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TennBear

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I'm still not sure why Notre Dame doesn't just get it over with and join the Big East in football like they are in the other sports. Can't there be a loophole in all the Big East contracts stating that Notre Dame can still do their own thing as far as TV contracts...

If their football team was ever going to join a conference I always figure it would be the Big Ten. They play those teams all the time. But as Spartan mentioned I don't know if it will happen. The good thing about being in a conference is in some down years you still get revenue from the other members. But Notre Dame seems to have a much wider fan base all over the country compared to other teams. Even with their bad year this year, I don't know if it will hurt their revenue that badly. I think they'd have to be down for a few years before they would seriously consider a move. It's probably easier for them to fire a coach and move the team in a different direction that way.

I changed the name of this topic, since this is really not about preseason anymore! :)

Thanks. I had wondered about a new topic to cover the regular season. But this one seemed to be pretty popular.

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If their football team was ever going to join a conference I always figure it would be the Big Ten. They play those teams all the time. But as Spartan mentioned I don't know if it will happen. The good thing about being in a conference is in some down years you still get revenue from the other members. But Notre Dame seems to have a much wider fan base all over the country compared to other teams. Even with their bad year this year, I don't know if it will hurt their revenue that badly. I think they'd have to be down for a few years before they would seriously consider a move. It's probably easier for them to fire a coach and move the team in a different direction that way.

I always assumed it would be the Big Ten too. Geographically it makes sense, and the already have annual games with Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State and sometimes Purdue. I assume they stay as an independent because their alumni and boosters don't want them to join a conference, and I suppose if they joined the Big Ten it would mean that they couldn't play some of their current annual opponents, like USC, UCLA, or Boston College. Plus, its probably easier for them to get into a BCS bowl as an independent with an at-large bid. If they were in the Big Ten, last year they would have finished 4th behind Ohio St, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Not to mention that fat NBC contract that would disappear...

Edited by torgo
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ND tried several times to join the Big 10 in the early years of the conference, even going back to win it was called the Western Conference, but the conference turned them down each and every time back then b/c ND wasn't a major research institution like the other conference schools were and none of the other conference schools were private. When the University of Chicage dropped athletics altogether, they really wanted to join and the Big 10 still didnt' let them. Once ND became good and had their own TV contract and millions of fans nationwide, then the Big 10 came and asked them to join, but ND of course declined. ND will never join the Big 10 conference, and why should they, they'd have automatic losses to Michigan and Ohio State just about most years, and throw in losses to Wisconsin and Penn State at least 50% of the time, and probably some other school every so often, and it wouldn't make sense for them. Because of the relationship w/ the Big East in other sports, they really should join it in football. If they ever got respectable again, they could compete in that conference, but not now.

Did you know to be a member of the Big 10 conference, a school has to belong to the American Association of Universities which is a group of 62 leading research universities in North America. It's a pretty long list, but here it is:

Brandeis University

Brown University

California Institute of Technology

Carnegie Mellon University

Case Western Reserve University

Columbia University

Cornell University

Duke Univerisity

Emory University

Harvard University

Indiana University

Iowa State Univerisity

The Johns Hopkins University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

McGill University

Michigan State University

The Ohio State University

Penn State University

Princeton University

Purdue University

Rice University

Rutgers University

Stanford University

SUNY-Stony Brook

Syracuse University

Texas A & M University

Tulane University

University of Arizona

SUNY-Buffalo

University of California-Berkeley

Unviersity of California-Davis

University of California-Irvine

University of California-Los Angeles

University of California-San Diego

University of California-Santa Barbara

The University of Chicago

The University of Colorado

University of Florida

University of Illinois-Champaigne/Urbana

University of Iowa

University of Kansas

University of Maryland

University of Michigan

University of Minnesota

University of Missouri

University of Nebraska

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

University of Oregon

University of Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh

University of Rochester

University of Southern California

University of Texas

University of Toronto

University of Virginia

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Vanderbilt University

Washington University in St Louis

Yale University

Now, just b/c a school isn't a member of the AAU, doesn't mean it isn't a great academic school, but for some reason, they don't meet the criteria to become a member of this association. Since ND isn't a member, even if the Big 10 Commisioner invited them in to the conference again, the university presidents would probably not allow it. There's been talk before from fans of adding West Virginia, but they aren't a member of it either. The only schools eligible to be added to the Big 10 (member of the AAU, Div 1A school, and located in a Big 10 state, or bordering on a Big 10 state) are Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa State, Syracuse, Rutgers, or Maryland.

Sorry for the long post, but it is actually kind of interesting info when talking about the Big 10 and ND together.

Here's a link to the AAU website if your interested on reading more about what it does.

http://www.aau.edu/aau/institu.cfm

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Very interesting ohioian! I always assumed ND was a bunch of snobs or something :P. One benefit that ND would enjoy if they joined a conference is that they could play non-conference cupcake games for the first three games of the year like everyone else does. Who did they have to start against this year? Ga Tech, Penn St and Michigan. Yeesh. Granted, that might not fix anything this year, but at least they would have a few more wins.

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Well, they already belong to the Big East in other sports, and the BCS has a clause that they can take Notre Dame in some Big East spots for bowl games if certain things happen.

Thats a problem in and of itself. Notre Dame shouldn't get special treatment just because they want to be difficult and not join a conference. Why shouldn't SoCal or Florida or any other team in the nation get the same treatment?

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Man, you kinda have a way of feeling an upset coming. I knew tonight's FSU v. Wake Forest game would be a loss from the first punt. No excuses made here. The better team on the field won tonights game. They'll live to play another day and hopefully, FSU can escape this season with a respectable record.

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Man, you kinda have a way of feeling an upset coming. I knew tonight's FSU v. Wake Forest game would be a loss from the first punt. No excuses made here. The better team on the field won tonights game. They'll live to play another day and hopefully, FSU can escape this season with a respectable record.

Was WFU over FSU an upset? I guess in some analysts and fans eyes it was, but that's another instance of not giving Wake Forest enough credit for the calibre of the team...just like all of last year. I mean, they were 10-1 at one point and only ranked 15th?

About the Big 10 post...good information, the only discrepancies I noticed are that Northwestern University is actually a private school. Maybe NU joined the Big 10 later, like after the qualifications were relaxed concerning public universities? Also, Northwestern is not on your American Association of Universities list.

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Was WFU over FSU an upset? I guess in some analysts and fans eyes it was, but that's another instance of not giving Wake Forest enough credit for the calibre of the team...just like all of last year. I mean, they were 10-1 at one point and only ranked 15th?

About the Big 10 post...good information, the only discrepancies I noticed are that Northwestern University is actually a private school. Maybe NU joined the Big 10 later, like after the qualifications were relaxed concerning public universities? Also, Northwestern is not on your American Association of Universities list.

Technically, are the Universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana all private? I always thought the public schools had the word "state" in the name.

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Technically, are the Universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana all private? I always thought the public schools had the word "state" in the name.

Both can be public universities, they have a State System and a University system. They are usually in states that have larger system, for example I am from Rhode Island and we only have 1 public university URI, and no state system.

On a side note, another team goes down. I thought they were overrrated anyway but #21 Florida State will fall out again.

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Was WFU over FSU an upset? I guess in some analysts and fans eyes it was, but that's another instance of not giving Wake Forest enough credit for the calibre of the team...just like all of last year. I mean, they were 10-1 at one point and only ranked 15th?

About the Big 10 post...good information, the only discrepancies I noticed are that Northwestern University is actually a private school. Maybe NU joined the Big 10 later, like after the qualifications were relaxed concerning public universities? Also, Northwestern is not on your American Association of Universities list.

Actually, from looking back into it, Northwestern was a founding member of the Western Conference, now the Big 10. So, that is why they are the lone exception. A lot of other Big 10 fans have always wanted Northwestern dropped b/c of the 11 teams now from when Penn State was added, but b/c of being a founding member, they will never be dropped.

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Was WFU over FSU an upset? I guess in some analysts and fans eyes it was, but that's another instance of not giving Wake Forest enough credit for the calibre of the team...just like all of last year. I mean, they were 10-1 at one point and only ranked 15th?

About the Big 10 post...good information, the only discrepancies I noticed are that Northwestern University is actually a private school. Maybe NU joined the Big 10 later, like after the qualifications were relaxed concerning public universities? Also, Northwestern is not on your American Association of Universities list.

Also, I don't think WFU over FSU was an upset, b/c last year, WFU hammered FSU in Tallahassee, 30-0 and Wake has most of that team back it seems. Last night, they looked like pretty evenly matched teams, hence the 24-21 game.

WFU is no slouch, and it showed last night.

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Also, I don't think WFU over FSU was an upset, b/c last year, WFU hammered FSU in Tallahassee, 30-0 and Wake has most of that team back it seems. Last night, they looked like pretty evenly matched teams, hence the 24-21 game.

WFU is no slouch, and it showed last night.

I totally agree. :) Wake Forest actually has a fairly decent team again this year...and I predict will be in the Top 25 this week. Their two losses were close games to ranked opponents without Riley Skinner (starting quarterback)...38-28 to Boston College and by 20-17 to Nebraska. There are already a handful of teams in the Top 25 with 2 losses. It's amazing that Wake finally has a competitive football team after all these years, and being the smallest school in Division I at 4,000 students.

An ESPN reporter was interviewing Jim Grobe (WFU's coach) after the game and commented that he "must have had a heart attack when Florida State scored that last touchdown"...I immediately thought about how inappropriate that comment was considering Wake Forest's basketball coach just died of a heart attack...

Not to continue questioning Northwestern and the Big 10, but since Northwestern isn't a member of the American Association of Universities, how is it that the Big 10 doesn't require them to seek membership in the association to correct the problem?

Edited by FriskyDingo
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Technically, are the Universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana all private? I always thought the public schools had the word "state" in the name.

Usually any school titled using the state name is a public university...it doesn't have to include the word "state". Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana - all public universities...also UCLA, Texas, Kentucky, N.C. State, Florida, and Florida State are public. Then some public universities are not named after the state, like Clemson and Auburn universities. Sometimes schools with the state in their name are private too, like USC (Southern Cal).

Sometimes universities named for the city are public - like the University of Memphis, U. of Louisville, U. of Cincinnati and U. of Houston - but there are also some that are private, like the University of Chicago, Miami, and Syracuse University.

So I guess there is no definite rule to the naming of a university...any private or public university can be named in whatever manner they choose. :)

Edited by FriskyDingo
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Another crazy weekend! LSU falls to #19 Kentucky 43-37 in 3 OT, what a game! #18 Illinois #19 Wisconsin also fall to unranked opponents. #2 Cal is also currently trailing to unranked Oregon State... could we get yet another top-5 loss??

Freshman Joe McKnight finally showed up to play for USC, with a 45-yard punt return and a 59 yard run in the 4th quarter. Arizona punter had an 83 yard punt, from his own 16 down to the USC 1! :shok:

Edited by torgo
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Here is what my ballot would look like if I were a voter:

1. Ohio State

2. LSU

3. S Florida

4. BC

5. Oregon

6. Oklahoma

7. Cal

8. W Virginia

9. S Carolina

10. Kentucky

I don't think LSU should drop too far, seeing as it was a 3-OT loss on the road to a quality opponent. And, if LSU played BC, Ohio State, or Cal next week, my money would still be on LSU. Ohio State is #1 only by default, as they have played no one this year. USC has no business being in the top ten any more, seeing how they barely held off a lousy Arizona team. Their offense is just pitiful right now.

This year is just screaming for a playoff system.

Edited by torgo
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Here is what my ballot would look like if I were a voter:

1. Ohio State

2. LSU

3. S Florida

4. BC

5. Oregon

6. Oklahoma

7. Cal

8. W Virginia

9. S Carolina

10. Kentucky

I don't think LSU should drop too far, seeing as it was a 3-OT loss on the road to a quality opponent. And, if LSU played BC, Ohio State, or Cal next week, my money would still be on LSU. Ohio State is #1 only by default, as they have played no one this year. USC has no business being in the top ten any more, seeing how they barely held off a lousy Arizona team. Their offense is just pitiful right now.

This year is just screaming for a playoff system.

My Top 10:

1. South Florida

2. Ohio State

3. Boston College

4. LSU

5. Oregon

6. Kentucky

7. South Carolina

8. WVU

9. Oklahoma

10. Cal

South Florida has two huge wins, and one of those being on the road at Auburn

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Top 10 are in

AP

1. Ohio State

2. South Florida

3. Boston College

4. Oklahoma

5. LSU

6. South Carolina

7. Oregon

8. Kentucky

9. West Virginia

10. Cal

USA Today/Coaches

1. Ohio State

2. Boston College

3. South Florida

4. Oklahoma

5. LSU

6. Oregon

7. West Virginia

8. South Carolina

9. Cal

10. USC

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I like yall's rankings! It's a crapshoot! You are so right, this season is screaming for playoffs!!! Only problem is if you take 8 teams; the 9th place team would be left-out?? Then that too is still a judgement call.

Sometimes "X" marks the spot; there is a target on #1's back! And/or Teams cant seem to handle the pressure of being #1??

No excuses at all for LSU, hats off to Kentucky, they deserved to win. Though I still never saw evidence Ky. scored that TD on goaline. Looking for answers in LSU's loss.... Ky. had 2 extra days to prepare/rest?? or is it "Accumulative effect" of strong opponets??? ALREADY played #11-Va.Tech; #8-So.Carolina; #14-Florida; #13(8)Kentucky ?? Worn down physically(key injuries; part of the game)??; emotionally drained from epic Florida game last week??, coming into Ky. game sleepwalking?? Coaches?? Too many silly penalties; really miss #1 Sr. WR; young WR's not stepping it up.

^All the above??

Don't like the Overtime set-up in College ball; too easy to become high scoring. Each team starts on the other side of the field would be better.

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First round of BCS rankings are out:

1 Ohio State Buckeyes

2 South Florida Bulls

3 Boston College Eagles

4 LSU Tigers

5 Oklahoma Sooners

6 South Carolina Gamecocks

7 Kentucky Wildcats

8 Arizona State Sun Devils

9 West Virginia Mountaineers

10 Oregon Ducks

Edited by torgo
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First round of BCS rankings are out:

1 Ohio State Buckeyes

2 South Florida Bulls

3 Boston College Eagles

4 LSU Tigers

5 Oklahoma Sooners

6 South Carolina Gamecocks

7 Kentucky Wildcats

8 Arizona State Sun Devils

9 West Virginia Mountaineers

10 Oregon Ducks

11. Virginia Tech

12. California

13. Kansas

14. USC

15. Florida

16. Missouri

17. Auburn

18. Hawaii

19. Virginia

20. Georgia

I think a few of these teams still have some BCS game chances, I think these rankings are the most fair so far compared to the AP/Coaches polls.

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