For those of you who spent the summer in some distant land - or didn't open the sports section of your local paper - I'm sorry, but I must be the bearer of some bad news. The college football that you knew before you left is dying, or at the very least, will soon be unrecognizable following Heidi Montag-sized surgery this offseason. Teams switched conferences at a tremendous rate, and while the power still lies in the Southeast, a new force is brewing in the west that is looking to usurp the throne from the Southeastern Conference within the next few years. So please, on the eve of the greatest season of the year, allow me to walk you through what you might have missed and offer my opinions about what it all means to you.
First, let's run through all the transfers. The most significant changes in the college football landscape this offseason occurred west of the Mississippi. The Pac-10 pillaged and plundered both the Big 12 and the Mountain West Conference, recruiting both Colorado and Utah to join its ranks. These teams will unite with the members of the former Pac-10 to create a brand new Pacific-12 super conference starting in 2012. Similarly, the increasingly misnamed Big Ten conference lured Nebraska from the ranks of the Big 12 to fill out its membership at 12 teams as well, beginning in 2011. Meanwhile, the Big 12 will attempt to linger on as only a ten team league - despite its determination to hold onto its now incorrectly named moniker. And in the non-Bowl Championship Series conferences, Boise State (of smurf turf and hook-and-ladder fame) has agreed to leave the Western Athletic Conference alongside Nevada and Fresno State, and join fellow BCS-buster TCU in the Mountain West Conference. Former MWC member BYU just recently decided to cut its own ties with the conference and become an independent alongside Notre Dame, Army and Navy. Phew, got all that?
So practically, what does all this mean to you
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