Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[Cujo]

Unless it's an major powerhouse like Texas and Oklahoma, I don't see the Pac-12 expanding at all. Unlike everyone outside of the SEC, I belive the Pac-12 still has pride in retaining some geographic stability.

[rams80]

-----------------------------

That said, there's a problem with this round of "SuperConferences are happening!" that leads me to be skeptical. Who will be Pac-12 teams 13-16? Every school not in one of the 4 that is west of the Mississippi River is seriously unattractive for one reason or another.

That's the problem I see in all of this. If you look at TV market size, I guess they could add Boise St., New Mexico, UNLV, and UTEP, but I don't think the Pac-12 would want any of those schools. Maybe they'd add Hawaii as a recruiting perk. Again, like the Big 10, they may be forced to do something.

Boise State: Glorified community college with a very good football team AND NOTHING ELSE

New Mexico: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHFOOTBAWHAHAHAHFOOTBAWHAHAHAHAHA......No. (For further research on the current state of Lobo football please consult Nagasaki circa August 1945)

UNLV: The less broke Nevada athletic department. Only less broke is not the same as financially healthy. Also, football is bad, albeit not New Mexico bad.

UTEP: Memo to all; don't cross the the river on road trips. Also the market isn't that great and the athletic department hasn't done a whole lot since 1966.

Hawaii: Why do you need a bleeping island vacation as a recruiting perk? You have the entire state of California and that's a lot closer than Hawaii and a lot less overrun by organized crime (allegedly this is a small problem for the Warriors)

[DaytonBlue]

Oh I didn't think adding those schools was a good idea. But will the Big 10/12 and SEC like being 16-team conferences while the Pac-12 stays at 12?

[rams80]

Oh I didn't think adding those schools was a good idea. But will the Big 10/12 and SEC like being 16-team conferences while the Pac-12 stays at 12?

No. Which is why I'm skeptical. Unless there is a pre-arranged deal that sees much of "Murderer's Row" (Kansases, Iowa State, Baylor and/or the Mormons) join the Pac-12, I'm not seeing this working.

Right now it just doesn't work. The Northeast is left with no shot at a title and the Pac-12 is cut off from expansion. This is a long-term problem.

[DaytonBlue]

Well, the silly season in college football is becoming as entertaining as it is in minor league hockey!

[RyanMcD29]

I dunno, I don't think we're gonna get to the 16-team super-dee-duper conference end-game just yet

I think for now the SEC sticks with 14, Big XII gets Florida State and Clemson to get back up to 12, perhaps a third ACC school and.. I dunno, Cincy or Louisville for 14, the ACC responds to getting raided by taking in Rutgers, USF, and ...well I dunno if UConn can get in with their history with BC but let's just say they bury the hatchet for the time being for the sake of keeping the ACC afloat. Then basically everyone waits on Notre Dame. Endgame adverted for the next 9 months before things start getting wacky again.

As I joked about on EDSBS last night, the conference realignment will get to the point where Johns Hopkins magically becomes D-1 everything, the Ivy League adds them to the conference, Quint Kessenich complains about it for a week on Inside Lacrosse, and NYU, MIT, and the U of Chicago form their own ironic, hipster basketball conference somehow in the D-1 level. Then realignment would have been completed and a done deal YES DWFABEL I KNOW THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE

[dfwabel]

-----------------------------

That said, there's a problem with this round of "SuperConferences are happening!" that leads me to be skeptical. Who will be Pac-12 teams 13-16? Every school not in one of the 4 that is west of the Mississippi River is seriously unattractive for one reason or another.

That's the problem I see in all of this. If you look at TV market size, I guess they could add Boise St., New Mexico, UNLV, and UTEP, but I don't think the Pac-12 would want any of those schools. Maybe they'd add Hawaii as a recruiting perk. Again, like the Big 10, they may be forced to do something.

Boise State: Glorified community college with a very good football team AND NOTHING ELSE

New Mexico: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHFOOTBAWHAHAHAHFOOTBAWHAHAHAHAHA......No. (For further research on the current state of Lobo football please consult Nagasaki circa August 1945)

UNLV: The less broke Nevada athletic department. Only less broke is not the same as financially healthy. Also, football is bad, albeit not New Mexico bad.

UTEP: Memo to all; don't cross the the river on road trips. Also the market isn't that great and the athletic department hasn't done a whole lot since 1966.

Hawaii: Why do you need a bleeping island vacation as a recruiting perk? You have the entire state of California and that's a lot closer than Hawaii and a lot less overrun by organized crime (allegedly this is a small problem for the Warriors)

BRAVO!!! No emoticon needed.

And BYU will continually have issues with playing on Sundays within the Pac-12 Network.

[pianoknight]

I have no problem with BYU's stance on Sunday games, but it will severely hamstring them in just about every sport not called football.

I respect their moral stance, but I also think it's hard to justify especially when so many other religious schools (Notre Dame, BC, TCU, SMU, among others) have zero problem playing a game on Sunday.

This will definitely impact their ability to join a conference.

[Island_Style]

If everyone else moves to 16, the Pac 12 needs to to keep up. Then BYU might get in by default. You can work around the Sunday thing if needed. Even if BYU is football only. Hard but possible if desperate. I think Boise State could get lucky this way, too....if they keep winning. Just pointing out how I think it isn't impossible. Extremely hard but not impossible due to slim pickins out west. It may not happen this year but CFB is moving to 4 huge conferences of 16 with a pod system.

[pianoknight]

If everyone else moves to 16, the Pac 12 needs to to keep up. Then BYU might get in by default. You can work around the Sunday thing if needed. Even if BYU is football only. Hard but possible if desperate. I think Boise State could get lucky this way, too....if they keep winning. Just pointing out how I think it isn't impossible. Extremely hard but not impossible due to slim pickins out west. It may not happen this year but CFB is moving to 4 huge conferences of 16 with a pod system.

Part of the Pac-12 (and the Big Ten, for that matter) is that they require their members to also be major research institutes in some field. It can come off as a little snobby, but they wish to preserve the academic integrity of the league. For that reason, I'm almost 100% positive that Boise State will never get the Pac-12 call. BYU might, if the league can agree to accommodate their religious scheduling objections.

[Island_Style]

If everyone else moves to 16, the Pac 12 needs to to keep up. Then BYU might get in by default. You can work around the Sunday thing if needed. Even if BYU is football only. Hard but possible if desperate. I think Boise State could get lucky this way, too....if they keep winning. Just pointing out how I think it isn't impossible. Extremely hard but not impossible due to slim pickins out west. It may not happen this year but CFB is moving to 4 huge conferences of 16 with a pod system.

Part of the Pac-12 (and the Big Ten, for that matter) is that they require their members to also be major research institutes in some field. It can come off as a little snobby, but they wish to preserve the academic integrity of the league. For that reason, I'm almost 100% positive that Boise State will never get the Pac-12 call. BYU might, if the league can agree to accommodate their religious scheduling objections.

Yeah, I made the post with BYU 99% in mind. Just threw Boise State out there. However, I do think the Pac 12 will have to figure something out. 16 in inevitable one day soon.

[Lights Out]

LOL at the idea that the superconferences will be predicated on anything other than $$$$$$$.

[DarkJourney]

LOL at the idea that the superconferences will be predicated on anything other than $$$$$$$.

Of course it's about money but Boise State still won't be in the Pac-12 or Big 12

[Island_Style]

LOL at the idea that the superconferences will be predicated on anything other than $$$$$$$.

That is true, too. Actually, the more I think about it the more I call BS on PK's post. Was it Nebraska the lost it's AAU status? However, still an uphill battle for Boise State but I am not saying it is as much as a reach as people think. It is all about $$$$$$$$$

[Lights Out]

Of course it's about money but Boise State still won't be in the Pac-12

Nah, they'll be in the PAC-16.

But seriously, when the superconferences form, it will represent the old pretensions about academics, scheduling, tradition, etc. being fully replaced by an overt focus on money and ratings first. If it wasn't all about football money, there'd be no reason to have all this realignment, the mega TV deals, the bowl system that concentrates most of the money in a few select conferences, etc.

And yes, Nebraska was booted out of the AAU last year. Almost lost their status in 2000, even.

[pianoknight]

And yes, Nebraska was booted out of the AAU last year. Almost lost their status in 2000, even.

Correct. Although NU was not "booted" as much as they decided to not pursue renewing their status. Interestingly enough, Notre Dame has not been or is not currently an AAU member although we know that if the Irish wanted to join the Big Ten it would probably happen.

Note this quote from NU Chancellor Harvey Perlman:

"We have known we were at risk of this for ten years, and successfully fought off a similar threat in 2000... the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) has ranked at the bottom of the AAU's members for more than a decade... based on those criteria (AAU), a number of non-AAU institutions ranked higher than 15 AAU institutions, including UNL."

In other words, there are several non-AAU schools that have more "prestige," if you will, than some AAU members. Also, it's worth noting that all 12 Big Ten members (plus the Univ. of Chicago) are members of the league's academic brotherhood, the CIC.

[Island_Style]

If it wasn't about money and was more about academics, FSU and Clemson wouldn't be trying to bolt the ACC. The question for Boise State isn't how smart they are. The question is how much money will they bring in. If they keep on winning they will always have hope. Not saying it is a lot of hope but academics will not be the dismissal.

[rams80]

LOL at the idea that the superconferences will be predicated on anything other than $$$$$$$.

Yeah, but research dollars can be just as plentiful, if not more so, than anything the athletic department brings in.

[Island_Style]

LOL at the idea that the superconferences will be predicated on anything other than $$$$$$$.

Yeah, but research dollars can be just as plentiful, if not more so, than anything the athletic department brings in.

And who would those schools be for the PAC 12 to look at? That is the point. As long as Boise St football can bring in money and ratings they will be considered. Now do they meet the money and ratings requirements? I don't know but you all are vastly overrating academics in all of this.

[rams80]

LOL at the idea that the superconferences will be predicated on anything other than $$$$$$$.

Yeah, but research dollars can be just as plentiful, if not more so, than anything the athletic department brings in.

And who would those schools be for the PAC 12 to look at? That is the point. As long as Boise St football can bring in money and ratings they will be considered. Now do they meet the money and ratings requirements? I don't know but you all are vastly overrating academics in all of this.

As I mentioned last night, short of the Big XII trading a chunk of its membership over to the Pac-12 in exchange for a larger slice of the East Coast, the teams just aren't there.

And no, ability to generate research dollars is going to be a serious consideration if you're going to get schools like Cal and Stanford to sign off on this. Washington too; if you're adding schools that will bitchslap the local 11 across the field, the least they can do is help get more money for research purposes.

Now in regards to Boise specifically, the Broncos probably don't move the dial enough. Boise in particular and Idaho in general is not a prime "get" for TV dollars, while Boise State's national following is derived more from their "plucky underdog from crap conference" status; something that goes away if they join one of the Big Boy conferences.