[jbock13]

Well, doesnt that make two sources now?

[Blessed1]

Posted this in football but it needs to be posted here too:

From MT Griz coach Delaney:

The Flames are also Bowl Subdivision-bound.

“They’ve got a great program going,” Delaney said. “They’re on their way, in two years, to going into the Big East Conference. And you can tell that by their facilities and their stadium. They have a lot going on.”

http://missoulian.com/sports/college/mo ... f887a.html

I take his comments as saying Liberty could be considered a worthy candidate for the Big East in 2 years due to the dedication they've put forth in their athletic programs and facilities.

[thepostman]

oh wow, we are not going to the Big East

[adam42381]

oh wow, we are not going to the Big East

The Big East must come to us, right?

[ATrain]

I am deducting 10 percentage points from each of your final grades for not following the correct format for LU-to-whatever-our-FBS-conference-flavor-of-the-week-is listed a few pages ago.

[Purple Haize]

If we aren't slated for the Big East why did Notre Dame just leave? They don't want to play us!

[Kricket]

http://twitter.com/JibrilleFewell

@ @ShaneNelson21 yep went juco had alot of offers but God led me to go to liberty who is goin to da big east over tennessee tulsa among others

hmmmm

I remember when Fewell was committing and he said the above. Does that make 3 sources now?

[logic]

I think ND was wrong for accepting the ACC invite. Here is why -

I see football moving towards four, 16 team super-conferences.
I see the playoff teams coming from those conferences (Conference champions perhaps)

Right now I see the following as those four conferences, in no particular order -

1. SEC
2. Big Ten
3. PAC-12
4. Big-12


Sadly for the ACC I see them as the 5th man, on the outside and looking in. I don't think their performance over the past 12 years has made them a player on the scale of the other four conferences. Tech fans can disagree all they want but look at the past 12 years...look at rankings, look at bowl records. The four above mentioned conferences have no doubt been the strongest. The Big 12 looked unstable for a while but didn't lose much as far as far as firepower as West Virginia is ranked 9th and TCU 16th...well ahead of TAM and Mizzou. If anything they gained with the departures of those schools.

So imagine this situation -

You have the following conference champions, whether by a conference championship game or not, all with 1 or 2 losses, based on this week's current rankings -

PAC 12 - USC (2)
SEC - Alabama (1)
Big Ten - Michigan State (10)
Big 12 - Oklahoma (5)
ACC - Clemson - (11)


Now who do you think they will pick for the four play off teams? I don't think Clemson has a chance in that list. Heck I could even see a two loss LSU team being a better argument to make that playoff than a one loss Michigan State team.

A playoff this year might look like -

USC
Alabama
Oklahoma
LSU

With the Big Ten and ACC shut out of the party.

So why ND to the ACC? The Big Ten is better academically. ND is already in the Big Ten footprint. The Big Ten has much better football. Also, the Big Ten would have a better shot at having a playoff team than the ACC.


Just my two cents.

[thepostman]

Their football team is still going to be an independent

[TH Spangler]

Ran into Mike Hogewood yesterday, Raycom Sports. He committed on how many quality media people Liberty is producing. I ask him when he thought ND would be a full ACC football member. Of course he's guessing just like the rest of us, but he thought they would be in a couple of years. I ask him if he meant after the NBC deal runs out. He laughed and said, good chance. He also said he was impressed by the Liberty campus, he drives by on his way to Charlottesville. He said the biggest thing Liberty has to over come to go FBS is the small TV market.

[logic]

Their football team is still going to be an independent

Yes I know this. I am addressing the speculation that ND will join in football in the near future.

I ask him when he thought ND would be a full ACC football member. Of course he's guessing just like the rest of us, but he thought they would be in a couple of years.

Actually, the rumor is NBC isn't going to renew that contract in 2 years, thus meaning football needs to make the move.

If true, then I'm with bluedevil... ND joins the ACC for football. I also think UConn would then be invited to even out football divisions.

You heard it from me here first, by the time ND joins the ACC, they will be full members. I'd put money on it.

I definately think that ND will be an ACC football team sooner rather than later, ACC wouldn't have let them in without thinking that, I guarantee. The Big East shouldn't panic, its not like ND was a football playing member.

I think that depends on what happens in the FBS playoff picture going forward. If it stays at 4 teams and conference championships play into the picture, then ND would join the ACC in football for sure. If the playoffs expand to 8 or 16, then the need for ND to join a football conference is diminished. In this case, they stay indy in football and renew their Notre Dame Broadcasting Channel contract. $$$$.

Actually, the rumor is NBC isn't going to renew that contract in 2 years, thus meaning football needs to make the move.

[jcmanson]

The ACC, with Notre Dame, is setting themselves up to where they have to be included in any type of playoff format. You can't leave out Notre Dame, FSU, Miami, out of a playoff structure. Regardless of if those teams belong or not, they have the financial support and backing to demand to be included.

[bluedevilflame]

Hey, I just heard that [Liberty is going FBS] from [Montana Coach Delaney] He said that Liberty is going to be joining [the Big East] for the [2014 or 2015] season! This has been confirmed by [Montana Coach Delaney]. FBS bound, baby!

[adam42381]

Sadly for the ACC I see them as the 5th man, on the outside and looking in. I don't think their performance over the past 12 years has made them a player on the scale of the other four conferences. Tech fans can disagree all they want but look at the past 12 years...look at rankings, look at bowl records.

While I agree that the ACC has been weak for a while, you need to keep in mind that Virginia Tech and Miami joined the ACC in 2004 while Boston College joined in 2005. I'm not sure why you referenced 12 years instead of 7 or 8.

[Chris Lang]

When I had a sit down with Delaney yesterday afternoon, he mentioned the Big East thing, and then asked me, "is that right?" I told him that Liberty was committed to moving but need an invite from a conference to do so. I asked where he had heard the Big East in 2014 thing, and he said it was a rumor in the coaching circles that he had heard.

[bluedevilflame]

Forget the Big East, its only a matter of time before the SEC comes calling!

[PAmedic]

the Big East thing has popped up in a few odd instances now. Enough to tell me that somebody somewhere (in official capacity) used it as a hook, marketing tool, or SOMETHING and it took on a life of its own.

Sorta like "Don't tell anyone but we're hoping to hear back from the Big East this fall"

now its bit someone in the butt

[logic]

They say "where there is smoke, there is fire" but I don't think it applies in this situation. I've had a lot of Liberty Kool-Aid in my day and even I don't believe Big East rumors for one second. Where is Haize to tell us it is not going to happen?

[Sly Fox]

There is plenty of smoke up here in Montana. I've been hacking on it all morning.

[SumItUp]

There is plenty of smoke up here in Montana. I've been hacking on it all morning.

I could smell it in the plane for the last 15 minutes before we landed. As I left the airport, I could not see the mountains that surround the university.

[BJWilliams]

http://www.florala.net/news/article_...9bb30f31a.html

The UNA board of trustees unanimously approved a resolution to push back the Division I transition until 2014 during their quarterly meeting this morning.

Invite to the Big South in 2013 in time for the transition maybe?

[jbock13]

Logic, I would just like to point out that your posts about the Big East, and Notre Dame, I actually agree with.

[LU-Hoo]

I think ND was wrong for accepting the ACC invite. Here is why -

I see football moving towards four, 16 team super-conferences.
I see the playoff teams coming from those conferences (Conference champions perhaps)

Right now I see the following as those four conferences, in no particular order -

1. SEC
2. Big Ten
3. PAC-12
4. Big-12


Sadly for the ACC I see them as the 5th man, on the outside and looking in.

Actually, 16 team super-conferences are far from a given. It would dilute the tv $$$ pool too much for the likes of PAC-12 and Big 12, etc... For example, consider the PAC-12... What teams could they add to the conference that would be appealing enough to add enough TV revenue that individual schools would get more money in the end? Maybe BYU and... Who else? Likely, they would have to take OK, OK St, Tx from the Big 12... Which then hurts the Big 12, unless they raid the ACC for TV $$$ worthy schools... B1G and SEC would in these scenarios pounce as well... Could get ugly in a hurry, and the 5th man would probably be the bottom dwellers of the ACC. But I don't see 16 team conferences really being desired by the big 4 unless TV revenue is really that much more, or unless the NCAA steps in and mandates that the big 4 go to 16 teams and divides up schools according to their infinite wisdom and whims (which is probably more likely) to put an end to all of this realignment mess...

So why ND to the ACC? The Big Ten is better academically. ND is already in the Big Ten footprint. The Big Ten has much better football. Also, the Big Ten would have a better shot at having a playoff team than the ACC.

Here's why (not in any particular order):
1) Northeast alumni
2) Southeast recruiting
3) Olympic sports
4) Partial membership - they hold on to FB indipendence as long as possible (NBC $$$) or indefinitely, only having to schedule 7 teams a year to fill out their schedule as they see fit, and tap into the ACC meaningless bowl alignment for down years.
5) Expanded playoffs - this 4 team playoff format is going to generate so much revenue that it will soon expand to 8, 12, 16 teams - eliminating any real need for 16 team super-conferences, copnference champion tie-ins, indepentent schools jumping into conferences...
6) Is the B1G really better academically? If so, it can't be by much...

ND is in a great position with this arrangement.

[LUconn]

They went to the ACC because the Big East is crumbling and the ACC is the only conference that would accept them without football. Simple. If it ever comes to the point where NBC is no longer a viable option for ND, they'll move to whatever conference they choose. And it won't be the ACC

[adam42381]

So why ND to the ACC? The Big Ten is better academically.

This depends on how you score them. The latest U.S. News rankings shows that the ACC has more top 50 schools (Duke, UVA, Wake Forest, UNC, Boston College, Georgia Tech and Miami) than the Big Ten (Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Penn State).

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... ies/spp+50