B1G Expansion and more Conference Realignment

[HuskerShark]

Some Buckeye insiders are mentioning UNC and GIT being added soon.

Some Big XII peeps are talking about KU and UT to the Big Ten. Not just the crazy WVU fans and insiders that everyone loves.

Great inside info as always, whether it turns out to be true or not.

p.s. your sig is awesome!

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

Some Buckeye insiders are mentioning UNC and GIT being added soon.

Some Big XII peeps are talking about KU and UT to the Big Ten. Not just the crazy WVU fans and insiders that everyone loves.

Great inside info as always, whether it turns out to be true or not.

p.s. your sig is awesome!

Thanks!

by the way if GIT and UNC are indeed #15 and #16 then they will need to be "bridged" to keep the Big Ten contiguous. Only one school can do this(that the Big Ten is looking at) and that is UVA(who historically has been tied to UNC in almost everything)

17 school conference is awkward obviously so most will expect another team to be added with UVA. This could be where Kansas comes in since there wouldn't be anymore Eastern timezone schools they would take unless they had to take Duke.

 

[gratefullred]

by the way if GIT and UNC are indeed #15 and #16 then they will need to be "bridged" to keep the Big Ten contiguous. Only one school can do this(that the Big Ten is looking at) and that is UVA(who historically has been tied to UNC in almost everything)

17 school conference is awkward obviously so most will expect another team to be added with UVA. This could be where Kansas comes in since there wouldn't be anymore Eastern timezone schools they would take unless they had to take Duke.

I think UVA would be a terrible addition, and now we're talking about taking Duke? I don't like where this is going at the moment.

 

[exswoo]

The weird thing about UVA is that although they are a 'public Ivy', they're actually not that much of a research giant - I think Virginia Tech actually does more research year in - year out.

One more FB power add will be great - but I'm not sure how realistic that may be given where those targets are located and the profiles for all of them

 

[VectorVictor]

Fixed for accuracy, courtesy of America's meth-belt state, West Virginia...

You spelled Missouri wrong.

Touché. Well played, Sir.

In all fairness, though, have you tried hiking through the Appalachians? Much easier to hide meth labs there than in Missouri (save for the Ozarks). Failing that argument I'll just say that the numbers come from a media source and doesn't conform with the reality in my echo chamber and reject them out of hand. :-Þ

Some Buckeye insiders are mentioning UNC and GIT being added soon.

Some Big XII peeps are talking about KU and UT to the Big Ten. Not just the crazy WVU fans and insiders that everyone loves.

Thanks. Out of all of those, only UT seems implausible--too many hurdles to jump including (but not limited to) Longwhorn TV and the state legislature.

I could see where the Longwhorn Network is turned into a BTN West (not unlike how it was proposed to turn it into a Pac-16 East before) to run jointly with the BTN. This would make ESPN happy, since they still can't get providers to pick up Bevo TV, and they're going to lose a lot of money over the lifetime of the current deal.

But selling this to the state legislature? That's going to be a doozy of a mountain to climb, politically. There are still burnt bridges from when the Big XII was formed, and that was almost 20 years ago.

 

[Ocean]

Texas to the B1G? I mean, I would love that if Nebraska got placed in their division because I live here, but really every Texas fan I know bashes the crap out of the B1G. What would the incentive be for Texas to join? They already have hordes of money and national clout. They may lose their only other big rivalry with OU. I just don't see them joining unless the B1G gives them some sort of kickback because I feel like an SEC move or a PAC move with the Oklahoma schools is better for Texas. And I would be very sore if the B1G decided to offer them side deals that teams such as Rutgers, Maryland, and Nebraksa wouldn't have otherwise recieved. But oh well, if a Texas invite means possibly adding another school from down south I'd love it because that would mean I would actually get to watch a game without out having to shell out hudnreds of dollars to come watch.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

From a pretty good source.

25 Mil for Maryland's exit fee(nothing confirmed but this is what is being discussed) which the Big Ten will pay up front and Maryland will pay back sequentially from tv revenue.

As soon as Maryland's exit fee is determined for sure then the Big Ten will formally offer UNC and UVA.

And I don't think the Big Ten offers unless they know they got them.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

So if this indeed does go down in the next month or so.

UNC --> Big Ten

UVA --> Big Ten

VaTech --> SEC

NCST --> SEC

FSU --> Big XII

Clemson --> Big XII

GIT--> Big Ten? Big XII?

Pitt --> Boned

SU --> Boned

Louisville --> Big XII?

Duke --> Big Ten? Boned?

Miami --> Big XII?

Wake--> Boned

BC--> Boned

 

[VectorVictor]

From a pretty good source.

25 Mil for Maryland's exit fee(nothing confirmed but this is what is being discussed) which the Big Ten will pay up front and Maryland will pay back sequentially from tv revenue.

As soon as Maryland's exit fee is determined for sure then the Big Ten will formally offer UNC and UVA.

And I don't think the Big Ten offers unless they know they got them.

Bah, beat me to it.

Hadn't heard UVA, though--was hearing they're still on the fence, and Delaney is going to move on without them (read: GA Tech and UNC). That, and I think people still believe the B1G needs to be contiguous when it doesn't.

---

And I may stand corrected on Texass to you, WH--word that I heard is that Deloss Dodds actually reached out to Delaney, and not the other way around.

Then again, Dodds could just be doing this on purpose to leverage some type of deal from the remaining Big XII folks...like something regarding the Big XII network (sans Texass) that Fox is trying to cobble together.

But the flipside is that Texass is worried about Bevo TV becoming an albatross--while Texass is assured of their payout via their contract, ESPN may just cut bait on the network, which reduces Texass' exposure, media control, and puts (more) political egg on their face. A move to the B1G would allow ESPN to re-purpose Bevo TV, while Texass receives their money, saves face, and is in a more viable, healthy conference.

Also, don't forget that Texass lost one of their more potent bargaining tools--the threat of going independent. BYU realized what a clusterf**k it is to schedule and is joining the Mountain West as a result, and Notre Dame is having to resort to a half-arsed scheduling deal with the ACC because they're having problems scheduling the teams they want need to...and they may find that deal going by the wayside soon enough.

If Notre Dame and BYU are going to have problems with being independent, it's assured that Texass will have problems with independence as well.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

The Big Ten technically has to be contiguous.

A quick 10 minute meeting could easily change that. Texas IS on the table in the Big Ten offices. Unless their state moves next to Kansas then we wouldn't be contiguous.

UVA wouldn't do anything without UNC. they are tied(not in a real, political way. Just historically). If UNC is ok then UVA will follow.

Texas still is a longshot but they're there. Texas fans won't like it? Glad they aren't making the decision. UNC fans definitely won't like the move. Nebraska and Maryland fans needed some convincing. Only Rutgers felt they were a Big Ten school before the invite.

 

[sd'sker]

we didn't join it. We made a deal with them over the Big12, Pac12, or BigEast because the ACC offered the best one. If they can't hold their end of the bargain, we'll find someone else to work with to preserve our independence.

huh?

also, this is my only thought on this subject: the only two teams worth a darn is ga. tech and fsu.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

Now if we go to 16 before even setting the division with 14. should we throw away geography? NFL type scheduling?

I would assume four 4 team divisions would be the best option.

They obviously want PSU, RU and UMD in the same division and I doubt UVA, UNC and GIT vote to separate so I bet geography will be a part. But I know Nebraska fans don't want to be stuck on the other side with just Iowa, Minny and Wisky and would like some diversity.

 

[VectorVictor]

The Big Ten technically has to be contiguous.

Just like Maryland technically owes $50 million in exit fees.

And if the B1G is discussing 18, they just need to buckle down and go to 20. Four divisions of five teams each. This way, you get two divisional knockout games before the B1G title game--that's potentially another $40 million/year (using the $20 million/yr. Fox pays for the B1G Title Game) that could be made, or an additional $2 million/school/year.

Also, one benefit of Texass joining the B1G--it will force Delaney to get rid of the conference-specific signing rules regarding baseball recruits. Texass takes their baseball seriously, and anything that would hamper their baseball program would surely come up in negotiations.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

Absolutely. the Big East has somewhat decent Baseball. Why can't we?

At 16 then I say something like this. It would preserve a lot of good things. Keep things regional but at 3 conference games per division that leaves us with 5 or 6 to play with so that all areas aren't untouched for all teams and so schools don't feel locked into their particular region.

Nebraska

Iowa

Minnesota

Wisconsin

Illinois

Purdue

Indiana

Northwestern

Ohio State

ann arbor

Rutgers

Sparty

Penn State

Maryland

North Carolina

Virginia

 

[Woody Tressel]

This is quickly looking like a great basketball conference and not much of a football conference.