TCU Expected to Join Big 12

The Big East Conference held discussions today about possible conference expansion without TCU who was originally expected to join the league in 2012. The Horned Frogs are now expected to join the Big 12 and create regional rivalries with other teams in Texas.

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Week One NFL Predictions

By Edgar Walker

It’s almost time for football, and it’s only fitting that here at MVP Sports Talk, we predict some of Week 1’s games. Alongside me with his predictions will be site founder Andrew Feather.

Below the chart, we’ll each discuss why we predicted three specific games the way we did.

**Games will be listed as HOME vs. AWAY**

Matchup	Edgar	Andrew
Green Bay vs. New Orleans	Green Bay	Green Bay
Chicago vs. Atlanta	Atlanta	Atlanta
Houston vs. Indianapolis	Houston	Houston
Kansas City vs. Buffalo	Kansas City	Kansas City
Jacksonville vs. Tennessee	Jacksonville	Tennessee
Cleveland vs. Cincinnati	Cleveland	Cleveland
St. Louis vs. Philadelphia	St. Louis	Philadelphia
Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh	Baltimore	Baltimore
Tampa Bay vs. Detroit	Tampa Bay	Detroit
San Diego vs. Minnesota	San Diego	San Diego
Washington vs. New York Giants	New York Giants	Washington
Arizona vs. Carolina	Carolina	Arizona
San Francisco vs. Seattle	Seattle	San Francisco
New York Jets vs. Dallas	New York Jets	New York Jets
Miami vs. New England	New England	New England
Denver vs. Oakland	Oakland	Oakland

Green Bay vs. New Orleans-
Edgar: I’m going with Green Bay here to defend their home field and get off to a good start following their Super Bowl win. I think the Saints will give the Packers a tough game, but Aaron Rodgers is a stud quarterback who’s set to have the best season of his career, and he should torch the New Orleans defense. It’ll be a shootout, for sure.

Andrew: I’m going to go with Green Bay here too in this game featuring the past two Superbowl Champions. Both teams are very good, and in my book both are making the playoffs, but the dynamic Packer’s offense led by Aaron Rodgers and their D led by Clay Matthews will prove to be too much for the Saints.

Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh-
Edgar: This is consistently one of the best games to watch in the NFL. If you want to see good football, tune into this game, and be amazed by the intensity these two teams bring to the table in Week 1. I think Baltimore gets the edge because of their home field advantage, but this game is always a toss-up, and usually defies all logic when it comes to predictions.

Andrew: This game pits two of the NFL’s toughest teams and defenses in a battle will surely not disappoint. Because Baltimore has home field advantage in addition to Ray Rice, who i think is poised to have 15-20 TDs this year, I am picking them to take part one of this bitter rivalry.

St. Louis vs. Philadelphia-
Edgar: I like the Rams, and I think the Eagles are cocky. With that said, I chose St. Louis with a bit of hesitation. I like the team they’re building, and I think they have not only the talent, but the will to defeat Philly. The fact that the game is on the Rams’ home turf helps their chances. If the Rams pull off the victory, it will be a close one, and it will probably be somewhat due to a poor performance from Michael Vick.

Andrew: Unlike Edgar, I’m going to go with the safe pick here and take the revamped Eagles team to take this one. Michael Vick is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and is throwing to a fast, experienced receiving corps. I really like whats going on with the Rams and I think Sam Bradford will be one of the best QBs in the league in two years, but for now they don't have the firepower to beat the Eagles.

Edgar Walker is a young, Baltimore-based sportswriter. Check out his work on Baltimore Sports Report, or follow him on Twitter.

Embattled Dodger’s Owner offered $1.2 Billion for Team

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has been offered $1.2 billion for full ownership of the team by Los Angleles Marathon Founder Bill Burke. This offer is just the latest in line of what has become a saga of Frank McCourt’s financial mishandling of the Dodgers as well as his nasty, multi-million dollar divorce, which has been going on for over a year. This proposal will offer McCourt, who filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on June 27, at least some time before Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig seizes the franchise and gives MLB full control over the club. Right now the club’s finances are controlled by an agent assigned by Selig to the team but without McCourt’s permission they can not move any players or sell the team.

According to multiple sources, if Major League Baseball were to seize the club, which they have been contemplating for a while, they would first allow McCourt to try to arrange a deal (like this one) before forcing sale of the team. Earlier this year the McCourts had reached a divorce settlement that was dependent on a twenty year $300 million television contract with Fox. Because the deal also would result in a personal loan to cover payroll and Selig believed McCourt was doing this to game the system in place (team money is not for the owner’s personal use), MLB rejected the deal.

If the sale of the club were to go through, the $1.2 billion would be the highest price ever paid for a Major League Baseball team. If McCourt were to accept the offer, it would first need to be approved by Selig and then pass a vote by the Major League Baseball Owners Association to be sure that the other owners think that Bill Burke would make a good owner. If the team were to be sold, many Dodgers’ fans and Los Angeles area baseball fans alike would be overjoyed because even though the divorce was settled in court, it has played a role on the field and in the team’s lack of success this season. A new owner would bring in a fresh face and a fresh start for a franchise in trouble.

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2011 Fantasy Football Rankings by Position

By Edgar Walker

It’s late August, a time of change as kids return to school and most of the country’s joyous Summer vacations wind down. For many sports fans however, late August means one thing; fantasy football.

Many of you will be taking part in fantasy drafts over the next two weeks, and here at MVP Sports Talk, we want to make it easier for you to succeed in your league. Check out our top 10 fantasy football rankings by position. If the player has a parenthesis to the right of their name, the number inside that parenthesis is the player’s overall rank.

QB:

1. Aaron Rodgers, GB (5)
2. Philip Rivers, SD (8)
3. Drew Brees, NO (12)
4. Tom Brady, NE (14)
5. Michael Vick, PHI (18)
6. Matt Ryan, ATL (20)
7. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT (21)
8. Peyton Manning, IND (25)
9. Matt Schaub, HOU
10. Tony Romo, DAL

RB:

1. Arian Foster, HOU (1)
2. Jamaal Charles, KC (2)
3. Chris Johnson, TEN (3)
4. Adrian Peterson, MIN (4)
5. Ray Rice, BAL (6)
6. Maurice Jones-Drew, JAX (7)
7. Frank Gore, SF (11)
8. LeSean McCoy, PHI (13)
9. Michael Turner, ATL (16)
10. Rashard Mendenhall, PIT (17)

WR:

1. Calvin Johnson, DET (9)
2. Roddy White, ATL (10)
3. Andre Johnson, HOU (15)
4. Greg Jennings, GB (19)
5. Dwayne Bowe, KC (22)
6. DeSean Jackson, PHI (23)
7. Larry Fitzgerald, ARZ (24)
8. Hakeem Nicks, NYG
9. Reggie Wayne, IND
10. Mike Wallace, PIT

TE:

1. Jason Witten, DAL
2. Antonio Gates, SD
3. Dallas Clark, IND
4. Vernon Davis, SF
5. Mercedes Lewis, JAX
6. Jermichael Finley, GB
7. Jimmy Graham, NO
8. Tony Gonzalez, ATL
9. Dustin Keller, NYJ
10. Brandon Pettigrew, DET

D/ST:

1. Green Bay Packers
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. New England Patriots
4. New York Jets
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Detroit Lions
8. Chicago Bears
9. San Diego Chargers
10. San Francisco 49ers

Edgar Walker is a young, Baltimore-based sportswriter. Check out his work on Baltimore Sports Report, or follow him on Twitter.

Miami Booster Scandal

If you have seen the allegations made by University of Miami Booster Nevin Shapiro about benefits he gave players, coaches, and recruits you are probably just as shocked as us that the U was able to turn a blind eye on the scandals and wide array of NCAA violations that occurred between Shapiro's affiliation with the school in 2002 and his arrest on allegations of a $930million ponzi scheme in 2010. At first I was unsure about the facts behind the case and thought his argument was a little bit far fetched. After I read Yahoo Sport's Writer Charles Robinson's report on the situation which he broke yesterday after hundreds of hours of research and interviews and I can see clearly that The school and their staff knew what was going on and just decided not to report it.

I have always understood why college athletes would take money and benefits from agents and boosters. The athletes are college students, people who are generally not the richest in the first place. These benefits let them splurge a little bit and help the players out. What I don't understand is why the school didn't report it. It only makes it worse for them, because in today's world, eventually the media is going to break every major violation and eventually you will have to pay for your actions, so why not just fess up then and take lesser consequences. Because of the sheer number of players and the length of time and money this involved, I only see one punishment that will fit. The University of Miami, one of the historically great football programs will receive the Death Penalty.

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SEC does not extend invite to Texas A&M

Despite what many people think, it was Texas A&M that approached the SEC, not the other way around, about joining the conference. Although the Southeastern Conference showed interest in Texas A&M last season, the vote to extend an invite fell through, partly because they couldn't find a fourteenth team to add to the conference. The Aggies, upset about ESPN's Texas Longhorn Network and the power it would give the school among other problems in the Big 12, hoped tojoin the SEC in competition this fall. About the issue of conference expansion, University of Florida President Bernie Machen, the chairman of the league's presidents and chancellors committee, said that meetings on Sunday "reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment." Even though they are satisfied for now, he did leave the door open for expansion in the future saying "We recognize, however, that future conditions may make it advantageous to expand the number of institutions in the league," Machen said. "We discussed criteria and process associated with expansion. No action was taken with respect to any institution including Texas A&M."

MVP Sports Talk will stay updated on this matter

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