Football Armageddon Looms

On a weekend of exciting college football, where Iowa stormed back to beat Pitt and Iowa State improved to 3-0 against UCONN, the news about the possible disintigration of the Big 12 was suddenly overshadowed by a shocking move by two members of the Big East.

Pitt and Syracuse applied- and were accepted to join the ACC. UCONN and potentially Rutgers are not that far behind according to reports- all of which throws everything up in the air again. Not that I blame the ACC for accepting them or Pitt and Syracuse for bolting- the writing was on the wall and it's champagne and caviar for the ACC folks, because suddenly they look a lot stronger than they did last week.

So what happens now? My gut instinct is that the Pac-12 makes the next move- maybe as soon as this week and Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech all bolt to a new Pac-16. At which point I think the SEC starts looking seriously at Mizzou, Kansas and K-State to get them up to 16. (There had been rumors about them wanting to go east AND west should they go to 16, but I don't think Florida State jumps now- neither does Clemson. Louisville and West Virginia are intriguing possibilities, but the roundball power of Kansas and K-State might be too much to pass up.)

So what does the Big 10 do? My initial hunch is absolutely nothing- at first. Why should they? They've got a fantastic television deal, everybody's happy, everybody's making cash money and they're waiting for Notre Dame. But there's no question that eastern expansion for the Big 10, if there is to be any just got a lot more complicated. The ACC just shored itself up in a big way, I think and I can't see anyone wanting to bolt what's going to be the premier basketball conference in the country. And if football moves the Big 10, basketball is what drives the Big East and ACC.

There's also the academic side of the equation to consider with the Big 10. All members- with the exception of Nebraska, who was removed from the organization are part of the Association of American Universities (AAU)- Mizzou, Kansas, Iowa State and interestingly enough Rutgers are all members- but not Notre Dame or K-State. Interesting. It's hard to tell how much of a role that played- or will play in conference expansion.

However you slice and dice it, there's no question that the slow moving earthquake of re-alignment is starting to quicken pace. Stay tuned.

UPDATED: Actually, this makes more sense. Texas- pay attention and read this!

UPDATED AGAIN: I disagree Mr. Bissinger- it's not an unimportant concern you raise, but at a certain point, people like Paterno get to decide when they go- and he certainly has earned the right to do so.