Monday, October 10, 2011

Update on Conference Expansion

As my article this morning indicated, Houston is now an expansion candidate for the Big East for the reasons I outlined. Even better is that Boise State has apparently gotten the Big East schools to also consider adding SMU. That gives Boise State three other western-oriented schools (with Air Force being the other one) in their division of what could be the new Big East.

There's a lot to happen before both parties sign on the bottom line. For one thing, Boise State has to either find a home for its other sports or convince the Big East to admit them as a basketball-playing school as well. Odds are that won't happen. Boise State's previous conference, the WAC, has already indicated they would be open to receiving the Broncos in those other sports. The West Coast Conference is another option although I don't pretend to know how receptive they are.

In summary, the chain of events I outlined this morning is beginning to happen. Nothing is for sure until everything is signed. There are a lot of details to go over. The Big East has concerns about reaching that far--adding more western teams, however, lessens the travel for all involved. Perhaps Fresno State and Nevada can also come aboard, meaning that each school would only travel three times to the other division. I think that is very workable, and me one of the things the two parties are talking about as we move forward.

Harris Poll Percentages, Week Six


1.    LSU 97.84%
2.    Alabama 94.89%
3.    Oklahoma 94.4%
4.    Wisconsin 84.59%
5.    Boise State 81.84%
6.    Oklahoma State 80.00%
7.    Stanford 79.90%
8.    Clemson 72.70%
9.    Oregon 66.02%
10.  Michigan 59.93%
11.  Arkansas 58.82%
12.  Georgia Tech 56.38%
13.  Nebraska 44.94%
14.  Illinois 43.65%
15.  South Carolina 41.57%
16.  West Virginia 38.99%
17.  Kansas State 35.41%
18.  Virginia Tech 32.87%
19.  Arizona State 25.43%
20.  Texas 19.55%
21.  Baylor 17.22%
22.  Michigan State 12.03%
23.  Texas A&M 9.53%
24.  Houston 7.17%
25.  Florida 7.17%


26.  Auburn 6.68%
27.  South Florida 3.10%
28.  Penn State 3.06%
29.  Notre Dame 3.03%
30.  Washington 2.33%
31.  Wake Forest 1.39%
32.  North Carolina 1.15%
33.  Georgia 1.11%
34.  SMU 1.04%
35.  Texas Tech .66%
36.  TCU .52%
37.  Rutgers .35%
38.  Cincinnati .28%
39.  Louisiana-Lafayette .06%
39.  Southern Mississippi .06%
41.  Florida State .03%

What Boise State and Houston Bring to the Big East

Coaches Poll Percentages, Week 6


1.    Oklahoma 97.22%
2.    LSU 95.52%
3.    Alabama 94.85%
4.    Wisconsin 84.34%
5.    Stanford 83.53%
6.    Boise State 79.32%
7.    Oklahoma State 79.19%
8.    Clemson 70.92%
9.    Oregon 67.46%
10.  Michigan 60.41%
11.  Arkansas 59.05%
12.  Georgia Tech 54.58%
13.  South Carolina 45.97%
14.  Nebraska 45.49%
15.  Illinois 42.98%
16.  West Virginia 35.80%
17.  Virginia Tech 35.46%
18.  Kansas State 31.32%
19.  Michigan State 29.22%
20.  Arizona State 23.25%
21.  Texas 16.47%
22.  Houston 13.56%
23.  Texas A&M 13.42%
24.  Baylor 12.54%
25.  Penn State 5.22%


26.  Florida 4.88%
27.  Washington 3.52%
28.  North Carolina 2.92%
29.  Auburn 2.24%
30.  Notre Dame 2.10%
31.  South Florida 2.03%
32.  Wake Forest 1.49%
33.  Georgia 1.02%
34.  SMU .75%
35.  Texas Tech .61%
36.  Rutgers .54%
37.  Southern Mississippi .47%
38.  TCU .27%
39.  Hawai'i .06%