Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[IronBuckI]

Read in the Dispatch today about Cincinnati trying to join the ACC. Why do they want to even bother with another unstable conference? They should join the BIG XII, they're probably itching to add more teams.

Nobody wants UC. They already tried to join the Big 12, and that conference chose WVU and TCU instead.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

 

[Honor&Glory]

Read in the Dispatch today about Cincinnati trying to join the ACC. Why do they want to even bother with another unstable conference? They should join the BIG XII, they're probably itching to add more teams.

When the four 'super conferences' are finally finsished being formed the ACC will be 'the best of the rest', I suppose. The thing that sucks most for my alma mater is the money that will be lost for research as a result of being left out...
the leadership and alumni have let down the school...they weren't proactive and they are HORRIBLE at raising money to help prop up athletics (renovate Nippert and Fifth Third Arena)...hopefully when Clemson and FSU bolt the ACC will take on UConn and Cincy. That's pretty much the only hope UC has to hold on to.

 

[Muck]

Georgia Tech and UVA in the B1G?

The rumor seems to be gaining traction among 'real' journalists as well.

 

[MUBuck]

Pitt only makes sense as a replacement for State Penn. Rice, Vanderbilt and Tulane add good geographic foot print and academics but not much else. I do not see Missouri, Texas A&M or Florida leaving the SEC.

That leaves you with a bunch of Western schools that do not fit geographically, unless you want to consider Colorado. Finally, you are down to Kansas and Iowa St.

If the Big Ten is going to stick with an academic concern, the actual options are pretty limited.

Although Texas and Ga Tech would be awesome, I am thinking Virginia and Ga Tech, which would be a nice round out to the conference!

I still think Vandy would be a great fit. Maybe more likely with addition of GA Tech?

 

[BB73]

I thought I was keeping up to speed.

I'm OK on TDU, Ped-Aggy, Slot-Machine Aggy, and SLA-WS (with-skiing), but somehow I missed the memo on Magic Underwear Aggy. Who are they?

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

I thought I was keeping up to speed.

I'm OK on TDU, Ped-Aggy, Slot-Machine Aggy, and SLA-WS (with-skiing), but somehow I missed the memo on Magic Underwear Aggy. Who are they?

BYU -- Apparently, Mormons have magic underwear.

 

[BB73]

BYU -- Apparently, Mormons have magic underwear.

Google just reminded me of that.

 

[MUBuck]

So would teams such as San Diego State and Boise State merit a look from the Pac-12 if the league ever decided to expand again?
?When we expanded in the past we looked at them because they are prominent schools in the West, with very strong athletics programs, in markets we are not in," Scott said. "There?s a lot of criteria that we looked at last time, that I?m sure we?d look at again.
?If we were to look at expanding again, I?m sure both those schools would be on the list. But, we don?t have any plans.?
Scott added that the new playoff system that begins in 2014 makes it easier for teams from the ?so-called mid major conferences? to clinch a berth in a premier bowl game.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/nov/30/commissioner-larry-scott-no-expansion-pac-12-futur/

 

[Jaxbuck]

"a market we are not in"

now that is how you say "no fucking way we'd want Boise State" without actually saying" no fucking way we'd want Boise State."

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

"a market we are not in"

now that is how you say "no [censored]ing way we'd want Boise State" without actually saying" no [censored]ing way we'd want Boise State."

Yeah, I wonder what they expect him to say, "these are fine colleges......for me to poop on."

No way either gets in. And while BYU is a better university on paper, they have severe issues of academic freedom. The academic schools in the PAC blackballed Baylor for far less egregious transgressions than BYU. Faculty apparently has to sign something pledging that they will never research, publish or teach anything that contradicts church dogma. BYU has been censured by the Association of American University Presidents on numerous occasions.

My gut really tells me that the PAC parks at 12 while we go to 20, and that's the PAC/BIG/FOX half of the bracket.

 

[Mrstickball]

I think that there will still be a need for a 5th "Super Conference)".

No conference really can lock up an entire region with all of its major teams. The B1G is going to likely not get Notre Dame, the SEC can't absorb all of the ACC schools in their region, and the Big XII is doing just enough to stay relevant.

I believe the following will happen (lets just call this a random prediction):

1. The PAC-12 doesn't expand to 16. At best, they expand to 14 with teams like the aforementioned Boise and SDSU. No other major market teams exist in their footprint except maybe Nevada or UNLV - even then, their academics don't fit the footprint. BYU is also an interesting issue, as they don't really fit in anywhere with their magic underwear.. They'd seemingly fit in with the Pac-12, but I doubt the universities would want them, so the BigXII is another opportunity.

2. The B1G is the first to make it to 16 by acquiring UVA, GTech and potentially others while raiding the ACC (UNC). This causes the collapse of the ACC as we know it. If a 17th member is added (UNC), then the B1G eventually makes it to 18 by grabbing Pitt from the Big East (its the largest non-private school in the BEast/ACC). Other considerations would be Boston College and Syracuse to shore up the remnants of quality northern institutes.

3. With the ACC collapsing, the BigXII and SEC raid the remnants of the ACC/BEast for viable members. The SEC makes it to 16 by adding VaTech and NC State.

BigXII adds South Florida, FSU, Clemson, Miami, Cinci and Louisville to make a very viable "Eastern League" consisting of these schools as well as their recent WVU pickup for the east. This evolves the BigXII into a center and center-Southeast conference.

4. With the collapsed BigEast and ACC, they have no choice but to merge into the also-ran conference (ARC). The conference picks up Notre Dame as the cornerstone member, as ND seemingly only wants to play with someone they can control, much like Texas. Also helping out the new also-rans is the fact the ACC has traditionally raided the BEast for members.

This additional 14-team (21 w/ Basketball) conference consists of:

• Notre Dame
• Duke
• Boston College
• Wake Forest
• Syracuse
• UConn
• Temple
• UCF
• Houston
• Memphis
• SMU
• Tulane
• Navy
• East Carolina
  • DePaul
  • Georgetown
  • Marquette
  • Providence
  • St. John's
  • Seton Hall
  • Villanova

The other conferences fight over the occasional playoff scraps as the MWC, Sun Belt, CUSA, and so on work together to try to get one team in an 8 or 16 playoff every few years.


Here's the map:


http://imgur.com/Tn8zr


*edit*

The one thing I would mention is that there is only one way we end up with 4 super-conferences: If the Pac-12 gets the TX/OK bloc of the BigXII (Texas, OK, OKST and either TTech or Baylor). In that scenario, the dissolved remnants of the BigXII would go to the ACC/BEast remnant conference, which would likely swell to ~20 members.

So you'd have the B1G at 18-20 schools, the Pac-16, the SEC-16, and then the Also Ran-20.

 

[Muck]

1. The PAC-12 doesn't expand to 16. At best, they expand to 14 with teams like the aforementioned Boise and SDSU. No other major market teams exist in their footprint except maybe Nevada or UNLV - even then, their academics don't fit the footprint. BYU is also an interesting issue, as they don't really fit in anywhere with their magic underwear.. They'd seemingly fit in with the Pac-12, but I doubt the universities would want them, so the BigXII is another opportunity.

UN-Reno & UNLV don't fit the Pac academically but you're pimping BSU?!

The odds of BSU ending up in the Pac are about the same as Wright State ending up in the B1G.

Another CA school is also very unlikely ESPECIALLY a school from the CSU (Cal State) system instead of the UC (University of California) system.

 

[Mrstickball]

UN-Reno & UNLV don't fit the Pac academically but you're pimping BSU?!

The odds of BSU ending up in the Pac are about the same as Wright State ending up in the B1G.

Another CA school is also very unlikely ESPECIALLY a school from the CSU (Cal State) system instead of the UC (University of California) system.

You're right. I started looking into the data behind BSU, and their endowment is non-existent.

It's going to be very hard for the PAC-12 to expand to any meaningful schools unless they accept BYU, or lure Texas/OK away from the BigXII and cause it to fall. If that happened, you'd probably wind up with 4 major conferences - the PAC-16, the B1G (at 18-20 schools), the SEC @ 16 or 18, then the ACC/BEast remnant with the added BigXII schools that were usable.

 

[Mike80]

The PAC's options are limited to none - especially if they don't want the Magic Underwearers/AFA/New Mexico/Colorado State schools. They might be stuck at 12.

Boysee and San Diego State are SOL.

And I seriously do not think you'll see Navy ever go into the ACC - they'll go back to being independent before anything else.