Pac 12 decided not to expand in large part because 14 members too awkward

[Rumrunner]

Pac 12 was going to get OK and Ok State regardless of TU/Longhorn network. But Pac 12 decided 14 schools were too "awkward". The writer writes for the San Jose Mercury News and is the plugged in guy for pac 12 comm's office in Walnut Creek.

Just as the ACC knows that 14 screws up matchups/ pods especially not allowing the carolina schools home and homes.

"update: Been on the phone for last 30 minutes. Here’s why league did not expand, in a nutshell:shell: It determined that a 14-school conference was awkward and it would not bow to Texas’ revenue demands. According to a source, Larry Scott walked away from weekend meeting with Texas knowing the Longhorn Network and the Pac-12 revenue model could not work together. It was zero or four and the four was too problematic —no interest in meeting UT’s revenue demands —so it’s at zero, which is where the CEOs wanted to be all along. It never even got to a vote."

Keep hope alive.

 

[Excalibur]

They've got to show Texas that they will make more $$ in equal sharing in the Pac 16 than they will with the LHN and the B12.

I figure you expect Herbst to deliver that message for them?

 

[jdrinboston]

If the ACC shares this view, there are two things that could happen.

1. They use a Mulligan on the Cuse/Pitt expansion
2. They relent and go to 16 with UConn and RU

I saw a poster on the RU board say that if the ACC has already added two more mouths to feed, why not just finish the job and really "own" the northeast. Maybe a 16-team ACC with the megaopolis sewed up triggers a renegotiation of the TV package? Wishful thinking I know.

 

[IMind]

Basically were in the exact same position we were in on Monday. We're still waiting for Texas to dump the LHN and Notre Dame to join a conference. Neither of which is happening in the next week or so.

The interim could be painful if Texas decides to string schools like WVU and Louisville in the Big 12... which still is just as unstable as it was on Monday.

 

[Rumrunner]

They rejected Oklahoma and Ok State as stand alones. Texas was about the LHN. But they took a flyer on OU because it provides unbalanced scheduling for football and hoops. It really is 12 or 16. 14 members ewudls unbalanced sceduling.

They've got to show Texas that they will make more $$ in equal sharing in the Pac 16 than they will with the LHN and the B12.

I figure you expect Herbst to deliver that message for them?

 

[UConnJim]

Fourteen schools wasn't the issue. The PAC 12 would have gladly added Texas and Oklahoma. Scott decided that adding Oklahoma and Oklahoma St without Texas wasn't worth the hassle.

 

[businesslawyer]

If the ACC shares this view, there are two things that could happen.

1. They use a Mulligan on the Cuse/Pitt expansion
2. They relent and go to 16 with UConn and RU

I saw a poster on the RU board say that if the ACC has already added two more mouths to feed, why not just finish the job and really "own" the northeast. Maybe a 16-team ACC with the megaopolis sewed up triggers a renegotiation of the TV package? Wishful thinking I know.

Oh good grief. They are not going to uninvite Pitt and Syracuse -- they can't.

Ultimately, the party that will make this decision is ESPN. Did the raid hurt the Big EAst enough that ESPN doesn't care if it goes to Comcast (for hoops as well as football)? Or does ESPN want the northeast college sports market totally locked up with it? If it's the latter, they give the ACC the reopener the ACC is looking for at 16 schools rather than 14. If ESPN doesn't care, we may have to wait a while. My guess is that the ACC hasn't yet destroyed the Big EAst's basketball value for TV, and needs the ACC to keep going.

 

[IMind]

Actually if the goal was to destroy the Big East and force Notre Dame's hand... then taking one more school, either CT or Rutgers would probably have done it... Why didn't they? I can think of a few reasons: 15 schools seen as way to unwieldy, holding out hope for TX and ND, FSU's football demands.. *shrug* It probably doesn't matter... The real reason probably is they didn't have to... and can wait just like the PAC12, SEC, and Big 10 can.

 

[businesslawyer]

Why didn't they? You don't know that they aren't.

It is quite possible they know they are going to 16 but were trying to force the hands of Texas and ND before giving up on them.

People are going to have to give this a little time.

 

[Rumrunner]

Oklahoma fans are apoleptic. Boren all but guaranteed them freedom from TU and the LHN. I criticize Herbst for not realizing how badly Pitt wanted out of marinatto's idiocy, but Boren looks pretty impotent right now. Scheduling wise, 14 sucks. 16 is balanced.


There really is no impediment to UConn to the ACC except time.

 

[IMind]

Why didn't they? You don't know that they aren't.

It is quite possible they know they are going to 16 but were trying to force the hands of Texas and ND before giving up on them.

People are going to have to give this a little time.

True..... ultimately I think one more school would have destabilized the Big East more... but if you're holding out hope for two whales... why worry about the guppies.

 

[Excalibur]

I'm surprised that people are surprised that the momentum seems to have stopped. Conference realignment has always happened in small steps, with time in between. There will be more realignment in the future -- maybe a few months, maybe a year or more. It may be that, at this time, all we can do is try to position ourselves to be an attractive candidate for the next round.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm surprised that people are surprised that the momentum seems to have stopped. Conference realignment has always happened in small steps, with time in between. There will be more realignment in the future -- maybe a few months, maybe a year or more. It may be that, at this time, all we can do is try to position ourselves to be an attractive candidate for the next round.

I'm not sure Pitt and Cuse to the ACC or Mizzou and TAM to the SEC are small steps. But the rest is plausible.

 

[coachcap]

Oklahoma fans are apoleptic. Boren all but guaranteed them freedom from TU and the LHN. I criticize Herbst for not realizing how badly Pitt wanted out of marinatto's idiocy, but Boren looks pretty impotent right now. Scheduling wise, 14 sucks. 16 is balanced.

There really is no impediment to UConn to the ACC except time.

You're criticizing Pres. Herbst for Pitt's actions? That's lunacy. No one had a sniff of what was going on behind the scenes. It blindsided EVERYONE. There were no leaks. It was tantamount to a CIA operation that Pitt & Syracuse jointly announced their intentions on Friday evening.

 

[gioff23]

The big hurdle for the PAC 12/14/16 is appeasing the AZ's, UT and CO. Either a pod or east/west split basically creates a southwest conference within the conference. Those schools joined the conference to gain access to CA not be limited. That is a key issue that is preventing the "fowrmal" acceptance.

Scott is very clear they are going to 16. Want to see him react, have Boren lob a call in to the SEC and sneak word out and see the PAC 12 quickly meet to revisit.

we all need to stop reacting to the news of the moment and simply accept the fact we are moving to power conferneces and doing so by the time the BCS contract comes up for re-bid. There will be some twists and turns, but the destination is pretty clear.