:smh:
Damn, that really sucks. Feel bad for Idaho...
Printable View
:smh:
Damn, that really sucks. Feel bad for Idaho...
The MWC should just get these 2 stragglers, get to 12 teams, and have a CCG in Denver at Invesco.
:nod:Quote:
Originally Posted by souljahbill
That's what I've been saying for days now (picking up Idaho and NMSU). And the CCG in Denver at Invesco would be perfect.
If the Mountain West takes NMSU but shuts Idaho out in the cold, they're gonna go on my shit list. That would be some big time bullshit to take in NMSU but give a giant middle finger to Idaho.Quote:
Originally Posted by gschwendt
Nice job, Sporting News.Quote:
Originally Posted by cdj
Unless New Mexico suddenly becomes a supporter of NMSU, I don't see that happening. Though I also don't 100% understand why you're blaming the Mountain West for this ... there's a lot more blame to go around than for the MW. The Big East and MW are just trying to survive at this point, and the WAC simply became the meat for the vultures.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
My only blame for the Mountain West would if they were to take in NMSU and shut out Idaho. Why only take in one and sit at 11 when you could take in both (and have both fit in your conference's geographical footprint), have 12 and have a CCG. Also, partially because what makes NMSU worthy of entrance into the MWC, but it's FU to Idaho (who might be forced to drop down to the FCS.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
I'm not blaming the Mountain West for reaching the point we have in the shifting conference landscape. My only blame/hate for them would be taking in NMSU while simultaneously screwing Idaho out of a conference spot, resulting in FBS college football losing a team as Idaho would be forced to drop down. While Idaho was already a member of the FCS from 78-95, to be forced to drop back down to the FCS simply because the Mountain West didn't want to take them in, resulting in them being the odd man left out in the conference changes, is pretty shitty.
I think the shitty part is that ANYBODY will be possibly moving down while Texas State, UTSA, etc are all moving up. Non-sensical.
If the MWC doesn't pick up Idaho then they are really dumb. Like you say, add Idaho and boom you have two divisions and a conference championship and that means more money for the conference. Dumb... let's hope reason wins out on this one and the MWC gets their heads out of their butts!Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
They are most likely waiting to see if Boise State and SDSU are going to come back.Quote:
Originally Posted by souljahbill
A very good point there and one I agree with.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
Yep, every other conference seems to want to go to 12 teams and have a CCG, except the MWC apparently.Quote:
Originally Posted by jaymo76
If they're waiting for that, then jaymo is right and they really are dumb. College football may indeed be going down the path where in two or three years (whatever exact date/year it was) where automatic qualifiers will no longer exist and it will just be every conference in the same pot, the Big East (even with having to fly clear across the country to play games against the other BE teams on the east coast), is still the "higher esteemed" conference and the "better" conference in the eyes of pretty much everyone over that of the Mountain West.Quote:
Originally Posted by razorback44
Boise State and SDSU made their decisions to jump to and join the Big East. I don't see them suddenly changing their minds and going right back to the Mountain West. Plus, granted it would make the Mountain West a better conference with Boise State and SDSU coming back, but would the Mountain West be willing to take them right back in immediately after Boise State and SDSU basically both just told the MWC that the conference is not good enough for them and a conference clear across the country on the east coast is?
They're not "going down the path" ... it's happening. AQ will no longer exist with the next contract.
And, while I agree that at first the Big East will still be a "higher" conference, I think people will be much more willing to change that view if the MWC started playing really well. The Big East is effectively the old MWC, so all the "they don't play anybody!" biases should still apply :D
Yeah, I couldn't remember if they had decided for certain to do away with AQ or if it was still just "being talked about", so I went with the "cover my ass" wording. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
Football not the only sport with some musical chairs going. The Atlantic 10 gets stronger as they added Butler last week, and announced today, VCU will join the conference in 2013. Maybe part of the reason why Shaka Smart decided to stay as VCU is now going to go to what is considered a power conference in college basketball.
Well, now he's gonna have to show that he has his shit together. While Drexel, Old Dominion and George Mason (along with Delaware also to an extent) are tough opponents in the CAA, going to the Atlantic 10, with Temple, Saint Louis, Xavier, St. Bonaventure, UMass, La Salle, Dayton, St. Joseph's, and now Butler. Good god that is gonna be a tournament killer conference for anyone who doesn't finish in the top 3-5 teams at the end of the season.
Temple left the A10 to rejoin the Big East but yeah that is a very tough conference still.
Oh that's right, I forgot about that. Damnit, all these changes are hard to keep track of. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by razorback44
It definitely doesn't get easier to keep track of in basketball.
No, it does not. With conference changes happening by the week, basketball is a pain in the ass to keep track of with 33 different conferences.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
Uhhhhh? I just heard on ESPN Radio that Florida State may consider going to the Big XII? WOW.
Yep. Just read a long story about it all on Yahoo.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--...GlvbnM-;_ylv=3
Quote:
Florida State trustee may have lit the fuse on a potential move to the Big 12
By Dan Wetzel | Yahoo! Sports – Sat, May 12, 2012 10:46 PM EDT
Just as the rumbling rumors of Florida State moving from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big 12 had begun to hush, here came the Saturday afternoon bombshell.
"How do you not look into that option?" asked Andy Haggard, chairman of Florida State's board of trustees, to Warchant.com. "On behalf of the Board of Trustees I can say unanimously we would be in favor of seeing what the Big 12 might have to offer.
"We have to do what it is in Florida State's best interest."
The comments rolled across the ACC like an earthquake. There's a big difference between talk and action, and the Big 12 and FSU haven't spoken even informally, sources said, but this was taken deathly serious among the power set. Truth be told, it wasn't even that unexpected.
The first shock to the system hit Wednesday, when the ACC came to terms with ESPN on a 15-year, $3.6 billion agreement that sure sounded good in the press release. Each school was supposedly getting an additional $4 million a year. The average would be $17.1 million annually. Not bad, it seemed.
The reality was bad, however. The initial bump in television revenue is actually just over $1 million a year, sources said, and a total in the $12 million range next season. The deal is back loaded so the bigger money comes in escalator provisions that, considering how broadcast rights keep growing, probably will be below market by the time any sizeable gains are realized.
That additional $4 million per school, per year? That won't come until 2021, nine years in, sources said.
Privately, almost everyone was troubled by the deal.
Furthermore, there was consternation over the length of the deal, which could favor ESPN. Some wondered if it wasn't agreed upon just to save face, the later money making it look like the ACC landed a windfall in today's dollar.
The deal is done though. The only option is to further expand to 16 teams and force renegotiations. Unless that means adding Notre Dame (highly unlikely) there is no one available that would improve the value of the league.
So here's Florida State, which acknowledged this spring it is running an operating deficit and may have to trim up to $2.4 million a year in expenditures. It's saddled with what it considers a less-than-desirable football schedule as it tries to lure 80,000-plus all the way to the Panhandle. The addition of Syracuse and Pitt to the league slate won't help that problem in the least. And it's literally surrounded by cash-rich SEC clubs.
Across the ACC, the television deal was seen as anywhere from a disappointment to a disaster, sources said.
In Tallahassee, it may have been the last straw.
______________
Yes, this threat feels real, people in the ACC believe. Chairmen of the Board generally don't unload like Haggard did unless they were encouraged by someone behind the scenes, who for political reasons can't speak so boldly.
And even if this was a rogue action, as the moves by Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12 to the SEC show, once trustees get involved things happen quickly and the status quo isn't the result.
"Ugh," said one league source, which pretty much said it all. ACC football has never lived up to its expectations – much of the blame, ironically, is FSU's mediocrity – but you lose the Seminoles (and maybe Miami) and the future gets more difficult.
Haggard played up the long held idea that the league office is in the back pocket of the basketball programs of Duke and North Carolina, while floating the concept that there is some pile of cash possible if the Seminoles could only package some of their lower-profile football games, maybe even like Texas does with the Longhorn Network.
"It's mind-boggling and shocking," Haggard told Warchant.com. "How can the ACC give up third-tier rights for football but keep them for basketball? … It continues the perception that the ACC favors the North Carolina schools."
The truth is the money delivered by selling off the first- and second-tier rights was shocking enough. Also true: neither of his assertions may be accurate. The ACC later said Haggard was incorrect and third-tier basketball rights are not maintained by schools. And no one has any idea what FSU could get from some of its weaker football games.
Sources say the ACC has not distributed the contract with ESPN to member schools. It rarely, if ever, does. Many in the league are wondering how much Haggard himself came up with the third-tier conspiracy, what he thinks is in the deal or why he believes it even matters so much.
It seems like a ploy to drum up fan support for a bold switch. Nothing rallies boosters like the idea of Coach K bullying someone into action, even if it isn't true. Whatever bias there may or may not be, few think it's enough to leave the league.
"This is about money," one ACC source said.
______________
The Big 12 should offer more of that money, emphasis on should.
A television contract featuring Texas, Oklahoma and FSU, with ties into two of the most populous and most-football mad states in the country should be better than the ACCs. And those tier three rights, whatever they are worth, could remain property of the Seminoles.
Whether that's enough to offset what sources say is either a $20 million or $23 million buyout to leave the ACC is another question. Then there are the travel costs of non-football and men's basketball teams. The ACC is expansive, but there are some bus trips and many flights are to major cities (Boston, Washington D.C., Charlotte), generally cheaper and easier than some of the distant outposts of the Big 12 (Ames, Lubbock).
And if there is a concern about the ACC's perceived favoring of UNC and Duke hoops, has anyone in Tallahassee heard about the Big 12 and Texas football?
For the Big 12, the concerns are few. FSU offers the national program its been seeking since Nebraska left for the Big Ten. The Seminoles aren't what they were in the hey-day of Bobby Bowden, but Jimbo Fisher has them pointed in the proper direction and no one underestimates the program's potential. This is a proven, name brand team. Its entire athletic department is successful (basketball, baseball, etc).
It would anchor the league in two of the nation's best recruiting rounds, Texas and Florida. Adding FSU and another school would allow for a football conference championship game to be staged and would help add strength to the non-Texas-Oklahoma division. That's something oft-discussed candidates Cincinnati and Louisville can't do.
Outside of FSU, almost no one can.
As for that 12th member if the Seminoles eventually decide to move, many in the ACC believe Miami is most likely to try to chain itself to FSU and come along too. Despite Miami's recent fortunes, its presence would further cement the Big 12 in the state of Florida and give it another name program.
While Clemson is often discussed as a potential partner with FSU, many believe the school's ties to the ACC are too deep (it was a founding member in 1953) and exposure in the Atlanta and North Carolina markets are too important for the university as a whole to bolt to some far-flung league.
Either way, the Big 12, which currently features just 10 teams and has not ruled out expansion, is likely to engage in whatever fact finding mission FSU wants.
Would the Big 12 be interested in Florida State?
"I can't imagine how we wouldn't be interested in Florida State," one Big 12 source said.
______________
This is, by no means, a done deal or even a likely deal. Just Friday FSU athletic director Randy Spetman reaffirmed the school's commitment to the league. Haggard's comments are concerning for the ACC though and potential game-changer for the Big 12. The ACC meetings are set to begin Sunday and the mood has changed dramatically.
The television money from the Pitt/Syracuse round of expansion didn't materialize anywhere but in glowing media accounts. Everyone is worried about the SEC, which already enjoyed a financial advantage and will soon redo its television deal, which almost certainly will deliver big.
Haggard was simply the only one who put his name to what many were thinking.
"With the SEC making the kind of money it does it's time to act," Haggard said. "You can't sit back and be content in the ACC. This is a different time financially. This isn't 10-15 years ago when money was rolling in."
It was a realignment bombshell for sure. One, deep down, the ACC feared might just be coming.
It's been in the workings for a LONG time. If Florida State comes, expect to see Clemson come as well.
Insiders on the WVU scout board have been all over this stuff for MONTHS (some, before WVU even joined the Big 12).
This shit makes no damn sense. Shit isn't even CLOSE to being geographical anymore.
I think it's safe to say that geographical considerations, for any conference, went right out the window when Boise State and San Diego State joined the fucking Big EAST, a conference whose farthest west team is Louisville.Quote:
Originally Posted by souljahbill
Everyone better be happy almost all games will be on tv because NO ONE will be traveling anymore. Home Field Advantage will be huge here on out.
Not to mention some schools move to one conference in football and another for basketball :fp:Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
They should just pay the players, hire agents for college, etc.
Oh. Wait. It's not about the money.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
Well, that's actually thought to be one reason that VCU is leaving. As good as the CAA has been in recent years, the A-10 has significantly outnumbered the CAA in at-large bids (and rightly so). So it's not quite a win-or-go-home situation in the A-10, while it almost absolutely is in the CAA.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
Well, true, a good point there. The A-10 is definitely a better place to be than the CAA. But VCU will now have a heck of a battle week in and week out. However, I do believe they can do it. I've become a follower of VCU over the years, especially since the mid-2000s, and I fully believe that they can compete for the A-10 title.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
Once thing is absolutely certain, the A-10 just got a hell of a lot more interesting. Butler, Charlotte, Dayton, La Salle, Massachusetts, Richmond, Saint Joseph's, Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure, VCU, Xavier. What a hell of a lineup for the top half to three-quarters of the conference. Obviously ACC is top in college basketball, with Big East and Big Ten following, Big XII right behind them, after that, I have to say A-10 is gonna be one of the top 5 conferences in college basketball with the addition if Butler and VCU.
I don't think the Pac-12 or SEC can rank above the A-10 with the new look they'll have. Sure, they have some good teams, but they are very top heavy, with 2-4 teams that are good or great, then mediocre or bad teams the rest of the conference. The A-10 is loaded down with teams that are all good and it will be true bloodshed in conference play.
Charlotte is moving to CUSA. :D
Son of a bitch. :D I give up! I can't keep track of all of this stuff anymore. There's too many damn changes. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by razorback44
I don't think the Pac-12 ranks above the CAA. Or at least not the Missouri Valley. At least the Missouri Valley deserved to get two teams in.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
Touche. I don't really think too highly of the Pac-12 and SEC (outside of Kentucky and Florida and after this year, Vanderbilt) in college basketball, but I don't follow the CAA and Missouri Valley as a whole and didn't want to overrate them, so played it safe there.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
I'm saying less about the CAA/MVC there than I am about the craptastic Pac-12 basketball conference. I'll take Creighton and Wichita State over the Pac-12's bids, easily.
Yeah with them just starting football in 13, there gonna get slaughter whatever conference they choose...Quote:
Originally Posted by razorback44
I just heard Liberty is moving up to FBS. Former Kansas HC and Nebraska offensive coach Turner Gill coaches them.
His run at Kansas sure was short-lived. He should have stayed at Buffalo.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
Yeah I thought he was gonna do good things at KU..... Guess he didnt gel with the players and university...Quote:
Originally Posted by steelerfan
Who the hell is Liberty joining?
Sounds like they're just putting it out there that they want to move up, and that a formal invitation hasn't been offered yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
http://www.whsv.com/sports/headlines...151479275.html
I could realistically see them joining the MAC.
Ahh, ok. It sounded like they were all set to move up and join a specific conference. Yeah, MAC would be my best guess. Though I suppose the WAC could try if they want to save their asses, since Liberty is standing on a "national" soapbox from the sounds of that story.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBHuskers