Tuberville reprimanded for telling the truth!!

Today, Tommy Tuberville was reprimanded by the Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe for his comments he made during an interview with Rivals Radio. The Big 12 issued a press release on it's website, in which the first paragraph reads:

The Big 12 Conference has announced a public reprimand of Texas Tech University head football coach Tommy Tuberville for recent statements that were a violation of the Big 12 Conference’s Principles and Standards of Sportsmanship, prohibiting public criticism of members. - Big 12 Sports.com

This paragraph reaffirms what all college football fans know - the Big 12 will continue to show its egregious incompetence, regardless of who remains in the conference.

Upon close examination of Tuberville's comments, what did he say that was public criticism of its members? Coach T simply pointed out that in other conferences the teams get equal money. In his example, he pointed out that perennial doormat Vanderbilt gets the same TV money as an upper echelon program like Florida. He also pointed out this financial disparity gave some teams more influence than others when it comes to conference decisions. At no time did Tuberville criticize any member institution of of the Big 12.

More importantly, Tuberville was "dead on balls" accurate!!

Commissioner Beebe continues to drop the ball on things. Does he not realize that it was this horrible TV deal that lead to Nebraska and Colorado leaving? By extending the deal to benefit Texas, doesn't he realize that in two to three years Texas can attempt to leave again - expecting him to raise the deal even more? And should Texas try re-negotiate, what's to stop Oklahoma and/or Texas A&M from joining the football-rabid SEC?

To bottom line it, the commissioner paid too much for an already overpriced product. No one is going to fill the stands for Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, and Missouri... at least for college football.

Expansion Aftermath....

Now that the dust has settled, let's evaluate teams that are on the move....

• Nebraska will make an immediate impact in the Big Ten. They will bring a physically tough approach to the Big Ten. In recent seasons, the Big Ten has become a joke, getting manhandled by more physical teams. The Huskers will force teams to recruit more physical defenders, causing the defenses to start shutting down some of the more high-octane offenses. As a result, everyone in college football wins!

• Colorado moving to the Pac Ten surprised me the most. The program has struggled horribly over the past few seasons (did they *really* lose to Toledo) . While I have no doubts that Dan Hawkins can turn it around, he doesn't have nearly the athletes that USC, Oregon, and Oregon State have. Let's hope for Hawkins' sake that he gets to play Washington State every year...

• Utah will surprise people in the Pac Ten. They're 7-3 and against the conference, with some solid wins over Oregon, Cal, and USC in recent years. What will really set them apart is that they will be able to recruit more effectively in Texas with their move to the Pac Ten. No longer will TCU get the cream of the crop when Coach Whittingham can say "Hey, don't go to TCU, come here. We're a BCS school, we're on TV every week, and we can play for national championships, where as the Mountain West cannot".
  

Wrong on Expansion

Boy, was I wrong on expansion!!

I really didn't expect Commissioner Beebe to be able to pony up that kind of cash in such a hurry. I also suspect that the SEC and ESPN were involved in raising the funds. If Fox were to ever launch a 16 team Pac Ten, it would definitely pose a threat to ESPN. I can just see Chris Fowler cringing when his beloved Wolverines would get beat by someone like Texas or Oklahoma.

College Football Expansion

Many of you have asked about college football expansion - here's what I predict.....

The Pac Ten will add Texas, Oklahoma, OSU, Texas Tech, and Utah. Texas A&M won't go because they don't like being little brother.

The SEC will add Texas A&M, Clemson, Florida State, and West Virginia to expand to 16 teams.

I expect the Big Ten to go for broke and try to expand to 16 teams as well. I'd have to imagine that Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, and Missouri are on that list.

Notre Dame won't join a conference.

Baylor won't get invited to join a conference (some would argue they shouldnt have gotten into the Big 12 to begin with - thanks Ma Richards).