Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[MJWalker45]

On 12/11/2022 at 10:03 AM, jlog3000 said:

And it's cuz I don't personally like the idea of two D-I conferences (whether FCS or FBS alike or non-football if it's just for other sports within D-I alone) merge just for one sport only 

 

On 12/13/2022 at 9:17 AM, crashcarson15 said:

The MVFC works pretty well as a proof-of-concept IMO by not forcing a school like Youngstown State into a conference for other sports where they aren't within 6 hours of another league member (compare this to the Horizon League, where 8 of the other 10 members are within ~5 hours of YSU).

This happens all the time for men's soccer, hockey, volleyball and other Olympic sports when the main conference for some of those members do not offer a championship. The MAC is actually dropping men's soccer this year because they went down to five teams, so those teams are now scrambling for new leagues for the 2023 season. 

2 minutes ago, heavybass said:

Hark I do hear Boise State and San Diego State to the Pac?

Maybe Idaho can jump back up? I'm kidding of course because they would need a new stadium to meet seating requirements for football. 

13 hours ago, Burmy said:

In an 11-5 vote, the UC Board of Regents has officially greenlit UCLA's move to the Big Ten in 2024.

 

The Bruins are probably gonna pay a settlement to Berkley at some point...but now the realignment dance will resume shortly.

https://www.si.com/college/cal/news/regents-ucla-declaration

I find it funny that UCLA is specifically having to pay Cal-Berkley to leave instead of the entire UC system. Would they be required to do this if the Pac-12 was making the same money as the Big Ten? 

 

[heavybass]

But yeah UCLA and USC gone from Pac 12 and they are going to need replacements.

 

Let the madness commence again!

[raysox]

As someone with a geography degree, I hate this realignment

As someone with a sport management degree, I still hate this realignment

 

This is where it completely jumped the shark for me. The 2014 alignment sucked but at least made loose geographic sense, but two big conferences sucking up big rivals from other big conferences outside their footprint seems predatory and short sighted. 

[McCall]

4 minutes ago, raysox said:

As someone with a geography degree, I hate this realignment

As someone with a sport management degree, I still hate this realignment

 

This is where it completely jumped the shark for me. The 2014 alignment sucked but at least made loose geographic sense, but two big conferences sucking up big rivals from other big conferences outside their footprint seems predatory and short sighted. 

Actually, the SEC hasn't really gone outside their territory. The Big Ten, for the most part, hadn't. Yeah they went a little east with Rutgers and Maryland, but they maintained a continuous border. Now, they are definitely chasing the biggest markets, while the SEC is just merely expanding within what can be considered their region. Missouri is the only one that's not considered "the south", but, taking into account the entire state, we border (soon to be with the addition of Oklahoma) four SEC states. Plus, where I live, is more southern/southern plains (i.e. Oklahoma/Texas) culture than what's perceived to be typical midwest culture.

[raysox]

Totally,  Texas is much closer to Alabama than California is to Wisconsin. Then again, the second letter in the acronym stands for "eastern". The SEC can also decide to claim Florida State and Clemson because they at least border two Power 5 conferences and can pick off strays. The Big Ten doesn't really have a built in prey so they're going to span the country. I can't tell if it's mostly a nostalgia for the smooth defined geography of the 00s that I grew up in, or if I just see this as a money grab that eventually runs dry. How many more city-named colleges will be dragged up to the big time to fill a space left by a school that would rather play Vanderbilt than Virginia Tech.

Also I hadn't realized Columbia, MO is basically the same latitude as Cincinnati before you pointed it out. Now that's messed up.

 

[heavybass]

Wish there wasn't a vast empty wasteland of California NCAA teams that don't play football.

[tBBP]

On 12/11/2022 at 9:48 PM, raysox said:

So uhhh what do you guys think this new conference is gonna be named?

EDIT: i'm sure this got mentioned but 17 FBS schools in Texas alone is NUTS

 

I get you, but at the same time...is it really, though? I mean at one point an entire conference minus one team played in Texas--and that outlier played in a state that borders Texas. (Of course back then the conference only had 8 members, not 17, so there is that.) And then there's the sheer size of the state...873 miles one way, 504 (plus some) the other way...thats a lot of ground to cover. And then, of course, is the long-running (still true) trope that "football is religion in Texas". So there's that, at least...

 

16 hours ago, Burmy said:

In an 11-5 vote, the UC Board of Regents has officially greenlit UCLA's move to the Big Ten in 2024.

 

The Bruins are probably gonna pay a settlement to Berkley at some point...but now the realignment dance will resume shortly.

 

Okay--at some point that conference is gonna have to drop the whole "Ten" thing. It ain't been Ten since they there the BIG TelevEN. I don't care about "name recognition" at this point; if that mattered to them they wouldn't have expanded to 16 in the first place.

 

1 hour ago, raysox said:

As someone with a geography degree, I hate this realignment

As someone with a sport management degree, I still hate this realignment

 

As someone without either one, I also despise this realignment. See above.

 

1 hour ago, McCall said:

Actually, the SEC hasn't really gone outside their territory. The Big Ten, for the most part, hadn't. Yeah they went a little east with Rutgers and Maryland, but they maintained a continuous border. Now, they are definitely chasing the biggest markets, while the SEC is just merely expanding within what can be considered their region. Missouri is the only one that's not considered "the south", but, taking into account the entire state, we border (soon to be with the addition of Oklahoma) four SEC states. Plus, where I live, is more southern/southern plains (i.e. Oklahoma/Texas) culture than what's perceived to be typical midwest culture.

 

That really depends on who you talk to, BUT...I agree with you. Then again as one from a place so far South you gotta drive north to get to it, anything north of I-30/I-40 is "the north" for me 

 

1 hour ago, raysox said:

Also I hadn't realized Columbia, MO is basically the same latitude as Cincinnati before you pointed it out. Now that's messed up.

 

 

As many times as I done been through both of those places...I didn't realize that, either.

[Luigi74]

22 hours ago, McCall said:

Actually, the SEC hasn't really gone outside their territory. The Big Ten, for the most part, hadn't. Yeah they went a little east with Rutgers and Maryland, but they maintained a continuous border. Now, they are definitely chasing the biggest markets, while the SEC is just merely expanding within what can be considered their region. Missouri is the only one that's not considered "the south", but, taking into account the entire state, we border (soon to be with the addition of Oklahoma) four SEC states. Plus, where I live, is more southern/southern plains (i.e. Oklahoma/Texas) culture than what's perceived to be typical midwest culture.

If the Big  Ten adds Colorado and either of the Arizona schools they could still be contiguous! 

[leopard88]

5 hours ago, Luigi74 said:

If the Big  Ten adds Colorado and either of the Arizona schools they could still be contiguous! 

 

. . . by a single point on the map.

 

[harney]

On 12/16/2022 at 9:22 AM, Luigi74 said:

If the Big  Ten adds Colorado and either of the Arizona schools they could still be contiguous! 

 

UNLV would work too, imagine the home field advantage...

[leopard88]

30 minutes ago, harney said:

 

UNLV would work too, imagine the home field advantage...

 

You would also need Utah in that instance to bridge the gap between Colorado and Nevada.

[harney]

1 minute ago, leopard88 said:

 

You would also need Utah in that instance to bridge the gap between Colorado and Nevada.

 

Ah **** You're right

[jlog3000]

I'm aware that this is strictly and only for conference realignment related things involving within NCAA Division I. But as of late, there have been surprises or shocks within other sub-levels of college sports like Division II or Division III at least, or the NAIA.

 

For instance, two D-III conferences will merge together to somehow form a new conference, but will also retain their statuses (making reference to the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC, formerly the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference), who has 10 members; and the United East Conference (UEC, formerly the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), who will have 7 members by 2023); due to both conferences fell victims to the still-new Atlantic East Conference (AEC or AtEast) due to that league having past members from the CSAC and the UEC.

 

Also I hadn't heard any updates or news in regards with the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC). Because during the 2022-23 school year alone, it has only 4 member schools, but 3 of them will leave after the season ends; with Lesley moving to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), while Mitchell and New England College will be heading to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC or GNeAC). Thus leaving only one full or core member school in Eastern Nazarene, which might become a D-III Independent should it not find a new primary conference home. Maybe the GNAC or the Commonweath Coast Conference (CCC) would fit them if given the chance for an invite.

 

So far the NECC is like not planning or intending to make any moves after losing almost everyone for other conference. The only thing the conference has that would remain 'alive' or 'stable' is their eSports program. But for any other intercollegiate varsity sport, they are way under the minimum amount of member schools to maintain an automatic qualifying bid. In D-II and D-III it's 7 (I believe) as the minimum.

[heavybass]

Alright so because USC and UCLA are moving to Big 10... I wonder what the big moves are going to be and the consequences that come from it?

[SeaTac]

40 minutes ago, heavybass said:

Alright so because USC and UCLA are moving to Big 10... I wonder what the big moves are going to be and the consequences that come from it?

 

The Big 10 & SEC will split off from the NCAA. 

[Geoff]

No, March Madness is too much of a cash cow. They may get football autonomy though.

[McCall]

15 hours ago, EskimoAldus said:

 

The Big 10 & SEC will split off from the NCAA. 

This is just one conference commissioner, but it doesn't seem imminent, regardless.

https://www.on3.com/news/jim-phillips-provides-key-update-future-power-five-ncaa-acc-sec-big-ten-big-12-pac-12/

 

I, personally, think they should create a third DI level for the power 5 conferences. Give them a little more autonomy if they want, but still under the NCAA "umbrella". This would allow group of 5 schools a legit shot at a national championship on their level.

[Burmy]

15 minutes ago, McCall said:

This is just one conference commissioner, but it doesn't seem imminent, regardless.

https://www.on3.com/news/jim-phillips-provides-key-update-future-power-five-ncaa-acc-sec-big-ten-big-12-pac-12/

 

I, personally, think they should create a third DI level for the power 5 conferences. Give them a little more autonomy if they want, but still under the NCAA "umbrella". This would allow group of 5 schools a legit shot at a national championship on their level.

Exactly what I'm thinking.  Have D1 football be three subdivisions.

 

FAS - Power Five

FBS - Group of Five

FCS - Same as before

[McCall]

57 minutes ago, Burmy said:

Exactly what I'm thinking.  Have D1 football be three subdivisions.

 

FAS - Power Five

FBS - Group of Five

FCS - Same as before

Some schools like North Dakota State could probably move up to FBS and be able to compete with the current G5 schools, which would allow more opportunities for FCS schools to win.

[CrimsonBull9584]

7 hours ago, McCall said:

This is just one conference commissioner, but it doesn't seem imminent, regardless.

https://www.on3.com/news/jim-phillips-provides-key-update-future-power-five-ncaa-acc-sec-big-ten-big-12-pac-12/

 

I, personally, think they should create a third DI level for the power 5 conferences. Give them a little more autonomy if they want, but still under the NCAA "umbrella". This would allow group of 5 schools a legit shot at a national championship on their level.

It's this kind of stuff that really annoys me. 

 

7 hours ago, Burmy said:

Exactly what I'm thinking.  Have D1 football be three subdivisions.

 

FAS - Power Five

FBS - Group of Five

FCS - Same as before

Yes, let's just push people down even further.  Nothing like moving the goal posts for teams trying to move up.