We start the year with some more conference realignment moves.
In
order to keep up the numbers, The Big East (henceforth known as the American
Athletic Conference, no longer to retain its status as a "Power"
conference starting next season) courts Memphis and Temple to join for its
final season.
Meanwhile,
Louisville, UConn and Cincinnati reach agreement to join the ACC for the 2014
season...although all 3 would have been in play for the Big 12 as well. Who ever would have though these three schools would have so many suitors?
As
for the actual play on the field, the ACC stands out for FSU winning the
championship, and the bottom of the conference being a remarkable shit show, as
SMU, FIU, Ohio, Troy and UCF bring up the rear of the conference in a
relegation battle that could only be described as very ‘ACC Coastal’.
In
the end, FIU loses. They finished as statistically the worst team in all of
college football.
The
ACC, ladies and gentlemen!
This
was the season when Miami started off 7-0 and then fell apart. Or as I know it,
"when I began to realize Al Golden was not worth a contract
extension and learned to love the bomb."
I think Miami would have been roughly as good as Nebraska that
season, so they probably would have finished with something like a 9-3 or 8-4
record, depending on whether they were in the Legends or Leaders division.
(Those
were actual division names. No one does pomposity like the Big 10.)
Anyway,
here are the relegations:
ACC
- FIU
AAC
(fka Big East) - Temple (San Diego State, Memphis and Arkansas
State are following them out the door with no conference to join)
Big
10 - Rutgers
Big
12 - Tulsa
PAC
12 - Cal
SEC
- Arkansas
Arkansas
and Cal are brand name programs, while Rutgers is in the biggest TV market.
Meanwhile, Tulsa ends an 8 year run among the big boys. Not bad. Not bad at
all.
Promotions:
Conference
USA - Washington State
MAC-
Bowling Green
Mountain
West- Texas Tech
Sun
Belt- Tennessee
At-large
- Marshall (also in the mix: Fresno State, East Carolina, Minnesota)
Some
big names here, as well as Marshall, with Rakeem Cato at quarterback.
In
the expansion draft, a major shakeup occurs: the ACC gets first dibs! They
don't waste it, nabbing Tennessee to become a bedrock program for a league
desperately in need of one.
(Well,
in theory. I would hope in this scenario Tennessee would hire someone more
inspiring than Butch Jones, aka SEC Golden.)
This
double whammy for the SEC turns out ok, as they scoop up Texas Tech with the
next selection, but it is pretty obvious that anyone would prefer the Vols. The
PAC 12 ends up with Washington State, the Big 10 gets Bowling Green and the Big
12 ends up with Marshall.
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