It's been a while and A LOT has happened. We have a top four that has cemented themselves at the top of the polls, a BIG surprise team in the ACC, zero Boise talk, and the ongoing soap opera that is conference realignment. The college football season is in full stride now and every weekend provides some sort of drama. Be it the drubbing that Nebraska took in Wisconsin, the hopes of the new generation of Florida Gators going down a week before a pivotal game against LSU, and on a personal note the utter collapse of the Kentucky football team. It's good to sit back and watch...The New Big 12
Conference realignment has been the off the field issue that has kept fans of college football entertained between weekends. Texas AM has joined the SEC with Mizzou soon to follow. Naturally all predicted the demise (again) of the Big 12 conference. Oklahoma and Texas decided to stay put and quelled the fires for now. The Big 12 is down to 9 members currently. If Mizzou officially bolts, they will be down to 8. Again, not panic mode just yet. Still it appeared that the Big 12 was the conference on life support. Until....
The Big Least
Syracuse and Pitt made surprise announcements that they will be bolting the Big East and heading to the ACC. In terms of basketball, it was a small blow to the conference. In terms of football, it was a direct hit. Cuse and Pitt are bolting. Not great but ok in football right? WVU was privately rejected by the SEC, Pitino wants the Ville to stay in the league, and no one else really said anything. All is well. Until today...
TCU's Run From the Alter
TCU announced today that they will NOT be joining the unstable Big East and will instead join the newly revitalized Big 12. This move makes total sense to anyone with a brain. Dallas to Stoors, CT is an expensive trip for the tennis team to have to make. Dallas to Austin is logical. If Mizzou leaves though, the Big 12 will have to get some new blood to be viable. Some think they already have a team in mind...
Louisville
Some seem to think that Louisville will join the Big 12 within the month. The Big East is dying, and all the teams in that league must make a move. Louisville is a Midwest city that could fit nicely in the league. I don't care how bad your football team is, people would much rather pay top dollar to see Oklahoma, Texas, OKState come play football then Rutgers and South Florida. Basketball wise, it's a no brainer also. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, K-State, OKState, Baylor and Louisville make for a decent college basketball conference. Yearly home games with Kansas in Louisville. That is pretty exciting. Will Louisville go is the issue. We all know that the Big East is....
The League on Life Support
The Big East is left with UConn, Cincy, Louisville, WVU, Rutgers, and South Florida. Three of those schools are newcomers from the last conference expansion a few years ago. There is no logical argument for why this conference should get an automatic BCS bid. NONE. This league is terrible. They Big East wants to add the service academies to the mix. Nothing against our wonderful service academies, but they DO NOT make this conference any better. The best thing for teams like Louisville to do is to go where the opportunities are ripe. West Virginia would be wise to get into the ACC if they can. The rest, eh who cares.
The Top Four
Enough hypothetical talk, time to talk reality. Four teams have emerged as "the best" teams in college football. LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma and Wisconsin are by far the best teams in America. LSU and Bama have to play each other in a couple of weeks while Oklahoma faces Texas in the Red River Shootout on Saturday. Wisconsin appears to have the meat of their schedule behind them. Of those four teams, Bama and LSU play the toughest schedules thanks to the SEC. Oklahoma still has pivotal league games to come. Wisconsin doesn't really have much competition going forward. Oklahoma has the disadvantage of not having to play a championship game which would make an undefeated Wisconsin team more sexy to fill the number two spot. It's a lot of what ifs. What is clear is that these four teams are above and beyond the best in the nation. Which leads us to...
Boise State
This is the first year in quite some time that the talk of Boise or Boise wannabes has been virtually silent. No one is worried about Boise crashing the party this year. The top four teams are really, really good. Boise would need an utter collapse from both Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Boise is a good team, but they do not have to face the schedule that the SEC and the Big12/Ten have to face. Besides, Boise seems to be getting some pressure from an unlikely force...
Clemson. Really?
Yes, Clemson. The tigers have avoided the ACC meltdown that usually greets them early in the conference schedule. Clemson beat a decent Auburn team before beating and dismantling Florida State and Virginia Tech (the two teams I thought would win the league). Clemson is slowly inching into the BCS picture. Granted, October is young, and they have plenty of time to end up playing an SEC team in the Music City Bowl. Unfortunately, one old Music City Bowl foe won't make it to the dance...
Kentucky "Football"
My cats are terrible. One would like to laugh at Louisville for losing to FIU and Marshall. Eh, I am still laughing at them. Kentucky has looked abysmal all year. The offense ranks near the bottom of the FBS schools. Losing to Florida and LSU is not a surprise. The matter in which we lost is. We put up no fight in the Florida game. We looked "better" against LSU, but still. Ugly football. With basketball season tipping off next week, many fans have bolted. Kentucky's remaining games aren't as tough as the first batch, but the odds of making a bowl are slowly slipping away. Yeah it's been ugly in the bluegrass.
Another big week of college football is coming. And college basketball in the bluegrass is just a week away from kicking off. Best time of the year? Perhaps.
