Tuesday, September 27, 2016

More college football dominoes: strange Big XII expansion news

Long story short, the Big XII Expansion is a big mess. Oklahoma doesn't want it and that may be enough to kill the whole effort. That's great news for the ACC and BC.

No promotion of UConn and UMass
Our nearest football neighbors, UConn and UMass, are both hoping to improve their football standings. If there is no Big XII expansion, UConn remains a mid-major in football in the American Athletic Conference. UMass wants to join the AAC, but if a UConn or Cincinnati doesn't join the Big XII, there is less likely to be a backfill slot for the Minutemen in the AAC. It is petty of me to want to keep those schools in their respective places, but I do think it helps BC. We already battle elite schools for the best prospects in New England. We don't need added local competition from the two state universities. Remaining the only Power 5 program in the area is one of our slight advantages.

The ACC is okay
As long as the Big XII continues flip flopping and infighting, the ACC looks better. We are less likely to get poached and remain a good landing spot for Texas (due to their shared deal with ESPN). That position means we will get more slots in the playoff and have more bargaining power in the playoff discussion. If the Power 5 ever becomes the Power 4, the ACC is in a good position.

BC has a host of challenges and needs to decide many things related to athletics, but for now it is nice to know that conferences issues are not one of our challenges.

3 comments:

JBQ said...

"If you build it, they will come". If BC can straighten out its own mess, there will be no need to worry about a rivalry with UMass and UConn for recruits. The Yawkeys were the Boston Red Sox. They are one of the foundations of Boston College. The athletic center is named after them. BC has an ideal of "Ever to Excel" which cannot be matched by either UM or UC unless BC shoots itself in the foot which it is currently doing.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/04/16/some-presidents-face-steep-learning-curve-athletics

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1605115-what-makes-a-college-athletic-director-successful#

mod34b said...

I'd like to see UMass join AAC.