Sports Agenda For Wednesday (11/28/12)
Big Story:
Holy crap here we go again on the conference realignment train and this time it is going to get truly crazy. Plus, the Dolphins are poor in the secondary and playing the New England Patriots on Sunday. Yeah, this isn't going to be pretty. And Al Golden tells critics of his god-awful defense to stick it. All in the agenda.
Quote of the Day:
"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue." – Plato
College Football Realignment:
Just when I thought I was done writing about realignment, they pull me back in.
I thought yesterday's news of some bottom rung teams wasn't a big deal, but then I realized someone big was about to move.
So, this morning Louisville University announced it was ditching the Big East and moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Why did they do this?
Well, let's just put it this way, the Big East is a couple of steps above the Sun Belt Conference right now and sinking fast.
The Cardinals were being courted by the Big XII and ACC and the latter jumped first.
It makes the ACC just deadly in basketball and pretty much guarantees that if a team can get out of that conference into the tourney with one or two losses, they are a favorite to win the title.
Football wise, it more than fills in for a bad Maryland team as long as Charlie Strong stays as head coach.
With Louisville committed to him and joining a major conference, getting him out of there just got tougher.
Yesterday, Tulane and East Carolina announced they were joining the Big East from Conference USA.
Neither one strengthen the conference or give it significant tv markets, so it's a meh move.
Add in Maryland leaving the ACC a week or so ago along with Rutgers leaving the Big East and we have conference chaos.
We're also just a few moves away from the 16 team super conference.
So here's where we stand as of now:
The Big East has: Boise State, Houston, Memphis, San Diego State, SMU, Temple, Tulane, UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, USF, and East Carolina
The ACC has: Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Notre Dame (in everything but football)
The SEC has: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Vanderbilt
The Big Ten has: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Maryland, and Rutgers
The PAC-12 has: Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, and Washington State
The Big XII has: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, and West Virginia
*takes deep breath*
So what happens now?
I fully expect the Big XII to finally get off the sideline and make a move.
I wouldn't be surprised to see them target Cincinnati as a possible addition to help out West Virginia geographically speaking.
Don't be shocked if UConn gets on its knees and begs the ACC to take it.
The Big East is effectively dead as a power player in major college football.
I still have a big question though…
What about Florida State?
They didn't seem very happy last year when they batted their eyelashes at the Big XII, but would they cough up $50 million to leave.
And what about the SEC?
Remember, it's THE power conference and is about to launch its own channel.
There aren't many big name schools left to raid and the Big XII is holding on by chewing gum and spit right now.
Remember, they are one phone call away from losing texas, texas tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma state to the Pac-12.
All I know is when the dust finally settles you're going to have a few major conferences and everyone else.
The Pac-12, SEC, ACC, Big 10, and possibly the Big XII if they can hold together.
Miami Dolphins:
So Miami's pourous pass defense is facing Tom Brady and the Patriots this week.
And I believe the Pats can clinch a playoff berth with a victory.
In other words, this one has the potential to get really, REALLY ugly.
What will be key is if the Dolphins have any sort of pass rush. If they do, they have a chance.
If not, Brady is going to tear them apart limb from limb.
I was trying to wrack my brain to think of a quarterback who has gotten better with age like he has and I couldn't think of one.
Peyton Manning came into my mind, but Brady's playing at a level above Manning right now.
Maybe Eli in the playoffs? Nah.
It'll be interesting to see what Belichick throws at Tannehill in their first matchup.
I'm interested to see how Tanny comes back from his first fourth-quarter comeback.
