After several months of back and forth and left to right, it seems that Boise State will remain part of the Mountain West Conference for the upcoming academic year. Due to West Virginia leaving for the Big 12, there was a gap in their schedule. Boise will be a part of the Big East in 2013. 

It costed West Virginia $20 million to get out of the Big East. It would have costed the Big East and/or Boise State $10 million to leave the Mountain West a year early. Boise’s other athletic programs would have gone to the WAC, like they will in 2013.

So, instead of grabbing Boise State, it looks like the Big East will bring in Temple to replace West Virginia. This really makes me question the people in charge of the conference. If Temple was the cheaper option, then why didn’t they just get them in the first place instead of flirting with getting Boise out a year early? The conference needs Boise to solidify their conference. It would have been well worth it to give half of that West Virginia money to bring them in. 

The Big East has only had one team finish in the Top 10 since 2008. Boise State has finished in the top 10 every year since 2008.

• Rose Bowl, with a #5 vs. #10 match-up is an amazing game.
• Fiesta Bowl, with a #3 vs. #4 match-up is an amazing game.
• Sugar Bowl, with two almost Top-10 teams, is a terribly sloppy game but is still a close one. 
• Orange Bowl, with the two lowest ranked teams to go to the BCS has the one of the worst games of all time.

The story I learned, when top teams other top teams on the big stage, the games are good and the ratings are better. If West Virginia and Virginia Tech can’t sell the tickets, then who can? 

The BCS must change in order to survive. Somehow, some way, it will change because ratings AND attendance are wayy down on bowl games, and has been so progressively.

Sorry for the lack of posting, despite it being Bowl Season. I’ve been enjoying the holidays and I really haven’t been on the computer much lately. First, I just want to say how awesome it was watching Kellen Moore win his 50th game and. And it was awesome last night watching Baylor and Washington light up the score board. Even though these games are like exhibitions, they’re still fun to watch. Okay, so now for the big game predictions:

• Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma State over Stanford. 

I’ve been supporting OK State all season, and I don’t plan on stopping now. This is an intriguing 3 vs. 4 matchup. It’ll be interesting to see how Luck performs as he prepares for the upcoming draft. Having the Heisman snatched from him 2 years in a row, I’ll expect him to play angry.

• Rose Bowl - Oregon over Wisconsin

I have Oregon because of the depth and the speed. I really thought they had what it took to beat Auburn last year, and I thought they had what it took to go back to the NC game this season, but fell short in week 1. I think they’ve adjusted as the season went on. But, we’ve also seen in the past that when teams have time to prepare for them, they don’t do so well (Ohio State, LSU, Auburn, Boise State). This one will be a lot of fun.

• Sugar Bowl - Virginia Tech over Michigan

I don’t even know if I’ll be watching this game or not to be honest. It’s just a prime example that the BCS needs to be reformed. But pertaining to the matchup itself, I think VT will get it done. In big time BCS games, coaching is extremely important and Beamer has been here before, where Hoke has not.

• Orange Bowl - Clemson over West Virginia

I think that the few weeks off will give Clemson some time to recharge and focus on this game. To say the least, West Virginia has underperformed despite the talent they have. They’ll be looking to finish up their time in the Big East with a big win, but Clemson has too much to play for, since conference championships and BCS bids aren’t something they achieve every other year. They’ll have to make the most of this rare opportunity.

• National Championship Game - Alabama over LSU

They should have won the first meeting. I know that LSU has all the momentum in the world going into this game, but I think Alabama is better defensively. I think that Jordan Jefferson has made more and more mistakes as the season has gone on, and unless he plays his absolute best, he’s going to have trouble. The uncertainty at the QB position is enough for me to take Bama in this one. Maybe, just maybe, they can hit a field goal or two.

Despite all the fleeing, possible invites, and whatnot it’s easily overlooked that the Big East is actually playing football this year. It’s been exciting too, despite what you think the quality is. First, Syracuse dominated West Virginia, who also lost to Louisville this past weekend.

Cincinnati remains undefeated in conference play; their biggest game remaining is West Virginia this week and even if they lose it, they will most likely win out and make it to a BCS game. The Bearcats have only lost once all season, Week 2 vs. Tennessee, a much different version of UT than we are seeing lately. That was back when they had Bray and Hunter. Despite all that, the computers give them no love (not saying they should) as they are ranked for the first time this week at #23.

Regardless of what is going on off the field, it’s good to see they are actually competing out there. You may not like the Big East, but the fact is they still get a BCS bid, so start taking some notes. Oh, it’s still possible that a 5-4 Louisville can win the Big East… Yeah…

The Big East will keep its AQ status, by rule, until 2013. But wait. What if they don’t have enough members? The BCS clearly states that schools have to have at least 7, if not 8, members to be an AQ team. Right now, the Big East doesn’t have that. So if they keep the same schools with no additions and keep their BCS bid, it would be one of the biggest, strongest arguments against the BCS to date.

but the conference met today and Mizzou was not present, meaning Mizzou is not in the plans as the conference moves forward. For both teams will be new conferences with the same level of mediocracy…

is officially a part of the Big 12. I hear that the Big 12 plans to stay with 10 teams, instead of expanding back to 12. That’s good news for the Big East, who will continue to target Western teams to stay in tact.

Here’s my report on the Big East, Big 12, ACC, and the Mountain West. Feel free to ask me questions about it.

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Okay… why not? I’ll make a bigger post about this later. For now, all’s I have to say is RIP Big East (or at least RIP their AQ status). West Virginia was their football cornerstone. Nothing is set in stone yet, but come on… 

You can no longer call that win over West Virginia a “quality win.” The BCS will agree. And Hey West Virginia, losing to Syracuse isn’t going to help you make it to the SEC. It might help you get to the ACC though.