First conference with a football playoff...

**cyman05** · 02-13-2012, 09:01 PM

...is going to be the new 18-24 team C-USA/Mountain West Merger conference.

The news today was that this new conference isn't going to merge for just football, but it will be an all-sport merger in order to negotiate new TV contracts. The conference press release gave a couple interesting details

1. The new conference will encompass 18-24 members. That means 2-6 new members will be added. I'm assuming they'll be all-sport members. Temple is the only one confirmed in talks.

2. There will be a 4 team playoff for the conference football championship. I guess this answers the questions we had about whether a conference can hold a playoff for its football championship or not...

Possible expansion targets probably will include Temple, UMass (adding BCS football next year), North Texas, Louisiana Tech, Utah State, San Jose St, New Mexico State, and Idaho.

Adding any WAC teams will essentially provide the death blow to the remnants of that conference...

**price26** · 02-13-2012, 09:08 PM

Just ridiculous.

If you didn't think conference realignment was getting ********, this should be enough to get you there.

**alarson** · 02-13-2012, 09:11 PM

Will the NCAA have to give a waiver to allow it?

If you can split things into 'pods' and play mostly regional games, basically having regional conferences within the conference as a whole for tv negotiating purposes, you can have the benefits of both large and small conferences.

**PabloDiablo** · 02-13-2012, 09:25 PM

Well, that's that then. It's been nice being a college sports fan with all of you but I think the NCAA is about to collapse under it's own weight.

**Cyclonepride** · 02-13-2012, 09:59 PM

Kind of humorous- ESPN scrolled the members of the new conference along the bottom, and it kept going and going and going.

**minnclone99** · 02-13-2012, 10:06 PM

Good for them. The free market is acting to create an opportunity for those teams that the current system of dozens of third tier bowls cannot provide. Sorry to offend anyone who was glued to the New Mexico or Idaho Potato Bowls back in December week 3.

The unfortunate thing is that if they get too cozy they will create a permanent/official subclass of football between FCS and FBS. Although that already pretty much exists right now-- so what's to lose.

**Wesley** · 02-13-2012, 10:18 PM

Time for Big 12 to get on their horse to 12-14 teams. Darker days are coming as the conferences go wild. How many BCS teams by 2015? 78?

**cyman05** · 02-13-2012, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by Wesley

Time for Big 12 to get on their hoprse to 12-14 teams. Darker days are coming as the conferences go wild. How many BCS teams by 2015? 78?

Another Division 1 split is coming...maybe sooner rather than later...

The question is how many teams make the cut and how do you decide where to draw a line between teams?

NCAA Division I governance to be examined – USATODAY.com

**Clonehomer** · 02-13-2012, 10:33 PM

I thought the NCAA explicitly stated that you were only allow a championship game. No additional playoffs allowed. I wonder if this got the NCAA's blessing. If so, I think we're headed to a 16 team SEC and PAC sooner rather than later.

**Wesley** · 02-13-2012, 11:55 PM

NCAA is soaking up a lot of dollars that Slime and SEC want. Seriously, the major schools at the top are probably tired of all the NCAA investigations.