Expansion Thread 2023

[Chewbacca2099]

SDSU is forever stuck in MWC now. Unless the PAC somehow survives with 4 teams and adds them in a couple years. Big12 can now screw over ASU/Utah if they want and only give them partial shares... they'd still have to join with their tails between their legs. They will also slow down and explore what will be most valuable to the league... would Stanford/Cal make sense at all? etc. They may slow the AZ announcement and make sure they have the best 2-4 value teams selected.

[Lobot]

i thought that sdsu pledged its eternal love to the mwc - are you sure it's leaving next summer?

I might have missed something. I've been really busy lately. I know they were let back in but I'm not really sure if the 2024 exit is off the table or not. Maybe I'm wrong.

[swilsonsp4]

I was under the impression that SDSU took back their intention to exit the conference, and after some meetings were back in good standing. They just have to pay the legal fees related to the process of not leaving. I think I heard somewhere, as part of being taken back, they can't exit for a minimum of two years. But I could be mistaken.

This is all correct.

I expect some kind of merger/absorption of the remaining PAC and MWC schools.

[Lobot]

SDSU is forever stuck in MWC now. Unless the PAC somehow survives with 4 teams and adds them in a couple years. Big12 can now screw over ASU/Utah if they want and only give them partial shares... they'd still have to join with their tails between their legs. They will also slow down and explore what will be most valuable to the league... would Stanford/Cal make sense at all? etc. They may slow the AZ announcement and make sure they have the best 2-4 value teams selected.

Stanford, Cal, Utah and ASU are all AAU schools. This makes them a Big 10 target but I'm not sure that conference can grow much larger and ASU seems like a bad fit if it does.

Here's the current list. You'll notice some new names. GW and USF are two of the 6 new members. UC is on target to join this group in the future, I've been told.

https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members

[Lobot]

ASU and Utah are thinking about the Big 12 according to McMurphy and others. ASU's president is doing a good Greg Willams and the Big East imitation here though.

[longtimefan]

Stanford, Cal, Utah and ASU are all AAU schools. This makes them a Big 10 target but I'm not sure that conference can grow much larger and ASU seems like a bad fit if it does.

Here's the current list. You'll notice some new names. GW and USF are two of the 6 new members. UC is on target to join this group in the future, I've been told.

https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members

Ohio State keeps UC out.

[Chewbacca2099]

I hope this one isn't true...

Hearing now there is a possibility B12 could go to 18 and bring in ASU/Utah/WSU/ORSU all at reduced shares for the remainder of the new contract and give them full membership at the next contract. Developing now so stay tuned.

[Lobot]

Utah to the Big 12 looks eminent per Jason Scheer

[bearcatbret]

The ugly side of me says to stop at Arizona and let the remaining 6 join either the Mountain West or AAC. For at least one realignment cycle so that when/if they are considered to join one of the Power 4, everyone can say that x conference is taking Utah from the group of 5.

Also, let them work on $5M/year or less TV deal for a cycle.

[Lobot]

Thamel just now:

Sources: Both Utah and Arizona State have applied for formal membership to the Big 12 Conference, and there’s a call tonight with the Big 12's presidents and chancellors to discuss their membership. Arizona applied and was approved yesterday.

[longtimefan]

McMurphy:
“Arizona, Arizona State & 2-time defending Pac-12 champion Utah joining Big 12 in 2024 pending Big 12 formal approval in next 24 hours, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Big 12 will be 3rd league w/at least 16 schools, while Pac-12 down to 4 schools.”

We were in a 16 team BE for basketball, I have no idea how football will work.

[bearcatbret]

McMurphy:
“Arizona, Arizona State & 2-time defending Pac-12 champion Utah joining Big 12 in 2024 pending Big 12 formal approval in next 24 hours, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Big 12 will be 3rd league w/at least 16 schools, while Pac-12 down to 4 schools.”

We were in a 16 team BE for basketball, I have no idea how football will work.

For a 16-team league, would football be two 8-team divisions and just play 7 conference games within the division and the winner of each division plays in the conference championship? Or do we go with 4 pods of 4 teams (3 games within the pod) and play two teams from the other three pods each year (6 games) for a total of 9 conference games? If you went with 2 divisions or 4 pods, which teams would be in each?

What will be interesting is to see how the B!G rearranges their schedule because they have already released their 2024 schedule.

[longtimefan]

So, how does this look?
West
Arizona
Arizona St.
Baylor
BYU
Colorado
TCU
Texas Tech
Utah

East
Central Florida
Cincinnati
Houston
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
OK State
West Virginia

[bearcatbret]

Longtime - Keep your post and repost it in 9 months to see how close you got. I think that this does a lot. It keeps long-time rivalries alive, keeps regional ties. The only concern that I have with these large conferences, a player may play for 4-5 years with the same school and may never play a team from the other division. Say you have 7 division games so that you need 2 games from the other division each year. I guess that you could get all 8 teams in but only half of them at home and play them only once each.

[GoBearcats31]

Thamel — Sources: The Big 12's presidents and chancellors voted unanimously Friday night to admit Arizona State and Utah. They did the same last night for Arizona. All three at on the way, pending a Board of Trustees vote in Utah to formalize their move.