Currently three of the Bowl Championship Series conferences have the required twelve teams so they have a championship game. Now the PAC-10 and the Big 10 are looking to expand along with some others that haven’t been so outspoken.
The PAC-10 is looking for two schools to join and they will then have a PAC-10 Championship game. The two logical schools are Utah and Boise State. Both teams have won BCS Bowl games against top tier teams of BCS conferences. There’s no doubt both teams can compete in the PAC-10. Both schools could be reluctant to join because the road to undefeated seasons gets much tougher. Florida State and Miami have found out, when you get into a twelve team conference, wins and conference titles don’t come so easily. Miami hasn’t even made one appearance in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game since joining the conference in 2004. The Hurricanes won nine conference titles when a member of the Big East. Florida State won eleven ACC championships from 1992 to 2004. It was a given in the 90’s that FSU would win the ACC every year. Since expansion of the ACC, the ‘Noles have won one conference title.
The Big 10 has eleven teams; the most recent school to join is Penn State. The obvious answer for The Big 10 is NCAA legendary powerhouse Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a Big East team in all sports except football. The main reason is the exclusive contract with NBC to air all home games of the Fighting Irish. The NCAA needs to show some leadership and say to Notre Dame, it’s either all in or all out. If Notre Dame is a Big East school then they need to be one for football as well. Notre Dame will never do it on their own, if forced by the NCAA it’s my opinion they would opt to join the Big 10. The Big 10 needs some revival and they need to regain the national respect they seem to have lost. Nothing like seeing Ohio State play Notre Dame for a Big 10 title could compare.
Both the PAC-10 and Big 10 have been rumored to have eyes on the Texas Longhorns. This would make no sense for Texas at all. The Red River rivalry with Oklahoma is one of the most exciting in college football, now that it’s a conference game it has gotten that much more intense. Never mind, Austin is not near the Pacific coast or the Midwest. The second choice for the Big 10 could be Cincinnati. The Bearcats have a much improved football program that’s dominated the Big East the last two seasons. The rivalry between the Bearcats and Buckeyes could get downright nasty especially if the Bearcats pull off a riddle at the Horseshoe in Columbus.
I’m only dreaming. Economic troubles end up making strange bedfellows at times. For now college football fans continue to pine away for conference and national champions all decided on the field.
Brent Hatley is executive producer of the Bubba the Love Sponge show on Sirius Satellite Radio