Fun, insightful article:
BOOM ! There it is:
Let the realignment games begin !
What does this mean ?
Why would the Las Vegas based Pac 12 commissioner be “advertising” for teams to contact him as potential Pac 12 members ?
Other than the remaining desperate Big 12 teams, which schools would want to play in the Pacific Time Zone ?
Do folks from Las Vegas bluff ?
Could it be because feasibility / revenue modeling studies have indicated that just 6 or 7 Pac 12 teams could be added to a Big Ten media rights TV deal in order to enhance value ?
USC, Oregon, Washington, UCLA, Stanford, UCal-Berkeley, & Colorado probably enhance the value of the Big Ten. All 7 of these Pac 12 schools are AAU members. (Utah & Univ. of Arizona are AAU members also.) ASU, Oregon State, & Wash State are not AAU members.
Rutgers boosting its recruitment is about time. Notre Dame would seriously improve if they moved.
NCAA football needs to address the constant imbalance of same final 4 every year!
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Paul Finebaum says that if USC wants to leave Pac 12 conference & join the SEC, they are in:
If the SEC is targeting USC, then that helps to explain the Pac 12 Commissioner’s concern revealed in the post above. “Pac 12 Commissioner reveals he’s open to expansion.”
USC has a well-known wondering eye. USC wants more exposure which means that USC needs more games to be played in the more favorable time zones which will attract national viewership. Pacific Time Zone games are played too late in the day for non-West coast viewers. This is a primary reason why Pac 12 teams earn substantially less than Big Ten conference & SEC teams (but not the only reason).
This is the beginning of a true “meat-market” in college football players. Will coaches force disappointing signees to enter the transfer portal in order to gain back the scholarship ?
si.com/colleges/2021/08/20/ncaa-football-signing-limit-change-transfer-portal
Important article to read from Fox Sports.
The reason that the Pac 12 Commissioner is publicly inviting schools to contact him if they have an interest in joining the Pac 12 is the same reason that the SEC is using its mouthpiece Paul Feinbaum to invite USC to the SEC: Both conferences are afraid of lawsuits for tampering with another conference as raised by the Big 12 Commissioner’s letter to the SEC commissioner regarding the poaching of Texas & Oklahoma.
If USC moves to either the SEC or to the Big Ten, then college football realignment may become a free-for-all designed to create two super conferences of 24 to 32 teams each.
In reality, only half of the 130 D-1 football teams play at the level of the SEC & the Big Ten so two super conferences of 64 or fewer teams makes sense in order to improve the competitiveness of college football.
If both USC & Notre Dame join the SEC, then Clemson & Ohio State may follow. This would result in near total domination of college football by the SEC & Disney/ESPN.
In order to survive as a financial leader & relevant in the run for the national championship in D-1 college football, the Big Ten must be proactive now. This means that the Big Ten has to make attractive offers to USC & to Notre Dame now as the SEC is not going to stop expansion at 16 teams.
Notre Dame may be enough to save the Big Ten even if USC moves to the SEC, but Notre Dame can afford to wait as an independent while the Big Ten cannot wait since its TV & media rights contract is up for renewal in approximately 18 months (which means that negotiations start now).
The B1G, Pac 12 and ACC think of themselves as having different values than the SEC (i.e., more focused on academics). IMO, USC, ND and Ohio State certainly won’t leave their conferences for the SEC. I’ve read a few articles on the Pac-12 and B1G feelings of academic “elitism.”
And Ohio State and Michigan are forever tied together. I don’t see either one leaving the other for another conference. History binds them together.
I don’t know about Clemson. They have improved themselves academically and may feel the SEC is beneath them now. The ACC or B1G should poach Vanderbilt. Other than baseball, they get their butts kicked in just about every sport in the SEC.
Unlikely that Vanderbilt would be willing to give up SEC money. Current SEC payout is about $45 million per school per year. The payout is expected to increase to at least $68 million per school per year under a new contract with ESPN which is being negotiated now to the best of my understanding.
Also, the Big Ten does not want to mess with the SEC. Maybe Texas could be considered as “still in play” or Texas A&M because the alleged agreement with the SEC was violated by the SEC when it accepted another Texas school into the conference. In short, the Big Ten is not going to mess with the SEC over Vanderbilt & Vanderbilt has no interest in ACC level money.
If the SEC gets USC & Notre Dame to join, then Ohio State may be in play.
Why ?
Money & relevance. If the SEC gets USC & Notre Dame, the TV & media rights contract might be $100 million per school per year.
I agree that Clemson has built a school of which the football can be proud, but Clemson is not an AAU member school so unlikely to be invited to join the Big Ten. There have been reports that both Clemson & FSU want to join the SEC. The delay is caused by the ACC exit fee. Rumors released hoping to cause a collapse of the ACC so that no exit fees would be due ?
USC has been open about its dissatisfaction with the Pac 12. USC wants to play in a better time zone & USC wants Big Ten / SEC type money.
And new 2023 B1G TV deal will probably exceed the SEC money. I’ll bet it does. Vanderbilt would get great money in B1G, for example, and even beat a few teams.
USC and ND will not join the SEC. Just won’t happen. Now, the B1G? Maybe. It’s the AAU thing.
I hope that you are right about USC & Notre Dame.
Paul Finebaum says USC & Oregon should join the Big Ten Conference:
Stirring up trouble among members of the alliance ?
Does SEC want Big Ten to move West & leave the South to the SEC for recruiting ?
Lots of interesting bits of information:
Media market advantage to the alliance of Big Ten, ACC, & Pac-12 over SEC:
Explains why ACC contract to ESPN is for such a long period of time. Also, shares the obvious–that the Alliance (Big Ten, ACC, & Pac-12) is wary of ESPN:
Former NFL football coach reports rumor that University of Kansas & Iowa State are going to the Big Ten while West Virginia will join the ACC. Also, shares rumor of two additions to the Pac-12.
I am skeptical about all except the rumor about West Virginia to the ACC. Seems reasonable.
thespun.com/big-12/dave-wannstedt-shares-more-big-12-realignment-rumors
SEC gets Oklahoma and Texas. Big Ten gets Kansas and Iowa State? That rumor has been around since Day 1 and that would be such a weak volley (like hitting the racket frame) back to the SEC. Big Ten would be hurt, not helped by that decision.
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Does WVU add much to the ACC except another mouth to feed? Solid support and program with very good coaches in football and men’s hoops. However, they’ve previously passed on WVU and already have Pitt and VaTech. Why not add Cinci over WVU due to a major market and much better academics? Cinci has worse facilities but any G5 would have worse facilities due to a lack of P5 money for the last 20 years.
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…the entire situation was triggered by a single football program that hasn’t been relevant in a dozen years.
si.com/college/2021/08/24/ncaa-realignment-big-ten-acc-pac-12-alliance
True but I believe UT has the largest budget.
ND probably breathed a sigh of relief with the announced Alliance. If it joined the B1G, would it have a considerably negative impact on the ACC?