T1B

Now if they would just snag Rutgers and UCONN and finish driving a stake in the heart of the Big East.

They should be more concerned with keeping FSU and Clemson (and potentially others).

MuchoBulls wrote:They should be more concerned with keeping FSU and Clemson (and potentially others).

Clemson should be concerned with not letting Big East teams hang 70 points on them.

BSmack wrote:Now if they would just snag Rutgers and UCONN and finish driving a stake in the heart of the Big East.

Won't ever happen unless ND joins another conference. They want ND too badly to shut them out completely.

Or if they get decimated by the Big XII and/or SEC, but in that case, they'll probably merge with what's left of the Big East and call it a day, firmly cementing themselves as the #5 conference.

Speaking of ND, it looks like ND signed up for a stint as the opponent of the ACC champ in that game. http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/ ... -bowl-ties

BSmack wrote:

MuchoBulls wrote:They should be more concerned with keeping FSU and Clemson (and potentially others).

Clemson should be concerned with not letting Big East teams hang 70 points on them.

That too

Terry in Crapchester wrote:

BSmack wrote:Now if they would just snag Rutgers and UCONN and finish driving a stake in the heart of the Big East.

Won't ever happen unless ND joins another conference. They want ND too badly to shut them out completely.

Or if they get decimated by the Big XII and/or SEC, but in that case, they'll probably merge with what's left of the Big East and call it a day, firmly cementing themselves as the #5 conference.

Speaking of ND, it looks like ND signed up for a stint as the opponent of the ACC champ in that game. http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/ ... -bowl-ties

Gotta love how the Domers have managed to tease both the Big XII and ACC within the last month. They're such whores.

BSmack wrote:

Terry in Crapchester wrote:

BSmack wrote:Now if they would just snag Rutgers and UCONN and finish driving a stake in the heart of the Big East.

Won't ever happen unless ND joins another conference. They want ND too badly to shut them out completely.

Or if they get decimated by the Big XII and/or SEC, but in that case, they'll probably merge with what's left of the Big East and call it a day, firmly cementing themselves as the #5 conference.

Speaking of ND, it looks like ND signed up for a stint as the opponent of the ACC champ in that game. http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/ ... -bowl-ties

Gotta love how the Domers have managed to tease both the Big XII and ACC within the last month. They're such whores.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't think ND joins any football conference anytime in the foreseeable future. They dodged the last remaining major bullet when the powers that be agreed to a selection committee for the playoff, rather than a "tournament of champions" format that probably would have forced ND into a conference.

It'll be interesting to see the criteria ND will need for the Orange Bowl bid. I'm guessing nine wins, although I suppose eight wins is also a possibility.

Terry in Crapchester wrote:I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't think ND joins any football conference anytime in the foreseeable future. They dodged the last remaining major bullet when the powers that be agreed to a selection committee for the playoff, rather than a "tournament of champions" format that probably would have forced ND into a conference.

It'll be interesting to see the criteria ND will need for the Orange Bowl bid. I'm guessing nine wins, although I suppose eight wins is also a possibility.

As long as the other schools allow ND to essentially be a conference unto themselves, they would be absolute idiots to align with a conference. As for the requirements to get in the Orange Bowl? I'm guessing that they'll have something to do with being above a certain spot in the new ranking system OR surpassing a set number of wins. For it to be honest I would have it be in the Top 15 or have 9+ wins. That's why I think they will make it either 8 wins or 8 wins/Top 20. After all, this isn't about quality, this is about putting asses in seats.

BSmack wrote:

Terry in Crapchester wrote:I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't think ND joins any football conference anytime in the foreseeable future. They dodged the last remaining major bullet when the powers that be agreed to a selection committee for the playoff, rather than a "tournament of champions" format that probably would have forced ND into a conference.

It'll be interesting to see the criteria ND will need for the Orange Bowl bid. I'm guessing nine wins, although I suppose eight wins is also a possibility.

As long as the other schools allow ND to essentially be a conference unto themselves, they would be absolute idiots to align with a conference.

True, but it's about more than that. Independence is, at least from ND's perspective, an important part of ND's football tradition. Other schools have given up their independence, but it wasn't as important to those schools as it is to ND.

If ND were to join a conference, the pressure would have to come externally. There are only two ways to do that. One is to foreclose any possibility of a national championship other than through a conference championship, which didn't happen. The only remaining pressure area for ND is other sports teams. Since those teams need to be in a conference, it's possible for a conference to get ND as a member by insisting on all-or-nothing membership status. Possible, but unlikely. Even if the Big East implodes, ND likely will form a new conference with the non-football schools from the Big East, and probably a few other schools, that will be fairly strong in basketball and perhaps a handful of olympic sports.

As for the requirements to get in the Orange Bowl? I'm guessing that they'll have something to do with being above a certain spot in the new ranking system OR surpassing a set number of wins. For it to be honest I would have it be in the Top 15 or have 9+ wins. That's why I think they will make it either 8 wins or 8 wins/Top 20. After all, this isn't about quality, this is about putting asses in seats.

The more I think about it, the more I tend to agree with this. Nine wins would be the maximum threshold, in any event, given that ten wins could put ND in contention for a playoff berth.

ND will probably have to pull the lion's share of any draw for this game. With the possible exceptions of Florida State and Miami, I don't expect the ACC champion to travel terribly well for this game. Half-empty stadiums for ACC championship games out front told me so.

Going back to this point . . .

BSmack wrote:Now if they would just snag Rutgers and UCONN and finish driving a stake in the heart of the Big East.

Old news, but . . .

Boise State faxed its resignation letter to the Mountain West ahead of the July 1 deadline. That was the last remaining puzzle piece for Big East realignment (Boise had been wavering for awhile, apparently due to the near-total collapse of the WAC and Boise's concern over the fate of its other athletic programs), and caps their exit fee at $2.5 million. Had they missed that deadline, Boise still could have joined the Big East, but their exit fee would have been at least $7.5 million and could have been as much as $24 million, depending on their finish this season.

That ensures the Big East's viability going forward, even if we were to suspend reality and assume that the ACC would pursue both UConn and Rutgers.

With AQ status going away, the same can be said for the Big East. Those two letters made them at least semi relevant in football. Without those two letters the Big East is better CUSA.

Terry in Crapchester wrote:That ensures the Big East's viability going forward, even if we were to suspend reality and assume that the ACC would pursue both UConn and Rutgers.

It might be viable, but it should still be aborted.

The Big East will stick around for one simple reason: there is no better option out there for the remaining members. At least for the time being.

And, as always, no one will care.