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The Pac-11 Welcomes the Colorado Buffaloes

A storms a brewin' out there.  No, not the microbrews on every corner in Berkeley.  It's a storm filled with sinking ships, traitors, bandwagoneers, and a few universities forced to walk the plank.  

How exactly this realignment will shake out is up in the air.  With Colorado defecting to the Pacific-X conference, Nebraska will probably be next, heading east to the Big Ten.  

Who does that leave in limbo?

The new Big Ten (which is the old Big-12). Mostly Mizzou, Kansas, KSU, and Baylor. 

Following suit to the new Pac-X - Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma St., and Oooooooooklahomaa jump ship to the Pac-X and make it the Pac-16.  What does that leave ASU with?  Losses.  

Do we stand a chance against Oklahoma or Texas?  No, they quickly become the USC and Oregon of the old Pac-10.  What about Texas Tech and Oklahoma State?  Rarely. Texas A&M? It'll be a game. Colorado? Yes. Arizona? Easy win.

Tack on a pairing from the West division (USC and UCLA, UW and Wazzou, Stanford and Cal, Oregon and Oregon St.) and the Devils better start shelling out some $$ to the NAU's of the world.  What might our 2013 schedule look like?  

Sacramento State - W

Wisconsin - L

Stanford - W (Assuming we play them)

Cal - L (Assuming we play them)

Texas - L 

TAMU - W

Notre Dame - L (in Texas, nonetheless)

TT - W

Oklahoma - L

Oklahoma State - L

Colorado - W

Arizona - W

2014? Repeat.  I'm really not sure ASU will ever eclipse .500 in the new conference as the talent gap between the Pac-10 and the Big-12 is significant.  Our best year and Texas' off year ended with a Texas thumping of the Devils.

This convergence can cause a lot of different scenarios. Maybe we get a rush of talent from Texas. Maybe we lose our grip in California and struggle to get a grip in Texas, leaving us fighting with U of A for a whiff of skilled players.

The future scares me, but what I do know is that ASU can use the revenue from the big TV contract. Spending it on some renovations for Sun Devil Stadium wouldn't be such a bad idea.  

However it all plays out, there is one thing I can guarantee: USC isn't going to a bowl game the next two years and I won't miss them a bit.