1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox but …
At some point on the night of January 9 they’ll all be in the same posh suite at the Superdome — VIP guests of the very series they’ve created — eventually addressing the reality of what they’ve done to college football.
The six BCS conference commissioners and the tangled, twisted—and yes, torturous— conference realignment mess they’ve created. And here’s the best part: The Big East, the little conference that could, holds the fate of the Big 12 and the ACC – and isn’t letting go.
A high-placed Big East source told Sporting News that not only will the Big East not back off its 27-month notice of withdrawal for West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse, but there’s “no chance” the three wayward universities can buy their way out of the contract – for any amount of money – and leave in time for the 2012 season.
“It’s not about money,” the Big East source said. “It never has been.”
It’s commonly believed among most BCS administrators that the Big East and West Virginia will settle on a lawsuit that would allow both parties to save face for 2012 season, give the Big 12 its tenth team and give the Big East a sizeable buyout from West Virginia.
That scenario, of course, would allow Pitt and Syracuse – who have declined legal action – to use the WVU settlement as a barometer and leave early for the ACC with a similar buyout.
But forget about settlements and cash buyouts. West Virginia is bound by a legal contract it signed with the Big East — and the Big East isn’t letting go.
What WVU is asking our legal system to do is ignore terms of a contract. That’s not going to happen unless the Big East has violated terms of the deal, which it hasn’t.
This lawsuit, more than anything, is a tactical (see: litigious) way for West Virginia to get the Big East to accept a monetary buyout. And now, it appears, that’s not going to happen, either.
The reality is, West Virginia can simply leave and play in the Big 12 next season, but monetary legal damages of breaking that contract could make Texas A&M’s buyout from the Big 12 (estimated at $13-15 million) look like chump change – especially if Pitt and Syracuse are willing to wait to leave WVU alone in its contract defiance.
And you people thought the Big East would just go quietly.
2. Going homeWelcome, Norm Chow, to your first head-coaching gig. Only two decades late.
3. One man’s vice is another’s debtHere we give you the collateral damage of West Virginia’s inability to join the Big 12 in 2012: non-conference scheduling.You see, the Big 12 didn’t want Missouri leaving for the SEC because it would leave the Big 12 with nine teams — and leave those nine teams searching for another non-conference game to complete their schedule.Interim commissioner Chuck Neinas has said the problem is schools would be forced into guarantee games to fill their schedules, games where FBS and/or FCS schools earn big-money paydays as glorified practice games. Those games usually go for anywhere between $500,000 and $1 million.We’ll take the average and do some quick math: nine teams X $750,000 X 2 years. The way I see it, The Longhorn Network (see: ESPN) is on the hook for $12 million (excluding Texas’ two games) for nearly imploding the second-strongest conference in college football over wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony.Or more commonly referred to as the Seven Deadly Steers — I mean, sins.Excuse me, waitress? The gentlemen in the burnt orange coats will pick up this tab, thank you.
4. M-I-Z, S-E-CSpeaking of Missouri, someone please inform Brady Deaton that the postseason is done differently in the SEC.Brady, babe, if your Tigers are rolling into the SEC in 2012, you better have those passionate fans you speak of ante up for some bowl tickets next time around.That awful showing in Shreveport, La., does not look good on the SEC. And what doesn’t look good on the SEC, doesn’t look good on the 13 presidents who let you in.Yes, it’s Shreveport and it was raining. Which is sort of like saying it was hell, and it was unholy hot.Remember this in next year’s postseason when you’re playing in the SEC’s version of Shreveport: Birmingham in January.
5. This week’s sign that the acid trip offseason is still upon usThe Orange Bowl says it will not go forward with a planned major sponsorship with Camacho Cigars — but only after members of Congress intervened.Congress, after doing the nation’s work of saving us from ourselves, teamed with a few public health groups to declare that cigars contain cancer-causing chemicals. Brilliant.And this — THIS — is what forced the Orange Bowl to back down. Not the fact that student/athletes are prohibited by the NCAA from using nicotine in any form — including cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco.I know I speak for us all when I say thank goodness Congress is on the job.
6. The One vs. the 19Really happy for USC now that Matt Barkley has decided to stay in school for his senior season.One player, one decision, one season of national championship hope in 2012.Meanwhile, in Baton Rouge, LSU will lose all of three players of significance from its current starting 22 for the 2012 season.If that means anything.
7. The new No.1Robert Griffin III, program-defining, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Baylor, apparently needs someone to follow him around in public so fans and middle-aged men looking for autographs to sell on EBay (you know who you are, dude) don’t overwhelm him.Imagine what will happen when, after his personal workouts for NFL scouts in Waco, RG3 suddenly becomes the No.1 player in the NFL Draft. That’s right, ahead of Andrew Luck.(Attention, draft “experts”: there’s this guy who plays for the Carolina Panthers, he’s pretty good. And RG3 is better).
8. The World Wide ExtensionA few weeks ago, there were blog “reports” from “sources” that Texas was in the process of forcing out coach Mack Brown.As with all things Interweb, play at your own risk.But if we’ve learned one thing in this day of anyone can write anything and not be held accountable Internet journalism, it’s this: it can actually help coaches.That’s right, the one thing coaches hate more than turnovers is the dreaded Internet. And now, it’s going to get Brown another contract extension.Texas AD DeLoss Dodds says the school is in the process of extending Brown, whose $5.2 million a year contract currently runs through 2016. Dodds told the Austin American-Statesman one of the reasons he’s extending Brown is he’s “tired of all the conversations” about Brown’s imminent departure.Brown, a genuine good guy and never one to shy away from writing personal letters, should fire one off to Al Gore and thank him for this whole Interweb thingie.
9. Class, personifiedThe problem with the mean media is they ask too many questions. I mean, who are they to question one Kirk James Ferentz?So when the cordial one decided to respond to queries about personnel and his name in the coaching hopper (both the NFL and college football), the Iowa coach decided to go all eighth grade on everyone.After deflecting a few questions, Ferentz joked that he broke wind on the practice field, and then said, “I’ll see if I can muster up one for you right now.”That’s about as rotten as your 10 losses in Iowa’s last 19 Big Ten games, Kirk.Try again.
10. Must read
If you do anything this New Year, follow Tyrann Mathieu on Twitter: @TM_7.You’ll thank me later.