Conference Expansion - Where Are We Headed?

It's been a while since my last post. But with everything swirling around about this particular subject, I could not resist throwing my two cents out there. I'm sure anyone who cares enough to read this post already knows that Texas A&M has finally been officially accepted into the SEC, effective on June 30, 2012. This will end a 16-year stint in the Big 12 Conference for the Aggies. This move will give the new SEC 13 teams; however, it surely will not be the only move made. Conference realignment has definitely been the hot topic in college football for the past year, beginning with the announcement of Colorado and Utah bolting from their conferences to join the newly aligned Pac-12 and Nebraska jumping to the Big 10. It seems that having four or five proposed "super conferences" is becoming an inevitability, but what does this mean for the current powerhouse conferences?

I feel like today's major conferences will remain in existence with the possible exception of the Big 12. The conference has already lost three teams (Colorado to the Pac-12, Nebraska to the Big 10, and Texas A&M to the SEC), dropping the conference to nine remaining members. Furthermore, some of the remaining members are not ruling out moving on to other conferences. Rumors are floating around out there that the Missouri Tigers plan to seek acceptance into the SEC as well and Oklahoma and Texas have expressed interest in the Pac-12. If these three teams leave, the Big 12 will dissolve, plain and simple.

Personally, I would be all for conference expansion. I could picture a 16-team SEC possibly coming into existence with the acceptance of Missouri and Texas A&M in the western division. The two teams that I would love to see come into the eastern division are Florida State and Clemson. Obviously, this remains to be seen. For the sake of argument, let's just assume that only Texas A&M and Missouri enter the SEC, leaving it at 14 teams. If this happens, I think the divisions would have to realign slightly to allow the two new teams into the western division. This is how I see the divisions being carved out:

Western Division

Arkansas

Alabama

Ole Miss

Mississippi State

Texas A&M

Missouri

LSU

Eastern Division

Auburn

Florida

Georgia

Kentucky

Vanderbilt

Tennessee

South Carolina

How do you guys see conference expansion progressing? Do you think it will come to this? Will the Big 12 dissolve or will the NCAA step in to prevent that from happening? I would love to hear your opinions on this debate. 

Do or Die for the Arkansas Razorbacks

So I have to admit (and I'm most certainly not the only one) that I was left with a pretty bad taste in my mouth after the Razorback game on Saturday. I know a win is a win but I was left scratching my head after the Hogs narrowly avoided disaster against an inferior opponent in the Troy Trojans. Arkansas (3-0) won the game 38-28 but they looked like they just didn't have their heads in the game after the first half. The first half really couldn't have gone much better, as the Razorbacks jumped out to a 24-0 lead and eventually led 31-7 early in the third quarter; however, from that point the Trojans outscored the Hogs 21-7. Granted, Troy is a much better football team than they get credit for (they are currently seeking their 6th straight Sun Belt Conference championship). But, there is no excuse for the Hogs allowing the game to get that close.

Even more unnerving is the fact that the Hogs' competition gets dramatically better as they enter SEC play. Next week, they head down to Tuscaloosa for a nationally televised game against the #3 Alabama Crimson Tide that could potentially have implications for not only the SEC title game, but also for the BCS National Championship. I firmly believe Arkansas has a realistic shot at winning this game but they have to play 4 full quarters of good, fundamental football.

If they manage to get by Alabama, they then have to travel to Arlington, TX the very next week for what would be a battle between 2 of the top 10 teams in the country: Arkansas vs. #8 Texas A&M. While this is another winnable game, it just goes to show you that the Arkansas coaching staff have their work cut out for them in getting this team prepared to go through one of the toughest schedules in all of college football. Can the Hogs run the table and make it to the BCS Title game this year? As a firm supporter in the team, I'm inclined to say yes. They have the talent to do it but can they consistently rise to meet the level of talent in the SEC? The only thing clear in this whole situation is that if Arkansas is to make a run at the national championship, it starts now. It truly is do or die for the Razorbacks.

                                                     Above: Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson
                                                     scrambles to find a receiver vs. Troy.

Welcome/Opening Comments (Ariz. @ OSU)

First and foremost, I want to welcome and thank all of you who had the time and interest to take a look at my first attempt in the blogging world. This blog is going to cover every topic related to college football that I feel the need to discuss. Admittedly, I am a die-hard Arkansas Razorback fan but I will try to keep my opinions as objective as possible (no promises to the LSU and/or Longhorns fans out there).

I want to kick this blog off by commenting on the game Thursday night between the #9 Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Arizona Wildcats. The Cowboys took Arizona to the woodshed by a final of 37-14. Maybe I was alone in this, but I was expecting a much more competitve game than we got. I know a lot of you probably looked at OSU's #9 ranking and immediately thought "Well no surprise there," but I thought with Nick Foles bringing the experience at the QB position, the Cats would have been eager to regain the momentum they lost at the midpoint of last season. If you saw the game, you know just how far off my prediction was. Foles played a pretty good game from my viewpoint but how can you plan for the opposing QB to complete 42 of 53 passes? Brandon Weeden was an absolute field general for the Cowboys. As if that wasn't enough, Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith combined for 186 yards on the ground.

I think Arizona is a solid football team that just ran into a powerhouse in Stillwater. OSU has been a solid team for the past couple of years but just haven't been able to make it to that next level (thanks largely to those boys from Norman). In my opinion, if the Cowboys are ever going to take that next step to being "the team" in the Big 12 this is the year. Do you guys see that happening this year or will the Sooners once again be the team that has to step up and keep the Cowboys down?