Realignment talk not going away

[RoyalBevo21 912]

20 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

It doesn’t matter if you noticed. It made B1G schools a lot more money. MD and Rutgers aren’t full partners yet but the rest of the schools are getting $51 Million each from the current tv deals. That will go up in the future with the addition of the L.A. market. Not sure how that’s lost on you.

Meanwhile there was no Big 12 network, the conference is collapsing, LHN will die, and Texas is chasing A&M to the SEC. 

And Texas will still be richer, located in a better state and better city and a more prestigious University than Ohio St lol. Cool story bro 👍

[Deej 77670]

Just now, RoyalBevo21 said:

And Texas will still be richer, located in a better state and better city and a more prestigious University than Ohio St lol. Cool story bro 👍

Plus they still won't have idiots like WhatTheBuck as fans. 

So we got that going for us. 

[ChiTownDoc 21323]

1 hour ago, mdmost said:

It might be hard for OU fans to come up with a down Lincoln hand signal but I wouldn't put it past you. 

I’m gonna need you all to come up with something creative then we’ll just fuck that up and run with it.  Few years later the rest of cfb will follow along.  

[Michael Knight 13187]

3 hours ago, Dirk X West said:

Not to mention the dumbest people and most culturally backwards states in the US.

Texas fits right in

[Hpara759 1788]

Just now, RoyalBevo21 said:

located in a better state 

obviously you don't get around the rest of this board much...do you?

[maninblack 7975]

7 minutes ago, Auto Driller said:

If conferences reach 20 teams then what does it even mean to be a “member” of that conference? You play 5-6 opponents yearly, and then rotate 3 opponents? So you end up playing your “conference mates” every 4-5 years? Kinda sounds like the out of conference scheduling agreements we have now. 
 

I get that it’s ultimately about TV contracts and money but the whole thing seems dumb.

It's stupid. The only reason I could see a big push now would be to blow it up, wait to see what lawsuits might arise and then when the dust settles form a regional 48/64 team super league.

[Auto Driller 2563]

We should probably try to win a conference championship this year. It’s about to get a lot harder.

[David Dennison 19441]

2 minutes ago, BigEhorn said:

 

That's adorable.

[Steelers Roll Left 1280]

Just now, BigEhorn said:

 

Didn’t give that tweet much credence earlier, but if Oregon and UW truly are applying for the Big Ten, then we’re looking at Pac 12 implosion and I could certainly see something like this on the table.  Guess it would be the MWC for Oregon State and Washington State then

[Tex-19 3009]

3 minutes ago, BigEhorn said:

 

I still refuse to believe Oregon and Phil Knight get left out of all this. 

[dcar00 14902]

Just now, Auto Driller said:

We should probably try to win a conference championship this year. It’s about to get a lot harder.

the conf championship is about to matter about as much as it does in basketball or baseball.

[RoyalBevo21 912]

1 minute ago, Hpara759 said:

obviously you don't get around the rest of this board much...do you?

Anyone who thinks Ohio is a peer to the state of Texas should go visit Columbus followed by a wonderful trip to Cleveland lol. 

[PandaPipe 67]

What the Big Ten adding USC and UCLA would mean for the SEC - The Athletic

 

Quote

What the Big Ten adding USC and UCLA would mean for the SEC

By The Athletic College Football Staff

4h ago

64

---

— Reporting by Seth Emerson, Aaron Suttles and G. Allan Taylor

Late last year, a few months after the SEC gobbled up Texas and Oklahoma, commissioner Greg Sankey was asked if he was to blame for realignment.

“No,” Sankey said, grinning. “Let’s go back over the last 20 or 30 years — a lot of decisions have been made, with a lot of movement. That’s historic reality, that’s current reality and likely going to be future reality.”

Bingo. And if anything, the bombshell news Thursday that the Big Ten is gobbling up USC and UCLA shows that Sankey and the SEC were not to blame. They’re vindicated because in college athletics nobody is in charge, and conference realignment, it appears, was always destined to be a messy but lucrative dash toward super-conferences.

And the SEC will be one of them.

What is the reaction in SEC territory?

People in the SEC footprint were as surprised as anybody, at least that this is happening now. Two well-connected sources in the SEC told The Athletic they hadn’t heard anything until early Thursday, a few hours before the story broke. Paul Finebaum, the pre-eminent voice on the SEC Network, echoed that.

“It’s a jaw-dropping move,” Finebaum said. “Compliments to Kevin Warren for completely faking out his colleagues at the ACC and Pac-12 with this ridiculous contraption called The Alliance. While they were celebrating such future matchups like Washington State-Georgia Tech and Boston College-Cal, the Big Ten was plotting the biggest move in college football since Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. While it moves the Big Ten closer to the SEC, it pushes the ACC closer to irrelevance.

“If you are Dabo Swinney, you are screaming at your athletic director at Clemson to get you to the SEC, regardless of the cost.”

At least one SEC administrator called the USC/UCLA move “predictable” based upon the Power 5 merging into a Power 2.

“The SEC and Big Ten have separated from all the other conferences,” the source said. “The schools with strong brands who are outside those two leagues will be seeking entry.”

So will the SEC go after ACC schools?

Maybe eventually, but it’s not as easy as just adding them. The ACC has a grant of rights deal with each school through 2036 — the same reason Oklahoma and Texas have to wait until 2025 to leave the Big 12.

Still, if this is all accelerating the move to super-conferences, Sankey will not be standing pat, especially if the ACC truly is vulnerable. And it might be if the money ACC schools would have to forfeit can be offset by the money they would get by landing in the Big Ten or SEC.

On paper, the ACC has schools that could be divided into like-minded conferences: The Big Ten could take North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Syracuse, Boston College and Pittsburgh. The SEC would most value Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Miami, with NC State, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest as second-tier options. (Where would that leave Louisville? Maybe to join whatever is left of the Big 12?)

SEC presidents probably would prefer to go after North Carolina and Duke, for reasons of academic prestige. It might not seem like the best fit, but at this point, it’s all about the money.

This is all speculation, of course, until getting a school out of the ACC appears realistic. Those conversations are certainly happening now but probably more in a reactionary way: Where is this going and what should we do? Sankey and the SEC have shown they will act more deliberately, so don’t expect any SEC expansion news conferences tomorrow.

At minimum, Sankey and the SEC are well positioned, having been the first to get to 16 teams. They also did it in a way that makes more geographic sense: Every state in the conference’s footprint touches at least one other SEC school.

Whereas the Big 12 was viewed as the most unstable conference for the past decade, the ACC and soon-to-be Pac-10 now share that distinction. It’s feasible that the Big 12 might have enough leverage to draw Utah and an ACC member. Or will the ACC convince the Big 12’s easternmost schools to join the pack?

 

The SEC will move to 16 teams when Oklahoma and Texas join the conference. (David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Could the SEC go after any non-ACC schools?

If it wanted anybody else from the Big 12, it could have done so at the time. Of course, the calculus might change now if the idea is to go to 20-plus teams. Oklahoma State could reunite with Oklahoma. Kansas could be attractive for basketball, although basketball hasn’t moved the needle in realignment and Jayhawks football is so laughable that it couldn’t win a Group of 5 conference. Maybe you think about West Virginia, which fits the SEC culture, draws perennially strong football attendance and has notable alumni pockets in Atlanta and Charlotte. Cincinnati has won consistently during the past three decades and emerged as a national power under Luke Fickell. Might the SEC see value to encroach into Ohio?

There’s also the Pac-12, where Arizona and Arizona State are at least a short plane flight from the Texas schools. Given the slate of bowl games staged around the growing Phoenix metropolitan area, it feels like college football territory.

Still, the additions that make the most sense are from the ACC.

What else does this say about the SEC?

It vindicates Sankey for jumping first and getting the right schools for his conference. Maybe super-conferences are bad for college sports, but it appears they were inevitable. (When the Oklahoma-Texas news broke in 2021, two Power 5 athletic directors outside the SEC told The Athletic they foresaw Sankey trying to amass a 20- to 24-team league.)

Speaking to media members in May, Sankey made specific mention of a member colleague (the Big Ten) renegotiating its media rights deal. That wasn’t by accident. The SEC adding Texas and Oklahoma certainly increased its value in terms of future television deals or set the basis for renegotiating. If the future is indeed super-conferences of as many as 20 members, those back-room, hushed conversations are likely being had sooner rather than later.

“People who are able to make decisions, like-minded universities, like-minded athletics programs coming together, I think has proven to be healthy over time,” Sankey said. “There are a number of factors that are going to drive membership transition — geography, so (Texas and Oklahoma are) contiguous states. The media opportunities which bring, I think, arguably the best.

“There’s a set of shifts. What’s fascinating is there’s all these FCS and smaller Division I conference shifts that outnumber anything we’ve done at the FBS level, but they don’t really drive attention. And that has nothing to do with Texas and Oklahoma. The Big 12’s expansion and then the American expanding and some shifts around Conference USA and the Sun Belt — one can see a domino effect there. But I think that can work really well for us. I think that’s a reality of college sports over time. And I certainly think it can be helpful. You’re also assuming people are just going to stay (in their current conference if they didn’t join the SEC).”

Could this speed up Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC?

There was already some buzz at SEC meetings last month that the Sooners and Longhorns could move up their arrival to 2024, coinciding with the SEC’s new Disney broadcast deal. The thinking was that if the SEC could renegotiate for more money, because that Disney deal was struck pre-expansion, it could make it worth Texas’ and Oklahoma’s while to pay an early exit fee.

The problem with that is the Big 12’s divorce fee is so high — possibly north of $80 million per school — that it might take ESPN stepping in as a broker to make it worth it for everyone involved, including the Big 12. And the motivation for doing so could be throttled up now if the Big Ten is adding its two new teams in 2024.

But again, it would have to make financial sense for the Big 12, Texas and Oklahoma to negotiate an early exit. And if past realignments serve as precedent, schools on the move don’t linger in their old leagues for very long. Texas and OU are already recruiting on the strength of joining the SEC, so it’s hard to envision them staying in the Big 12 for four more seasons.

Does this affect College Football Playoff expansion?

It has to. There’s almost no way it doesn’t. It certainly shifts the focus on the number of guaranteed at-large bids in any expansion talks to a place in which the SEC is much more agreeable. Another conference beefing up its membership, as the Big Ten is doing, will garner another ally for the SEC in terms of any expansion talks guaranteeing more at-large bids.

The SEC is never going to cede fewer at-larges over automatic bids for conference champions when other conferences don’t have the number of teams capable of making the CFP. One would think this move by the Big Ten aligns their thinking in that regard.

With USC and UCLA departing, the soon-to-be Pac-10 has no leverage to demand an automatic qualifier’s spot. Backfilling with Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Nevada, Utah State, Fresno State or Hawaii doesn’t remedy that. So Sankey is primed to get his wish: a 12-team field in which the SEC can annually expect four or five teams to be invited.

 

[Deej 77670]

1 minute ago, Steelers Roll Left said:

Didn’t give that tweet much credence earlier, but if Oregon and UW truly are applying for the Big Ten, then we’re looking at Pac 12 implosion and I could certainly see something like this on the table.  Guess it would be the MWC for Oregon State and Washington State then

People on the west coast...

[Updawg 2378]

Colorado must be pissed

[dcar00 14902]

1 minute ago, Steelers Roll Left said:

Didn’t give that tweet much credence earlier, but if Oregon and UW truly are applying for the Big Ten, then we’re looking at Pac 12 implosion and I could certainly see something like this on the table.  Guess it would be the MWC for Oregon State and Washington State then

unless Ann Richards shows up...

[DanTheHorn 5061]

24 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

So am I, but it was either do this or whither and die.

Look at this way at least you won't have rubes chanting BIG next you in the coming years. Business is Business.

Edited July 1, 2022 by DanTheHorn

[Francisco 2.0 32543]

2 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

I still refuse to believe Oregon and Phil Knight get left out of all this. 

It's musical chairs at this point.  Someone notable is going to get left behind.

[Deej 77670]

Just now, Updawg said:

Colorado must be pissed

Will they even notice?

[gmr548 16681]

2 minutes ago, Updawg said:

Colorado must be pissed

They'll probably end up back in the Big 12.

[Huckleberry 34407]

I wish reality supported 10 team conferences. That is absolutely the best setup competitively with a football round robin, basketball double round robin, etc. leading to deeper familiarity and rivalries. Maybe 20 team conference will be around for a while then split. It's my only hope. 

Also lol Colorado

[LTtxfan 49909]

 

[Deej 77670]

Fuck Colorado. They helped start this shit as soon as the Pac 12 lifted their skirt. 

[DFW Horn 6637]

 

[Upgrayedd 5861]

Looks like my timeline of hitting every Pac stadium got moved up a tad.  Just had Wazzu, Cal and Stanford left.

[RoyalBevo21 912]

Just now, Huckleberry said:

I wish reality supported 10 team conferences. That is absolutely the best setup competitively with a football round robin, basketball double round robin, etc. leading to deeper familiarity and rivalries. Maybe 20 team conference will be around for a while then split. It's my only hope. 

Also lol Colorado

It's essentially going back to that. Teams are going to be aligned with their regional partners within the conference. The only people this won't apply to is the Big 12 and even then it'll still be mostly familiar faces. 

 

For Texas there are no 3 schools that exist that have more history with the Horns than Oklahoma, Arkansas, and aggy. 

[bad_teammate 13479]

it was over an hour ago but someone said something about Salma Hayek's "prime" and I'm still pissed

[Deej 77670]

But Snoop prefers a warmer climate.

 

[bullet 1627]

7 hours ago, DFW Horn said:

Another "journalist" with anonymous sources.

Wilner is the most authoritative source on Pac 12 stuff.  He's like Brett McMurphy on realignment.

[bullet 1627]

6 hours ago, Laxtonto said:

All this value argument now needs to also include what this does to the expanded CFP and the revenue it generates...

If there is one less mouth to feed, every conference payout goes up. If there is one less Power conference with would imply some teams getting relegated to G5 status, that piece of the pie gets that much bigger.

 

Does anyone think that the value of the Pac12 branding will just be left on the wayside for the value of the B12 brand?

Bet the other 10 are kicking themselves for killing the CFP expansion.  Big 12 wasn't that stupid.

[jdhorn92 1588]

21 minutes ago, Deej said:

Fuck Colorado. They helped start this shit as soon as the Pac 12 lifted their skirt. 

Mizzou got it going in earnest.  Some argue Ark prior to that, but Mizzou lifted their skirt first to the Big10, and Nebraska pulled rank and told the Big, if you are looking to grow, we're the only logical expansion in the mid-west.

  Then Neb used Texas as cover (us going like 10-1 vs them, ruining their 2 long home win streaks, breaking their Natty run, getting 1 more second on the clock, LHN, raising the academic standards of the Big8 etc..)

Edited July 1, 2022 by jdhorn92

[Deej 77670]

Just now, jdhorn92 said:

Mizzou got it going in earnest.  Some aruge Ark prior to that, but Mizzou lifter their skirt to Big, and Nebraska pulled rank and told the Big, if you are looking to grow, we're the only logical expansion in the mid-west.

  Then Neb used Texas as cover (us going like 10-1 vs them, ruining their 2 long home win streaks, breaking their Natty run, getting 1 more second on the clock, LHN, raising the academic standards of the Big8 etc..)

I'm good with the fact that we destroyed any hope of Nebraska being relevant. 

[DFW Horn 6637]

 

[clapclapclap 9000]

Statement from the Back2Pac10.4.now:

 

[bullet 1627]

3 hours ago, hawkfan said:

Question for Texas fans - knowing that the B1G can probably now take their pick of the remaining PAC schools, would you prefer a B1G with USC/UCLA/Oregon/Washington or the SEC?  Not saying this is in the cards or anything, but reset the board and assume you hadn't announced your intent to join the SEC - would you prefer the SEC or 20 School B1G + USC/UCLA/Oregon/Washington (and OU/UT)?

SEC.

Big is just lousy at some of the spring sports we are good at.  And there are more rivalries in the SEC.

[maninblack 7975]

4 minutes ago, bullet said:

SEC.

Big is just lousy at some of the spring sports we are good at.  And there are more rivalries in the SEC.

I don't know why any Texan would want to be playing in the midwest

Edited July 1, 2022 by maninblack

[Biggus Duckus 91]

38 minutes ago, Deej said:

Fuck Colorado. They helped start this shit as soon as the Pac 12 lifted their skirt. 

I thought they were going to be left out until someone from Texas or the Big 12 put the kibosh on the original 16-team idea a decade ago?  And when that fell through, then Colorado was like "ok fine, I'll go instead..."

 

Could be misremembering, it's been a while.  I was extremely disappointed that the Pac10/Big12 superconference didn't work out, but I think a Pac/B1G power makes more sense historically. 

Edited July 1, 2022 by Biggus Duckus

[Dirk X West 772]

9 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

Statement from the Back2Pac10.4.now:

 

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

[Deej 77670]

I'm sure Ohio State will remind any recruit looking at USC and UCLA about their tax burden with NIL. 

[hawkfan 60]

Most from the PAC12... Wonder who the others are.

[Woodrow Call 494]

1 hour ago, Sbbruin said:

So am I, but it was either do this or whither and die.

So they say. I look forward to our beach volleyball team playing Northwestern along the shores of Lake Michigan. Traveling to games in Illinois. And then there's the whole issue of climate. No one ever thinks about that. We just get on our planes and fly around as if there's no tomorrow. We have people like Terence Tao at UCLA. Really smart people that see the bigger picture and can see beyond the money soaked myopia that college football has become. I'm sure they weren't consulted. 

 

[ChiTownDoc 21323]

50 minutes ago, Steelers Roll Left said:

Didn’t give that tweet much credence earlier, but if Oregon and UW truly are applying for the Big Ten, then we’re looking at Pac 12 implosion and I could certainly see something like this on the table.  Guess it would be the MWC for Oregon State and Washington State then

Not sure who wants to fuck with Phil Knight but I’m pretty sure he has more money than any nfl owner and cfb will certainly bend at his knee if he decides he needs to throw a few billion around.  Oregon will be just fine.  

[hawkfan 60]

 

[MalibuSheriff 1095]

3 minutes ago, hawkfan said:

 

The media aspects of this round of realignment will be very interesting to follow.  I’ve been wondering when Apple and Amazon will make a play for college sports rights.

[bullet 1627]

Only 11 pages since the news hit?  Figured I would have to wade through at least 20.

So this afternoon it leaks.  This evening it becomes official that UCLA and USC are joining the Big 10.

And it seems pretty clear that Oregon and Washington have applied to the Big 10, along with others.  But I don't think anything else is imminent (ie 48 hours).

 

 

 

 

[bullet 1627]

I'm not sold on Oregon's chances.  USC and UCLA have deep ties with Stanford, Cal and UW.  They left Oregon behind when the Pac broke up 60 years ago.  Oregon, Oregon St., Washington St. and Idaho got left out.  The first 3 eventually got added back.

And if the Big 10 wants pods, 5 in the west is the number.  The 6th would be Notre Dame, Kansas or Colorado.

[maninblack 7975]

 

[LTbear 4209]

3 minutes ago, bullet said:

I'm not sold on Oregon's chances.  USC and UCLA have deep ties with Stanford, Cal and UW.  They left Oregon behind when the Pac broke up 60 years ago.  Oregon, Oregon St., Washington St. and Idaho got left out.  The first 3 eventually got added back.

And if the Big 10 wants pods, 5 in the west is the number.  The 6th would be Notre Dame, Kansas or Colorado.

They want money and Oregon will likely be next on the totem pole in additional revenue. Pods/ divisions are going away anyway. 

[mdleast 8491]

[South Austin 53154]

Good move, Colorado. You’re now that much closer to football irrelevance.