Its Official: TCU to the Big East

[Majin Buu]

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5862368

[Crazysilver03]

If Villanova also moved up to the Big East for football, that would have a very interesting and lopsided, first match-up.

[ShaneDawg85]

Wow. Now that was surprising. I don't quite understand how a team in Texas can be in the "Big East," but to each their own I guess. First it looks like Boise might go back on joining the Mountain West, and now TCU leaves. A solid, up and coming conference now doesn't look so inviting.

[Birds of B'more]

Sounds like it's for all sports too. I has heard they might get a football-only invitation, which would make bad financial sense for their other sports. Now it will be interesting to see what the Big East does as far as having 17 basketball teams, and if Villanova will move up to FBS or if they go looking for 1 more football team.

And now Boise ends up in the MWC just like they were in the WAC....as the skinniest kid at fat camp.

[ShaneDawg85]

Sounds like it's for all sports too. I has heard they might get a football-only invitation, which would make bad financial sense for their other sports. Now it will be interesting to see what the Big East does as far as having 17 basketball teams, and if Villanova will move up to FBS or if they go looking for 1 more football team.

And now Boise ends up in the MWC just like they were in the WAC....as the skinniest kid at fat camp.

Has Boise finalized it that they're moving to the Mountain West? I thought I heard recently they might reconsider the move. When BYU and Air Force are up the conference is a lot better, but losing Utah and now TCU really hurts its standing. If at least one of them had stayed and Boise joined it would have been a big grab. Now, not as much. I think the overall perception of the MWC is better than it is for the WAC, but losing your two biggest tickets and gaining back only one won't really raise your standing.

[Fiver]

They should really start re-naming these conferences. Big East w/ a team in Texas, Big Ten, first w/ 11 and now 12 teams, Big 12 - how many do they have now? Not sure but I think it's less than 12.

Not a big fan of college football. What a great tournament they could have this year w/ the likes of the three teams from the Big 10, all the very good SEC schools, Boise, TCU, Stanford. That would be can't miss stuff.

Instead we will get Michigan State v. Clemson or some other ACC school, et al. In a game that essentially means nothing.

LAME!!!!!

(sorry, not attempting to hijack - my original point in the first paragraph was the real intent, ranted a little after that :p )

[Birds of B'more]

Has Boise finalized it that they're moving to the Mountain West? I thought I heard recently they might reconsider the move. When BYU and Air Force are up the conference is a lot better, but losing Utah and now TCU really hurts its standing. If at least one of them had stayed and Boise joined it would have been a big grab. Now, not as much. I think the overall perception of the MWC is better than it is for the WAC, but losing your two biggest tickets and gaining back only one won't really raise your standing.

The MWC is also getting Nevada and Fresno St after next season. And there has been strong talk of adding Hawaii too. So basically the MWC is getting the best teams of the WAC and adding it to their own leftovers. What chances they had left of becoming a BCS AQ just went out the window with TCU's departure....but it's still better than the tattered remains of the WAC, which has been reduced to begging FCS teams to move up and join. The MWC does need a better TV deal though. Being stuck with a cutthroat organization like Comcast has killed them and is one of the reasons why so many schools have been eager to jump ship.

[waroriole]

Has Boise finalized it that they're moving to the Mountain West? I thought I heard recently they might reconsider the move. When BYU and Air Force are up the conference is a lot better, but losing Utah and now TCU really hurts its standing. If at least one of them had stayed and Boise joined it would have been a big grab. Now, not as much. I think the overall perception of the MWC is better than it is for the WAC, but losing your two biggest tickets and gaining back only one won't really raise your standing.

BYU is gone too. They lose TCU, BYU and Utah. All they get back is Boise.

[waroriole]

The Big East needs to do some housecleaning. I don't really have a suggestion, but 17 teams in basketball is ridiculous.

[utvolzac]

Boise State is in some real trouble.

I think these moves are a sign of things to come. Elite mid-majors are going to join BCS conferences once they get established. Utah is heading to the Pac-10, TCU to the Big East, BYU is independant, but I'm sure they have their eye on replacing Colorado in the Big 12.

The trouble for Boise State is that they have nothing to offer. Yes they have a good football program. But their stadium is not television friendly and they are located in an obscure region. Not alot of television revenue stands to be made from adding the Idaho market. TCU has the Dallas Fort-Worth market, Utah has the Salt Lake City market, these teams add value to the conference besides just competition.

Boise State's only real hope is to get added to the Big 12, but if your a Big 12 team, what's to be gained by adding another strong competitor who doesn't hold up their end financially.

I think Boise State is gonna get left out in the cold.

[Majin Buu]

Bosie State should think about pulling a BYU and going indepentant in football. They have to make that program as valuable as possible while they still can. They don't offer much else otherwise. The sad part is that all the MWC commish Craig Thompson had to do is ditch Comcast. With a league that would have potentially included Boise State, BYU, and TCU, and Utah he couldn't get a better deal?

[Birds of B'more]

Bosie State should think about pulling a BYU and going indepentant in football. They have to make that program as valuable as possible while they still can. They don't offer much else otherwise. The sad part is that all the MWC commish Craig Thompson had to do is ditch Comcast. With a league that would have potentially included Boise State, BYU, and TCU, and Utah he couldn't get a better deal?

I was thinking the same thing about Boise going independent. They are respectable enough and still somewhat of a national curiosity that ESPN might have paid them nicely for their TV rights. But scheduling would be an issue for them....many respectable teams don't want to play them now, and I doubt being indy would change that. Then there's the matter of where they play other sports....the MWC won't let them stay without football, and I doubt the WAC would take them back. And they don' really fit the profile for the West Coast Conference or the Big West. The Big Sky might accept their other sports, but that would be about the only chance I see.

The problem with the Comcast contract is that I don't think the MWC can break it. And Utah would have left even if they could get out of it....no way would the Utes say no to a Pac-10 invite. But BYU and TCU might have stuck around, and adding Boise St, plus Nevada, Fresno St and Hawaii might have been just enough to merit AQ status.

[Birds of B'more]

Boise State is in some real trouble.

I think these moves are a sign of things to come. Elite mid-majors are going to join BCS conferences once they get established. Utah is heading to the Pac-10, TCU to the Big East, BYU is independant, but I'm sure they have their eye on replacing Colorado in the Big 12.

The trouble for Boise State is that they have nothing to offer. Yes they have a good football program. But their stadium is not television friendly and they are located in an obscure region. Not alot of television revenue stands to be made from adding the Idaho market. TCU has the Dallas Fort-Worth market, Utah has the Salt Lake City market, these teams add value to the conference besides just competition.

Boise State's only real hope is to get added to the Big 12, but if your a Big 12 team, what's to be gained by adding another strong competitor who doesn't hold up their end financially.

I think Boise State is gonna get left out in the cold.

I wouldn't say they're in trouble. They just won't be any better off than they are right now. In fact, without TCU and Utah to compete against for the non-AQ slot in the BCS (the highest non-AQ team is guaranteed a BCS bowl if they finish in the Top 8 of the final standings), they might actually make it into more BCS bowls than they did before. But their chances of ever getting into the national championship game will remain as slim as they are now as long as the current system is in place.

[Majin Buu]

The Big East needs to do some housecleaning. I don't really have a suggestion, but 17 teams in basketball is ridiculous.

There's also talk about adding yet another school to the mix to balance out the basketball schedule. That's a lot of mouths to feed just off the basketball revenue.

[Majin Buu]

I was thinking the same thing about Boise going independent. They are respectable enough and still somewhat of a national curiosity that ESPN might have paid them nicely for their TV rights. But scheduling would be an issue for them....many respectable teams don't want to play them now, and I doubt being indy would change that. Then there's the matter of where they play other sports....the MWC won't let them stay without football, and I doubt the WAC would take them back. And they don' really fit the profile for the West Coast Conference or the Big West. The Big Sky might accept their other sports, but that would be about the only chance I see.

The problem with the Comcast contract is that I don't think the MWC can break it. And Utah would have left even if they could get out of it....no way would the Utes say no to a Pac-10 invite. But BYU and TCU might have stuck around, and adding Boise St, plus Nevada, Fresno St and Hawaii might have been just enough to merit AQ status.

Yeah. That's true. The MWC is the best possible place they could place their basketball program right now. The question is, where does the MWC go from here? Do you still go to Univ of Houston? Can you get Univ of Houston?

[Birds of B'more]

Yeah. That's true. The MWC is the best possible place they could place their basketball program right now. The question is, where does the MWC go from here? Do you still go to Univ of Houston? Can you get Univ of Houston?

It would probably make no sense to get Houston, at least by themselves. In 2012, the MWC is set to look like this:

Air Force
Boise State
Colorado State
Fresno State
Hawaii ???
Nevada
New Mexico
San Diego State
UNLV
Wyoming

Adding Houston does bring a large TV market, but only 11 schools. They would need to add another school to get the championship game to make it worth it. SMU would make sense then, since they are also located in a large TV market and the MWC could then maintain a strong presence in Texas. But at this point, why would Houston and SMU leave Conference USA for the MWC? I don't think the MWC really offers them anything more than what they already have. Houston/SMU would be better off sitting tight and waiting to see what happens to the Big 12 over the next few years.

[lordbrook]

What killed the MWC is the TV deal with The Mtn. When Comcast came on board they used it as a vehicle to make people switch to Comcast cable. If you recall The Mtn. was only on Comcast at first and then moved to Direct T.V. as well with very little national exposure. When the T.V. deal was announced I e-mailed our A.D. here at Utah and complained. He e-mailed me back telling me that this would turn into a wonderful deal and and told me to call him if I had questions. I griped about the availability of games to the MWC commissioner as well but never heard back. As soon as my Utes announced their move to the PAC 10 I e-mailed him again and told him that his T.V. deal is what brought about the dissolution of the conference. I'm happy for TCU that they're going to an AQ conference. They kicked the living hell out of us this year and deserve a chance at a big bowl. I'll miss playing them every year because they've been so good, but I guess we'll look forward to USC, UCLS, and the Arizona schools.

[Birds of B'more]

What killed the MWC is the TV deal with The Mtn. When Comcast came on board they used it as a vehicle to make people switch to Comcast cable. If you recall The Mtn. was only on Comcast at first and then moved to Direct T.V. as well with very little national exposure. When the T.V. deal was announced I e-mailed our A.D. here at Utah and complained. He e-mailed me back telling me that this would turn into a wonderful deal and and told me to call him if I had questions. I griped about the availability of games to the MWC commissioner as well but never heard back. As soon as my Utes announced their move to the PAC 10 I e-mailed him again and told him that his T.V. deal is what brought about the dissolution of the conference. I'm happy for TCU that they're going to an AQ conference. They kicked the living hell out of us this year and deserve a chance at a big bowl. I'll miss playing them every year because they've been so good, but I guess we'll look forward to USC, UCLS, and the Arizona schools.

Comcast leverages many of its sports properties strictly to gain cable subscribers, that's obvious. Just ask any subscriber of DirecTV, Dish or Charter Cable out here in Portland who have not been able to see about two-thirds of Trailblazers games on TV for 4 years running now. They pulled the same stunt in Philly too with 76ers/Flyers games. Talk has begun about the Pac-12's new media deal, including it's own network maybe, and Comcast has been mentioned as a potential partner. For our sake, I hope Larry Scott is a smart man who can learn from the mistakes made by the MWC and Blazers. If you're going to deal with Comcast, you need to make sure that every detail regarding full distribution is written in black and white and is ironclad...even if it means you give up some extra $ in rights fees, because in the long run you'll lose even more money if half the population can't even view your games.

[lordbrook]

Talk has begun about the Pac-12's new media deal, including it's own network maybe, and Comcast has been mentioned as a potential partner.

You just made me puke in my mouth a little. I thought by moving we would be past their nonsense. They are the absolute worst. The Mtn. was the worst broadcasting station for sports I have ever seen.

That's too bad about your Blazers. We get every Jazz game televised whether it's home or away. Years ago they wouldn't televise home games and it drove me nuts not getting to see them.

[Birds of B'more]

You just made me puke in my mouth a little. I thought by moving we would be past their nonsense. They are the absolute worst. The Mtn. was the worst broadcasting station for sports I have ever seen.

That's too bad about your Blazers. We get every Jazz game televised whether it's home or away. Years ago they wouldn't televise home games and it drove me nuts not getting to see them.

As an east coast guy that's only been out here for 3 1/2 years, I haven't really warmed up to the Blazers yet. A big part of that I'm sure is due to the fact that I don't see them on TV much....that and the fact that I was never a big NBA fan in the first place. But I enjoy watching the Ducks and Beavers....I don't have a favorite among them, I kind of like to see both do well because I think it's great for the state to have the two schools doing well and competing against each other for bragging rights. That's something that was missing back in Maryland. The Terps never had that in-state rival that made your blood boil. Imagine if there were no BYU for you to despise....it might make being a Utah fan just a little less special.

Anyway, back on topic. I think Larry Scott is well aware of what has happened both here in Oregon and with The Mtn, and he's smart enough that he won't let the same thing happen to the Pac-12. He knows the conference will only be mentioned in the same breath as the Big 10 or SEC if people can see it, and won't agree to anything with Comcast that would allow them to hold the fans hostage just to steal subscribers away from other carriers. And FWIW, I don't see ESPN or Fox letting the top college sports property in the western US walk without a fight. I think we'll see a deal that probably involves all 3 entities (ESPN/Fox/Comcast) having some level broadcast rights, along with a partnership with one of them to get a network going.

[lordbrook]

As an east coast guy that's only been out here for 3 1/2 years, I haven't really warmed up to the Blazers yet. A big part of that I'm sure is due to the fact that I don't see them on TV much....that and the fact that I was never a big NBA fan in the first place. But I enjoy watching the Ducks and Beavers....I don't have a favorite among them, I kind of like to see both do well because I think it's great for the state to have the two schools doing well and competing against each other for bragging rights. That's something that was missing back in Maryland. The Terps never had that in-state rival that made your blood boil. Imagine if there were no BYU for you to despise....it might make being a Utah fan just a little less special.

Anyway, back on topic. I think Larry Scott is well aware of what has happened both here in Oregon and with The Mtn, and he's smart enough that he won't let the same thing happen to the Pac-12. He knows the conference will only be mentioned in the same breath as the Big 10 or SEC if people can see it, and won't agree to anything with Comcast that would allow them to hold the fans hostage just to steal subscribers away from other carriers. And FWIW, I don't see ESPN or Fox letting the top college sports property in the western US walk without a fight. I think we'll see a deal that probably involves all 3 entities (ESPN/Fox/Comcast) having some level broadcast rights, along with a partnership with one of them to get a network going.

There's a lot of talk around here about the Utah/BYU rivalry and where it will go from here. It will be the first time in my lifetime that we haven't been in the same conference as them. Personally I won't stop hating them just because we play them in September. You could move the MFY to the AL Central and I'd still curse them with my dying breath.

I've been reading some articles about Larry Scott wanting to create a PAC 12 network modeled after the Big 10 Network. I think if they could get something like that packed with the sports packages of the major carriers I would be overjoyed.