Colorado kicks off conference realignment, Big 12 crumbles and USC athletic director defiant in face of sanctions
Colorado tailback Brian Lockridge lifts weights in the Dal Ward Athletic Center on Thursday, June 10, 2010, in Boulder, Colo. Colorado announced Thursday it is joining the Pac-10.
AP photo
College sports armageddon is in full swing.
After months of speculation, misinformation and innuendo, the realignment of the nation's college conferences officially began Thursday, with Colorado's move to the Pac-10 serving as  the Fort Sumter of the nationwide process.
Nebraska is expected to bolt for the Big Ten as early as today. The school's regents are holding a meeting, at which a decision is expected. With the losses, the Big 12 is hanging by a thread. The conference could add teams to recoup its losses, but if Texas departs as well, the conference is a goner.
And if conference realignment isn't your bag, oh yeah, the NCAA dropped the most severe penalty since it gave Southern Methodist the death penalty in the 1980s on USC yesterday. The fallout in Southern Cal continues. The NCAA shocked the world, writes ESPN.com's Pat Forde.
We've got links galore for you today:
- Joe Posnanski, SI.com: Greed built the Big 12, and greed killed the Big 12.
- Dallas Morning News: Texas, Texas A&M may go in different directions.
- Ft. Worth Star-Telegram: Texas Legislature freaks out because Baylor left in dust.
- Sporting News: Bad blood between Texas and Nebraska spills into print.
- Austin American-Statesman: Commissioner Dan Beebe provided ruderless leadership.
- Michael Rosenberg, SI.com:Â Does any of this make college sports better?
- Sporting News:Â Here's how the rest of the realignment process might go down.
- Kansas City Star: Amid uncertainty, Missouri not pledging loyalty anywhere.
- Kansas City Star: When the going gets tough, Kansas AD runs away.
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Pete Carroll, Steve Sarkisian see no evil, hear no evil.
- Dan Wetzel, Yahoo.com: Return of the lion: NCAA brings the hammer to USC.
- Yahoo.com: Heisman Trophy, BCS championships could be stripped.
- Los Angeles Times: Far from contrite, USC athletic director says NCAA 'envies' USC.
Comments
stan
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 : 4:17 p.m.
In other miscellaneous Michigan news, the AD has ended their agreement with the eSports Partners (MGoBlue Shop): http://www.mgoblue.com/school-bio/mgoblueshop.html Hopefully, the MDen will get this contract.
81wolverine
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 : 11:04 a.m.
More on the USC farce: Carroll's and Sarkisian's assertions that they "didn't know any of this was going on" doesn't fly. As they were the ones in charge, it's their responsibility to know. Even if they didn't know anything (unlikely), then they're guilty of incompetence. It reminds you of Steve Fisher and the Ed Martin mess. It's very hard to believe coaches if they try to make you believe they didn't notice their players driving around expensive cars, wearing high-priced clothes, living in nice condos, and carrying around lots of cash.
81wolverine
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 : 10:38 a.m.
Things could be a lot worse I guess. USC finally got what was coming to them from the NCAA. Looks like Pete Carrol used a lot more than charm to get all the great players there. Arrogance definitely factored into the decision by the NCAA. After all, when your AD (Mike Garrett) makes the following statement in public, you know there's a problem: "As I read the decision by the NCAA," he told the group, " I read between the lines and there was nothing but a lot of envy. They wish they all were Trojans." He should be fired for saying that in public. Can you imagine David Brandon saying something like that? There'd be a HUGE uproar in the Michigan community. At least maybe now we won't have to worry about being beatin down by USC in a bowl game for a while!