Conference Realignment

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#526      
Roundball Sage
ChiefGritty: “NASCAR is a cautionary tale here. Had a moment of growth and excitement in the 90's, reached for bigger bigger bigger, more more more, forgot who it was, alienated its core audience and now it's in a much weaker position in the very competitive sports and entertainment field than it had been.”

NASCAR is big amongst its fanatics but Nationally will always be a (big) niche ‘sport’. Only so many people can relate to it and its culture. It’s just not part of everyone’s world.

Football and Basketball in particular – on the other hand — is the National Secular Religion. It is deeply embedded into the culture of every State and every town from small to big. Your high school ‘rah-rah’ school spirit stuff you learn as a kid... Your chosen college and chosen loyalty (which can be anywhere in the Nation). Your chosen pro team if you have one (which can be anywhere in the country. So many Steeler fans in... New Mexico?!)

NASCAR knew it wanted to be more than a (big) niche sport. So it tried something. It didn’t work out exactly, but they are better off for having tried.

The College Football and Basketball revenue sports and big media contracts that are driving these shifting sands can pull this off much better than NASCAR could. It has National sports with wide appeal to sell.

If we end up with two or three coast-to-coast Super Leagues it will of course take some time getting used to. But it is the game itself that people either love (or don’t). Loyalties and rivalries can and will change over time. History has proven that. But one's chosen special team loyalty endures all.

Everything in our World is changing. That is obvious everywhere you look. So it will be with College Sports. The last 100 years will not define the next 100. Or the next FIVE.

The top level of College Sports has been quasi-pro for many years now. Now it will look even more pro. Things were moving this way anyway. The innocence of the past has been left at the station and Big Trains are moving on.
 
#527      
GilThorpe
heres the next move in the college football chess game:

the other eight B12 schools (should recuse Kansas) are the ones that really get screwed in this. They are all legitimate power 5 football programs and have all had some time in the top 10 the last 4-5 years, if just briefly . but thats more than we can say.

they need to keep their league intact and add 4 or more schools. In no particular order these come to mind : BYU, Boise St, Cincy, Houston, Memphis , UCF, Colo St . I think this B12 expansion gets done in the next 6 months. Those schools are all legit programs (all would kick our butts last year or this year) and adds schools to the P5 and is a win - win . Yea, the B12's next TV payday wont be as big, but it will be a lot more than if any of them had to go independent or join any of the other G5 leagues.
 
#528      
Clemens
ChiefGritty said:
Give a man a fish: Iowa State and Kansas to the B1G
Teach a man to fish: B1G/Pac 1x join forces on a TV deal
Murder and eat the guy teaching you to fish: B1G raids and destroys Pac 12

Anybody who can't see the symbiotic relationship between those two conferences has had their eyeball glued to the wrong end of the telescope, I'm sorry.
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I'd go even further, A merger between the Pac12 and B10, call it a league with two conferences and 2 pods in each. Play 7 games in conference, 2 against the opposing conference (one home and one away), 3 out of conference. Have a conference championship for both conferences and then a League championship and watch the money roll in.

Ditch the NCAA and set rules for the entire league. What purpose do they serve anymore?

As has been pointed out on here several times, traditions, relationships, history are less and less relevant in college sports. But that isn't consistent over every conference. The B10 and Pac12 have a relationship that is very long and very deep and IMO it matters to both of them more than any other conference. Raiding the PAC12 is probably the worst possible option (unless the pac12 melts down on it's own, unlikely). It sends the message that after decades of cooperation and friendship, the B10 can't be trusted.

Get the SEC involved and have a CFP or bowl games or both, whatever works out best. If the remnants can form a 3rd league/conference, throw them into the mix.
 
#529      
GilThorpe
in the new world, I would think one or two ooc games is all you would get. one as a tune up for the season in week 1, and one for homecoming or week 2.

the NCAA will not exist for FBS football nor for D1 major conference basketball. All that hoops tourney money will stay in the league(s).

pure mergers are hard to pull off - in this case also. people can call it a merger , but in unequal situations, the larger /stronger entity takes charge afterwards. I dont see the B1G playing second fiddle in this

edit : I know A&M came out officially ok with UT & OU coming in to the SEC. That really means very little with the long term possibility of them moving. I would say its very unlikely they move, but that statement doesnt preclude them from talking to the B1G. They would be fools not too.
 
#530      
ChiefGritty
So like, I totally get why the B1G doesn't want Kansas State, the Pac 12 doesn't want Baylor, etc. I think there are bigger-picture interests involved that should win the day here, but there are also immediate realities.

Everyone is assuming that whatever remnants of the Big XII remain after this carousel stops (which unless ND finally takes the plunge will be all of them), they'll top themselves up to 12 teams with the cream of the Group of 5 crop and essentially become a Luxury AAC. But is that really the move that maximizes their per-school TV revenue? The 4 schools they'd add would be the 4 least valuable, they'd just be extra mouths to feed.

Why not stick together as 8 teams (the return of the Big Eight!), play a 7-game full round robin, and then try to set up the most appealing non-conference matchups possible with those remaining 5 games? Isn't that a much more valuable package on a per-game basis?
 
#531      
RedRocksIllini
GilThorpe said:
heres the next move in the college football chess game:

the other eight B12 schools (should recuse Kansas) are the ones that really get screwed in this. They are all legitimate power 5 football programs and have all had some time in the top 10 the last 4-5 years, if just briefly . but thats more than we can say.

they need to keep their league intact and add 4 or more schools. In no particular order these come to mind : BYU, Boise St, Cincy, Houston, Memphis , UCF, Colo St . I think this B12 expansion gets done in the next 6 months. Those schools are all legit programs (all would kick our butts last year or this year) and adds schools to the P5 and is a win - win . Yea, the B12's next TV payday wont be as big, but it will be a lot more than if any of them had to go independent or join any of the other G5 leagues.
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Just a tiny nit but CSU would (probably) not kick our butts. Their football program has been adrift since McElwain left in 2014.
 
#535      
mini30fan
Joel Goodson said:
Cool. What's the point?
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My point is that if the PAC-12 and the B1G wanted to do some sort of benevolent merger, then essentially the heavy lifting for setting-up and maintaining a joint control room for monitoring all of these feeds is already complete. The control center is maintained by GlobalNoc, which early in its history served mainly to organize networks for B1G research interests, and was founded by and operated by IU. In 2012 the PAC-12 contracted GlobalNoc to rebuild the inner workings of the PAC-12 Network.

So, as far as I understand, all of this activity takes place before GlobalNoc passes the baton to Fox (or any other media partner) on the distribution end.
 
#541      
gibb52
GilThorpe said:
heres the next move in the college football chess game:

the other eight B12 schools (should recuse Kansas) are the ones that really get screwed in this. They are all legitimate power 5 football programs and have all had some time in the top 10 the last 4-5 years, if just briefly . but thats more than we can say.

they need to keep their league intact and add 4 or more schools. In no particular order these come to mind : BYU, Boise St, Cincy, Houston, Memphis , UCF, Colo St . I think this B12 expansion gets done in the next 6 months. Those schools are all legit programs (all would kick our butts last year or this year) and adds schools to the P5 and is a win - win . Yea, the B12's next TV payday wont be as big, but it will be a lot more than if any of them had to go independent or join any of the other G5 leagues.
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The 8 leftovers are still going to get $37m each as part of the ESPN rights package for the next few years. If they expand now does that give ESPN the right to void the contract? Maybe the smarter move is to wait until UT/OU get antsy, throw cash to leave. Then expand. Might as well milk the UT/OU coattails as long as you can. It's not like there's a race from the B1G or the PAC12 to get any of the teams that the B12 would be able to snag. Time is on their side right now.
 
#542      
PIT_ILL
gibb52 said:
The 8 leftovers are still going to get $37m each as part of the ESPN rights package for the next few years. If they expand now does that give ESPN the right to void the contract? Maybe the smarter move is to wait until UT/OU get antsy, throw cash to leave. Then expand. Might as well milk the UT/OU coattails as long as you can. It's not like there's a race from the B1G or the PAC12 to get any of the teams that the B12 would be able to snag. Time is on their side right now.
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I think what you are more likely to see is the other Big12 teams looking for a landing spot. They need to think about the next TV contract. They will get a much smaller piece next time around after losing their two biggest draws in UT and OU. They can add however many of whoever they want from someone like the AAC and that won't cover the loss.
 
#544      
ILL_INI
OrangeLife said:
Name them after 6 packs?

Stone Brewing IPA
Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA
Lagunitas IPA
Harpoon IPA

I suppose you can tell I like IPAs.
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I'm surprised these greedy conferences haven't already sold naming rights to their divisions.
 
#549      
IlliniKrush
Well it was a slow work day so why let everyone else have all the fun

The ACC, B1G, PAC and SEC call a truths. Agree not to come after each other
Each conference increases membership to 16 teams
SEC adds Texas and Oklahoma
ACC adds West Virginia including Notre Dame
B1G adds Iowa St and Kansas
PAC adds Texas Tech, Oklahoma St, Kansas St and Baylor

Sorry TCU, join the Mountain West or American Athletic

B1G vs PAC in the Rose Bowl
SEC vs ACC in Sugar Bowl
Winners meet in the National Championship game
 
#550      
ChiefGritty
IlliniKrush said:
Well it was a slow work day so why let everyone else have all the fun

The ACC, B1G, PAC and SEC call a truths. Agree not to come after each other
Each conference increases membership to 16 teams
SEC adds Texas and Oklahoma
ACC adds West Virginia including Notre Dame
B1G adds Iowa St and Kansas
PAC adds Texas Tech, Oklahoma St, Kansas St and Baylor

Sorry TCU, join the Mountain West or American Athletic

B1G vs PAC in the Rose Bowl
SEC vs ACC in Sugar Bowl
Winners meet in the National Championship game
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Let's be clear here. There are certain elements of this a lot of relevant folks wouldn't like (except for the ACC who make out like bandits here), but the parties who stand in the way of something like this are the SEC and ESPN who are gunning to have the whole pie to themselves.

The B1G and PAC need to stand up for themselves and stop this while they have the strength to do it.
 
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