Jun 11th 2010, 6:40:12
Who says they won't get two bids too? The Big Ten may only be adding Nebraska at the moment, but for the most part nobody seems to think that they're stopping there. Once they dismantle the Big East, they can get their 2nd bid too. Shoot, with the way the SEC has been going lately, they can almost command 2 bids from the current 12 teams.
Anyways, the two bids theory is just a tangent of the larger discussion.
There are plenty of valid reasons for both the Big Ten and PAC-10 to expand. #1 is the fact that neither have enough teams to have a championship game. 12, 16 or somewhere in between, it was only a matter of time before at least 3 teams were added to these two conferences. Colorado has always made the most sense for the PAC-10 (and had been in discussions previously that didn't pan out). Assuming Notre Dame will never join the Big Ten (which they won't now and never will), Nebraska makes as much or more sense than any other school except maybe Pitt.
I agree with you though, it does start to get a little ugly when you think about the Texas and Oklahoma teams in the same conference as the Washington and Oregon teams. However, my mind is eased slightly (though not totally) when I think of it as two 8 team conferences (The PAC-8 is back! Woo hoo!) that have such a close relationship that they do everything together.
What will ultimately be the downfall of these "Super Conferences" will be the same thing that has lead to the down fall (or at least weakening, if it can survive) of the Big XII. They have to care about each other's interests, not just their own. The Big XII was 12 separate universities whose interests just happened to usually be in alignment. Contrast that to the Big Ten which was 11 universities united for their mutual benefit. The Big Ten is expanding because they have a good working model. The Big XII is dissolving because they are a model of what a conference should not be.
And, Monsters, do not forget to specify, when time and place shall serve, that I am an ass.