Sometimes, I really just don’t understand sports media. Particularly when it comes to college sports. I guess sometimes they need things to write about, but even when they write about frivolous things, they write about unlikely ones. Over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about the Big East Conference being “on life support” or similarly dire terms. Now, competitively, the Big East will be a far cry from what it was the last several seasons (in my opinion, the most under-rated football conference in the country). But there is almost no reason why we should think it even a possibility that the Big East disbands and the schools slated to join the conference scramble for a home or come back from whence they came.

To recap: TCU left before it ever actually joined. West Virginia has left. Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, and Rutgers are leaving. The eight Catholic non-football schools are leaving. That leaves only Cincinnati, Connecticut, and South Florida as continuous members along with Temple, who joined this past season*. SMU, Houston, Memphis, Tulane, East Carolina**, and Central Florida are slated to join. Boise State*** was slated to join, but has decided to remain in the Mountain West Conference. In the coming weeks, San Diego State*** is likely to make the same decision. Navy*** is also supposed to join in a few years, but I’d be surprised if Navy didn’t reconsider as well.

If you can follow that, it paints a pretty sour picture. Granted, Cincinnati and Connecticut are very competitive within the conference (and also, basketball!). But there is a decent chance they will be leaving, too. That would leave the mediocre South Florida as the sole continuous member of the conference. For the sake of this post, let’s assume that happens (because if it doesn’t my skepticism towards the non-viability of the Big East becomes much, much more warranted).

So that would leave SMU, Houston, Tulane, Memphis, East Carolina, Central Florida, South Florida, and Temple. With the exception of the first two, there is little talk of those schools being invited to a better conference. in the case of Houston and SMU, there has been loose talk about them joining Boise State and San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference. This is unlikely but represents one of the few genuine threats to the conference’s viability.

People look at these eight teams and think how much worse it is than the Big East has historically been. That’s why they use terms like “life support.” However, for the constituent schools, with the possible Houston/SMU exception, it represents the best conference they can join and a better conference than the one they left. There were five top performing schools in Conference USA – their present league – and three of them are a part of the package. Tulsa, number four, would absolutely accept an invitation to the Big East tomorrow if issued an invite. The situation for Southern Miss (#5) is more complicated. Because of their weak financial position, they might not be able to afford it.

Meanwhile, they are leaving behind a lot of excess baggage. And with the possible exception of Southern Miss, anybody they don’t want to leave behind can be invited at a moment’s notice.

Conference USA, the place where most of the teams would return to (all but Temple are former members), is simply not an attractive option. Houston and SMU have been replaced by North Texas and UTSA. Central Florida has been replaced by Florida International and Florida Atlantic. Because of this, a return would mean conference congestion in Texas (six teams) and Florida (four). As a general rule, schools don’t want too much in-state rivalry because they want to separate themselves in terms of recruiting and prestige. SMU doesn’t want to play sibling to North Texas. South Florida doesn’t want to play sibling to Florida Atlantic. So these schools will move heaven and earth not to resign themselves to that fate.

I would say that even if Houston and SMU were to go west, and even if they took Tulsa and another school out of consideration for the Big East, they’d still stick together rather than scramble to get back into their old conference. Replace Houston and SMU with some combination of Rice, North Texas, and UTSA and keep on trucking. The only reservation I have about this is East Carolina. They still haven’t issued ECU (the only school in the lot to bring more than 50,000 fans to each football game, as well as one of the best schools in the present Conference USA) an all-sports invitation. And Conference USA went out of their way to bring in schools that ECU wanted (bucking the general rule, East Carolina actually wanted teams in closer proximity and that’s what they got). If they were to high-tail it back to Conference USA, that would bode ill.

But that’s unlikely, if the members keep a level head, for two reasons. First, because it continues to represent an opportunity to “clean house” and end up with a conference that replaces the two least desirable members of Conference USA with Temple and South Florida. Second, because they are sitting on a huge pile of cash. With the exception of seven of the eight Catholic schools and San Diego State, every departing member is paying an exit fee and they are substantial. If pressed, they can buy Southern Miss’s admission into the conference with that money. And it gives them enough money to set up camp and relax about the present lack of a TV contract.

Now, I’d be remiss if I did not mention the two scenarios in which I could be wrong.

First, if Cincinnati and Connecticut get ACC invites, it’s possible that they have a window where they can turn off the lights on their way out. It takes 2/3 of the conference to vote for dissolution and that represents two of the three current all-sport members (South Florida). However, Temple is a member as well and it’s unclear whether or not they have a vote. There is also a good chance that they can be persuaded not to kill the conference with a carrot (“we’ll waive the exit fee for you two”) and stick (“We will go to court over this”). Given that the incoming teams joined the conference in good faith and are materially harmed by dissolution, it would strike me as unlikely that they would have no case in the event that the conference is needlessly killed.

Second, if the ACC gets absolutely plundered. If the Big 12 goes to 18, for instance (two divisions of 9 with a majority of the ACC), of some combination of Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC pilfering of the ACC to a total number of more than four schools. If the ACC loses both Florida schools, then South Florida and Central Florida are in play. That, in turn, would make the conference substantially less appealing to several members. Possibly to the point that it’s less appealing than returning to Conference USA or heading west would be. If the ACC loses eight, then you are likely to see a near-merger between the ACC and Big East, with less than a handful of schools remaining and very little leverage to tempt anyone away from Conference USA. But this would require more than just the Big Ten and SEC going to 16. If they lose four, the ACC can rebound with just two in order to get back to 12. So both of those would have to happen and the Big 12 would need to expand into the region.

A lot of people are rooting for the Big East’s demise and have been for some time. The conceptually problematic additions of Boise State and San Diego State (and to a lesser extent Houston and SMU, and TCU before those two) only added to the whiff of desperation of something that must be critically ill in some way or another. But with Boise State and San Diego State gone, the geographic blueprint is no larger than that of the old Conference USA and is smaller than that of the Mountain West Conference. And, as underwhelming as the conference looks compared to how it looked a year or two ago, it’s still better than the alternative for most of its constituent schools.

* – Temple is presently only a football member, but all sports will be joining starting next season.

** – East Carolina is presently slated to join as football-only, but a full-sport invitation may be in its future.

*** – Navy, Boise State, and San Diego State were/are slated to join as football-only.

Matt Yglesias and Kevin Drum explain why pot is illegal everywhere in the world.

So apparently, Patrick Dempsey has purchased Tully’s Coffee. There was one back in Zaulem where we used to live. There are actually a lot of places out west that serve their coffee and have their logo in the window, though they’re not part of the chain.

AndroidCentral recommends against getting the 8GB Nexus 4 because that’s not enough space. Of course, this wouldn’t even be an issue if they had a MicroSD slot.

I think Apple’s move towards cheaper smartphones is – while good for cheapskates like me (if I were an Applyte) actually a mistake.

They’re also considering multiple colors. As a consumer, I’m not a fan of the idea (there is no reason ever to deviate from black or silver). As a business matter, I don’t know that it really matters.

William Pesek writes on the road China has ahead of it. It touches on the demographics problem, as well as one of my issues (they’re not going to want to make our cheap stuff forever).

This is probably a hat-tip to my freakishness, but I think “PC City” in this Vizio ad looks blissfully practical and efficient (except for a disk drive coming out of a building and such). It’s probably no coincidence that I like the basic look of Thinkpads and standard tower computers. I want to live in PC City. (Which apparently was made from models.)

A documentary-maker on fracking is accusing Matt Damon’s new anti-fracking movie of being a liar. In the interest of fairness, it’s starting to look like resource exploitation in Alberta is doing a number on the water there.

When all of the flaws of Cash for Clunkers were pointed out, a counterargument was that aside from the economics, it was about the environmental benefit. Maybe not. I may not agree with the premise that C4C was a primary… errr… driver in the raising of used car prices, but what a stupid program.

Cosmic radiation could be causing Alzheimer’s in astronauts. Speaking of astronauts, anyone up for a one-way trip to Mars?

Ezra Klein writes an ode to Biden and explains that he really could be a presidential contender in 2016.

Japanese scientists have located a giant squid in the Pacific Ocean.

The first round, dedicated to cartoons. This is dedicated to other shows.

Matlock:

My appreciation for Matlock is not one of the things I will defend. I guess it was one of the most accessible legal/law shows on at the time. I’ve probably seen every episode. Most more than once. This is one of the reasons I am not opposed to limiting TV time for any kids Clancy and I have.

Cheers:

I liked this one starting at a particularly young age. Who knew that a bunch of people in a bar would be really interesting to a 4th grader?

Perfect Strangers:

When we visited LA once, we tried to be a member of the studio audience once. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of the show, they limited the studio audience to people 25 and older.

Silver Spoons:

This is one of those shows that started out with a unique concept (a long-lost father and son where the son is more mature than the father) that became more typical as time moved on (the kid always learning a lesson that the father sagely reinforces). But it took place in a house with a toy train in the living room. How could I not love that?

I thought I would pass along a comment to an old post of mine about dating and obesity:

This post is painfully refreshing. Thank you. It dictates exactly what I believe in my head, but society won’t let me speak from my lips. I live what you’re expressing. I get the same rejection for the same cover-up reasons, only I don’t let them reign. I demonstrate open and truthful expression on all levels, and (no matter how painful) I demand them it return. I am a big woman, a REALLY big woman and I hate to be patronized. Don’t tell me its gourmet chocolate, when it smells like sh**. In my experience, its hard to get people to be truthful and trust that (on my part) there will be no hate connected to it(I can’t speak for the world’s opinion of them, but I don’t care to either). It would be easier if people understood how powerful and expressive body language is. With body language, everything that needs to be communicated is done before he or she utters the first word. I hate to be whispered a lie, while the physical truth is screaming in my face. So, I can appreciate you laying it all out as you have. Brave man.

It is, of course, easy to be brave when I am behind a pseudonym, married, and unlikely to be in the position of having to back up these words with real-life honesty.

If you place a preference for your preferred food preparation instruments over the death of women and children, do you have blood on your hands? It only makes sense, from what I hear.

It’s funny how for a while Sweden became the exemplar of liberal governance, when there are more than a couple things that conservatives can point to. Or would be able to point to if they were interested in developing a health care plan. Or will be pointing to if they continue to lose this debate.

A look at the legal ramifications of self-driving cars.

The Missouri Synod has reportedly been making some serious gains among minority groups with some impressive outreach generally.

This makes me think of the little gauge on my car that tells me what mileage I am getting and how it makes me a more fuel-efficient driver. (I swear I had a post of mine on this to link back to, but I can’t find it.)

From Kirk, the Power of Negative Thinking. Also, the healthy upside to neuroticism.

Also from Kirk, is democracy striking back at the technocracy?

China is spending bunches trying to boost its music industry. That seems a difficult for a country that has such issues with intellectual property rights. And kind of hard to impose on the top down.

The Washington Post looks at the coal situation in India. One of the reasons that I don’t have a whole lot of hope that anything significant will happen with regard to global warming is that few developing countries are going to hinder their development for the sake of the environment. But India is an interesting situation.

A pixar animator is looking to create a new superhero for each day of the year. The girl in the confederate outfit jumped out at me.

Megan McArdle tackles the eternal question of whether government workers are overpaid or underpaid. The difference in skill sets makes comparisons difficult. So often, it depends on what they do. My wife would take an enormous pay cut to work for the government. Others get a raise.

Debtor prisons in 2012. (and in 2011)

Will online schools cause collegiate bankruptcies?

T-Mobile has been getting a fair amount of attention for its decision to terminate smartphone subsidies.

I want to be excited about this. Or, more excited about this than I am. This is, to my mind (as with Yglesias’s) how things should work. And T-Mobile, as a company, has always done business the way that I want cell phone companies to do business. I am not a T-Mobile customer due to their complete lack of coverage in my part of the country. That’s a bit of a cop-out, though. There was a regional carrier that I could have signed with and chose not to. Good people though they were, they couldn’t provide me with the service I wanted.

I am currently under contract with The Dark Side. They were the only ones that could.

Anyhow, T-Mobile is in a similar situation where they are virtuous because they have no claws. It is not likely the other major carriers will follow suit. Further, for it to be really advantageous, we’d need common standards and unlocked phones so that I can take my phone from one company to another. If I were to switch to T-Mobile, I’d need to buy a new phone. So whether we’re buying our own phone or accepting a subsidy, we’re talking about significant barriers to exit.

My sister-in-law recently recruited my help to set her up with a modern smartphone and mobile plan for her relocation to Alaska. Alaska is a peculiar case as far as mobile phones (and many, many other things) go, but it got me looking at the various options out there. For a whole lot of people who aren’t me, the arguments in favor of prepaid plans are becoming stronger and stronger. It may even be something I look at when our contract with The Dark Side expires. The prepaid market works more closely to how I think things should work and are increasingly including things – like unlimited whatever – that keep me deciding between the big boys.

Now, most (all?) of those carriers rely on either AT&T and Verizon’s networks (do any of them use Sprint?). Which makes me wonder about the long-term viability of this, if their leasing out their lines is cannibalizing their own business. I don’t think such leasing is actually required (I remember reading that T-Mobile was approached but declined), so if the downmarket carriers get too competitive, the big two can put a stop to that.

Honestly, though, I’d actually consider it desirable to have two overlapping national networks if we ended up primarily having competition on the storefront level.

Say what you will about Steve Sailer, but he has some very astute observations on the push and pull of school reform in New York City.

Can a community redevelopment agency get $100,000,000 by declaring downtown Memphis a condemnable slum?

British people problems.

Last week I linked to an article about how awesome Legos are. This week I link to an article about how awesome LEGO is.

Wikipedia doesn’t need our money, so why does it keep asking us for more?

I doubt this is an actual thing, but financial management as a criteria for mating only makes sense to me.

Liberals like shows that mock conservatives. Conservatives like college football.

For Microsoft, the case for firing Steve Ballmer. Included in the article is a link to this piece from 2011, which paints a pretty devastating picture.

Donorschoose, a website dedicated to directing funds on education projects, has hired a data scientist.

In Japan, they have vending machines that keep drinks cold while being shut down for 16 hours at a time. Presently, the overall power savings is about ten percent, but that still seems significant.

The global implications of shale. California’s history with it.

It was West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin that made me wonder if the tide really has turned against guns. It’s West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin that is making me think that maybe it hasn’t.

Though it doesn’t tell us too much about what to do to prevent further incidents, I did appreciate this piece on how we should think about them on a social level.

When I fear overreaction to high-profile incidents like Newtown, it’s not just gun control. I still haven’t gotten over the release of V for Vendetta being pushed off the fifth of November.

I’m pleased at the pushback that the New York Journal got on releasing the names and addresses of handgun permit owners.

Theodore Dalrymple pokes holes at the notion that if only there’d been a psychiatrist, Newtown might have been prevented. Those that wish to redirect the conversation away from guns and towards “mental health” – and those that flat-out want this approached as a mental health issue – have an uphill climb on convincing me that there is actually something we can do on this avenue.

There is a resurgence of Japanese Nationalism. Or maybe not. The LDP is back in charge of Japan and China may be okay with that.

Now that he is done with the annual chore, it’s the perfect time for Santa Claus to consider relocating to Alaska.

This may be wishful thinking on Conn Carroll’s part, but maybe the emerging Democratic coalition is actually simply the Obama coalition.

On the other hand, if the public is shying away from the advancement of traditional values, that does represent a more enduring problem for the GOP.

Jon V Last writes about fertility decline, over in Japan, here, and elsewhere. Robots may not save us.

Cyborgs rise!