TCU to the Big East? And in all sports??? Though still entirely the wrong move, it would be one thing to join as a football-only school, but to send your men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, soccer, volleyball, and equestrian teams on cross-country journeys all year just to try to get a slice of the BCS treasure chest is not in the best interest of students, fans, or anyone involved.
As a fan TCU, I'm sorry to say this move represents precisely everything that is wrong with big-time college athletics these days -- it's all about the money, and only about the money. The closest Big East school to TCU is Louisville, 900 miles away! The farthest Big East school, Syracuse, is a mere 3,300 miles away! Talk about not being in the best interest of the student-athlete. How much time away from class are these kids going to spend as they are on tour across the eastern half of the country? And how can any fans of TCU possibly follow their team to away games?
Why is joining the Big East at all necessary? And where was the floundering Big 12 with an invitation for the most natural fit out there?
Where does TCU belong? See the Mid-South conference below for the answer. Everyone talks about fixing the craziness of the BCS system by maybe throwing in a four-team playoff, but nothing will ever fix it, and schools like TCU will continue the madness of moving to an unnatural fit like the Big East, until all conferences are realigned for football.
The Project Playoffs Foundation has taken the top 81 schools by football attendance and divided them into nine geographically correct conferences. Though it will never happen because the greedy college administrators don't want to part with their conference television money, this realignment plan is the most sensible solution and will fix what ails the greatest sport with the worst postseason.
Using the Massey Comparison Rankings, which take every poll and computer rating into account, below is a projection of how the standings would be in each of these realigned conferences as of Week 13 prior to the money grab that is better known as the conference championship games.
Each conference winner gets an automatic birth into the 16-team playoff, and the next best seven teams according to an all-encompassing rating system would also make the playoff. Then all 16 teams are seeded regardless of conference finish using the same all-encompassing rating system.
Problem solved. And here's how the playoffs and realigned conferences would look. And TCU fans might even get to travel to see some away games without booking a cross-country flight.
First-round match-ups:
16 West Virginia at 1 Oregon
15 South Carolina at 2 TCU
14 Virginia Tech at 3 Auburn
13 Nebraska at 4 Stanford
12 Oklahoma State at 5 Ohio State
11 Alabama at 6 Boise State
10 Missouri at 7 Oklahoma
9 Wisconsin at 8 Arkansas
Click here for a full explanation of Project Playoffs.
Northwest
1 Oregon (11-0)
6 Boise State (10-1)
Utah (10-2)
Air Force (8-4)
Oregon State (5-6)
Washington (5-6)
BYU (6-6)
Fresno State (7-4)
Washington State (2-9)
Mid-South
2 TCU (12-0)
7 Oklahoma (10-2)
8 Arkansas (10-2)
12 Oklahoma State (10-2)
Texas A&M (9-3)
Texas Tech (7-5)
Baylor (7-5)
Texas (5-7)
Houston (5-7)
Southern
3 Auburn (12-0)
11 Alabama (9-3)
LSU (10-2)
Mississippi State (8-4)
Southern Miss (8-4)
Tennessee (6-6)
Ole Miss (4-8)
Vanderbilt (2-10)
Memphis (1-11)
Southwest
4 Stanford (11-1)
Arizona (7-4)
Hawaii (9-3)
USC (7-5)
Arizona State (5-6)
California (5-7)
UCLA (4-7)
UTEP (6-6)
New Mexico (1-11)
Mid-North
5 Ohio State (11-1)
Michigan State (11-1)
Notre Dame (7-5)
Illinois (6-5)
Michigan (7-5)
Louisville (6-6)
Cincinnati (4-7)
Purdue (4-8)
Indiana (5-7)
Midwest
9 Wisconsin (11-1)
10 Missouri (10-2)
13 Nebraska (10-2)
Iowa (7-5)
Kansas State (7-5)
Colorado (5-7)
Iowa State (5-7)
Minnesota (3-9)
Kansas (3-9)
Atlantic
14 Virginia Tech (10-2)
North Carolina State (8-4)
Maryland (8-4)
North Carolina (7-5)
Kentucky (6-6)
East Carolina (6-6)
Virginia (4-8)
Duke (3-9)
Wake Forest (3-9)
Southeast
15 South Carolina (9-3)
Florida State (9-3)
Florida (7-5)
Miami (7-5)
Central Florida (9-3)
Georgia (6-6)
Clemson (6-6)
South Florida (7-4)
Georgia Tech (6-6)
Northeast
16 West Virginia (8-3)
Navy (8-3)
Penn State (7-5)
Pittsburgh (6-5)
Connecticut (7-4)
Boston College (7-5)
Syracuse (7-5)
Army (6-5)
Rutgers (4-7)
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