Expansion Thread 2023

[Lobot]

ACC is vetting SMU as tag along for Stanford and Cal. I’m guessing they are assuming they’ll lose FSU?

[bearcatbret]

Everyone seems to be concerned about the travel and how it will affect the student-athlete now that it is UCLA, Cal, Washington, Oregon making the travels. This has been going on for decades with Conference USA and the AAC. Nobody seemed to care about it when it was only low recognition colleges with low TV deals.

[leeraymond]

WHERE DOES IT END? HOW MUCH MONEY IS ENOUGH (Florida State, UCLA, and USC)? WHAT GOOD IS THE NCAA? Look at how the NCAA has let this conference realignment thing to get TOTALLY out of control. Every big-time school in the country now wants in on the money. They feel that they will miss out on the big bucks if they are not associated with the SEC, B10, BIG XII, etc. No one is thinking about the pressure that the conference travel schedules will put on the student-athletes. A lot of these schools will have to fly hundreds and maybe thousands of miles to get to their next conference game. I predict that as fans, we might see the quality of the games go down because of tired and jet-lagged athletes. Look at what has happened to poor West Virginia since it has joined the BIG XII. Both basketball and football ARE struggling. Check out the football conference stats since 2012-13: 46-52 (losing record since joining BIG XII). Here are the basketball conference stats since 2012-13: 97-100 (losing record since it joined the BIG XII). This will perhaps be the fate of many of these presently winning schools when they have to deal with the extreme travel schedules of these new leagues. I hope that UC does not have a similar fate.

The NCAA should have put a stop to this CRAZY conference realignment years ago. However, the NCAA is composed of the very schools that feel as though they need more money. The real beauty of college sports is in its regional connections. I would much rather see a Michigan-Ohio State game than a Ohio State-UCLA game. Other fans may feel differently. Also, with conferences having more regional connections, the parents, friends, and fans of the athletes and the universities can attend games with greater ease and without spending thousands of dollars flying all over the %^$#@#% country to see their kid play. Additionally, TV money may also be driving these crazy college realignments. That is just my thought without any evidence to support that statement.

Maybe, just maybe, one day we can get back to college conferences that make sense for the athletes, families, friends, and fans.

[red_n_black_attack]

If ACC takes Stanford/Cal then yes we are done. This is all driven by ESPN wanting late night slots since they don't have any currently. If ACC doesn't take those 2 they might come back to the Big12 and tell us to expand again

If we go to 20 with the Pac4, that leaves very little room for ACC teams in 6-8 years or less.

[GoBearcats31]

Thamel -- ACC Presidents met this morning for exploratory call on Cal and Stanford. As expected, no vote was taken. The league is “still evaluating” the potential decision.

[Chewbacca2099]

If ACC takes Stanford/Cal then yes we are done. This is all driven by ESPN wanting late night slots since they don't have any currently. If ACC doesn't take those 2 they might come back to the Big12 and tell us to expand again

[Lobot]

McMurphy now reporting that the Big 12 is done expanding. No PAC 4 teams or SDSU are incoming.

[bearcatbret]

McMurphy reported that all PAC schools were looking at the Big 12 if they would leave out OSU and WSU. CFB Insider Suggests A PAC 12 President Attempted To Conspire Against 2 Rivals In Realignment (msn.com)
Speculations are that the big brothers in Oregon and Washington were the ones trying to keep OSU and WSU out.

[bearcatbret]

Don't hold your breath but could the PAC 4 be absorbed by the AAC? Well, at least it is $1M to $2M more a year over the Mountain West. College football realignment: G5 conference willing to throw lifeline to Pac-12 schools (msn.com)

[Lobot]

Do we have anyone on the board who is in advertising or TV? We used to have a few. Ad sales are the thing that is driving this mess and by extension Fox and ESPN.

Advertising also drives free social media.

So the business 101 question is, when is it overkill and how do we rein it in a bit without legal implications. It’s kinda ruining things particularly with college sports. It almost reminds me of a Black Mirror episode in Season 1

This isn’t just a sports thing it’s a societal issue.

Consider the can of worms open.

[bearcatbret]

^^Chewbacca, one thing to keep an eye on is that the PAC may have to remain intact and under that name in order to collect monies due to them from past tourneys etc. I read that all of the MWC may join the PAC in order to keep the owed monies within the PAC. I know, it all sounds ludicrous.

[Chewbacca2099]

Some new updates are starting to flow in... Cal/Stanford are most likely to end up in the ACC... the travel is going to be a nightmare but it gets the late night spots ESPN craves. WSU/OSU are screwed and likely end up in the MWC unless ESPN tells the Big12 to take them too. PAC4 met with MWC this morning but Stanford/Cal not onboard with that merger and most likely headed to ACC which is craziness.

SEC is also telling ESPN they would go-to a 9game conference schedule if they add 2more teams (to keep up with the B1G) and most likely FSU/Clemson.

[D.A.H.]

Cannot read past the first paragraph.

if you use twitter, this is broken down into roughly a dozen tweets - you can find it all there.

[Lobot]

This is also a decent writeup on what just happened. Possibly paywalled ($)

https://www.extrapointsmb.com/p/didnt-way

[bearcatbret]

Finally, someone wrote it. It is consolidation not realignment. When will the TV money people no longer want to pay for the likes of Indiana, etc. Column: It's not conference realignment. It's consolidation and no one is safe in the dash for cash (yahoo.com)