November 19, 2012;College Par, MD, USA; Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney speaks during the Big Ten Press Conference at Adele Stamp Union. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-US PRESSWIRE

Multiple outlets across the internet are propogating rumors that indicate the Big East is soon to go the way of the dodo bird and the WAC. West Virginia was fortunate to escape this sinking ship when they did.

Following the departure of WVU, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and TCU, the Big East turned to Conference USA and the Mountain West to poach together a patchwork conference of misfits. The Big East membership has grown to or will soon grow to include:

• Football Only: San Diego State, Boise State, Temple, and Navy
• All Sports: Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, Houston, SMU, UCF, USF, Connecticut, and Rutgers
• Non-Football: St. John’s, Georgetown, Marquette, DePaul, Providence, Villanova, and Seton Hall

The recent revelation in conference realignment is the jump by Maryland to the Big Ten to be followed by the highly anticipated announcement that Rutgers will follow suit tomorrow and also join the Big Ten. That is just the tip of the iceberg with the rumored Big East defections.

Major news outlets like ESPN have speculated that the ACC would be likely to replace Maryland with a school like Connecticut, which would take the current Big East slate of football schools down from 12 to 10 for the 2013 season, costing the Big East the opportunity to host a championship game.

With the anticipated plundering of the Big East set to begin, many news outlets have been quick to jump on the rumors surrounding the doom of the Big East. Defection rumors include the following:

• The New York Daily News reports that Georgetown and St. John’s are considering jumping from the Big East to the ACC.
• ESPN is reporting that Boise State, San Diego State, and BYU are all in discussions to rejoin the Mountain West.

There are also the typical unconfirmed rumors that Louisville could be the target for the ACC instead of Connecticut and the possibility that the Big 12 might preempt the ACC and invite the Cardinals. If you stack up all those rumors, the Big East could be facing the possibility of their soon to be 13 team football league shrinking to 9 (Rutgers to Big Ten, UCONN/Louisville to ACC, Boise State and San Diego State to MWC), keeping in mind that Navy plans to join in 2015.

If all those rumors pan out, that would also reduce two of the top three targets for further Big East football expansion (BYU and Air Force). The loss of Georgetown and St. John’s would effectively open the door for the remainder of the non-football members to look at their options for new conference homes in the ACC, Atlantic 10, etc.

Of course, half the conference realignment rumors will never materialize, but with so many rumors floating about and no media rights deal in place, all signs point to the Big East collapsing. The next few months will likely determine the future of the Big East, if there is any future at all.

If you are a fan of bad 1980s movies like I am, you have watched the Back to the Future trilogy countless times. You fell in love with the idea of a DeLorean that could transport you to anytime in history by simply accelerating the engine to 88 mph. I know there was a time in my life when I wish that Back to the Future was real so I could get my hands on that DeLorean.

As I watched the headlines today, the little kid inside of me saw a glimmer of hope. Could it be, Back to the Future was happening? Well, not exactly, but the recent conference realignment rumors have certainly followed the script of the famous movie.

Today, rumors surfaced in reliable media sources that the University of Maryland was in discussions to become the 13th member of the Big 10 (making the misnomer even more farcical).

The announcement makes it apparent that the Big 10 and Commissioner Jim Delaney are not done in their pursuit of Notre Dame. Let’s be honest, that is the major motivation behind this move. Obviously the Big 10 sees the value of adding Maryland for television revenue, but UMD’s value pails in comparison to the value of Notre Dame.

When the first batch of conference realignment was fired up, the Big Ten made strong overtures to Notre Dame about joining their conference. Enter Jim Delaney in the role of Biff Tannen and Notre Dame AD John Swarbrick as Lorraine Baines.

Ultimately, Swarbrick would turn down Delaney just as Lorraine rebuffed Biff at the ice cream parlor. Without knowing it yet, Swarbrick was unaware at that time of just how strongly the ACC Commissioner John Swofford pined for his golden dome. We now cast Swofford in the role of George McFly.

After Biff was left with a car full of manure after his failed wooing of Lorraine, Biff would vow to have Lorraine no matter the cost. Jim Delaney has been just as adamant in his pursuit of Jack Swarbrick and Notre Dame.

Now that Notre Dame has officially joined the ACC for all sports and committed to playing half an ACC schedule, it appears as if Jim Delaney and the Big 10 are out to destabilize Notre Dame’s new conference home. Just as Biff tried to corner Lorraine in the car outside of the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, Delaney is attempting to corner Swarbrick and force Notre Dame into becoming his.

If Maryland should leave the ACC after nearly 60 years, it would re-open questions of the ACC’s stability. Maryland’s departure would give schools like Florida State and Clemson the opportunity to take a second look at joining the Big XII. Surely those kind of defections would make the Irish contemplate the Big 10′s offer a little more seriously.

What remains to be seen is whether George McFly (John Swofford) will show up to rescue Lorraine (Jack Swarbrick) from the powerful meat-hooks of Biff (Jim Delaney). Tense times for the ACC in the climax of the movie.

This is your chance Swofford, to save Marty and the kids! If not, Marty (as Florida State) might choose to head to the West (Big XII).

Final score from Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati- 35, Connecticut- 27.

This win seals WVU’s bid to the BCS in a 3-way tie with Cincinnati and Louisville, with WVU attaining the higher rank in the BCS by Big East tiebreaker rules.

This is WVU’s first trip to the BCS since the 07-08 season and the Fiesta Bowl vs. Oklahoma. Notice that Bill Stewart never took WVU to the BCS, but Holgorsen did, IN HIS FIRST YEAR?

This is my last request to tell all the Stewart lovers to go jump off Cooper’s Rock.

BUT… with WVU going to the BCS, the destiny is unknown. With Houston laying a bag of turds to Southern Miss in the C-USA title game (Houston was undefeated and ranked 6th), that could open up a spot in the BCS. Let me see if I can figure this out… AFTER THE JUMP!

(more…)

WVU has been rumored to send in their paperwork to the Southeastern Conference to become Member #14. This took a little while to happen, with Texas A&M fighting Baylor in the courts to escape the Big 12 (which is just as unstable as the Big East.)

After the break is the timeline that I put together for you that can lead to our arrival to the SEC. Plus, I’m going to post some BONUS RUMORS just for the sheer hell of it. I mean, who doesn’t love a good rumor these days!?

(more…)

(more…)

But, now, that is all behind us and we are now ready for that time of fall. College Football! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Anyway, just like the Big East poll, I got the staff of HailWV.com together and had them submit their other conference picks, conference champions, as well as who is going to the BCS. Without further ado…

(more…)

Nope, not really. Last night, Texas A&M is reported to be going to the SEC by AggieYell.com. A&M has wanted out for a long time, and with Texas recently starting up their “Longhorn Network”, it’s just accelerated A&M’s desire to leave a soon-to-be-defunct Big 12. Nebraska’s looking like geniuses right about now.

Anyone who keeps up with College Football knows that “Texas A&M to the SEC” discussions are one of the worst-kept secrets in college football. For years, the two operations have been flirting with each other. Now, it seems like it may soon be a reality. Nothing is for sure though.

Furthermore, I’m going to discuss what this latest round of conference realignment means to WVU.

(more…)

After the jump is the list, and a brief analysis…

(more…)

The current deal expires after the 2013 season… and right now, the 8-team football and 16-team basketball conference are raking in a WHOPPING $36 million per year for all sports. Compare that to the the ACC when they signed a deal last year with ESPN for about $155 million per year. Fox Sports recently agreed to televise Big 12 (minus 2) football games for $90 million per season for football only.

After the jump, I’ll talk about what the Big East wants, and how not everyone in the conference is pleased with what’s going on…

(more…)

1. The conference must finish among the top six in a listing of the average of each conference’s highest ranked team at the end of each regular season.

2. The conference must finish among the top six in a listing of the average computer rankings of every conference’s full roster of teams at the end of each regular season.

3. The conference must accumulate a score of at least 50 percent of the highest ranking conference’s score in the Adjusted Top-25 Performance Ranking, which measures how many teams each conference placed in the BCS top 25 and adjusts for conference size.

And, now, here are how the conferences fared before the 2010-11 season started…

(more…)