’ve sold out every game since 1990 or so, but a lot of those in the late 90s and early 2000s were a bit dubious (ticket giveaways, etc.). And that was for a stadium which sat only 63K.
This is the conundrum of the Cowboys. As popular as the team is (they dominate the local sports media as much as they do the national, and, as I’ve mentioned before, Dallas is a very strong sports market), the actual number of people wanting to actually attend games has never been that strong. I was dubious when I heard that JerryWorld was going to 75K for “official” attendance for blackout purposes and 100K for standing-room only. As you mention, all that will do is give fans of popular visiting teams that many more seats. I also think there’s a good chance, once the newness of JerryWorld wears off, that the Cowboys will find themselves battling against local blackouts from time to time.
And to tie this into college football, I have the exact same concern about UT expanding to 100K. It’s all well and good now when we’re part of the elite of the college football world, but I attended UT at a time when it wasn’t, and the Horns regularly had 10K+ seats unsold in a stadium which sat only 73K at the time. When a good visiting team came to town (A&M in those days), the atmosphere resembled what JerryWorld seemed to be yesterday.
I think Texas also has a bit of a soft base. I have a theory that Texas and A&M both have less t-shirt fans than, say, the typical SEC team. A random guy from Alabama adopted the Tide; in Texas, they had the chance to adopt the Cowboys or Oilers/Texans. So when Texas inevitably takes a downward turn, there will be thousands of unsold tickets per game. (We won’t resemble Michigan as UM has gone through its bad streak.)
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Well, in Alabama, there’s both the Tide and Tigers. However, it does seem as if people there are born in to their allegiances, while in Texas, there are so many teams that “free agent” fans will tend to go with whoever’s the hottest.
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Too big of a stadium is a real liability for most teams. For years the Lions had a huge stadium they could never sell out. Then, they got blacked out all the time. Not good.
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In Texas, as far as attending games, the free agent fans are pro fans. Now Texas is Austin’s “pro” team, so they do have the non-alumni there. But “Pro” type fans tend to be less loyal in the down times. Contrast Kentucky with Miami. And in Austin, like in California, there is so much to do, a lot of students choose to do things other than go to the games.
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just sharing but apparently this was the most competitive element of the Ohio University Ohio State game….
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embed didn’t work
go here
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/2010/09/watch_the_ohio_bobcat_mascot_a.html
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Ha! That story definitely needs more publicity. Here’s more info:
Ohio U. mascot reveals all: Tackling Brutus Buckeye had been planned since last year
http://outofbounds.nbcsports.com/2010/09/rufus-the-bobcat-speaks-goal-was-to-take-down-brutus-buckeye-all-along.html.php
…Brandon Hanning, the man inside the Bobcat suit, said that the “whole reason” he tried out to be the Bobcat mascot last year was for the one moment when he could tackle Ohio State’s Brutus…
…Hanning, 19, is a student at Hocking College. He enrolled at OU last year but dropped out, he said. He added that he still hadn’t been informed of his firing, but didn’t care….
—————
Brandon Hanning, we salute you!
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Here’s a link to some of the all-time greatest mascot fights. My personal favorite is between Vic the Demon of Northwestern State(LA) and Chief Brave Spirit from Northeast Louisiana (now known as Louisiana-Monroe.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/376485-best-mascot-fights-of-all-timevideo
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San Diego Chicken v. Barney in a dance-off.
http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=GHXXZwfGrP4
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ESPN Sportsnation Poll question: Do you think Ohio’s mascot, Rufus is a hero or a jerk for tackling Brutus, the Ohio State mascot before a game?
So far its Hero 57% and Jerk 43%.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/fp/flashPollResultsState?sportIndex=pollindex&pollId=97846
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I think if mike ate the green wave I could watch that, but pretty much anybody that would beat up tommy trojan or the cardinal tree is okay in my book.
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I would say he’s a jerk….but Brutus is really a pussy….that was a pretty sad display on his part………
What I don’t get is how he was still the mascot when he no longer attends the school. Thought that was pretty odd…..
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Jerk, Hero? I’d say a man with fairly low ambitions.
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Really impressed with the classy Hawkeye fans deciding to gleefully chant while trainers continued to treat a ref that lay flat on the field after being knocked out minutes earlier by a head shot.
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add
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The Conference Formerly Known As The Big Twelve and Nebraska reach a settlement on exit money:
http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204998498&DB_OEM_ID=10410
Colorado expected tonight to approve a plan to play in the P12 in 2011 and an extended payment plan for their exit fees agreed to with TCFKATB12.
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Combined with Ohio State saying that B10+2 expansion is now closed (though they will listen if schools approach them) and the BCS landscape is about solidified. Since the SEC, ACC, and BEast have been told their tv contracts won’t be renegotiated for expansion, they probably won’t add any new schools (though Villanova may step up.)
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Here is the link to the story where Gene Smith stated that “We’re finished (with expansion),” and “The only thing that would cause us to look at it further is if someone contacted us”: http://www.thelantern.com/sports/smith-osu-michigan-rivalry-faces-uncertain-future-past-12-1.1607700
But I also found it strange that he went on to say “The reason most of us say it’s not done is because we think there are some schools that are going to try to talk to some conferences. But we’re not actively out looking at expansion”. I think that he is just trying to divert focus from expansion by saying that the Big Ten won’t be looking. I think that the Big Ten already knows the schools that he says “are going to try and talk to some conferences” and I’m sure preliminary contact has already happened. That is why he can say that the Big Ten won’t be doing any further searching on their end. At least that is the feeling I get at the moment.
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It’s possible expansion is over, but I think this statement is meaningless. Now if someone else joins, they can say “The school came to us, we didn’t seek them out.”
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I don’t think it’s meaningless. I think he’s saying there aren’t enough votes for expansion so he’s not going to push it anymore. I had thought OSU was an advocate for expansion, so I can’t read it any other way……..
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Same source has a little different take long term. Smith seems to think there’s a good chance of 16 team conferences.
http://www.thelantern.com/mobile/sports/seismic-shakeup-a-number-of-schools-changed-conferences-but-have-we-seen-the-end-of-expansion-1.1607671
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The writer is a little loose with the facts. Not that it matters, but Colorado popped the cork on leaving the Big 12, not Nebraska. And Texas has contemplated leaving, from all indications, for just about as long as Delany’s announcement to expand has been public, and not, as the article wrongly states, as a reaction to the loss of two conference members.
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“Under the terms of a negotiated settlement announced today by the Big 12 and UNL, the conference will withhold $9.255 million from the estimated $19 million in revenues otherwise distributable to the university during the last two years of its participation in the Big 12. The original estimated reduction totaled $19.37 million.”
http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204998501&DB_OEM_ID=100
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“The University of Colorado will leave the Big 12 after this season
and join the Pac-10 in 2011. The move will cost the school $6.863
million. The school’s Board of Regents approved the move Tuesday.”
http://www.netbuffs.com/message_board/football/2010/September/21/658808.php
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@Playoffs Now – Doesn’t surprise me at all. Texas (and therefore the rest of the Big IIX) had no interest in allowing its own conversations with the Pac-10 and other conferences aired out in court, so there were going to be some highly discounted settlements from Nebraska and Colorado.
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Estimates thrown out were $35-$40 million for both schools. Based on the by-laws and assuming $20 million distributions for UNL over 2 years(article’s estimate seems reasonable), 80% would be the amount based on the rules or $16 million. For CU with $18 million (estimate $9 million a year) at 50% would be $9 million. So that only comes to $25 million.
UNL is paying roughly 60% of the $16 million.
Aren’t any of those UNL fans who said they would never pay a dime going to come on here and chew out the President for “giving up” nearly $10 million?
There were enough questions it was very risky for either side to go to court and possibly lose, costing themselves the $6 to $10 million.
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The only way to get to $35 million is if you assume CU paid 80% and both schools did real well in revenue distribution. Each would have to average $11 million a year.
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So A&M gets it all?
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If I’m Texas A&M, I’m very angry right now.
$15M from Nebraska and Colorado? That’s it?
I don’t know how they’re going to keep their promise of $20M+ or $25M+ or whatever BS numbers they were throwing out…
They just got one of the 3 marquee schools in the league, so I don’t see how their future contracts are going to be worth so much more. And there’s no title game after this year, so that won’t help their contracts either…
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Looking at Chip’s estimates, they need Fox or ESPN to agree to pay around $180M per year, and that’s not even accounting for the fact that one of their two contracts isn’t up until 2016.
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@zeek
Texas A&M has a real simple decision. Pound sand, or grow a sack and go their own way.
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“If I’m Texas A&M, I’m very angry right now.
$15M from Nebraska and Colorado? That’s it?
I don’t know how they’re going to keep their promise of $20M+ or $25M+ or whatever BS numbers they were throwing out…”
Well, there were 2 ‘promises’.
1)The schools that were to be left behind told OU, A&M, and UT they’d give them their share of the severance money. UT and OU have claimed they don’t want this; I haven’t heard anything lately if A&M will try and collect (I kinda doubt it).
2)The networks agreed to keep paying the same tv money to the Big 12 even though it lost 2 teams and a conference title game. With 2 less teams taking money, the other schools will get more each year. Big 12 commissioner claimed this would be enough for A&M to get $20 million a year with the normal unbalanced revenue distribution. I haven’t seen any math that makes it work, though.
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Thing is, what are aTm’s options now? If the B10+2 and P10+2 aren’t expanding and ESPN won’t renegotiate the SEC’ contract, then there aren’t any openings in the SEC. So unless aTm can convince AR or TN/KY to leave, the Ags’ only option is west. I guess they could flirt with the P12 for leverage with the B12-2, but the SEC dreamers would go bonkers. Then again, if Byrne can pitch it a going P12 without TX, half of that contingent might turn on a dime.
My guess is that aTm compromises like everybody else and ends up with a few million less.
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The agreement A&M (thinks it) has is not about the buyout money. The reason they stayed is that the seven dwarves agreed to make up whatever shortfall to get A&M to $20 million, from their own payouts if necessary.
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I am beginning to think that the biggest loser in all this is TAMU. They are now stuck in a “zombie” conference and were not smart enough to extract media concessions when they had the chance. From now on it will be UT and OU with a virtual monopoly on the former Big 12. With the inherent dysfunction no decent school will join and so they will be stuck in oblivion along with Kansas (being a basketball guy) in eternal limbo. Unlike Kansas, TAMU held a decent hand at the table.
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@bullet
I don’t recall Nebraska fans crowing that we would never pay a dime. Most, like myself, were highly doubtful of the numbers Beebe and his puppetmasters were throwing around, for the obvious reason that no one wants their dirty laundry aired in open court. I do seem to recall some chest thumping from Texas fans about how they’d make us pay every penny. Who was correct?
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Maybe not you, but on this board there were a number of UNL fans saying Nebraska would never pay a penny. I don’t recall any Texas fans (on this board-can’t speak about other forums you may have read) disagreeing about something less than the full amount ending up being paid.
I suspect its more about risk than dirty laundry. Do you take $10 million or pay $500k in legal fees and risk that $10 going for $16? Do you pay $10 or pay $500k in legal fees and risk paying $16 million + interest.
CU’s problem was UNL. B12 couldn’t give CU a break until after UNL was settled. Otherwise they almost have to give UNL the same deal.
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The scenario where Nebraska wouldn’t have to pay a penny would be the one that was potentially possible for a while, that the conference would disband within a matter of weeks. There would have been no justification for exit fees from anyone had that taken place. No one with a functioning brain thought Nebraska would get away for nothing if the Big 12 survived, although as it turns out, a lot of pro-Texas posters were counting their chickens before they hatched. Anyone not wearing burnt orange shades can see that just the tip of the iceburg behavior displayed by Texas during this process meant nobody from that side was going to court, and that a much reduced buyout would be the result of everyone, on both sides, having to get their story straight.
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I agree that litigation was too risky and/or compromising for the two sides. Let’s not forget that the university presidents work together even out of conference, so no need to severely damage those relations either.
I always thought the $30-$40 million numbers were too high. Here’s the thinking though:
There’s a clause in the B12 bylaws (although the wording is somewhat ambiguous) saying that leaving the conference with less than 1 year notice is a loss of 90% of 2 years revenue. If NU was pulling in about $12M/yr then that equates to 2*$12M*.9=$21.6M. I can’t imagine a way to end up with more than that.
As a Husker fan, I’m just glad to have this business finished.
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@RedDenver
Indeed. Looking forward to a memorable farewell tour, then opening at Madison in a conference that knows enough not to shit where you eat.
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Bullet said: “Aren’t any of those UNL fans who said they would never pay a dime going to come on here and chew out the President for “giving up” nearly $10 million? ”
I don’t want to speak for all Husker fans, but most of those I converse with recognized this as a starting point for negotiations.
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I haven’t posted before, but I find the latest from our old friend Chip Brown (remember him!) a bit interesting:
http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1129216
What was particularly interesting for me was that we have the first real indication of what many suspected – Texas, Notre Dame and BYU are working together in this conference realignment business.
By offering ND a safe haven for their other sports if the Big East were raided by the Big Ten, Texas and the Big 12 are greatly reducing the amount of pressure that can be exerted on the Irish. This is the first quote that I’ve seen attributed to Dodds on this. I’m starting to thing that it wouldn’t be outlandish to think that ND and BYU might eventually end up in the Big 12 (or at the least, some type of formal affiliation by those two with Texas and the Big 12).
So, there may indeed be more interesting goings-on to follow. Thought I’d brig back a little conference realignment talk for nostalgia’s sake!
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Looks like ND will stay independent forever now (in football). Doubt they’d leave the BE for other sports. Tons of alums and Catholics on the East Coast. Not so much on the plains.
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And it looks as if Texas is committed to the Big 12 for the indefinite future.
Technically that’s all you need to keep the Big 12 stable if A&M can’t bolt to the SEC due to political pressure.
Texas probably holds all of the chips now since OU is tied to it, and the Big Ten doesn’t want Missouri.
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” Texas probably holds all of the chips now since OU is tied to it, and the Big Ten doesn’t want Missouri. ”
This I don’t understand. Why is OU so tied to UT? 20 years ago I’d have assumed they were tied more to Nebraska, and aren’t they a national brand of a similar level to UNL?
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Yeah, but their identity is the OU-Texas relationship now; they’ve said that’s what they care about maintaining.
Attach the hangers on Texas Tech and OSU along with schools without other homes like Kansas/Kansas State/Missouri/Iowa State/Baylor, and I don’t see how Texas A&M can just walk its way out without clearance from Texas. Texas holds everyone’s fates in its hands.
There is no Pac-16 without Texas, and if Texas can prevent A&M from running to the SEC via political pressure, then there’s not going to be any movement.
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Recruiting. Without Texas recruits, OU isn’t a top 25 team. This was true even in their Big8 days.
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OU was called the University of Texas at Norman even back in the Big Eight days.
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I do think expansion is over for awhile and don’t want to make too much of this, but twice now in the last week or so Dodds has publicly made a slightly odd statement about how the P12 might go to 16.
“Multiple key sources said they think realignment will die down for at least the next six to seven years with the only forces capable of stirring it up again being the Big Ten or Pac-10 going to 16 schools.”
Now how on earth does the P12 realistically get to 16 without TX or completely ditching its standard? Yeah, they lowered it trying to lure TX, but what other schools west of the Mississippi would make sense financially? Perhap MO and ISU might pass the academic test, but KS is tied to KSU, surely they wouldn’t touch OU, OK St, or TTech without TX, religious bigotry and Sunday play rule out BYU, and I can’t see the conference interested in any remaining MWC or WAC schools.
So seems like 4 possible explanation for that statement:
1) TX is hinting to the P12 that they’d listen to the right offer. Maybe, but why signal that in the press when a private phone call will do? Doubting this.
2) P12 may pursue ND and 3 friends of the Irish. Helluva travel burden for ND, if they want a new conference why not the closer B12-2+? And independence looks like it will be an option for a long time unless the other conferences get tough at the BCS negotiations. Don’t see this.
3) P12 may throw huge money at aTm to try and lure TX. Even if it didn’t work they’d still get a foothold in Texas and might convince TTech, too. Could be a brilliant gamble if they can pull it off. At this point does politics force TX to follow in state brothers? If so it could freeze out unwanted OK St if OU makes 16, or compromise with Baylor if that what it takes to get TX. But no guarantees, and the aTm fanbase would freak out. Don’t see this option happening, either. Could go with TTech instead, but if the gambit fails they could be stuck with TTech, MO, and either KS and KSU or ISU and ? (BYU? Ha!) Stanford would be so thrilled.
4) A warning shot from Dodds to the P12 and certain B12-2 schools that even if they tried option 3, TX won’t be cornered and could always go indy or partner with ND for a new oxymoronic indy conference. More plausible.
5) Dodds was simply including the P12 in the few conferences that have wiggle room with ESPN on expansion because of when contracts are up. Nothing more to be read into that statement. Most likely option. OTOH, the similar quote from him last week about the P12 could expand to 16 wasn’t in the context of ESPN contracts. But maybe that’s just how he categorizes conferences in his mind lately.
So I wouldn’t read too much into those statements right now. But ya never know…
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Pac 10 is evidently going to make its own network like the Big 10 network.
The article asserts that the SEC and ACC would not be able to renegotiate their contracts if they added teams, so they would lose money (per school) if they expanded. With their own networks, the Big 10 and Pac 10 aren’t bound by this. This is why they claim those are the only 2 conferences that can expand.
Now, I find it dubious that the SEC would be unable to renegotiate its contract. I specifically remember articles about their ESPN contract mentioning that they could terminate their contract to create their own network. If they expanded and threatened to start their own network, I think ESPN would negotiate. How much value would ESPNU lose in the south if they refused? And CBS itself might offer more money to the SEC to start expansion if it meant bigger ratings in the right states.
However, I’m not confident that the SEC would be eager to move past 12 schools unless someone else does.
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Good points.
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Like a lawsuit on exit fees, SEC would be taking a big risk. Since, as you point out, they’re happy where they are, why would they take that risk? Sounds like ESPN, one of the mysterious TPTB, is trying to calm down expansion until they can get a handle on the advertising market and a leash on the conferences. Doesn’t mean they will always be against superconferences.
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Trust me when I say that this guy doesn’t know what he is talking about in regards to the SEC tv contract with ESPN. From everything that I’ve read and heard from Mike Slive interviews, he has basically stated (in round about ways) that there is a loophole for the SEC to renegotiate if teams are added. That is one of the reasons that ESPN got involved with promising the Big 12 that they wouldn’t change their current tv contract when they lose UNL & CU, and I’m sure they basically garaunteed the Big 12 a good contract in the future. With the new contract that the ACC got, they didn’t want to have to pay the newly expanded SEC what they would deserve and would demand (especially with the Texas market) and then try and outbid Fox for the new Pac 16. ESPN would’ve had to renegotiate the SEC contract and that is why they stepped in and helped kill the Pac 16 expansion.
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Thanks for the article.
What I found interesting is that the Big XII television bids come up in 2015. Does anyone here think that the conference will still have ten teams and play a nine-game conference schedule? Or is the more likely scenario one where the Big XII actually does have twelve teams by 2015?
It will be interesting to see how the Big XII goes forward on its schedules in the near term. They’ve essentially become the old Big Ten, which means how will they stay relevant in early December when all the confernce championship games take place? Are Texas and Texas A&M, for example, going to push back the date of their game from late November to the first Saturday in December? Or are they going to stick to tradition and cede the last week of the regular season to the other conferences?
I’ll be curious to see how the Big XII is able to provide $17M to $20M to its conference members in the short term. The latest conference distribution in 2010 was $139M and that figure included the twelve existing programs plus a conference championship game. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_12_Conference#Revenue
Assuming Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M are all given distributions of $20M and the remaining seven schools come out to $17M, the overall revenue distributions now have to come out to $180M–an annual increase of $40M over the 2010 figure. Beebe claims that the new cable television package up for bid in April 2011 that will run through 2015 will bridge that gap.
Fox Sports Net’s contract with the Big XII was four years for $48M and expires in 2012 (averages $12M per year). ABC/ESPN’s contract was for eight years for $480M and expires in 2016 (averages $60M per year).
The ABC/ESPN contract will remain unchanged and the schools should now get $6M per year from it with 10 programs (this is just an average as we know that the Big XII doesn’t have even revenue sharing). The contract with FSN–even with just ten programs–averages just $1.2M per year per program.
I’m hard pressed to imagine how the Big XII is going to increase its conference distributions to $180M per year between 2012 and 2015 with no conference championship game and with those existing television contracts. Assuming the Big XII mades $5-$7M per school from bowl games, the NCAA men’s basketball torunament and other sources as part of the annual conference distributions (this is roughly in the Big Ten’s ball park), and the ABC/ESPN contract pays $6M per school per year, then that cable contract is going to have to add another $6M-plus, i.e., approximately what the Big Ten Network now pays each program. Is FSN (or another cable outlet) willing to do that?
The article is dead wrong about the money Colorado and Nebraska would be paying the Big XII. It states $35M to $40M, but the actual figure turned out to be around $17M. This will roughly replace the loss of the conference championship game for one year plus a bit more, but its not near the original projection.
Texas isn’t doing Notre Dame any favors in terms of scheduling. The four games they have coming up with ND are all in September or August–most of them are season openers. ND still has a problem finding teams from major BCS programs to play them in October and November. Oklahoma does have a home-and-home with them, but the game in South Bend is in September (before the Big XII season) and the second is in October in Norman. Miami-FL was willing to put together a three-game series with ND and to play them on dates later in the season, but they seem to be the only one to date willing to do this.
As more conferences go to nine-game conference schedules (Pac 12, Big Ten-plus, Big XII-minus), the number of open scheduling slot avaialable to Notre Dame gets knocked down. Add in the addition of conference championship games and the motivation for any major BCS program to play ND in the latter parts of the season also reduces (especially in the world of the BCS).
Obviously, USC will continue to play ND in October and November. The Big East and the Mountain West will still provide opponents and I suspect Brigham Young will now be available in the short term as a late season opponent (that is, until BYU figures out a way to join the Big XII with another school to bring it back up to twelve members NLT 2015). But ND is still in its scheduling pickle for as long as the Big Ten programs refuse to play them beyond the first week of October.
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One more thought on this–Nebraska is laughing all the way to the bank on this issue.
The Big Ten had conference distributions for each school of $19.9M in FY 2010. The projected distirbutions for FY 2011 are $22.2M. FY 2011 ends 30 June 2011.
When Nebraska joins the Big Ten formally on 1 July 2011, the conference distributions will be enhanced by the addition of the Big Ten Conference Championship Game ($15-$20M per year or $1.3M-$1.7M per program annually) plus the renegotiated ABC/ESPN contract. I wouldn’t be surprised if the B10 conference distributions per program will be in excess of $25M per school–at least $5M more than the major programs in the Big XII would be getting.
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I don’t think Nebraska receives a full share of the conference distributions for at least a few years. The B10 guaranteed that NU will make at least as much as it did in the B12.
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And, Colorado is getting a loan for their $7M, they still have to pay it off over time. Nebraska is going to have the full $9M fronted by the Big Ten probably…
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You’re right. Here’s an excerpt from the following article:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100921/SPORTS/309219796/0#nebraska-big-12-reach-deal
Nebraska won’t fully share in Big Ten Conference revenues for another five to seven years.
But NU won’t make less in the Big Ten than it would have in the Big 12 during the transition. Once fully in the mix, Nebraska will earn about $20 million to $25 million per year from its new league.
END OF EXCERPT
The article goes on to say that the $7M surplus that Nebraska had in its athletic department will essentially be wiped out by the agreement. UN-L’s athletic department will also waive an annual $2.5M fee the athletic department pays to the academic side of the university.
It will be interesting to see how much the Big Ten pays Nebraska in the coming years and how long it will be until UN-L receives a full share in the conference distributions.
Obviously, the Big Ten will pay in UN-L no less than the $10M to $14M they would have received from the Big XII in 2010-11. I suspect Nebraska will be on the higher end of that range for FY 2012 because of the conference championship game, the renegotiated ABC/ESPN contract, etc.
In fact, if the Big XII is able to send $20M to Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma in the short term, the Big Ten might match it. The FY 2011 revenue projection for conference distributions in the Big Ten is $22.2M per program. The FY 2012 distributions might be in the $25M-plus range per school, so it wouldn’t be too out of line for UN-L to get $20M.
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long term, the value of being a “B10 School” is simply worth more than a “B12 school”.
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This point further reinforces that the “Destroy the Big East to get ND” idea is stupid. If ND doesn’t want to join, it won’t join. The Big Ten shouldn’t stick itself with non-additive schools in the hope of causing some huge domino effect.
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Agree. I also don’t think Big Jim, et al, are that dumb.
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C-man, what you’re saying doesn’t make much sense. If ND, TX, and BYU are working together, it’s because they share the common goal of independence or having that option. If they all join the Big 12, what do they have in common? If ND were to join any conference, t would naturally be the Big 10. They only go to the ACC, BE, Big 12 et al if they get special favors not available from the BT.
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With the recent scheduling announced by the 3 schools, in addition to comments by Dodds that he’d like to see ND’s non-revenue sports in the Big 12, I think it’s pretty clear that these 3 are indeed working together. It’s also clear that BYU wants into the conference (they’ve also been helping Texas on their network start-up).
Now, where this all will lead is another question. A big part of that will depend on where college heads in the next few years (for example, how difficult will it be to make it the the BCS championship without having played in a conference championship game). What the Big 12 could provide all three schools is the opportunity to play for a conference championship, while being able to enjoy more control over media rights (i.e. revenue).
It’s also clear that ND wants to maintain its position as a national school, as opposed to simply an upper Midwest college. If they joined the Big Ten, too many of their games would be in that region. So, in that sense, being a “natural fit’ for the Big Ten actually works against it. It also offers opportunities for games in Texas (read recruiting), which is also apparently attractive to the Irish. Hell, they’re already playing games in Texas against non-Texas (see Washington State). So, even though ND to the Big 12 likely won’t happen, I think it’s bit much to say it makes no sense.
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OK….it makes very liitle sense…is that better?
2 possible scenerios here—first, Big East falls apart and ND needs a home for bball and its olympic sports. In that case, Big 12 could be an alternative, EXCEPT that the travel costs would be prohibitive, and there’s a better alternative—a catholic league of mw and eastern schools…
Second alternative–join for all sports, which means they’d be playing a schedule full of Big 12 teams instead of a schedule full of BT teams. Now, again, if they can get specials deals from the ACC, Big East, Big 12, or PAC 12 so they only play 6 or 7 league games, that’s a different story….however, of those leagues, I would think the Big 12 would be the least attractive, everything else being equal.
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If ND and Texas are interested in independent football scheduling, the BigIIx could become an Independent Alliance to facilitate scheduling late season games. They have already given up the CCG and if they create a flexible scheduling system, ND is happy and they don’t even need a special deal – everyone in the “conference” has a special deal
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Maybe they have the common goal of not ceding too much power to the B10 and SEC. Texas could be thinking-help ND stay independent and B12 is less likely to get raided by B10 leading to raids by SEC. So Texas would get to stay in B12 (or leave, but it would be their choice, not Jim Delaney’s).
This round of expansion was driven by the TV contracts the SEC got. Everyone else wanted to keep up.
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Pitt Panther Network on Comcast
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10264/1089219-142.stm
Pitt launches their own network and Villanova gets invited to join the Big East for football. Other Big East schools my be launching their own networks. Doesn’t sound like a conference that’s concerned about being poached by the Big Ten. Maybe expansion is over.
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But it is interesting since the conference was looking into starting its own networks. One could view Pitt, Syr, and UConn channels as perhaps defensive moves in case the conference is raided. Going to a TV model similar to ND, TX, and BYU might position them well for an eastern pod or division of an Indy Alliance should conferences go to 16.
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I’m dying for a preview function.
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These network start ups by individuals schools like Pittsburgh could also be a way to demonstrate to the Big Ten that these programs are financially viable options for expansion in lieu of adding Notre Dame.
If a school like Pitt can show that its local programming gets strong ratings or moves to basic cable, etc., then that gives their administration one more thing to point to in their favor if the Big Ten does go to 14 or 16 schools in three or four years’ time.
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It could also be that Pittsburgh knows the Big Ten has ruled it out as an expansion candidate (its market duplicates PSU), so in lieu of the Big East starting a network — something the conference may not have enough clout for among northeast cable providers — Pitt is beginning one of its own on a smaller scale. I doubt Rutgers has similar plans.
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No plans for this at Rutgers
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Not earth shattering news, but for those scoring at home (“And if so, congratulations!” – Tony Bruno) TX-MD is now confirmed for 2017 and 2018, first in Austin then at FedEx Field.
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/longhorns/2010/09/ut-football-mack-on-yelling-ru.html
…Because next season’s Central Florida game was moved to 2017 to accommodate the nine-game Big 12 schedule, UT’s future nonconference foes look like this:
Rice, BYU and at UCLA in 2011;
Wyoming, New Mexico and at Mississippi in 2012;
New Mexico State, Mississippi and at BYU in 2013; North Texas, BYU and at Arkansas in 2014;
Rice, Cal and at Notre Dame in 2015;
Notre Dame, UTEP and at Cal in 2016;
Maryland, Central Florida and at USC in 2017;
USC, at Maryland and an opponent to be determined in 2018.
UT also will play Notre Dame in 2019 and 2020.
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So I take it’s official the Big 12 moves to 9 conference games. Next year too? That’s really quick when you consider the Big Ten said it’d take till at least 2015.
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Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar may have problems with the IRS.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-bcs-taxcomplaint
AP Exclusive: Tax status of bowl games challenged
Excerpts:
WASHINGTON (AP)—Opponents of how college football crowns its champion accused three of the nation’s premier bowls of violating their tax-exempt status by paying excessive salaries and perks, providing “sweetheart loans” and doing undisclosed lobbying…
…— Paul Hoolahan, CEO of the New Orleans-based Sugar Bowl, received a $645,000 salary in 2009, a nearly $200,000 increase from his 2007 salary.
— John Junker, CEO of the Arizona-based Fiesta Bowl, received a salary of nearly $600,000 from the bowl and related organizations in the fiscal year ending in 2009, a hefty bump from his 2006 salary of $415,000. Also, Junker and the bowl’s then-vice president for marketing, Doug Blouin, both received $120,000 worth of zero-interest loans in the early 2000s, and Junker received an additional $4,500 loan whose interest level was not disclosed…
…Playoff PAC argued that the executive salaries are “above market” and “an abuse of their organizations’ favorable tax status.” The PAC cited a 2009 NonProfit Times survey, which calculated an average chief executive salary of $185,000 at nonprofits with similar operating budgets ($10 million-to-$25 million).
In addition, the PAC noted, top executives at the Rose Bowl and Florida-based Orange Bowl are paid roughly $280,000 and $360,000, respectively…
…The complaint accuses the Fiesta Bowl of not disclosing lobbying activities. The IRS says that an organization can’t qualify for 501(c)(3) status “if a substantial part of its activities” involves lobbying, although some lobbying is allowed.
The PAC noted that the Fiesta Bowl reported paying around $1.2 million in fees over the last five years to lobbying firm Husk Partners Inc., yet in each of the last five tax returns, the bowl checked “no” on whether it engaged in lobbying activities or attempted to influence legislation. In addition, the Fiesta Bowl registered with the Arizona Secretary of State lobbying disclosure system during this period…
…And the PAC pointed to an Arizona Republic story last year, which reported that several past and present Fiesta Bowl employees said they were encouraged to contribute to friendly politicians and then were reimbursed by the bowl. Such an arrangement, which the Fiesta Bowl denied, would violate state and federal campaign finance laws, as well as the prohibition against charities engaging in electoral politics…
…The complaint was signed by Sanderson, a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale who served as campaign finance lawyer for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, and two partners at the firm—Marcus Owens, former director of the IRS exempt organizations division, and Joe Birkenstock, a former chief counsel for the Democratic National Committee.
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I’m just amused that the DNC has a lawyer named Birkenstock.
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These bowl officials seem like fat cats that live (quite well) off the cheap labor of college football players.
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I do find the approach interesting. There is nothing legally wrong with the BCS (there may be corruption, but it’s no more inherit than there would be in a playoff system), but if you get enough people digging who just don’t like the system, you’ll find things that otherwise might have gone unnoticed. It’s actually a pretty clever way for people to change the system if you can get the bowl leaders to decide they want the pressure off of them personally.
That said, No playoff!!! I might be one of three people in the country who think that way, but I’ll take the bowl system over an expanded playoff any day and twice on Sundays. There’s a reason college football has risen to this height while college basketball is almost meaningless in expansion discussions. Even if that wasn’t the case, the bowl system is so special and unique to this sport. I say keep the current system or even go back to the poll and bowl, but no expanded playoff please.
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Hear! Hear! People seem to discount how much meaning an expanded playoff would take out of the regular season. Do people _really_ want to see OSU rest their starters against Michigan or Alabama rest their starters against Auburn?
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Regular season was pretty special in college basketball when only 25 teams made the dance. Once they got to 48 and started conference tourneys also it changed things. Every school potentially gets 3 chances now-regular season, conference tourney and then the NCAA for 20% of the schools.
If you had a 32 team playoff that would be one thing. But I think its unlikely to get beyond 16. And 8 to 12 would really be very little change as it would be hard to make the field. And the top bowls get a lot more interest now than the 20 or so pairing 7-5 teams, just as playoff “bowls” would.
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I wasn’t around when the basketball tourney had only 25 teams, but wouldn’t the regular season be even more meaningless back then for the conferences that had conference tournaments (which was most conferences)?
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Back then only the ACC had a tourney.
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Alabama-Michigan Jerry World 2012. According to Nick Saban its almost certain. It will be interesting to see how it draws.
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bullet, trust me when I say that Bama will sellout their allotment of tickets (and I’ll be one of them). They would probably even take a portion (if not all) of the tickets Michigan doesn’t sell. Bama travels extremely well.
Coach Saban has been talking about this game being almost done (from a negotiation standpoint) at several of his more recent alumni/booster meetings. He also said that the Chick-fil-a folks are trying to work it out so that Bama plays in the opening game at the Georgia Dome for the 2013 & 2014 seasons (probably against ACC teams).
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re Michigan Alabama game.
after today’s Michigan AD Dave Brandon said
“We have not reached any sort of official agreement yet with Alabama, even though there are a lot of reports out there,” … “We’re obviously having discussions, and we’ll see where it goes.”
http://www.michigandaily.com/content/dave-brandon-discusses-possible-game-against-alabama-2012
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