You know, I think I have a vague notion of how this conference expansion, realignment and overall sanity will eventually end. It’s just that the trip there is going to involve a lot of missed exits, detours, mistakes and probably take a lot longer than expected.
As we all know, Nebraska is heading to the Big 11/12. I think the question that most people want answered is: How are they going to tweak their “ten” logo now?
Colorado has not made any hesitation about its intents to leave the sinking Big 12 for the Pac-10/12/14/16 (I’ll get to the numbers in a moment).
The Pacific-10 Conference announced today that the University of Colorado at Boulder has accepted an invitation to join the Conference as its 11th member, the first new member since July 1, 1978.
And brace yourselves because number 12 could come soon as…
OKLAHOMA STATE. At least, according to, um, TMZ. TMZ claims this based on a source in OSU’s athletic department. To which it has to be asked, why/how does TMZ have a source in OSU’s athletic department?
Looks like that confab for between Texas and Texas A&M about trying to keep the Big 12 together is going swimmingly. But Big 12 Commish Dan Beebe swears they are still plugging away.
Speaking of Texas A&M. That interest in the SEC by the Aggies doesn’t seem to be waning
Schools such as Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson have been tossed out as possible SEC targets. Those schools don’t make sense, because the SEC already has a stranglehold on the markets they would deliver.
Texas is an untapped television market for the league, which already enjoys national distribution, but could make more money by guaranteeing more viewers. Though the Aggies wouldn’t bring as many eyeballs as the Longhorns, significant chunks of viewers in Dallas (the nation’s fifth largest television market), Houston (No. 10) and San Antonio (No. 37) would tune in to watch them. How many top-37 markets are currently in the SEC footprint? Just six. If the SEC does decide to expand, the change in membership number would trigger a clause that would allow the league to renegotiate its TV deals. Adding those markets, plus the markets of any other new member, would allow the league to command a higher price.
Obviously that would be the biggest shocker to me in expansion if Texas and Texas A&M split up in conference expansion. The next question would be who has to take custody of Texas Tech? And does that allow Baylor a chance to slide in with one of the two?
The Pac-10 whether by design or luck has had this play out extremely well for them. Even if the rest of the Big 12 somehow holds together, the odds are they at least grab Utah for 12 and still have a conference championship.
Missouri is, well, who knows for sure.
The University of Missouri board of curators began its two-day meeting at 9 a.m. today by immediately going into closed session, the first of three such breakouts scheduled as the future of Mizzou athletics essentially hovers in the balance.
And in the meantime…
Mizzou is circulating an email to campus officials reminding them to tell media: “We are proud members of Big 12 Conference.”
You just bet that they are. Right now, there is no certainty over what is next for the Tigers. Will the SEC bail them out? Will the Big 11/12 eventually claim them off waivers?
The SEC has been very quiet. They may be rumored to be active, but nothing is out there with any certainty. There is still the conviction that they can sit back and wait on things.
Not if they want some of the bigger pieces of expansion rather than leftovers.
I’m stopping here, because things keep changing. I’m sure I’ll end up posting some more stuff later tonight.
If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t lay money on the Big 12s survival…
I like the ACC North South configuration for both fb and bkb. Can anyone here make it happen?
In a college football world where we’re about to have 16 team superconferences (possibly 2 or more), our programs can’t survive in an 8 team football league (especially when maybe just 2 of those teams are respected nationally at any given time).
I love Big East hoops, but survival’s survival, and I hate the fact that I hear less-and-less “Pitt to the Big 10” rumors these days.
My hope is that ND turns down the Big 10 to maintain independence, and the B10 goes to 16 teams, thus picking up Rutgers, ‘cuse, Mizzou, and us.
It would kill the Big East, and I’d be worried about WVU’s football program, but they’d be pretty attractive to the SEC or ACC. They’re a good program that does bring in some of the Western PA and Eastern Ohio market.
But if we get stuck in an even more watered down Big East that either has more C-USA teams, or Big 12 football rejects (or even worse, WE’RE in C-USA), I’m not going to be happy.
Someone made the point that Miami and FSU really don’t add much to the SEC TV market, and there may be some animosity there, anyway. OTOH, VT would be a prize for the SEC, and as we all know, VT runs like a wh*re toward the best offer.
Someone should tell VT that if the SEC does make an offer, VT probably shouldn’t try and sue them.
Seriously, I would pay Armstrong Cable $5 more a month for ACC TV/HD if Pitt, Syracuse, Uconn and WVU joined. I’m sure there are millions more like me from Morgantown to Stohrs. Come on ACC get on it!!! This makes too much sense not to happen.
I also believe the optimal place for Pitt is in the north division of the ACC hopefully aling with Cuse, WVU snf Uconn
Yeah, no sh*t ND would join the BE if they could keep their NBC TV contract AND take part of the revenue that the BE makes from theirs AND ensure that there are no other schools that they’ll have top split the pie with. F*** those domers. They want to have their cake, and yours too. Do they also want the BE’s automatic BCS bid if they finish in the top four of the conference? Long term, this makes no sense for the Big East.
I want this DONE. I don’t think Pitt will compete for the NC in the next 5 years, so if this is going to prolong the BE for another 5 years and then we’re going to go through this exercise again, let’s just get it over with. If the Big East is going to fold, I’d prefer it be now, while there are still potential landing options. I’d hate to see the ACC have to expand now, with the likes of East Carolina and Buffalo, only to see ND bolt for the B10 when it’s contract with NBC runs out, and nowhere for the Big East teams to go. This is the time to get organized for the long term. We can’t be comfortable with 8 teams. We need some buffer so that 1 defection doesn’t cause us to lose our BCS bid.
I would like to see this scenario. The Big East is currently at 8 football members. I think they need to get to 16. I think you need to break the Basketball only schools into their own conference, but maintain some kind of a relationship to preserve rivalries.
If the Big 12 breaks up and Missouri is not brought into the Big 10, I think you immediately offer them and Kansas membership in the Big East. Which would you choose? A conference that already has an automatic BCS bid or the MWC? I think you hope that the SEC raids the southern ACC to get to 16, leaving a weakened ACC. I think the Big East then tries to kill off the ACC by poaching a handful of their schools, and getting to 16.
The Big East has a geographical advantage if it can add Missouri and Kansas, and a number of the ACC schools. The remaining ACC schools and Big 12 schools will not be able to form a conference together because of the sheer distance between them. However, if the Big 10 poaches more Big East schools, there will still be desirable schools both to the west and to the east.
I’m tired of worrying every year that the Big East will lose their BCS bid. Tired of worrying that we won’t wind up in a conference with long term stability. End it already, Big East. Either get in the game, or get out.