CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT NEWS, RUMORS, ETC.
West Virginia not turned down, according to West Virginia sources
For those who went crazy over a Cincinnati site reporting that West Virginia had been turned down by the SEC -- the local media says that isn't so. That's not to say that the writer for the Cincinnati site was wrong, but that his source might have been mistaken, or engaged in wishful thinking. Just like in everything else in life, more people want to seem like they're in the know about conference realignment than actually are in the know.
After hours of conversations, texts, etc., with those in the know, it's clear the Mountaineer athletic department is staring at two scenarios.
It has indeed turned to the Southeastern Conference. It's up to the SEC to welcome West Virginia - or turn its back. As of Monday evening, the conference had not said no to the school.
Does that mean this report is necessarily right? No, but it certainly seems more likely than reports that the SEC has turned down West Virginia. Because if it spurns West Virginia, and things go awry with Missouri or whoever else is being considered for the 14th team, where is the SEC going to go -- Rutgers? It's more likely that the SEC might sit on the application for a while and see how things play out. And then, if things haven't moved significantly with someone else in a week or two, the Mountaineers might get a look. That's if they're not already on the fast-track for membership.
Nobody matters but you?
Because of the immense respect I have for the Mayor, I really wanted to be able to respond to this somewhat reasonably. But that was before I read more than the headline, and I ran across one of the most astonishingly arrogant things I've ever read on Dawg Sports, whatever other disagreements I might have with it.
I don’t care what South Carolina wants, because, frankly, if we had bought the substance of South Carolina’s current argument against Clemson 20 years ago, we wouldn’t have invited South Carolina to join.
Where to begin? I mean, aside from the Mayor's apparent misconception that South Carolina was annexed into Georgia some time before 1991. The last part of that sentence is at best intellectually disingenuous. The problem that South Carolina has with Clemson joining the league is not that Clemson is close to South Carolina. It's that Clemson is in the same state as South Carolina -- which is completely different than being a neighboring state, and the Mayor knows it.
I've said as many times as i care to, and I'll repeat it here again, that my first preference for joining the SEC is N.C. State. The next state over doesn't bother me in the least. Having Clemson gain the only thing that gives South Carolina a distinct recruiting edge over the Tigers does bother me.
And I'll say this: I do care what the Mayor and Georgia fans think. If Georgia doesn't want Georgia Tech to join and the idea is for some odd reason under consideration, they shouldn't. If Kentucky doesn't want Louisville to be added to the SEC, they should remain in the Big East. And if Florida doesn't want Florida State in the SEC, which I think would be a home-run addition, then they should continue to be an ACC team. Expansion cannot and must not come at the expense of a current member.
The Mayor talks about Nebraska's leaving the Big 12 because of its alienation from the league, but he ignores the lesson that the Huskers' alienation teaches us. Nebraska left the Big 12 because it was repeatedly ignored by the other conference members. I'm not saying South Carolina would or even could leave the SEC if it wanted to -- and I would fight any effort by the Gamecocks to ever go to another league. But if you make decisions by running roughshod over the perfectly reasonable concerns of other conference members, you begin to cause friction points in the league. And those friction points can, eventually, cause what once looked like a strong league to disintegrate.
Oklahoma, Texas give presidents different levels of authority
The Sooners say their president can essentially make a move on its own. Bill Powers can negotiate a deal for Texas, but still has to get the go-ahead from the regents when he's done.
More regents meetings: Kansas
This one's scheduled for Thursday. Apparently, Nebraska and Colorado are going to regret leaving the Big 12-2-1-2-2. Sure.
More regents meetings: Oklahoma State
They're confabbing Wednesday, but the Cowboys are certain to follow the Sooners' lead.
Why have one incompetent commissioner when you can have two?
The Big East and the Big 12 are considering a merger.
The transcontinental conference
The Mountain West -- which has Hawaii as its future westernmost member -- and Conference USA, which counts East Carolina among its members, could join forces.
WAC expands in baseball
Cal-State Bakersfield and Dallas Baptist sign up for hardball.
Oh, yeah, the NCAA will still exist when all this is over
Infante brilliantly illustrates the issues it will face in the post-realignment era.
A different way of looking at the realignment talk
Check out Anchor of Gold's superconference buzz map.
OTHER NEWS
South Carolina's notice of allegations
I haven't had a chance yet to read it closely, but I'll be surprised if the 2009 season still exists when this is over. And to those who might be looking for a change of heart now that I'm on the other end of the one of these things, sorry -- the season should be vacated if most of the allegations are true.
I'm not quite as sanguine as Gamecock Man about the possibility of a postseason ban, but I'm not overly worried, either. I think that hefty loss of scholarships and a lengthy probation is more likely than stiff penalties, but Miami better get the death penalty if I'm wrong.
The Jefferson case heads to a grand jury
But, for whatever it's worth, DNA evidence is apparently inconclusive.
Childs, please
Greg Childs will take the field again when the Hogs play Alabama, Bobby Petrino said.
I'm not even sure what he's saying here
Pete Boone is either close to firing Houston Nutt or just increased his buyout to $10 million. One of the two.
Coach Nutt and I met today and discussed the current state of Ole Miss football. Both of us are extremely disappointed in our performance this year. We agreed that to be successful, this disappointment must be met head on with solutions for improvement.
Really, do any of those sentences have an active verb?
But he has a solution
It has something to do with cracking eggs, I don't know.
Joker Phillips is angry
That has something to do with microwaves. And the fact that his team is playing terrible right now.