Fair Weather Frenzy: the 2010 World Cup

Today, the United States was defeated by Ghana in the elimination round of the 2010 World Cup. All I can say is “Thank God.”

The fact that I am not a soccer fan does not play any part of my opinion of the average American soccer fan. I have ADD which gives me the super power of being able to tune out anything I want and completely forgetting what I have been talk… Oh, look a tree.

The aggravating part about the average American soccer fan is how fair weather he/she is. For one month every four years they are soccer aficionados, claiming to know all about the sport and love it with a passion. That would be fine and dandy, if they actually were soccer aficionados and did love the sport with a passion.

Here’s a few brain teaser to test any friend to see if they are really a soccer fan;

Question One: Who won the last World Cup?
This might not be the hardest question (I even know the answer to this one) but considering that the average American sports fan has the attention span of a dust mite, it will wean out those who really don’t know shit about soccer.

Question Two: Who won the MLS Cup?
I don’t know if that is the actual name of the MLS championship game but I’m taking a guess at it. If the person corrects you and tells you that it is called something else, he or she is probably right and you might as well not wait for their actual answer.

Question Three: Who won the European Cup?
Like Question Two, I don’t know the name of Europe’s soccer championship. I think they have like five a year so I’m just going to go with that.

Question Four: Name five MLS teams.
This might be the stumping question. Many soccer fans don’t follow American soccer because it is not the best that the world has to offer (hint: anyone that has called you un-patriotic for not cheering for Team USA in the World Cup can suck on this one).

Question Five: What the hell does Real mean or FC stand for?
FC is pretty obvious, but I still don’t know what Real means. Yes, a good journalist finds that out for himself. But I have better things to do with my time like breathing, farting and World of Warcraft.

So to all the real soccer fans out there, I have no problem with you. Nobody should tell you what you can or cannot like.

My problem is with the ignorant people who claim to love soccer, and the second that the World Cup is over or Team USA is eliminated, they don’t give a damn about it anymore.

If so many Americans love soccer so much, then why is the MLS struggling so badly in attendance and financially? Why don’t they and all of their soccer fanatics go to the games?

Want to know why? It’s because they are all fair-weather fans. When it’s cool to like soccer, they love it. But once something shinier pops up, the biggest question once again will be “Who the hell is Landon Donovan?”

The New BCS

This week, rumors have emerged that the PAC 10 Conference is looking to expand. Their main target has been reported as six Big XII schools; Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Colorado.

While the move makes sense, there is no doubt that several of these teams would not fit well geographically in the PAC 10 conference, or whatever it would be renamed.

In addition, the Big Ten has been looking to expand. The four schools they have targeted are Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, and Syracuse. Also, there have been rumors that the Big Ten has been in contact with Texas and Missouri.

The negotiations and changes required would be astronomically impossible to figure out at this point, but we (I) here at Devil of Sports decided to take some time and figure out how the college leagues would change if anything were to actually happen, and what scenarios could actually play out.

This map assumes that with the other conferences looking to expand, the Big XII and Big East would be dissolved and absorbed into the other four. While the Big East is primarily a basketball conference, with another eight teams participating in all other sports except football, I would say that the conference would actually go on, but as a weaker non-football league.





PAC 10 - 16 schools

East: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Utah

West: Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State

The PAC 10 Conference is the reason that all of this has come to light so I will start with discussing them. The main reason that the conference wants to expand is because of marketability. While they do have two of the nation’s largest markets in Los Angeles and the San Francisco/Oakland area, all of their schools play in the Pacific Time Zone, except for Arizona and Arizona State.

The issue of timing makes it difficult for the conference to sell and broadcast itself to markets on the East coast, which are three hours ahead.

This leads to the main reason that the PAC 10 is chasing the Texas schools; a conference cable network. Making a west coast cable network would not be very easy to sell to places on the east coast. However, by adding central schools, it allows them to cover a greater portion of the country with one of the nation’s largest schools in the University of Texas.

But it would not be a good move for the Longhorns to go to the PAC 10. For starters, geographically it would be a mess for the three Texas schools to have to travel to the Pacific Northwest, even with divisions. Plus, the PAC 10 would not be able to get the same type of coverage that conferences like the Big Ten or SEC have.

With that said, the PAC 10 would have to look elsewhere, to different markets. Texas Christian University (TCU) would be a great fit. It is located in Ft. Worth and would in draw the metroplex area. After being snubbed out of a chance to play for a National Championship in an undefeated regular season, the chance for TCU to move up into the BCS would be an offer that they couldn’t refuse.

Also, if Texas does not go to the PAC 10 it can be safe to bet that its in-state rivals, Tech and A&M, would not follow and would look to stay with the Longhorns. The consolation prize for those schools could be Brigham Young University (BYU) and Utah. Both teams are a good fit both geographically and market-wise. Like TCU, they are both nationally renowned college football programs that play in non-BCS conferences.

The other three teams from the Big XII, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, I believe would actually go to the PAC 10. While both Oklahoma schools could get offers from the SEC, I believe that it would want the three Texas schools, with their larger markets over the smaller Oklahoma markets. Not wanting to make the conference too large, the SEC would probably not take all six schools from both states, especially when the PAC 10 has no interest in Baylor, and the SEC would accept them as a package.


Big Ten - 18 schools

East: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers

West: Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin

Of all the BCS conferences, the Big Ten is the wealthiest. The reason is simply because they have partnered with Fox to create the Big Ten Network. This brought each school an estimated $22 million in 2008. It is the whole reason why other conferences are talking about expanding.

The Big Ten is interested in Rutgers and Syracuse because they have a market in New York City. However, I cannot see both of them leaping over to the Big Ten just yet. Syracuse is a smaller school and most likely would not be a good fit, primarily because the school prides itself on its basketball program, which would draw huge interest from the ACC. On the other hand, Rutgers would welcome the chance to increase revenue and play in a more competitive football conference.

While Ohio State would refuse to let another school from in-state join, in Cincinnati, Penn State has reportedly welcomed the challenge. That is the cause for Pitt to be getting attention from the conference. However, like with Syracuse, the ACC would probably throw a pitch that could make it one of the dominant football programs in the conference with a basketball league that no other conference could compare to. Plus, Pittsburgh would not want to risk ruining its Backyard Brawl rivalry with West Virginia, whom the conference has no interest in acquiring.

Although the Big Ten has more to offer than any other conference, with a network already strong and in place, the next schools to join would not be their first choices. Missouri is on the Big Ten radar and has been reportedly interested at looking at conferences outside of the Big XII. Should the Big XII fall apart, which this article assumes, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Nebraska would also be looking for new homes. Geographically these schools make perfect sense, as their locations would make the establishment of two divisions easier to create.

The biggest piece of the puzzle is Notre Dame. The Big Ten has invited the Irish to join multiple times. However, Notre Dame makes more money on its own with contracts with NBC and competing with schools all over the country than it would by joining a league.

The Irish pride themselves on being one of the top athletic programs in America. If the Big East folds as a football conference and all that are left are the small schools for basketball, Notre Dame would likely be looking to move its other athletic programs to another conference. However, at this point, no other conference is going to accept Notre Dame without its football program, forcing them to eventually join the Big Ten.


Southeastern Conference - 18 schools

East: Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

West: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

With the Big XII folding, the four Texas schools would most likely be more interested in joining the SEC over the PAC 10. From a competition stand-point, the University of Texas would relish the chance to be a member of the best conference in college football today.

It would also allow the creation of a SEC network that could match the marketability of the Big Ten.

Geographically, this is a great fit. A large concern about joining the PAC 10 would be students traveling and arriving home at odd hours only to have to attend class in the morning or a day later. Joining the SEC allows the Texas schools to keep their travel cost and time low, and only have a one hour time difference with some of the other schools in the league.

However, one drawback for Texas would be the academic standards of the SEC schools, which is lower than that of those of the Big XII. While the Big Ten is interested in Texas, the Longhorns would not abandon their in-state rivalries and would require Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor to accompany them, which the Big Ten would not want.

The other two schools in the mix are Louisville and Cincinnati. Kentucky and Louisville are in-state rivals, and both would love to be able to play each other, in football and basketball, every year, with the kind of stakes that only an in-conference game could provide. Should Louisville show interest, it would quickly draw Cincinnati into the equation.

Cincinnati is located only about 100 miles from Lexington, so geographically it fits well in the SEC. However, its main pull would be because Louisville and Cincinnati have been in-conference rivals since 1929, with the creation of the Keg of Nails. Both were founding members of Conference USA and leapt to the Big East together. If one goes, the other will follow.

Cincinnati would also give the SEC a presence in the north, which would give it the chance to compete, head to head, for the Southern Ohio market with Ohio State.


Atlantic Coast Conference - 17 schools

North: Boston College, Connecticut, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia

South: Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Florida, Wake Forest

With the dissolving of the Big East, arguably the strongest basketball conference in the NCAA, the remainder of the Big East schools would find a welcoming home in the ACC. Syracuse, UConn, Pitt, and West Virginia all possess four of the premier basketball programs in the country. The chance to be able to match them up against the likes of Duke and North Carolina on an annual basis would draw in more money than any other conference could.

In addition, these are both currently seen as two of the weaker football conferences. With Louisville and Cincinnati joining the SEC and Rutgers the Big Ten, the remainder of the programs will be required to fill in the lost spots. The ACC would be able to add West Virginia and Pittsburgh, absorbing a popular and historic football rivalry.

South Florida would be enticing, as they have a quickly up and coming football program as well.

The combination of the remaining Big East schools with the ACC would also make a conference that could entirely dominate all of the Atlantic Coast markets. While the creation of its own television network would be difficult to sell from a pure football standpoint, the basketball revenue could be enough to generate one, especially if they could convince the basketball teams of Georgetown and Villanova to follow.


A New College Playoff Format

With these four new Super Conferences, the creation of a playoff system would be quite simple. Each conference would now have to hold a conference championship game. And, with now only four conferences instead of six, a plus-one game would be very easy to establish. Of course there would still be questions and scrutiny about barring non-BCS teams from the competition. However, BCS expansion to schools like Boise State would become much easier, giving schools with the talent the ability to compete.

Last year, five teams in the FCS finished with perfect regular seasons; Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise State. However, only two of them got to play for the National Championship. Every year there is an outcry for a college football playoff system. With the reduction of the number of leagues and increased revenue generated from TV networks and larger markets, the establishment of a plus-one playoff would be more acceptable to the NCAA and the BCS.