The Conference Carousel

While the title of the article suggests otherwise, it's not all fun and games with conference realignment. Just when you thought the whole thing was over, Nevada and Fresno State have chosen to leave the WAC and join the Mountain West. It's a good move for both schools. Both programs are established as up and coming football teams, and it gives Nevada and Fresno the chance to compete against better competition. The WAC is basically waiting to collapse with only 6 football member schools. BYU was considering leaving the MWC for the WAC in all sports except football, and they planned to become an independent in football, but that idea seems to have lost some steam. Hawaii needs to leave the WAC, maybe for the Pac-10 if they ever consider inviting another team, but it's unlikely right now. The MWC is a better option in the short term future. The WAC should separate and let the remaining schools find another conference, become independent, or a drastic measure: move back down to FCS competition. It could provide the best long term solution for the members if any more teams left and the WAC dissolves. It's fun to speculate, but I was hoping that this shifting would've been done a while ago; it's old news.

Coaches' Poll

The USA Today Coaches' Poll came out a couple weeks ago. No real surprises. Alabama was No. 1, Ohio State No. 2, Florida No. 3, Texas No. 4, and Boise State rounds out the Top 5. Pretty close to what I thought they'd be, but Florida's too high along with Texas. I was kinda surprised Boise didn't crack the Top 3; I'd put Boise at No. 3 and Florida back at No. 5. Surprised UConn wasn't in the Top 25. I did get to see the number of points a few teams who just barely made the cut had. UConn was No. 33 in the points race with 40 points. The way the UConn schedule sets up, they could possibly be 5-0 by the time they travel to Rutgers. A win there and they could be 7-0 by the time West Virginia comes to East Hartford. I have a sleeper team in the Top 10 that could really do some damage...Iowa. Iowa has beaten Penn State the last 2 years and probably will again this year being PSU is a home game for them. They could beat Ohio State because OSU is also a home game for Iowa. If they win those 2 games, not much else is standing in the way of them winning the Big 10 title and going to the Rose Bowl. I'm so excited for football season :)