ACC Leading the Charge to Super Conferences

Now that Pittsburgh and Syracuse have officially bolted from the Big East for the ACC, the race to the four super conferences has begun. The Atlantic Coast Conference is now the first team with over 12 football teams in their conference and will most likely add two more schools to create two eight team divisions. Which two teams will they add and how will the other conferences react?

Most of the rumors at this point focus on UConn as the next school to jump ship to the ACC, which would help the football/basketball balance. If the Huskies do join the conference, then the past three NCAA basketball champions and eight of the past eleven would reside in either the Atlantic or Coastal Division. Imagine matchups like Duke/UConn, UNC/Syracuse, Maryland/Pittsburgh several times each year. Meanwhile, the 16^th team is still a mystery. Rumors include current Big East members Rutgers, Louisville, Cincinnati, as well as long shot Big 12 powerhouse Texas.

In 2005, the ACC started the current realignment when they poached Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami from the Big East. Then other conferences followed suit over the past couple years to reach 12 teams and the lucrative conference championship games. The ACC expansion this week is the first domino to fall in what is going to be a nationwide realignment as four conferences will form 16 team super conferences. This link lists the latest realignment rumors as most people predict the Big East and Big 12 will go under, leaving the Pac-16, Big 16 (Former Big 10), SEC, and ACC standing.

While the impression that these university presidents and conference commissioners are chasing money for mostly football programs is disturbing, the geographical outcome is comical. This year Pacific 12 teams have to travel over the Rockies for the first time to play divisional games against Colorado and Utah. Texas Christian is already slated to play in the Big East next year in games possibly at Connecticut and South Florida. If Oklahoma leaves the crumbling Big 12 to the Pac-16, they will be 1,400 miles from the Pacific, while Texas would be 1,000 miles to the nearest Atlantic Coast if they join the ACC.

Even the four major television networks are getting in on the realignment action. The SEC and CBS have been partners for the past 15 years, while last year the ACC inked a major deal with ABC/ESPN and the PAC-12 is now with FOX. If Notre Dame ever gets off their high horse and joins the Big 16, guess which major broadcast network will still air their games?

Maybe these conferences are trying to form these four super conferences to create a four team playoff and quash the BCS. Imagine the winner of the Pac-16 championship game playing the winner of the Big 16 in the traditional Rose Bowl matchup. Meanwhile the winners of the ACC and SEC could face off in a Southeastern venue, like the Georgia Dome or Orange Bowl. Then the winners of those two games play weeks later in a title game in a more centralized location like the Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, JerryWorld, etc.

So maybe after all this chaos we could end up with 64 teams playing in a season to get down to eight elite teams playing in conference championship games, with a chance to be the final four teams remaining, culminating in a championship game not decided by voters or computers. Hmm, imagine a NCAA sport doing that?

Three Defensive Plays Determine the Outcome for Browns, Redskins, and Cavs Games This Week

During the first week of the NFL season, and first week of D1 play for UVA, three remarkable defensive plays changed the outcome of my favorite teams’ games.

After redeeming themselves last week by defeating William and Mary in the season opener, Virginia travelled to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers. After going up 23-3 in the third quarter, the Cavaliers gave up 28 unanswered points to a program that has only been to one bowl game in 18 seasons. The Hoos answered with a 15 play drive to tie the game at 31-31 with under two minutes left. After a couple of ineffective plays, IU lined up for a third down and five on their own 23 with only a half a minute until overtime: (skip to the :36 mark):

Senior defensive end Cam Johnson comes around the end and not only sacks the QB, but strips the football and recovers the fumble with one hand…all before hitting the ground! A couple plays later, Robert Randolph hits a 23 yard FG with seconds left. Victory!

"In the past, we probably would have given up or tucked and said, 'Oh, what the heck.' But these guys just kept on playing,” Coach Mike London said. “And in the end we just made more plays than they made, and the play that Cam Johnson made was unbelievable."

Meanwhile on Sunday, the Browns opened their season at home against a similarly underdog opponent in the Cincinnati Bengals. Up 17-13 in the fourth quarter, Cleveland had already knocked out the Bengals starting QB and were a couple stops or turnover away from sealing the victory. With under five minutes left, Cincinnati put together a drive to move into Browns’ territory but were facing a third down and eleven (right click on picture to open play in new window):

Backup QB Bruce Gradkowski quick snaps the ball and finds rookie WR AJ Green wide open for his first NFL reception for a 41 yard score. Not only was the defense caught off guard, but they had 12 men on the field as well! Stunned by the sudden deficit, the Cleveland offense responded with 25 yards, seven incompletions and an interception on their final three drives combined as the Bengals offense later sealed the win with a 39 yard touchdown run.

“They caught the whole organization asleep on that one,” linebacker Scott Fujita said Monday. “We were all responsible,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “Which includes me.”

Later in the afternoon, the Redskins faced bitter rival New York Giants, which had won the previous six meetings. In a back and forth matchup, the teams came out of the locker room at half time tied 14-14 and the Giants started with the ball. New York quickly faced a third down and ten from the shadow of their own goal line minutes into the second half:

Rookie defensive end Ryan Kerrigan avoids the chop block by the right tackle and picks off Eli Manning’s quick screen attempt and rumbles into the end zone breaking the tie. While there was still almost a full half remaining in the game, the defensive touchdown set the tone for the rest of the game. Washington’s defense caused four sacks and three 3-and-outs, while only allowing four New York first downs and 93 yards for the rest of the half, clinching a 28-14 victory.

“He has great awareness for a big guy,” linebacker Brian Orakpo said of Kerrigan. “He made a great play, got to score a touchdown, and that’s all she wrote.”

Three separate third down defensive plays determined the outcome of my three favorite teams this weekend. While I hope Cam Johnson and Ryan Kerrigan’s performances are a glimpse of more things to come this season, first year Browns head coach Pat Shurmur better learn fast before the schedule gets tougher later in the season.

Quotes and Further Reading:

Cam Johnson Saves the Day for Virginia

Browns Regroup After Snap Blunder

Washington Rookie Ryan Kerrigan Breaks the Game Open

Peyton’s Not Manning Up

This Sunday, Peyton Manning will miss the opener against Houston with a neck injury, which would not normally be a big deal. However, the four time MVP has not missed his last 228 starts over a 13 year span. To put the streak into perspective, here are some interesting stats about when the streak started on September 6^th, 1998:

• The BCS was in its first season as well
• Michael Jordan was still on the Bulls
• The Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton scandal was in full swing
• 9/11 was still 3 years away
• Armageddon and There’s Something About Mary were the top movies
• AOL 4.0 was king, while Google and Facebook were years away
• “My Heart Will Go On” was the top song
• Seinfeld had just ended 4 months earlier
• The (new) Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Washington Nationals, Oklahoma City Thunder, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, and Charlotte Bobcats did not exist yet
• His younger brother, Super Bowl MVP Eli, was still in high school, and now has the longest streak for quarterbacks
• Colt McCoy, his replacement on my Fantasy Football team, was only 12

But the Colts need not to worry, since Peyton’s temporary replacement, Kerry Collins, was already in the league three seasons and was waived by Carolina when the streak started. Yikes.