2011 AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl Preview

Date: December 26, 2011 5:00 ET

Stadium: Independence Stadium, Shreveport, Louisiana

Payout: $1,150,000

Played: 1976-present

Former Names: N/A

Broadcasters: Rob Stone, Danny Kanell

Sideline Reporter: Allison Williams

All Time Series: 2-0 Missouri

Line: Missouri by 5.5

	Missouri			North Carolina
Overall Record	7-5		Overall Record	7-5
Conference Record	5-4		Conference Record	3-5
Bowl Record	12-16		Bowl Record	13-15
Last Bowl Win	2008 Alamo		Last Bowl Win	2010 Music City

Missouri Officially Joins The SEC

After weeks of hearing there were legalities holding up Missouri's move to the SEC, probably having to o with an exit fee from the Big 12, the move was made official Sunday. Missouri will begin playing in the SEC during the 2012 season.

The Southeastern Conference now enters the Kansas City and St. Louis television markets and expands to fourteen teams. Missouri will play in the SEC's East Division despite being one of the conference's westernmost schools. The nearest SEC East school to Columbia is Kentucky located 463 miles away by car. Missouri will sacrifice its rivalry with Kansas, the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi River. It is unlikely the two schools will be able to play each other in football every season like they have done since 1891. The only year the two teams did not meet during that period was in 1918 due to the flu pandemic. The Border War is the second-most-played rivalry in FBS college football. Too bad it will be put on the backburner. Interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas said in a statement Sunday, "The decision by the University of Missouri to leave the Big 12 Conference is disappointing. I personally believe this decision is a mistake and that Missouri is a better fit in the Big 12." Missouri will have trouble competing in football if it does not upgrade its facilities and recruiting. The fanbase needs to step up as well. Missouri only sold its stadium out once last season despite a 10-2 regular season. It seems people in Missouri are more excited about the St. Louis Cardinals than the Mizzou Tigers. Missouri is a better academic school than most of the current SEC schools. They seem to just not fit in well with the SEC, but hey, money rules college athletics. I agree with Chuck Neinas that Missouri was a better fit in the Big 12.

I think the SEC has expanded too far. Travel costs will now rise when traveling out to Columbia and College Station. With two seven-team divisions and an eight game conference schedule, It will take a full eight year cycle to play every school in the conference in football in a home-and-home series. Even if the SEC moves to a nine game conference schedule, which I think will happen sooner than later, it will still take a full six year cycle to play every school in the conference home and away. Scheduling will have too big of an impact on who goes to the SEC title game. Also worth noting, there are now three teams with Tigers as their mascot in the Southeastern Conference.

West Virginia Headed To The Big 12

West Virginia accepted an invitation to the Big 12 today. The Mountaineers want to start playing in the Big 12 in the 2012 season, but the Big East will hold the Mountaineers to the 27-month exit notification period which will keep the Mountaineers in their current conference until the 2014 season. Pittsburgh and Syracuse also cannot leave the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference until the 2014 season. The Big East is left with only five football members: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Rutgers, and South Florida. Will the Big East survive as a football conference? The Big East is guaranteed an automatic qualifying bid to the BCS through the 2013 season no matter what happens. Even if the Big East can bring in some new members to keep the ship afloat, they will likely lose their autobid to the BCS once the current contract expires after 2013.

Missouri has been expected to be leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference, but there are rumors that legal matters are holding up the move. Despite this, West Virginia is slated to be the replacement for Mizzou. The Big 12 has said it is comfortable with a ten-team conference and is not looking to expand further at this time.

West Virginia geographically is a bad fit for the Big 12. It sits way out in the Appalachians while the rest of the conference runs vertically up the Great Plains more or less. The closest Big 12 school to Morgantown is Iowa State at approximately 870 miles distance. The Mountaineers will be flying west a lot, and games to be played at Mountaineer Field will raise travel costs for visiting Big 12 schools. The rising cost of travel for the Olympic sports is unpractical. However, West Virginia should be competitive in both football and basketball in the Big 12.

West Virginia Or Louisville To The Big 12?

It seemed like the Big 12 was ready to bring West Virginia into the conference yesterday. Now, in a turn of events, it seems the Big 12 has shifted its interest towards Louisville. Only time will tell which Big East member the Big 12 actually invites into the conference. The Big East will be in peril with only five remaining football-playing members. What is certain seems to be that the Big 12 would like to maintain at least a ten-team conference for the 2012 season and will make an invitation once it is official that Missouri has left for the Southeastern Conference. Is there a chance Mizzou stays in the Big 12? Why have they been dragging their feet to leave for the SEC over the past two weeks?

Texas A&M Officially Joins The SEC

Texas A&M officially joined the Southeastern Conference yesterday. The Aggies will begin playing in the SEC in the fall of 2012. It is unclear whether Baylor or other Big 12 schools will file litigation against Texas A&M as reported over the past few weeks. Starting next season, the Aggie will be in a different conference from their rivals Texas and Baylor for the first time in the football programs long, storied history. It is likely the Thanksgiving night rivalry game between the Aggies and the Longhorns will become a thing of the past.

Now the SEC will be unbalanced at 13 teams. I would assume they will be out to poach a 14th team to balance the divisions. Missouri  would seem to be the best match for the SEC, but it seems like the nine remaining members of the Big 12 are adamant on staying together. A six-year television rights agreement has been set with the remaining nine schools. If one of the Big 12 schools leave the conference within the next six years, all of their primetime television revenue would still go to the Big 12. It looks like the Big 12 will add anywhere from one to three teams to make itself more relevant nationally again.

All Hell Could Break Loose This Week

If Texas A&M heads to the Southeastern Conference next week, the conference shuffle will start all over again.

Likely, the SEC would want to get a fourteenth team for the sake of balance. It will likely go after Florida State or Clemson from the ACC, or Missouri from the Big 12. Right now, Mizzou says it is committed to staying in the Big 12. Other sexy additions could be Louisville, Georgia Tech, or Virginia Tech. Any of these teams would geographically be a good fit for the SEC.

To replace the Aggies, the Big 12 would likely go after Houston, Texas Christian, Southern Methodist, or BYU. As long as Texas and Oklahoma stick together, the conference could probably survive in some form.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 could expand as well, but that won't likely happen unless it becomes apparent alot of dominoes start falling and these conferences need to go on the defense to stay competitive with a superconference consisting of either fourteen or sixteen teams.

The Big East and ACC sit in a precarious position. Both could get poached from. They are both seen as more of basketball conferences rather than football conferences. Keep in mind that college football generates more money than college basketball. The Big East needs to get on with expanding to ten teams if it wants to ensure its survival. Moving Villanova's football program up from the FCS to the FBS would require a much larger stadium than Villanova Stadium, and it looks like the Wildcats either don't have the space and/or money to expand their miniscule 12,500-seat stadium. Using Lincoln Financial Field, where the Philadelphia Eagles play, for home games is not an option; Temple uses this stadium as its home field.

2010 Insight Bowl Preview

December 28, 2010 10:00 PM ET

Stadium: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

Payout: $3,325,000

Played: 1989-present

Once known as: Copper Bowl (1989-1996), Insight.com Bowl (1997-2001)

Broadcasters: Sean McDonough, Matt Millen

Sideline Reporter: Heather Cox

Storyline: This will be the first meeting between Missouri and Iowa in a century. Missouri started the season outside the top 25, but finished #14 with a stellar 10-2 record, which included an upset of Oklahoma. Missouri dropped the Texas Bowl to Navy last year and is looking for postseason redemption. Missouri will have the third 11-win season in school history if it can win the Insight Bowl. In contrast, Iowa won the 2010 Orange Bowl and entered the season ranked #9 but finished outside the top 25. Iowa lost three of its last four games, including being shocked by both Northwestern and Minnesota. To make matters worse, Iowa receiver, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, was found to be running a drug house after the end of the regular season and will not play. Iowa ruin the bowl. In addition, running back Adam Robinson broke team rules and will also not be making the trip. Iowa has itself handcuffed on offense and will lose the fourth of its last five games if it cannot adapt. The Hawkeyes need to win this bowl to save face. The Insight Bowl will be interesting in that teams heading in opposite directions will square off.

All-time Series: 7-5 Missouri
Line: Missouri by 2.5

	Missouri			Iowa
Overall Record	10-2		Overall Record	7-5
Conference Record	6-2		Conference Record	4-4
Bowl Record	12-15		Bowl Record	13-10-1
Last Bowl Win	2008 Alamo		Last Bowl Win	2010 Orange

Big 12 Home Attendance Figures

	Baylor			Colorado
Floyd Casey Stadium			Folsom Field
S4 Sam Houston State	42,821		S18 Hawaii	47,840
S11 Buffalo	40,853		O2 Georgia	52,855
O2 Kansas	35,405		O16 Baylor	48,953
O23 Kansas State	40,057		O23 Texas Tech	47,665
N13 Texas A&M	45,089		N13 Iowa State	42,722
N20 Oklahoma	36,034		N20 Kansas State	41,147
AVERAGE	40,043		AVERAGE	46,864
	Iowa State			Kansas
Jack Trice Stadium			Memorial Stadium
S2 Northern Illinois	43,116		S4 North Dakota State	48,417
S25 Northern Iowa	48,874		S11 Georgia Tech	46,907
O2 Texas Tech	43,162		S25 New Mexico State	46,719
O9 Utah	43,195		O14 Kansas State	47,561
O30 Kansas	46,485		O23 Texas A&M	44,239
N6 Nebraska	51,159		N6 Colorado	40,851
N20 Missouri	41,776		N20 Oklahoma State	39,261
AVERAGE	45,395		AVERAGE	44,851
	Kansas State			Missouri
Bill Snyder Stadium			Faurot Field
S4 UCLA	51,059		S11 McNeese State	55,582
S11 Missouri State	48,672		S18 San Diego State	56,050
S25 UCF	50,586		S25 Miami (OH)	60,329
O7 Nebraska	51,015		O9 Colorado	62,965
O30 Oklahoma State	50,831		O23 Oklahoma	71,004
N6 Texas	46,734		N13 Kansas State	63,310
AVERAGE	49,816		AVERAGE	61,540
	Nebraska			Oklahoma
Memorial Stadium			Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
S4 Western Kentucky	85,555		S4 Utah State	85,151
S11 Idaho	85,732		S11 Florida State	85,630
S25 South Dakota State	85,573		S18 Air Force	84,332
O16 Texas	85,648		O16 Iowa State	84,024
O30 Missouri	85,907		O30 Colorado	84,173
N13 Kansas	85,587		N13 Texas Tech	85,116
N26 Colorado	85,646
AVERAGE	85,664		AVERAGE	84,738
	Oklahoma State			Texas
Boone Pickens Stadium			Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
S4 Washington State	48,692		S11 Wyoming	101,339
S11 Troy	48,820		S25 UCLA	101,437
S18 Tulsa	51,778		O23 Iowa State	100,142
S30 Texas A&M	48,284		O30 Baylor	100,452
O23 Nebraska	55,935		N13 Oklahoma State	100,659
N6 Baylor	50,741		N20 Florida Atlantic	99,799
N27 Oklahoma	51,164		N25 Texas A&M	100,752
AVERAGE	50,773		AVERAGE	100,654
	Texas A&M			Texas Tech
Kyle Field			Jones AT&T Stadium
S4 Stephen F. Austin	81,287		S5 SMU	57,528
S11 Louisiana Tech	77,579		S18 Texas	60,454
S18 FIU	79,069		O16 Oklahoma State	60,454
O16 Missouri	83,453		N6 Missouri	55,667
O30 Texas Tech	84,479		N20 Weber State	55,083
N6 Oklahoma	81,392		N27 Houston	53,461
N20 Nebraska	90,079
AVERAGE	82,477		AVERAGE	57,108

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Texas	100,654
Nebraska	85,664
Oklahoma	84,738
Texas A&M	82,477
Missouri	61,540
Texas Tech	57,108
Oklahoma State	50,773
Kansas State	49,816
Colorado	46,864
Iowa State	45,395
Kansas	44,851
Baylor	40,043