Conference Realignments

So I watch college football news pretty close. It is part of my morning ritual. Lately the talk about conference realignments has exploded in the Pac-10, Big-12, SEC, and Big Ten. What strikes me as strange is that nobody in the Mountain West Conference seems to take notice, especially when they could be poached in the other conference's rivalries for eminence.

The news broke a few weeks back that the Big Ten was looking to expand its footprint and grow to 16 schools, including several from the Big East and one or two from the Big 12. The word is that with 16 schools the Big Ten thinks it can justify claiming two automatic BSC bids. Also, the fabulous TV contract they have offers to double the annual revenue for any team they invite--a BIG carrot. There was also lots of talk that other major conference might likewise expand to match that growth, and more specific rumors suggested that the SEC might move to take Texas. And just yesterday a Dallas news reporter broke the story that the Pac-10 is moving to snatch up six schools from the Big 12 (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado) to create a southern conference (along with Arizona and Arizona State) and thereby corner the college sports market in the West. Both the Big 12 and Pac-10 are scheduled to renegotiate thier television contracts in the spring, and both with Fox sports, who may play a role in masterminding this coup.

At least half of our blog readership are Mormon, and have some interest or connection to BYU--Not the Big 12. So why should you care? Well, if the Big 12 crumbles where do you think it will it look to rebuild?

The Mountain West Conference seem oblivious to these changes, except for occasional rumors that the Pac-10 would steal away Utah, but those surface every couple years and never amount to anything. If these new realignment rumors come to fruition they will leave the Big 12 in pieces, forcing it to rebuild. And where would the northern schools from the decapitated Big 12 look for new blood? Nobody is talking about it yet, but if I were in charge of the Big 12 I'd move to take Utah, BYU, TCU, Air Force, and Boise State. That is the ONLY way the Big 12 can retain any sort of reputable membership and keep its automatic BSC bid. The conference would include Nebraka, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and Baylor and whoever they can steal to improve thier status.

So the question is, would BYU like to be in a conference composed of Utah, TCU, Air Force, Boise State, Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and Baylor, especially if it offers an automatic bid to a BSC game? Automatic bids are reassessed every four years, based on the performance of each school in the previous four years. Despite the success of TCU, Utah, and BYU, the MWC may struggle to get the automatic bid because the poor performance of schools like Wyoming and San Diego State. Would they be anxious to drop those schools for an upgrade? Maybe so.