Conference Realignment: WAC/ASUN Football Only Conference

[Husky15]

 

[gioff2323]

Sounds like the wac-a-mole conference.

 

[huskymedic]

Context - AD Dave back in July:

“The better question for everyone in college athletics,” Benedict said, “is why do we continue to allow football to determine how every other sport competes within a conference and/or geographics. It doesn’t make sense to me that there is not a viable way to separate them. Because football is unique, different in the way it travels than all the other sports.”

 

[Chin Diesel]

UConn isn't joining up with that group.

But a future football only conference is what the AD is talking about.

 

[phillionaire]

That conference is gross, makes the AAC sans cincy, ucf and Houston look like the Big 10 East

 

[Alum1620]

And it clarified for those wondering

 

[How Sway?!]

What's the minimum number of schools to qualify as an FBS conference?

 

[crazyUCfan23]

What's the minimum number of schools to qualify as an FBS conference?

According to ncaa 14, I believe its 6, but not entirely sure

 

[HuskyAlum012]

What's the minimum number of schools to qualify as an FBS conference?

I thought it was 8 or 10

 

[huskymedic]

Context - AD Dave back in July:

“The better question for everyone in college athletics,” Benedict said, “is why do we continue to allow football to determine how every other sport competes within a conference and/or geographics. It doesn’t make sense to me that there is not a viable way to separate them. Because football is unique, different in the way it travels than all the other sports.”

 

[businesslawyer]

Obviously, we would like to be at a P-5 level, as it exists today. But failing that, and we don't have control over it, if you can do football only conferences, and play everything else where you are, there are six FBS teams in the Northeast that are not P-5: UConn, UMass, Army, Navy, Buffalo and Temple. Add upgrading FCS schools like 'Nova, Delaware or New Hampshire, expand the region and include Marshall and ECU, go to Florida and add USF and FAU -- all things that give you the ability to have a FBS level conference that is geographically reasonable and allows football to survive without leaving the Big East.

Because while chaos is an opportunity, it isn't always good and we do have to be ready for the day that the P-5 reduces the number of games it wants to have with G-5 schools.

 

[metsfan2323]

So the question is what kind of football only conference would we be willing to join? It seems doubtful the power conferences are going to become football only.

Might the cash poor G5 conferences split apart and allow the formation of a quality northeastern G5 football conference that we could bide our time in?

 

[ThabeetDown]

Obviously, we would like to be at a P-5 level, as it exists today. But failing that, and we don't have control over it, if you can do football only conferences, and play everything else where you are, there are six FBS teams in the Northeast that are not P-5: UConn, UMass, Army, Navy, Buffalo and Temple. Add upgrading FCS schools like 'Nova, Delaware or New Hampshire, expand the region and include Marshall and ECU, go to Florida and add USF and FAU -- all things that give you the ability to have a FBS level conference that is geographically reasonable and allows football to survive without leaving the Big East.

Because while chaos is an opportunity, it isn't always good and we do have to be ready for the day that the P-5 reduces the number of games it wants to have with G-5 schools.

A football-only conference of UConn, UMass, Army, Temple is a great start. Just don't think there are any other teams that geographically fit. Don't think it's worth reaching down to the CAA and pulling in those FCS teams to re-create Yankee Conference 2.0 (essentially would be like dropping down to FCS).

No one would leave the MAC (Buffalo) and Navy ain't going to leave the AAC (having Southern schools in their conference is important for their recruiting -- for military service -- not for football). I don't even know if those other schools you listed would make a move like that as well, why would they want to go play in East Hartford and Amherst in November every year when they don't have to leave their region in their new conferences.

 

[metsfan2323]

But failing that, and we don't have control over it, if you can do football only conferences, and play everything else where you are, there are six FBS teams in the Northeast that are not P-5: UConn, UMass, Army, Navy, Buffalo and Temple.

That would certainly be the start of a fun football only G5 conference for UCONN. I would love to see it happen.

Temple and Buffalo can park their other sports in the A10. Maybe Marshall and Delaware join. Liberty would be another possibility.

 

[Ajs120102]

]
That would certainly be the start of a fun football only G5 conference for UCONN. I would love to see it happen.

I don’t get people saying “it would be like dropping down to FCS” if it’s FBS..

 

[SubbaBub]

Here's the problem with this for UConn.

Which other schools (9 minimum) can UConn combine with that are so geographically disconnected from their current FB conference that moving FB will make up for the obvious loss of revenue from their current affiliation.

Let cross off a few at the jump.

Zero B1G or SEC teams would consider this unless those conference start kicking out FB programs or the big ones leave to form a super conference, which they won't.

I don't see the B12 or ACC combining losing members unless a subset of those two can being in a lot more money. Even then the current members will be selected first. This is unlikely because you would need at least 2 bell cow level programs to emerge from this group with national interest. Right now they have zero if Clemson's run is over. I don't see anyone in the New B12 that has a chance. Best case is Clemson, Miami, and FSU all re-emerge and decide they can make more if they lose a few mouths and take the best 7 others from the ACC/B12. They might even be able to form an all sports league with the right schools. Again, unlikely.

The PAC12 remnants might do this by adding local (NoCal/PNW) programs in all sports and for a separate FB league with 4-6 best available/strategic schools. I don't know where you find 4-6 schools to make that worth more than just replacing UCLA/USC with two other SoCal schools.

The AAC? Hahahahaha. Been there, done that and it's worse now than it was then.

What Dave is really hoping for is reforming the old BE FB schools plus a few others without the need to find homes for the rest of the sports if they don't just join the New BE.

This only works if the business model is optimized at 8-12 teams per conference or a 20-40 team upper division then you might have enough programs to form a national P6 level FB league. Either way, we aren't getting in on that party.

Backfilling an opening in the ACC is still our best chance.

 

[Scrutiner]

DB may mean the future will find us with a small number of Power Conferences for football while maintaining the traditional regional alignments for all other sports. B1G would keep all current members for basketball, baseball, etc. but add the USC and UCLA type programs just for football.

Would allow for competition with the SEC in football while ensuring a continuation of old rivalries in all other sports. All the while reducing other costs like travel for the vast majority of their teams.

This has been happening for some time already with UConn hockey in Hockey East, and Old Dominion, Temple, Quinnipiac and Liberty in the Big East Field Hockey League, for example.

 

[ThabeetDown]

I don’t get people saying “it would be like dropping down to FCS” if it’s FBS..

If half the teams you are playing are current FCS teams, it's just an extremely watered down FBS...I'd rather play SMU and ECU back in the AAC than going up and playing @ UNH or @ URI every other year...c'mon now.

 

[Urcea]

A football-only conference of UConn, UMass, Army, Temple is a great start. Just don't think there are any other teams that geographically fit. Don't think it's worth reaching down to the CAA and pulling in those FCS teams to re-create Yankee Conference 2.0 (essentially would be like dropping down to FCS).

No one would leave the MAC (Buffalo) and Navy ain't going to leave the AAC (having Southern schools in their conference is important for their recruiting -- for military service -- not for football). I don't even know if those other schools you listed would make a move like that as well, why would they want to go play in East Hartford and Amherst in November every year when they don't have to leave their region in their new conferences.

I think you could shave off Buffalo from the MAC provided they could find a better Olympic conference (A10?) and the money was right for the football conference. In terms of TV money we make about as much (or a little less?) for our football than the MAC does total, so I think it would be doable. That gets you to five. Delaware has indicated they're coming up, so that's six. For recruiting reasons and just to get to necessary figure to round it out I think you'd need to add a Virginia or Carolinas team somewhere in the mix

 

[Incursio007]

My 10 cents - eventually there will be two big conferences comprising 40-50 affiliated football schools. The remaining schools outside of that will schedule each other on a financial/geographical basis indefinitely [essentially the independent model like UConn already adopted]. CFP expansion will likely take 90% of the qualifiers from those two conferences & leave one, maybe two slots open for the outside teams on an annual basis.

 

[SubbaBub]

Obviously, we would like to be at a P-5 level, as it exists today. But failing that, and we don't have control over it, if you can do football only conferences, and play everything else where you are, there are six FBS teams in the Northeast that are not P-5: UConn, UMass, Army, Navy, Buffalo and Temple. Add upgrading FCS schools like 'Nova, Delaware or New Hampshire, expand the region and include Marshall and ECU, go to Florida and add USF and FAU -- all things that give you the ability to have a FBS level conference that is geographically reasonable and allows football to survive without leaving the Big East.

Because while chaos is an opportunity, it isn't always good and we do have to be ready for the day that the P-5 reduces the number of games it wants to have with G-5 schools.

I still see independence as the best option under this scenario. The value of a conference has been pooled media money/content. Those days appear to be ending. Individual schools not at the P5 level would seem to do better selling their own home content and managing road content revenue on an individual contract/ opponent basis.

The more independents, the better. The more schedule flexibility you have, the more opportunities exist for big buy games.

UConn challenge now is there are not enough other free agents to schedule around the other conferences' schedules. If every G5 team went FB independent, this would be solved but at the expense of a market glut of available patsies.

The natural progression would then be regional scheduling alliances like we are developing with UMass and Army.

I think that is how you get where Dave is pointing.

 

[Rich]

If you discount all other sports outside of football, you could justify something like:

URI
William & Mary
Richmond
Towson
Fordham
Maine
Monmouth
Delaware
Albany
New Hampshire
CCSU
UCONN
Army
UMASS
Sacred Heart
Charleston

2 8 team divisions.

 

[Luna]

I would love to have Temple in a conference with us..but they make 7 million a year now… can’t see them leaving

 

[freescooter]

Word is Delaware is upgrading or at least looking at it. You could take 1-2 FCS upgrades, but not 6. The other thing this does is add potential opponents. I guess Temple and Buffalo go to the A10 or maybe even the Newbie (Temple would be a good addition but Villanova would likely veto it). No way Navy leaves I don’t think. But replace them with Delaware and maybe a Florida school and a Virginia one (JMU or William & Mary maybe). I can’t really see any of the other New England schools making the required investment. Maybe an Albany or Stony Brook. Our late friend Pudge always said they were potential programs.

 

[uconnric]

I don’t get people saying “it would be like dropping down to FCS” if it’s FBS..

It's FBS light. We can do better. Once the ACC blows up, there will be better options.