The Saturday Night Slant Has A New Home!

I'm very pleased to announced that the Saturday Night Slant now has a new home as part of the Blougin network of sports bloggers.  Bloguin has plenty of sports blogs dedicated to various teams and topics, and I encourage you to check out any that strike your interest. 

I'm very appreciative of the team at Bloguin for giving me the opportunity to join up with a talented group of writers.  They did a fantastic job designing my new site, and you'll immediately notice the new and improved look and feel of the site. 

The address for the new site is easy to remember at http://www.saturdaynightslant.com/

Not only does the new site look and feel better, but it offers a lot of new features, both for me and you.  Most notably, the new site will have a forum where you can post messages, ask questions, or respond to any my posts or articles. 

I will continue to have an e-mail newsletter feature to alert subscribers via e-mail when new articles are posted.  If you're signed up for the e-mail feature at the old site, I have already signed you up at the new site.  For anyone else interested, just enter your name and e-mail address in the box on the right hand side of the new site and click "Subscribe".   That's it.  You're all set.

I will send out the first e-mail newsletter on Thursday sometime.  If you don't receive it, shoot me an e-mail at lsu.newsletter@gmail.com and I'll get you squared away.

I will keep the old site active, and this post will be my last.  I'll leave this on the front page for anyone who stumbles across it and for any stragglers who haven't found their way over yet. 

Expansion Settles Down; Big-12 Survives; CWS Field Set

Just days after it appeared the Big-12 would completely crumble, it now looks like it's going to hang around....for a while anyway.

A late push by the Big-12 Commissioner has apparently convinced all of the remaining ten schools to commit to staying in the conference.  A new TV deal will apparently make the deal lucrative enough to entice each school to remain.

Texas A&M was calling the shot on this one because they were strongly considering joining the SEC.  Had they decided to leave, the Big-12 likely would have crumbled as a nine team conference could not have worked.  For that reason, I'm sure the Aggies faced an incredible amount of political pressure to stay on board with the Big-12.  But they also faced the prospect of finally getting out of the shadow of Texas and joining the best and most powerful conference in college athletics.  At the same time, they could have, for once, dictated what happened to the University of Texas.  They had the chance to be bold but in classic Aggie fashion...they caved to the pressure.  I really believe that Texas A&M missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to change the fortune of their athletic department.  Now, they'll probably continue to wallow in mediocrity.  Suit yourself.  Those east Texas recruits will continue to help LSU win football games.

In the short term, I think we'll see the PAC-10 add one more team, probably Utah, to bring their total to 12.  Then, they can play a conference championship game and enjoy the financial benefits of doing so.

Each Big-12 team will play a nine game conference schedule, and they will not play a conference championship game.  They will function exactly like the PAC-10 has functioned for the last several years.

So, is all of this over with?

Not so fast.  The Big-10, which started all of this, said some time ago that they were looking to possibly expand past 12 teams.  They have been awfully quiet since adding Nebraska, and I think many are making a mistake by assuming the Big-10 will stand pat.  You could still see them raid the Big East (Rutgers, Syracuse, UCONN) or the ACC (Maryland), and it could start a similar domino effect that was rumored over the weekend.

For fun, here is what the Big-10 could look like if they stick with what they have:

WEST
Nebraska
Iowa
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Northwestern
Illinois

EAST
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Michigan State
Indiana
Purdue

BASEBALL


In case you missed the Twitter update on Monday, LSU pitcher Austin Ross has signed a contract with the Brewers and will not return to LSU in the fall.

The College World Series is set, and I'm glad to say that I'll be there this weekend to take in some of the action.   Here is how the first weekend of games shapes up:

(1) Arizona State vs. Clemson
TCU vs. Florida State
(3) Florida vs. (6) UCLA
South Carolina vs. Oklahoma

The Latest On Expansion

Between USC getting hammered by the NCAA and all of this expansion and conference realignment, college football has never been so prominent in the month of June.

Rumors on expansion have been running rampant, and it has been tough to sift through everything.  But I tried my best.  Here is what we've got.

- Nebraska is leaving the Big-12 and joining the Big-10, effective for the 2011 season.
- Colorado is also leaving the Big-12 and is joining the PAC-10, tentatively effective for the 2012 season

The PAC-10 is also trying to court Big-12 South members Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M.  That would give the PAC-10 a total of 16 teams.  They would reportedly form two divisions.  One would consist of those five teams along with Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State.  The other division would consist of USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, and Oregon State.

However, Texas A&M and the SEC may be throwing a wrench into those plans.  Texas A&M prefers the SEC over the PAC-10, and the SEC seems open to taking them.

Meanwhile, the Big-12 conference commissioner is doing everything he can to keep the remaining 10 members of his conference in tact.  However with a conference needing 12 members in order to hold a conference championship game, it does not appear that this option is financially tenable when compared to the option of leaving for another conference.   However, the commissioner is doing all he can to sell this angle.

Suddenly, Texas A&M and the SEC hold all the cards.  Even if the remaining schools in the Big-12 want to stay put, Texas A&M's decision could dictate what happens.  If they pull the trigger and decide to bolt for the SEC, then the others would certainly take off to the PAC-10.

Oklahoma is the source of many rumors as well.  They also appear to be considering the SEC in place of the PAC-10, and it has been reported that the SEC is pursuing them.  

What about the Big-10?   After all, they started this whole thing.  They added Nebraska last week to give them 12 teams.  They now have enough to host a conference championship game.  Are they going to stop at 12 though?   Rutgers, Syracuse, Pitt, UCONN, Missouri, and Maryland continue to be rumored additions to the conference.

The SEC and Big-10 could have a bit of a standoff.  Aside from Texas A&M and Oklahoma, the SEC may be looking to expand further, possibly to 16 teams.  If they do, they'll almost certainly be looking east in efforts to expand their television empire.  Teams like Virginia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Miami will be rumored additions.  However, the SEC does not want to openly raid the ACC or Big East.  But if the Big-10 strikes first and the ACC or Big East is in shambles, the SEC will have no problem adding teams at that point.

Mostly what we have is a lot of rumors and an unsettled situation.  But expect a lot more to come this week.  The biggest thing to watch is what the Big-12 South schools, especially Texas A&M, decide to do.