Sportsbook Fans Watch Conference Hoopla Die Down. The attention in college sports at the sportsbook in the past couple of weeks has been on the changes to conferences but that hoopla seems to be dying down. The Big 12 lost two teams but they are staying together while the Pac-10 might add another team but not the six that were talked about. The changes in the conferences will not take place this season but they will affect some of the matchups on the odds board at the offshore sportsbook in 2011.
Sportsbook fans may have wanted more changes than they actually got in the conferences since more changes might have resulted in a college football playoff. The Big 12 didn’t collapse though so a playoff in college football doesn’t seem any closer. The Big 12 did lose Colorado to the Pac-10 and Nebraska to the Big Ten but they kept the other ten teams in large part thanks to Texas. The Longhorns were the key team but they were convinced to stay thanks to TV money.
The Pac-10 could still add another team and Utah is on their radar. The Mountain West added Boise State so the Pac-10 might be able to lure Utah away without too much of a fight by the Mountain West. The Big 10 probably won’t do anything else unless Notre Dame decides to come calling while the SEC looks set as well.
The changes in the college landscape were not nearly as paramount as they could have been to the odds that are routinely on the board at the offshore sportsbook. That is good news to teams like Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor who would have had to go to a lesser conference had the Big 12 disbanded. Missouri is also happy that nothing happened as they would have been left out in the cold as well. Missouri’s governor, Jay Nixon actually is happy that Nebraska and Colorado are out of the Big 12 as he believes it will help the conference in college hoops. While that might be true, the loss of the two teams in college football is not good news since this will be the last year for the Big 12 title game since 12 teams are required for a conference to play a championship game.