Post by azteclou on Jun 10, 2010 12:27:01 GMT -8
sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=5272309
The ex-SEC commissioner believes the Mountain West Conference will grow and become a major conference.
Here's the key part of the article...
".....That "something" is likely a 16-team league that would destroy the Big 12. The Pac-10 also could add Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. The Big 12 leftovers -- Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State (assuming Kramer is right about Missouri and the Big Ten) -- would be adopted by the Mountain West.
Kramer said he thinks the Big Ten will eventually become a 16-team conference. I mentioned that a Chicago Tribune story suggested otherwise, that the Big Ten didn't want to be perceived as causing "college football Armageddon."
Kramer scoffed at the theory.
"The Armageddon is already there," he said. "If the Nebraska domino falls, the Armageddon is out there. Now forget about your conscience and do what's right for your conference. … You got to look at it from 10 years from now, eight years from now, six years from now."
To emphasize the point, Kramer recounted a phone call he received from a conference commissioner as the recent expansion rumors heated up.
Said the commissioner to Kramer: "How did you keep people from being mad at you?" Said Kramer: "You really didn't."
In other words, it's every conference for itself.
"It's evolution," said Kramer, "and I think in the long term it could be a positive for college athletics."
The evolution isn't done. I asked Kramer how he thought it would shake out.
"My best guess is that the Big Ten will eventually get to 16 in phases," he said. "That the Pac-10 will move forward with its proposal. That the Mountain West will evolve into a major conference. Then, depending on how the Big Ten plays out -- how they get to 16 -- you would have the possibility of the ACC and the SEC absorbing significant numbers of teams out of the Big East and we'd end up with five major conferences."
The ex-SEC commissioner believes the Mountain West Conference will grow and become a major conference.
Here's the key part of the article...
".....That "something" is likely a 16-team league that would destroy the Big 12. The Pac-10 also could add Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. The Big 12 leftovers -- Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State (assuming Kramer is right about Missouri and the Big Ten) -- would be adopted by the Mountain West.
Kramer said he thinks the Big Ten will eventually become a 16-team conference. I mentioned that a Chicago Tribune story suggested otherwise, that the Big Ten didn't want to be perceived as causing "college football Armageddon."
Kramer scoffed at the theory.
"The Armageddon is already there," he said. "If the Nebraska domino falls, the Armageddon is out there. Now forget about your conscience and do what's right for your conference. … You got to look at it from 10 years from now, eight years from now, six years from now."
To emphasize the point, Kramer recounted a phone call he received from a conference commissioner as the recent expansion rumors heated up.
Said the commissioner to Kramer: "How did you keep people from being mad at you?" Said Kramer: "You really didn't."
In other words, it's every conference for itself.
"It's evolution," said Kramer, "and I think in the long term it could be a positive for college athletics."
The evolution isn't done. I asked Kramer how he thought it would shake out.
"My best guess is that the Big Ten will eventually get to 16 in phases," he said. "That the Pac-10 will move forward with its proposal. That the Mountain West will evolve into a major conference. Then, depending on how the Big Ten plays out -- how they get to 16 -- you would have the possibility of the ACC and the SEC absorbing significant numbers of teams out of the Big East and we'd end up with five major conferences."
