That thought had crossed my mind. You have six members of the original conference, and six later additions.
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Again Iâm of the opinion that you have to balance travel costs and maximize rivalries. You could maybe come up with a slightly more balanced divisional alignment but only at the expense of natural rivalries. Failing to put the Texas teams in the same division lowers the value of the league. Those teams need to play every year. No questions asked.
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I like the west division but man we need to recruit and we need to recruit in a hurry. I feel like weâre not ready to compete in football right now.
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Divisions are just for football. One trip to a location per year. Get on the plane, go, come back. IDK if the travel costs really factor in for football. Weâll just have to wait and see who is in the Haters division and Ragers division.
The only time WVU attempted Texas recruiting was during Holgorsenâs tenure and it wasnât very lucrative for usâŠthat might be because Dana sucks at recruiting or something else, but when we have top 20 recruiting classes at WVU we are doing work in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina and FloridaâŠI donât think WVU, Cincinnati, and UCF are too worried about Texas exposure or accessâŠwe will have some of courseâŠcross divisional games would have us playing between 3-4 games with west division opponents every yearâŠnow if I were KSU and ISU, Iâd be pissed offâŠas far as the Jayhzwks, does it really even matter? Now I think WVU, Cincinnati, and UCF wouldnât be too heartbroken if KSU and ISU were at a recruiting disadvantage in TexasâŠit might make it easier for the Mountaineers, Bearcats, and Knights to consistently rise to the top of the East Division standingsâŠthose 3 schools would NOT be shut off from their traditional recruiting bases.
I donât think the ânatural rivalryâ between Houston and Baylor is going to carry that much weight, in the end. I donât think a lot is going to hinge on whether we play two Texas teams a year or three. Or whether TCU does. And I think it matters how bad it would be for the northern three. If they donât have a foothold anywhere, I think we all pay a price.
Even so I personally want there to be a Texas+ division and I want to be in it. I hope Iâm wrong and they go for it. But I donât think this is necessarily a bullet that the north three are going to have to bite.
Looking forward to our budding rivalry with BYU.
The annual âcat fightâ between the Coogs and the Cougs.
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I donât see the big deal about balancing travel miles. It wont help build rivalries and big games, which are better for TV ratings.
WVU, UC, and UCF will be in one division, and BYU in the other. I think that is a given. Historically, the two Kansas schools have had more success when in the Big 8 and Big 12 north, than when having Texas teams in one division with them. So not sure why they would want that either. Plus they get the Ohio and Florida markets in addition to still playing cross over games in Texas every year.
I think the east west in the original post makes a lot of sense.
Would you swap Okie State with BYU, to create a big12 Holy war pod. I also think Okie State would fight tooth and nails to play in Houston every season. I would think Okie state reserves some privileges here.
Secondly, doesnât the NCAA allows either two division play or a full round robin.
I do still like the idea of no divisions. 1 permanent rival and rotate the other 7 games. That way you play every team in a home and home every 4 years. The top two get the championship game. This removes any concerns about unbalanced divisions and lowers the chances of a low ranked team getting an upset in the CCG game.
I think they split the 4 Texas teams so the other schools have equal access to the state of Texas.
EAST
West Virginia
Cincinnati
UCF
Houston
Baylor
Iowa State
WEST
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma State
TCU
Texas Tech
BYU
The first two pods are pretty malleable, I think.
Texas being split and us ending up with Baylor is the worst case scenario for me. I could see it happening, though.
I think Iowa state is in a block with Kansas and K-State, though, however things end up.
YepâŠbut we are the most âEastâ if they decide to go East and West
Given the geography and history, I think it makes sense for there to be scheduling pods, at least for the north. Letting Kansas play both KSU and ISU every year makes sense, as well as Cincy, UCF, and WVU. Then you play the rest four of every six seasons.
Main reason I fear we could end up with Baylor is if they decide âTCU has a history with BYU, and Texas Tech is legit west.â
They shouldnât go straight by geography.
I remember a brief period where it looked like they might replace Nebraska with TCU (before Colorado left⊠or was it the other way around?) the thought was that TCU would go in the north despite the geography.
One other issue about splitting the Texas schools, TCU and Baylor are the two middle ones, and they have played each other for over 100 years. If they are in the same conference, I would think it might be hard to split them. Personally, I donât care, but others probably do.
Another topic would be BYU. I wonder if they would want to be in a division with TCU or not since they have played more than any other BYU/11 teams in the new conference - 11 meetings with TCU a 6-5 edge. (K State - 8 times (last in 1997), no other school more than 3.). It may be a non-factor but curious to consider.
Was it Cincinnati that used to have a rivalry game with WVU or was it with Louisville? Or Hell, was it WVU and Louisville?
Two of those teams used to play some special game.
Cincy and Louisville played for a trophy, but I canât remember what the game was billed as.
Thatâs it. And Cincy fans were pi##ed when Louisville went to the ACC and lost it.