Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[DCarp1231]

Colorado and/or Utah should join the B1G as a “bridge” between Nebraska (furthest west school) and UCLA/USC

[Geoff]

A bridge isn't needed but a larger western presence sure is. If some schools could join to essentially make it a western division, that would work. Sending your soccer team on a swing that takes them to Seattle, Eugene, and LA would make it more cost-effective per match than just heading out west for two in three days against UCLA and USC and likely have to make yet another trip out west for two, or maybe even just one, matches.

[GDAWG]

I am interested in seeing how my alma mater (University of North Texas) does in the American Athletic Conference with a new coach and a QB who didn't play high school football during the first Obama administration.  

[BBTV]

On 3/29/2023 at 11:50 AM, Seadragon76 said:

It also doesn't help that inflation has made it harder for kids to go to school

 

Is that really true?

 

On 3/29/2023 at 11:50 AM, Seadragon76 said:

What sealed their fate was the rejection of a request for $12 Million in federal funds by the state's governor,

 

Legit question - how does a state governor accept/reject applications for federal funds?  Not saying it doesn't happen that way, but on the surface it just doesn't sound right to me.

 

 

 

[Cujo]

13 hours ago, DCarp1231 said:

Colorado and/or Utah WILL join the B1G as a “bridge” between Nebraska (furthest west school) and UCLA/USC

 

Fixed.

 

Colorado joining the Big Ten will go a long way in bringing in top talent, will reignite their rivalry with Nebraska, and play a huge part in keeping Deion at CU -- cause you know he's bolting for a Big Ten or SEC school if things go well in Boulder

 

To add, I'd imagine both Arizona schools are also on the Big Ten's radar. They would be foolish not to consider some west coast rivals after scooping up the LA schools.

[McCall]

7 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

Fixed.

 

Colorado joining the Big Ten will go a long way in bringing in top talent, will reignite their rivalry with Nebraska, and play a huge part in keeping Deion at CU -- cause you know he's bolting for a Big Ten or SEC school if things go well in Boulder

 

To add, I'd imagine both Arizona schools are also on the Big Ten's radar. They would be foolish not to consider some west coast rivals after scooping up the LA schools.

Oregon and Washington are atop the Big Ten's wish list for west coast company for UCLA and USC. The four corner schools, as it stands, appear to be most likely destined for the Big 12 if they were to leave.

[Cujo]

7 minutes ago, McCall said:

Oregon and Washington are atop the Big Ten's wish list for west coast company for UCLA and USC. The four corner schools, as it stands, appear to be most likely destined for the Big 12 if they were to leave.

 

I think we can all agree..

 

Big Ten's Wishlist

Arizona

Arizona State

Colorado

Oregon

Washington

 

The Big 12 would happily take whoever the Big Ten decides to pass on, as the Pac-12 disolves. Utah doesn't strike me as an elite program the Big Ten would want. They would make sense for the new Big 12 with BYU also being there. However, I also think the Big 12 is content on carrying exactly twelve programs, like their name indicates.

[Luigi74]

10 hours ago, Cujo said:

 

I think we can all agree..

 

Big Ten's Wishlist

Arizona

Arizona State

Colorado

Oregon

Washington

 

The Big 12 would happily take whoever the Big Ten decides to pass on, as the Pac-12 disolves. Utah doesn't strike me as an elite program the Big Ten would want. They would make sense for the new Big 12 with BYU also being there. However, I also think the Big 12 is content on carrying exactly twelve programs, like their name indicates.

I don't see the B1G taking both Arizona schools, U of Arizona fits the B1G mold academic wise.

[Seadragon76]

13 hours ago, BBTV said:

 

Is that really true?

 

 

Legit question - how does a state governor accept/reject applications for federal funds?  Not saying it doesn't happen that way, but on the surface it just doesn't sound right to me.

 

 

 

 

1. I'm not sure, but when I did write it out... I didn't know the full story.  The reality was that it was a confluence of events that lead to the closing: Operating costs, enrollment trends and a very sharp drop in philanthropic giving. The $12 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds was meant to help keep the school afloat for the time being... but the governor rejected the application.

 

2. There are reasons as to why a governor could accept or reject applications. In this case, Governor Reynolds had got in contact with a third party accounting firm to assess the situation and they found out that the school got a $26 million loan from the Department of Agriculture, with the school itself as collateral.  It was also mentioned that while the school saw increased enrollment, their financial health was also getting worst.

[Geoff]

11 hours ago, Cujo said:

 

Fixed.

 

Colorado joining the Big Ten will go a long way in bringing in top talent, will reignite their rivalry with Nebraska, and play a huge part in keeping Deion at CU -- cause you know he's bolting for a Big Ten or SEC school if things go well in Boulder

 

To add, I'd imagine both Arizona schools are also on the Big Ten's radar. They would be foolish not to consider some west coast rivals after scooping up the LA schools.

Colorado has always waffled between recruiting California (in the PAC) or Texas (in the Big 12). Please tell me how joining the B1G will help them land more top talent? No LB from Detroit is going to pick Boulder over another more local school.

[Gary]

2 hours ago, Luigi74 said:

I don't see the B1G taking both Arizona schools, U of Arizona fits the B1G mold academic wise.

But with ASU you do get the Phoenix market. Which by 2030 will be 5th in the  Metropolitan market. Plus Phoenix your getting a 5th most populous city in the United States. Besides if U of A goes to the Big Ten, Arizona State is most likely to join them.

[sportsfan7]

13 hours ago, Cujo said:

 

I think we can all agree..

 

Big Ten's Wishlist

Arizona

Arizona State

Colorado

Oregon

Washington

 

The Big 12 would happily take whoever the Big Ten decides to pass on, as the Pac-12 disolves. Utah doesn't strike me as an elite program the Big Ten would want. They would make sense for the new Big 12 with BYU also being there. However, I also think the Big 12 is content on carrying exactly twelve programs, like their name indicates.

I find it hard to believe that Stanford wouldn't be on the Big 10's wish list ahead of some of these schools. The Big 10 won't add a team unless they bring more to the conference TV deal than the average member (i.e. Wisconsin).* IMO, only Washington and Oregon  hit that criteria, with Stanford being borderline and probably only worth it if they're brought in with Notre Dame.

 

*Based off of vibes and nothing else, this is how I judged the value of each Big 10 team. Oregon would probably slot in between Penn St and Nebraska, Washington between UCLA and Michigan St, and Stanford between Sparty and Madison. The four corners schools are probably in the range of Wisconsin-Purdue.

 

OSU

Michigan

USC

Penn State

Nebraska

UCLA

Michigan St

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Iowa

Purdue

Indiana

Northwestern

Maryland

Illinois

Rutgers

[Cujo]

4 hours ago, Geoff said:

Colorado has always waffled between recruiting California (in the PAC) or Texas (in the Big 12). Please tell me how joining the B1G will help them land more top talent? No LB from Detroit is going to pick Boulder over another more local school.

 

Being in a high profile conference like the Big Ten (and not being a part of a dying conference) absolutely helps recruiting. That is a big selling point for both players and coaches. Which gets back to my take on Deion maybe sticking around if CU goes to the Big Ten.

[Dilbert]

oops wrong thread

 

 

 

[Geoff]

19 hours ago, Cujo said:

 

Being in a high profile conference like the Big Ten (and not being a part of a dying conference) absolutely helps recruiting. That is a big selling point for both players and coaches. Which gets back to my take on Deion maybe sticking around if CU goes to the Big Ten.

Being in the B1G takes them away from the only two recruiting identities they've ever had. What happens with that when (not if) Deion leaves? The university's president isn't going to be so short sighted. There would have to be a mountain of incentive other than "OMG WE'RE B1G!1!"

[sportsfan7]

On 4/1/2023 at 10:13 AM, Geoff said:

Being in the B1G takes them away from the only two recruiting identities they've ever had. What happens with that when (not if) Deion leaves? The university's president isn't going to be so short sighted. There would have to be a mountain of incentive other than "OMG WE'RE B1G!1!"

That mountain of incentive already exists and it is called money

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

Colorado to the B1G would revive their rivalry with Nebraska, so why the heck not?

[Geoff]

Because it's not Colorado's decision and the B1G has other schools higher on their wishlist.

[Burmy]

Not D1, but worth a mention.

 

Canada's only NCAA team, the Simon Fraser Red Leafs (Division II, Lone Star) is dropping football.

 

The main reason is the LSC was already dropping them as a member after next season...will the other Cascadia teams (Central Washington & Western Oregon) be able to keep their football programs?

[jlog3000]

Only time can tell. Realistically both Central Washington and Western Oregon would remain in D-II. However, they have the chance to move upto D-I, if both schools could get funds to invest on their athletic facilities. As they are the only two schools in the D-II ranks within the Pacific Northwest that sponsor the sport of football (as they play in the GNAC for other sports), while the other peer schools from that same conference have dropped the sport over time.