College Football Gets Shook Up

Even though the college football season ended seven months ago, the action in the offseason has been just as intense.

Once a fairly organized system, the landscape of college football was up for grabs this summer.

Athletic directors, coaches, and supporters became major players in a poker game that would decide the setting of the sport for the years to come.

However, the talk of expansion came and went without any of the major players making a colossal move.

Still, there are conferences and schools that are better off by the deals that were made, and there are those looking for answers after being blindsided by the deals of the sport.
The former Big 12 follows underneath the blindsided category. At the end of the college football season, Big 12 powerhouse Texas and the rest of the conference seemed to be headed in a positive direction.

However, the arrow of fortune switched for the Big 12 as the Big 10 (which had 11 teams) came calling for a 12th member to join.

Nebraska was the first pin to drop in the college football domino effect. The Cornhuskers accepted the Big 10’s bid to join the conference and gave the conference the ability to create a championship game.

Nebraska benefited by joining a conference that was closer to the rest of the universities. Also, with Nebraska football on the rise, the Cornhuskers should be steady contenders in the weaker Big 10.

Colorado was the next chip to fall as they headed west to the Pac-10. Colorado always seemed distant in terms of location in the Big 12, and a fresh start could be what the Buffaloes need to be relevant again.

The Pac-10 also benefited by adding the Denver television market to its conference.
However, the biggest move in this historic conference expansion could be one that wasn’t made. With the Pac-10 looking to expand to 16 teams, the Big 12 looked to be on life support.

With all eyes on Texas, the Longhorns flirted with the Pac-10, but ultimately decided to stay in the 10-team Big 12. Texas’ refusal saved the Big 12 for now, but also reinforced the fact the Longhorns are powerful and elite enough to save an entire conference.

Conference expansion had other notable moves as well.

Utah left the Mountain West Conference to join the Pac-10, thus giving it 12 schools and the opportunity for an important conference championship game.

Boise State announced it will leave the WAC for the Mountain West.

Notre Dame reinforced its desire to remain independent despite the Big 10’s courtship.
Other than that, the colossal poker game turned into a contest of bluffs.