1. Would you rather have Michigan and Ohio State in the same division or separate divisions, and what would you do with The Game assuming that Michigan and Ohio State are in separate divisions?

SCS100: Same, just because there’s no threat of the game being moved from its current date, and that way there will be no chance for a rematch. It may be ideal, but it won’t happen often. Nebraska appears to be on the way back to glory, Iowa and Wisconsin are always a threat, and Penn State could disrupt things on the other side. Factor in all of that, plus State possibly actually winning one season, and you’d have a mess trying to create a rematch. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but follow the SEC model. They managed to keep most of their rivalries (and all of the important ones) in the same division. There’s no reason the Big 10 can’t strive for this.

If the game is actually moved, I’d probably do it the second to last game. Yes, it may seem dumb in the end, but it is still in November and it is as close as one can get to what we have now. Besides, the TV Networks can then not panic about having the same game twice in a row and be happy that they got what they want. Honestly, there is no good place for the game to be moved, and I just hope that they leave it where it is.

Seth9: Michigan and Ohio State should absolutely be in the same division. I don't think that splitting the teams and using protected rivals would necessarily weaken the rivalry, but it would take away from The Game. In my opinion, some traditions should not be messed with and The Game is one of them. By splitting Michigan and Ohio State, it inherently weakens the tradition. If Michigan and Ohio State are split, keeping The Game at the end of the season ceases to be a viable option because of the strong likelihood of one or both teams playing in the Big Ten Championship game the next week, making The Game somewhat less important for at least one of the teams. As The Game would no longer be at the end of the year, an important tradition would be lost. As a substitute, I would make the teams open their conference schedules against each other, so as to make The Game a way to set the tone for the year. Also, if we lose Ohio State as our end-of-year game, I'd try to put Notre Dame in that spot, because Michigan State isn't a strong enough program to end the year with, in my opinion.

Shredder: Have them in separate divisions and have them play the last game of the year. I don't see the big deal. There will probably be a handful of times that they will play each other back to back. UM has a way to go to be at the top of the big 10 again and the big 10 will only get better with Nebraska joining so the odds of UM and OSU playing back to back is pretty low. It's always a possibility with any teams who play each other the last week assuming they are the top two teams that they could play again. I really don't get too fired about this topic since it's so out of the fans hands.

Dark Blue: I want Michigan and Ohio State in the same division. I think Jim Delaney and the rest of the Big Ten owe it to us to keep it that way. If they move the teams to separate divisions then I think you still play the game the last day of the regular season. So what the two teams may have to play the following week. I think most people (and by most people I mean me) would welcome a rematch. Truthfully I don’t really care when the game is played because even if we play OSU in the middle of October, its still OSU and our kids will be up for it.

2. Which team is most likely to upend Ohio State and become the Big 10 champion?

SCS100: Both Iowa and Wisconsin have the potential to pull off the upset, but I’ll say Iowa. They nearly pulled off the upset last year in the Shoe and that was without Stanzi as their QB. Stanzi may not be the most consistent of QB’s, but he can get the job done, which is all that matters in the end. Iowa also has Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State at home, which makes their schedule a little more bearable. Wisaconsin does not play Penn State and has Ohio State at home, but that trip to Iowa could end up derailing their chances if OSU doesn’t do them in the week before.

Seth9: Wisconsin, as they are probably the strongest team top to bottom outside of OSU. While Iowa probably has a better defense, I give Wisconsin the edge because they have a stronger and more consistent offense than Iowa with interception-prone Stanzi.

Shredder: That's pretty easy. Wisc is gonna be tough for anyone to stop including OSU. I think they lost no one on either side of the ball and have a giant rock biter at running back. Seems that Wisc does have a rep for not living up to their pre-season hype from years past but this team is a real threat to keep OSU from the Big Ten title and a NC game and oh the good news? We play both back to back.... Yay!

Dark Blue: I have 3 teams that could make some noise in the Big Ten this year. The first is Wisconsin, they have those 573 lb offensive lineman, a half ass competent quarterback, and what should be a decent defense. This will be a very good football team. The second is Iowa, Iowa returns that All American (figuratively speaking not literally) Rick Stanzi. Iowa also has a very good defense and should give team fits. However Michigan almost beat this team last year so I don’t know if they are quite as good as people give them credit for being. The last team I have that could possible win the Big Ten is Northwestern. All of the Northwestern love at the WLA led me to doing some research on the Wildcats. This is a team that doesn’t have to play Michigan or Ohio State this year, return a bunch of talent on both sides of the ball, and have pwnd Iowa the last few years. I think Northwestern could make a shit ton of noise.

3. Which team is currently the most overrated in the conference according to preseason polls?

SCS100:  Penn State. Breaking in a new QB could prove disastrous, especially if they switch QB’s halfway through the season for whatever reason. They won’t be horrible, but I don’t expect them to be as much of a contender as they have been made out to be.

Seth9:  I would have to go with Iowa, as they have a very weak offense that makes me question whether they are a top 10 team. That, combined with their tremendous luck last year (the close call with Northern Iowa looms in my memory), makes me think that they are probably the most overrated team in the Big Ten. They could finish where they're at now, but I personally think they'll be in the 15-20 range at seasons end.

Shredder: This is another easy one for me. It's gotta be Penn State. They finally don't have a house hold name in the LBing core and the QBs look like UM 08(alright not that bad but still). I have been saying for sometime I can see them really falling on their face and winning only 6-7 games. Which isn't a awful season but not what PSU fans and the team is expecting. Joepa's health is about as great as the QBs at the moment and thats not good. Should be a huge issue for them all year.

Dark Blue: Penn State bottom line. Penn St. reminds a bit of Michigan in 2008. I’m not saying Penn St. will be terrible but I think being ranked in the preseason top 25 of ludicrous. QB that has never played a down, is usually not a good thing.

4. Does Boise State have a shot at playing in the BCS Title Game?

SCS100:  Yes, but that is assuming that either Alabama or Ohio State don’t go undefeated. If Boise State defeats Virginia Tech and either Bama or OSU slip up, Boise could very well end up in the title game. However, I predict that Bama and OSU meet in the MNC with undefeated records, while Virginia Tech manages to knock off Boise in the opener, thereby eliminating Boise from contention.

Seth9: Boise State definitely has a shot. Their strong opening position in the human polls gives them a clear shot at finishing in the Top 2, especially if fewer than two other teams finish undefeated. They also might survive the computer polls with two games against preseason Top 25 teams (Virginia Tech and Oregon State) and a WAC schedule that isn't completely terrible with games against Nevada and Fresno State.

Shredder: Yes as long as they win out. You start 3rd in the polls you have a great chance. If Bama and OSU run the table than no. But I dont see that happening. Bama has a hard as they come schedule and OSU gonna have to run through the B10 with out a hiccup.

Dark Blue: Hell yeah Boise St has a shot at making the BCS Title Game, and anyone who doesn’t think so is nuts. They will need some help to get there, but this is a team that people no longer consider Cinderella. If they manage to beat VT and Oregon St, and then go undefeated the rest of the year I think they deserve to play in the BCS Title Game just as much as anyone else does.

5. Which out of conference rivalry is the most important (after M/OSU naturally)?

SCS100:  There are several good rivalries in college football such as the World’s Largest Cocktail Party (Georgia vs. Florida), the Iron Bowl (Auburn vs. Alabama), and the other Game (Stanford vs. Cal), but I would say that the most important (and best) outside of The Game is Texas and Oklahoma. The Red River Shootout is the date circled on both Texas’ and Oklahoma’s calendars every year and that won’t change. It usually determines which team will represent the Big 12 South in the championship game (and the Big 12 for that matter). Add in the Texas State Fair and the entire atmosphere is one giant party. It has a great location, an exciting game, and is nothing to be sneezed at.

Seth9: The most important rivalry is probably Texas-Oklahoma, in terms of its annual impact on the National Championship picture, as the winner of the game often wins the Big 12. This gets the narrow edge over the arguably more intense Alabama-Auburn game, which is comparatively less important in the SEC, due to the parity of the league. Also, an honorable mention should go to perhaps the most intense rivalry in the country, namely Army-Navy.

Shredder: Calvin vs Hope, as the Grand Rapids News 13 anchor Juillet Drages said "it's the biggest rivalry in the state of Michigan". ..

Dark Blue: I love the Army-Navy rivalry. These serviceman who are brothers in battle, for this one day in the beginning of December are bitter enemies on the field. It is a time honored tradition and I honestly wished more people gave a shit about this game. A close second for me is Texas-Oklahoma, these two teams have given us some memorable games over the course of the last decade. 

6. Name your conference winners from the 6 major conferences plus the Mountain West.

SCS100: Big 10: Ohio State Big 12: Nebraska (Plays Texas in the Big 12 Championship) Pac 10: Stanford ACC: Virginia Tech (Plays Boston College in the ACC Championship) SEC: Alabama (plays Florida in the SEC Championship) Big East: UCONN Mountain West: TCU

Seth9: ACC: North Carolina - Their defense may well be the best in the country and the conference isn't really that strong.
Big 12: Oklahoma - I give them the edge over Texas as they look to have the better offense, with Texas losing McCoy and Shipley.

Big East: Pittsburgh - They had a strong team last year and return a lot of key pieces.

Big Ten: Ohio State - Their offense is stronger than any other Big Ten team and their defense looks to be good as usual.

Mountain West: TCU - They return a bunch of players from last year's outstanding team.

Pac 10: Oregon - Even without Masoli, they return the strongest core in what looks to be a rather weak Pac 10.

SEC: Alabama - Despite losing a ton of defensive starters, the Nick Saban oversigning machine should be able to replace them and the offense will likely improve with a ton of returning starters. They get the edge over Florida, who will suffer slightly as they transition to life after Tebow.

Shredder: ACC:Miami  Big10:Wisc  Big East:Pitt  SEC:Gators  Big 12:Texas  Pac 10:Standford  MWC:TCU

Dark Blue: ACC: Virginia Tech Big Ten: MICH Big East: Pitt SEC: Florida Big 12: Nebraska Pac 10: Oregon MWC: TCU

This is Part 1 of a multi-part series (length TBD) regarding the Pac 10’s impending invitations to six Big 12 schools and the potential effects of this invitation on conference realignment in general.

A couple of days ago, OrangeBloods.com reported that the Pac 10 is going to invite six Big 12 schools to join the conference, namely Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech. Several sources including the Colorado athletic director, Texas A&M athletic department, and most importantly the Washington athletic director have confirmed this. This move has put the Big 12, as well as the rest of the FBS conferences, into a state of disarray, with a lot of rumors flying and a dearth of hard facts.

What we do know is that the Big 12 is in trouble. Most of the Big 12 schools appear to be willing to leave the conference for greener pastures and the only schools that aren’t are schools like Kansas and Iowa State who would be hard-pressed to find a home in another BCS conference. We also know that both the Big Ten and Pac 10 want Texas, as indicated by the Big Ten’s communications with Texas as shown by the communications unearthed by the Columbus Dispatch.

With little information publicly available, I can only speculate on what’s actually going on with the major players in conference realignment. However, using that information and some simple, logical assumptions about the primary motivations of the various players involved (i.e. make as much money as possible while maintaining beloved traditions and their own standards), I can paint a picture of what may be happening.

First of all, based on the email unearthed by the Dispatch, it seems clear that Texas anticipates major political difficulties in attempting to change conferences without finding Texas Tech a home (the same applies to Texas A&M too, FWIW). Based on the general opinion of their fanbases, Oklahoma and Kansas appear to have similar problems with Oklahoma State and Kansas State, respectively. From this, it seems that the likely motives of the Pac 10, namely to get Texas into the conference and get the necessary ingredients for a strong and successful television network.

The key piece of this expansion plan is clearly Texas, which would deliver a huge fanbase and a very strong athletic program. Texas fans have indicated, by a relatively narrow margin, that if they had to change conferences, they would go to the Pac 10 over the Big Ten. However, the Big Ten can offer Texas more TV revenue than the Big Ten and admission to the CIC, which would, in theory, greatly increase the amount of research money that Texas gets from the federal government and other sources. The Pac 10 almost certainly cannot match the Big Ten’s academic and financial advantages, but their actions show that they intend to counter these by offering athletic and political incentives. From an athletic standpoint, the Pac 10 is offering six Big 12 schools, including Texas’ main rivals, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, and Texas Tech, another biannual road game within easy driving distance. Meanwhile, the invitation to Texas Tech is helpful because it removes a major political obstacle in changing conferences by ensuring that Texas Tech has a home. Meanwhile, they ensure that Oklahoma, another relatively valuable team, can come to the Pac 10 by inviting Oklahoma State and round off the move by inviting Colorado to get to sixteen teams.

Also important is that this move allows for the creation of a very strong Pac 10 Network. If the teams accept the invitation, The Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma networks will be added to the Pac 10 footprint, and the network could easily spread to basic cable throughout the west. Meanwhile, the conference would also add two top tier football programs in Texas and Oklahoma, as well as a good program in Texas A&M and newly strong programs in Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The overall strength of these teams will allow for numerous compelling games on the Pac 10 Network, meaning that in addition to a very large population base, the network would be able to get a ton of ad revenue.

Part 2 will cover the potential responses by the Big Ten and the SEC to this move by the Pac 10.

         

           

11.MMW
12.OSD
13.CWoodson
14.GOBLUE4EVR
15.NBL

Others receiving Votes-TheLastProphet,Jen,Turd Ferguson,Boxxy,Bahmen

The Shake Down

Dark Blue hops SCS for the top spot. Dark blue had a Tux for the awards show and gave nice speeches when people were AWOL. SCS has a bye week as well. Seth9 added a great post about Big Ten Expansion. It was a novel and a great read. TOB has been missing a bit but rumor has it that the Red Wings have him down in a bomb shelter cursing refs and eating $5 Hot and Ready's most of his days. Tater has shown to the last two Live Blogs and disagrees we me on a number of topics. Always good. JC has been a bit MIA as well. Another NHL thing. Watching his Golden Boy for the Pens. Sec20 keeps climbing the ladder of success. Hulk moves up a spot. Not sure how or why. Irish made a nice jump into the top 10. He's been on a lot as of late and first ND fan to crack the top 10. Fly stays put and may jump soon. He always has nice little recruiting nuggets.

OSD drops after a disaster of a week. First Harry Potter Loving and then saying Andrews is not hot..Yes not hot. Then tops it off with Boxxy youtubes that Irish can't stop watching. He's lucky he's even allowed back. He was voted to be banished but he still serves a purpose. Who's gonna ask all the questions? Jen has been MIA a lot and wasn't happy about the awards show. Ahhh it was a joke? See you soon Jen.

Shreds Top 15 has been brought to you by Bulaga Whale Tuna! The best smelling Tuna in the market today. We catch the freshest tuna from Hulks Bath tub and bring it to you!

Having covered the motives of the primary conferences in Part 1, it is now time to look at the various teams that the primary conferences might want. The list of potential candidates for the Big Ten, SEC, and Pac 10 covers most of the Big East and Big 12, Notre Dame, and a few ACC and Mountain West teams. As such, I will just go over every Big East and Big 12 team, as well as Notre Dame some selected ACC and MWC schools.

Big East

Almost every Big East football school can provide something to the Big Ten. However, the Big East football schools are also unable to provide anything to the SEC or Pac 10, with a couple of possible exceptions who might become SEC fringe candidates. Should the Big Ten expand and take one or more Big East schools, it is probable that the conference will fall apart.

The Teams

Rutgers University: Rutgers has uninspiring athletic programs and acceptable but not special academics. However, the Big Ten is interested in expanding the Big Ten Network to New York City and New Jersey, which would result in a lot of new revenue. However, cracking the New York City market is very difficult, as New York City is much more apathetic towards college football than the rest of the country and the primary cable providers in New York City (Time Warner and Cablevision) are generally much more willing to fight with television networks over contracts than Comcast is. As such, it is rather unlikely that Rutgers alone can deliver the New York City television market by itself. However, the potential additions to the Big Ten footprint make Rutgers a prime candidate for expansion.

Syracuse University: Syracuse has a Tier 1 basketball program and a former Tier 1 football program. Their academics are also acceptable to the Big Ten, but not anything special. Syracuse can deliver every market in upstate New York to the Big Ten Network, which is nice, but not game changing by any means. There is also a small chance that Syracuse could deliver the New York City market by itself. Syracuse’s athletics are also strong enough that it could substantially increase the ad revenue earned by the Big Ten, particularly during basketball season. The most likely scenario in which Syracuse is added to the Big Ten is as part of a deal that also brings in Rutgers, which would substantially increase the Big Ten’s chances to add the New York City market.

University of Pittsburgh: Pitt has strong programs in both football and basketball relative to the average Big Ten school. They also have very good academics and are a major research university, which makes them candidate that the university presidents in the Big Ten would love to add, because they would greatly increase the money and opportunities found in the CIC (the Big Ten’s academic consortium, which includes every Big Ten institution and the University of Chicago). Of all the candidates, Pitt is the best cultural and academic fit with the rest of the Big Ten schools. They also could substantially increase the Big Ten’s ad revenue. Unfortunately, Pitt would not expand the Big Ten’s footprint, which means that their inclusion in the Big Ten would bring in virtually no new subscribers to the Big Ten Network, which is a severe negative with regards to their candidacy. As such, Pitt will likely only be considered if the Big Ten chooses to expand to 16 teams and adds some new, big markets with its other expansion choices.

University of Connecticut: UConn is at Syracuse’s level academically and athletically. However, they would bring in a smaller population base than Rutgers or Syracuse and have a weaker link to New York City than Rutgers or Syracuse. In all likelihood, they would only be added if the Big Ten makes an all out push to secure the New York City market, which is unlikely to happen because if the Big Ten cannot take New York City with Rutgers and Syracuse, than UConn probably wouldn’t do much good either.

West Virginia University: West Virginia’s academics are too weak to meet the Big Ten’s standards, which serve to prohibit an invitation. However, their athletics are strong enough that they might be a dark horse for SEC expansion, if the SEC is unlucky with getting teams from the ACC or Big 12, despite their small population base.

University of Louisville: Louisville is in the same boat academically as West Virginia and their football team is weaker than West Virginia’s, so they are probably not even a dark horse candidate for SEC expansion.

University of Cincinnati: Cincinnati’s academics, athletics, and small population base all make it unlikely that any major conference would even put them on an initial list of expansion candidates.

University of South Florida: South Florida is too far away from the Big Ten to be a viable expansion candidate and cannot add anything to the SEC. However, they do have a decent market with Tampa and the surrounding area, which could endear them to any of the lesser conferences.

Big 12

The Big 12 has a very strong core of teams. Unfortunately, they also have numerous schools that add nothing valuable, such as Baylor and Kansas State. Furthermore, the addition of the Texas schools did not go smoothly, as the Texas schools imposed a number of rules that Big 12 North schools like Nebraska and Missouri find distasteful, especially the rules creating unequal revenue sharing. Furthermore, the addition of the Texas schools made one of the most important intra-conference rivalries, Nebraska-Oklahoma, into a bi-yearly event. This served to fracture the loyalty that any of the Big 12 schools felt to each other as the Texas schools joined the conference due to the lack of other options and the Big 12 North schools were angered by the proceedings during the merger, which involved new academic rules and unfavorable revenue-sharing practices, among other things. As such, the conference is highly unstable as pretty much every school would be willing to leave under the right circumstances.

Also important to consider is that the Big 12 has a number of strong bowl tie-ins that do not involve BCS teams, most of which exist because of the Texas teams in the Big 12. Should another conference take a number of the Texas teams, it is quite likely that they would get these bowl tie-ins when the contracts are renewed.

The Teams

University of Texas: Texas is the top target of every major conference. They bring top rate athletics, great academics, and a huge population base. However, luring them into any conference would be difficult. First of all, any potential change in Texas’ conference affiliation would require the approval of the Texas state government. The reason for this is that a large number of people in the state legislature and executive branch are heavily invested in college football teams within the state and these people also determine how much funding the University of Texas receives from the state (which was used by the state government as leverage during the conference realignment that led to the Texas schools joining the Big 12). This effectively means that Texas absolutely cannot leave the Big 12 without ensuring that at least Texas A&M comes with them. Furthermore, because of the political concerns involved, it would make any potential move a lengthy and uncertain process. For these reasons, combined with the wealth of the Texas athletic department (the wealthiest in the nation), it is likely that any move by Texas would be a reaction to moves by other Big 12 schools out of the conference. Finally, Texas will refuse to join the SEC because its administration and alumni base consider the SEC’s academics to be far too weak to be associated with. The Texas alumni have also demonstrated more willingness to join the Pac 10 than the Big Ten for a variety of reasons, including the culture, the chance to play USC every year, and a fear of cold weather games.

Texas A&M University: Texas A&M will only make a move if Texas does. If it is possible, Texas A&M will join whichever conference Texas moves to. In the incredibly improbable situation in which it is not possible, they will join the SEC. That said, the academics at Texas A&M are good enough for the Big Ten or Pac 10 to take them. Their athletics and population base would also be a boon, even without Texas.

University of Oklahoma: Oklahoma is the most feasible SEC target, with a Tier 1 football program and a decent basketball program. It is somewhat unlikely that they will leave the Big 12 if the conference remains as it currently is, but should any major team make a move and the SEC choose to expand, then Oklahoma is an all-but-certain addition. Oklahoma’s academics are too far below Big Ten standards to merit consideration by the Big Ten and their location combined with a lack of population makes the Pac 10 infeasible as well.

University of Nebraska: Nebraska has a great football program, a below-average basketball program, and academics that are barely good enough to get into the Big Ten. However, Nebraska’s strong football program and fan support means that they are a very valuable school financially, as Nebraska games generally draw high ratings, despite their low population base. Also, Nebraska, like most of the Big 12 North, is unhappy with the unequal revenue sharing in the Big 12. Additionally, there are a lot of hard feelings between Nebraska and the Texas schools as a result of disagreements between the schools when the Big 8 admitted the Texas schools, most of which were decided by awarding the Texas schools whatever they wanted, be it rule changes or revenue-sharing plans. Thus, the ties between Nebraska and the Big 12 are rather weak, especially since their rivalry with Oklahoma ceased to be played every year. Therefore, Nebraska is likely near the top of the list of schools targeted by the Big Ten and Big Ten expansion would likely involve them.

University of Kansas: Kansas has a mediocre football program, a top basketball program, and academics similar to Nebraska’s. They would also add a moderate population base and a fair amount of ad revenue. They are potential Big Ten target and a dark horse Pac 10 target should the Pac 10 expand to 16 teams. Kansas also is likely to be willing to leave the Big 12 for greener pastures, although they have not shown as much resentment over Big 12 revenue sharing practices as Nebraska or Missouri. However, because they would not add a large population base, it is somewhat unlikely that they would be included in expansion if Nebraska is, because expanding the Big Ten’s footprint is a surer method of increasing the Big Ten Network’s revenue and the Big Ten is not very likely to take the risk of relying on above average revenue from multiple schools, particularly when one of the schools does not have a strong football program.

University of Missouri: Missouri has decent football and basketball programs, academics comparable with Nebraska’s, and a reasonably large population base (the largest in the Big 12 outside of Texas). Furthermore, Missouri has been more vocal about its dissatisfaction with the Big 12 than any other school and has already indicated that they will leave for the Big Ten if they get an invitation. Missouri, like Kansas, is a secondary target for the Big Ten. However, they are generally viewed as a safe pick for expansion and would likely be involved should the Big Ten expand to 16 teams.

University of Colorado: Colorado’s decent football program and population base have made them a target for Pac 10 expansion. Should the Pac 10 be unable to add Texas and Texas A&M, it is likely that Colorado would be the prime target of the Pac 10, an invitation that they would almost certainly accept. However, if the Texas schools wind up in the Pac 10, it becomes substantially less likely that they will add Colorado, as it may well prove unprofitable for them on a school-by-school basis to add anyone else.

Texas Tech University: Texas Tech would only leave the Big 12 if the other Texas schools did, for both political and financial reasons. Their football team is decent, as is their basketball team. They would be a dark horse SEC candidate, should the SEC be unable to capture Texas A&M and wish to expand into Texas anyway. While Texas Tech alone could not deliver the Texas market to a conference, the strength of SEC football combined with the inclusion of a Texas school might be enough for the SEC to capture a portion of the television markets in Texas.

Baylor University: Baylor is in virtually the same position as Texas Tech, only with a terrible football program. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that a major conference would even consider adding them.

Oklahoma State University: Oklahoma State has mediocre athletics, subpar academics, and a very small population base. Unless Oklahoma decides to drag Oklahoma State with them into a new conference, they will almost certainly not make it to a major conference. As Oklahoma has relatively weak ties with Oklahoma State and does not deliver a sizeable population base into any new conference, it is highly unlikely that they would have the clout or the willingness to help Oklahoma State out.

Iowa State University: Iowa State has subpar athletics, mediocre academics, and a small population base. They are not a contender to join a major conference.

Kansas State University: Kansas State has some recent athletic success, but for most of its history has been terrible at football and basketball. Their population base is restricted to the state of Kansas (unlike Kansas, which could probably add Kansas State) and would add little ad revenue to any conference. Furthermore, their academics are subpar. They are at best a dark horse Pac 10 candidate, should the Pac 10 undertake massive expansion. In all likelihood, they’ll be left to fend for themselves.

ACC

The ACC is the most stable conference financially outside of the Big Ten, SEC, and Pac 10. However, some teams in the ACC are potential targets of the major conferences and deserve to be mentioned in this discussion.

The Teams

Florida State University: Florida State is a likely SEC target. Although they would not add to the SEC’s geographic footprint, they have a strong football program and are a good cultural fit. Florida State has moderately strong ties with the ACC athletically and its faculty would probably favor remaining in the ACC for academic reasons. That said, there is a pretty good chance that Florida State would go to the SEC anyway because of the financial incentives.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: Virginia Tech is a possible SEC target. They would increase the geographic footprint of the SEC and provide a strong football program, but the SEC may see Virginia Tech as being too isolated from the rest of the SEC to be a good candidate. Furthermore, Virginia Tech may not be able to add much of a population base, as the nearest large city they could feasibly add is Washington D.C., which currently follows Virginia Tech football somewhat closely, although that is partially due to their affiliation with the ACC. Virginia Tech would also be hesitant to join the SEC for academic reasons and, more importantly, their ties with the University of Virginia.

Boston College: Boston College has been mentioned as a dark horse Big Ten candidate. They would likely leave for the Big Ten if invited, but have several deficiencies. First of all, they would not add much outside of the Boston TV market, which is not a good market for college football. Second of all, they are a poor academic fit with the Big Ten, as they are a liberal arts college that does not do much with research. Finally, they are a poor cultural fit with the Big Ten, as they are a New England-based private liberal arts school, as opposed to the bigger Midwest state schools that dominate the Big Ten.

University of Maryland: Maryland would be a good academic and cultural fit with the Big Ten and add a large population base. They also have a dormant rivalry with Penn State that could easily be revived and would fit athletically. However, they are very loyal to the ACC and would likely turn down a Big Ten invitation despite the financial incentives, which would be somewhat blunted as the vast majority of alumni would hate the move.

Mountain West

Of the Mountain West schools, both Utah and BYU are potential candidates to join a BCS conference. They would both leave in a heartbeat and have decent academics.

The Teams

Brigham Young University: BYU has decent academics, a strong football program, and a decent basketball program. They deliver a fairly large population base between Utah and a large portion of the Mormon population in the United States. However, their chances of joining the Pac 10 are small, as it is doubtful that Cal or Stanford would consent to their admission into the conference for cultural reasons (BYU is considered one of the most conservative schools in America, while Cal and Stanford rank among the most liberal).

University of Utah: Utah has decent academics and fairly strong athletics. They are also a much better cultural fit with the Pac 10 than BYU. Unfortunately for Utah, they only deliver the state of Utah, which is still not very big, although they are one of the fastest growing states in the country. Utah will likely only be invited to the Pac 10 if the Texas schools will not come and the revenue generated by the additions of themselves, Colorado, and a championship game increase revenue more than the singular addition of Colorado.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame gets its own heading because they are an independent. And they really like being an independent and will exercise every option they can to retain their independence. The Big Ten would welcome Notre Dame into the conference if they were willing to come for all sports, but the only way that will happen is if the combined pressure of the Big Ten and Big East creates a situation where Notre Dame’s basketball and Olympic sports teams would be left without a viable home unless they join the Big Ten. As Notre Dame has indicated that they would be willing to be a part of a conference that is weaker than the Big East for sports other than football to retain football independence, this is not likely to happen.

The next installment of this series will cover a number various scenarios of how conference realignment could play out, including what would happen to the ACC, Big 12, Big East, and the other conferences. However, for the fun of it, I will now write out what I consider the most probable results for the Big Ten, SEC, and Pac 10:

Big Ten additions: Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, Nebraska, Missouri

SEC additions: Oklahoma, Florida State

Pac 10: Texas, Texas A&M

So what am I trying to imply with this chart? I don’t really know, I went in with the assumption that would show that Rich Rodriguez’s offenses  had way smaller linemen at WVU and still  managed to run the ball down their opponents throats. This however is not the case, in 08 Our Line was the smallest a Rodriguez line had ever been, in 09 Our line jumped in size almost an average of 10 lbs and our rushing improved 40 YPG. I know that there has been a lot of talk this off season about getting our linemen bigger and stronger. I think the one thing that my chart doesn’t show is that the Big 10 has much better defenses than the Big East did. What really catches my eye is how poorly we have run the ball against top tier opponents. I realize that some of this is due to getting blown out and having to throw the ball, but boy we really need to improve this stat to be successful. In my next post I am going to compare Big East defenses to Big Ten defenses, see how big of a factor that plays on these numbers.

Bold Prediction: Our offensive line will average 10 lbs heavier next year and our YPG will go up to 240. We have to improve this against the OSU’s an Penn States of the world in order to be successful.

     

               

11.TOB
12.Irish
13.Butt Darts(Hulk)
14.Jen
15.Goblue4ver

Others receiving votes-NBL(no lurks?),Turd,TLP

The Shake Down

A big shake up this week, the LOST effect took a toll on some MMers. Seth9 love for LOST only helped and that he adds pretty good things every night and great posts. JC only came a few night last week but gave great info on how the D might shake out. SCS went on a Vaaaak. Sec20 climbs to his highest rank with some nice witty comments. Fly did the same, did nothing earth shattering but is just solid. Dark Blue fell from grace with LOST hate and a post saying men are not allowed to cry. OSD climbed the ladder some how. Maybe due to some great laughs he gave me.. It wasn't because of Boxxy. Tater remains stable. MMW and Cwoodson make their first jump into the top 10. Some other notes, TOB has went off the grid due to the Wings in the playoffs. Now that they are out I expect him to return(he will fly up the top 15 with his loving info) with a beard and carton of milk...bad choice. Jen makes a quick hi which is worth a top 15 right? And our pro lurker NBL is MIA!!!! Butt Darts got crushed by LOST comments and men at rest stops.

Shreds Top 15 is brought to you by Boxxy video... There is no use for this product. Its just there to annoy us and the world(besides OSD).

   

Out of boredom of the off season, I decided to create a top 15 user live blog poll. What factors go into coming up with the top 15 you ask? Well.... lots of things. The points DB has randomly taken and given to our users. Attendance,good info,good input,lurker points... Everything. I didn't want to include the foot clan but Dark Blue said it would be no fun unless I included everyone. It's hard to pick one writer over the other. It's like having kids. You love them all, even the ugly one(DB). So I give you the first official Shredders Top 15 Live blogging Users of Midnight Maize. I think this could move to top 25 once the season starts.

1.Hulk-This maybe a shocker.. Since we hate each other and always disagree, but... He was the first person to show up to my live blogs. He is a MM Pioneer and even helped get people to our late night shindigs. I don't know how long he could hold the number one spot but this is like the preseason poll. You know how those go.

2.SCS-Always helpful,good humor. Keeps the hockey pucks on this board happy. He also seems to rangle Jen very well.

3.Dark Blue-Gotta love DB's humor. He writes into randomness but I enjoy it. DB also gives out and takes away points. SCS love of soccer almost moved DB into the 2 spot but in the end, Dark Blue's love for odd porn knocked him down to three.

4.The Other Brian-Always brings some good info. His love,hate with Jen is always good once a night. Anything past that is a bit much. We all love us some TOB.

5.JC-A lot like TOB. Great info on the team. Has a good understanding of football. Always keeps us on topic.

6.Seth9-The newest member of the foot clan. He has already stormed the blog with great posts about things outside of UM football. I see Seth9 having a lot of upside and may move up the polls fast. He is also a time traveling nerd/LOST fan like myself so that can only help him.

7.Tater-Would be higher up the poll but he has a normal life, with a normal sleep pattern that I envy. So Tater isn't on as much as others. He does make great posts that piss of news papers and MSU fans everywhere.

8.osdihg-Our friend from a far might ask more questions then any MM user. He also gets points taken away faster than most users for his outlandish comments.

9.Sec20-Sorta of an mystery. Shows up often and always has good input. Been around a while.

10.Jen-Loud,drama and fun. Her joke about TOB going to bed early because he has the MEAP test the next day cracked me up to no end. We also share the same phone. That's gotta count for something.
11.MMW
12.Turd Ferguson
13.GOBLUE4EVR
14.flysociety3
15.Irish

Others receiving votes-gs85(controversial/knows his football),NBL(great lurker),John S(MIA due to work),Evan Turner has the clap(that name alone gets one vote), Tsimanga Cowabunga(MIA for a bit)

That's how it stands as of now. I think we may see some shake ups as the weeks go on. Tune in next week for the most useless Top 15 poll on the internet.

   

              

11.CWOOD
12.NBL
13.Mgoblu4ever
14.Jen
15.Cunninglinguist

Others Receiving Votes-Hulk,OSD,Joeyb

The Shake Down

This weeks love for LOST was more apparent than ever in the Top 15. Seth9 keeps the top spot with great big 10 posts and even a future LOST post. SCS dodges the LOST dive by helping me out and starting Live Blogs at 11pm. JC brings good info every time, no questions asked. Tater's postings of 42 have been a great read. Fly as of late has been bringing some JC/TOB type of info to the blogs. Sec20 Lost hating hurt him a bit but he doesn't go out of his way ala Hulk. TLP flew up the charts. His great understanding of LOST+UM love=Future Greatness. Dark Blue took a hit for his LOST hating ways but got a boost when he said he may check it out. TOB surfaced after being off the grid for weeks, we welcome you back friend. MMW is an older fella who keeps spirits (mine) high when people get tired. Jen jumped into the Top 15 for her efforts to watch LOST sooner or later. OSD and Hulks LOST hating ways have thrown them into "others receiving votes" hatch so they can push the button forever, if they don't.. what will happen to the blog?


This Top 15 has been brought to you by Darma Beer, the best beer to be found on the Midnight Maize Island.

swarwick33 over at mgoblog had the bright idea of making a members top 25. Since I am a loyal poster I of course joined the poll. Here is how it turned out after one week.

Member's Poll
Coaches Rank AP Rank

Team Points

1 Alabama 391 3 3
2 Florida 383 2 2
3 Texas 376 1 1
4 Virginia Tech. 335 6 6
5 Boise State 322 5 5
6 Cincinnati 299 11 10
7 LSU 294 4 4
8 Iowa 264 17 13
9 Oklahoma 257 8 8
10 USC 253 7 7
11 Houston 252 15 12
12 Ohio State 231 9 9
13 TCU 223 10 11
14 Oklahoma State 167 12 14
15 Miami 163 21 17
16 Penn State 161 13 15
17 Oregon 153 25 16
18 Georgia 121 14 19
19 Michigan 105 20 22
20 Kansas 93 16 18
21 Brigham Young 72 21 20
22 California 52 19 24
23 Nebraska 48 24 23
24 Georgia Tech. 42 NR 25
25 Missouri 35 23 NR

You can see mine and all the 20 other posters picks here via google spread sheet. I look forward to making the college football world right with this.

According to Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com, the Omaha World Herald, SportsCenter, and others, Nebraska is going to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten on Friday. Meanwhile Chip Brown has also stated that six Big 12 schools, (not including Baylor) are likely to accept the Pac 10's invitation very soon. Meanwhile, Missouri is not being invited at this time, as the Big Ten has apparently decided that they think they can do better. Summary of today's events can be found here.

Really a lot of the same bugs are back from prior years. This is maddening.

Bad

• ...then the studio updates become downright annoying when you hear the same lines twice in a game. Plus there is no way to really keep track of what else is going on within Dynasty mode, I don't know...to me Dynasty mode has tried something really ambitious here but the design of the whole mode doesn't fit what the developers said they wanted to do. It's impossible to know what happened during the week without actually checking things out and sometimes that's really hard to do as a lot of what you want is buried in the menus. The whole presenting Saturday's as a storyline is cool in theory (it was one of my top wishes for this year's game) -- but it needs to be done differently. A complete revamp of the mode is necessary -- at least the menus -- to achieve this.
• Wayyyy too much dead space with commentary, the presentation as a whole is just not up to par with it's peers in our genre although it is better than last year.
• Seriously, it's time to rethink defense. It's just boring and doesn't work how real football defense is played. On top of that, there's nothing to do and it feels just put in -- especially now after a decade of the same old boring thing.
• Apparently, Brent Venables taught the NCAA Football 13 team all about safety play because receivers run right past them into the open field. Vertical routes with fast receivers are nothing but money, it's horrendous.
• What is NCAA Football 13 simulating on the field? Seriously. SOMEONE FIGURE THIS OUT! Are you watching a TV broadcast? A cinematic presentation of college football? Are you watching it as if you were playing in the stadium? You CAN NOT do all three. All of the great games in our genre pick a style and mimick it and their presentations are much better than NCAA's. I just feel like NCAA tries to do everything and as a result does nothing well in presentation.
• The line play isn't all that great once again (surprised? not I). While there is actually a pass rush this year, it doesn't come at the expense of a collapsing pocket but instead it's like the offensive line 'whiffs' at the block and there is a jailbreak to the QB. The problem I see here are there simply aren't enough animations in line play to accurately depict how it works. Seriously, this is becoming a huge problem with the franchise and hurts the rest of the game because developers try to overcompensate in other areas (like QB accuracy and RB ability) in order to make up for what is simply poorly modeled line play.

Ugly

• Sack totals. I've had games on All American where I recorded over 10 sacks. That's not going to fly. Screen passes are especially problematic.
• "There aren't penalties in football except for the occasional holding and offsides!" - Anyone who's only experience with football was through NCAA Football 13.
• There are more plays than just screen plays and deep passes computer AI. Seriously. The A.I. Playcalling is absolutely atrocious from what I'm seeing in the early going. Or maybe it's just the AI's execution? Regardless, the AI seems way off this year when it comes to running an offense.
• Computer running the option...I think there isn't a more ugly thing in the world.
• Heisman FG Logic is still busted. Computer attempted a 58 yarder on me in my lone Heisman foray thus far.
• Still clipping issues, I have players running through each other and such at least once or twice a game. It's 2012.
• Really a lot of the same bugs are back from prior years. This is maddening.

I did a few of these for some opponents last year and I figure why not vent what I didn't care about during the Richie Era. I will say I was fan of the "idea". The idea that Michigan would be this fast spread and shred team. That we wouldn't be so predictable and stale. I really thought Rich was the best man to do that. It wasn't meant to be and this blog moved on the day Rich was fired but lets revisit the things that chapped my ass.

10. 3rd and STUFFED!

Coming into this years EA NCAA 11 game I was pretty harsh. I have said many times that I would never buy this game until they made a lot of changes,gave a shit and fixed numerous bugs. I have NCAA 08. I skipped 09 and 10 and played both a lot at friends houses. Both those games felt like my 08 and 10 felt the worst and looked the worst(shiny players anyone?).

EA Sports has updated their Teambuilder website which means they have released the base rosters for NCAA 11. Also you can check out a screenshot of Michigan Stadium with the renovations if you go to the stadium selection screen when making a team. To see the Michigan player ratings when creating a team go to roster then select template Michigan.

Check it out at easports.com/teambuilder

Some Notable Ratings:
Tate: 86 OVR, 85 SPD, 88 THP, 85 THA, 32 Elusiveness (WTF?)

Denard: 81 OVR, 92 SPD, 90 THP, 77 THA

Devin Gardner: 76 OVR, 90 SPD, 94 THP, 76 THA

There is a 4th QB listed #14 and Freshman, I assume its Conelius Jones, 66 OVR

Mike Shaw/VIncent Smith: 85 OVR

Martavious Odoms: 85 OVR

Roundtree: 86 OVR

Stonum: 84 OVR

Hemingway: 85 OVR

David Molk: 96 OVR!

Ryan Van Bergen: 86

Craig Roh: 91 OVR! (listed as a DE)

Mike Martin: 90 OVR

Renaldo Sagesse: 87 (a bit high?) OVR

Big Will: 85 OVR

Obi Ezeh: 81 OVR (down from 88 last year)

Mouton: 81 OVR (down from last year as well)

JT Turner: 78 OVR

Woolfolk: 84 OVR

JT Floyd: 81 OVR

Freshman CB #4 (has same measureables as Demar Dorsey, I guess they didn't take him out of the game): 74 OVR, 96 SPD

Cullen Christian (CB #24 I assume): 75 OVR

Vlad Emilien: 84 OVR

Will Hagerup: 81 OVR

No sign of Cam Gordon anywhere.

It seems EA has our safties as Vlad, Mike Williams, Thomas Gordon, Jared Van Slyke (#31), Jordan Kovacs (80 OVR), and Teric Jones

Overall, I think the ratings are pretty fair. Some players are probably overrated (Sagesse, Emilien) and some are just off (Tate 32 elusiveness?). I am disappointed that Cam Gordon isn't in the game, I'll have to edit him in once I get it.

This is the conference version of the power rankings that I did yesterday. This will also continue throughout the season.

1. Pac 10- The Pac 10 has been completely dominant throughout the season, with Oregon looking virtually unstoppable, Stanford's one loss coming to Oregon, and Arizona actually playing well. Oregon State is also a better team than its record indicates.

2. SEC- The SEC is hampered in its ranking by the East, as, with the exception of South Carolina, every team over there has choked. Florida is in transition mode and Georgia is off to its worst start dating back to who knows when. In the West, Alabama was finally knocked off its perch at #1, LSU somehow continues to win (and I'd guess will be exposed sooner or later), and Auburn continues to escape. If the East can pick it up, the SEC will overtake the Pac 10.

3. Big 10- Ohio State is ranked #1 and Michigan State is inexplicably playing well for the first time in a long time, but there are still many questions in the conference. Michigan has the offensive firepower, but no defense. Purdue, Penn State, and Minnesota are all awful this year. Wisconsin has looked vulnerable, and Iowa was knocked off in Arizona.

4. Big 12- For the first time in several years, Texas is not in the Top 25 and is playing awful. Nebraska and Oklahoma both look like excellent teams, but besides Oklahoma State, there really is not another team that looks particularly menacing in the conference. Also, Oklahoma State must win at Texas Tech for the first time since 1944 this weekend.

5. ACC- James Madison, James Madison, James Madison. Va Tech's loss continues to hurt the ACC. North Carolina continues to he hampered by the agent issue, and just dismissed several players. Miami got demolished by Florida State, and FSU may be the last good team left in the conference.

6. Big East- When Syracuse knocks off a team on the road at that team's homecoming, you know your conference is in trouble. The only decent team left is quite possibly West Virginia, and even they have had problems this year (Marshall). The Big East has not helped itself this year. Oh, and Pitt needs a new coach desperately.