Big 12 will make significant push for UConn (merged)

[Carnac]

NCAA 2023: College football realignment tracker​

This was dated Thursday, July 27.

The college football conference by conference realignment tracker

From Pac-12 defections to SEC and Big Ten expansion, here is a comprehensive look at where each FBS team will be playing college football over the next two seasons.

www.espn.com

 

[Carnac]

Monday, July 31, 2023 - ​

If Arizona and Arizona State begins (or has begun) to get "weak knees", and becomes serious about leaving the PAC 12 that's already down to 9 members, that could leave UConn as the odd-man-out. The BIG 12 would look very favorably to having the Arizona schools join the family. There may be other PAC 12 schools (the 4 Oregon and Washington schools) looking to leave the conference also.

Meet the man holding the keys to the next wave of conference realignment​

Meet the man holding the keys to the next wave of conference realignment

Will the Pac-12 hold together, or are we in for more seismic change?

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Carnac]

July 31, 2023​

College football expansion: Insider on Oregon, Washington rumors to Big 12​

https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/ncaa-football/college-football-expansion-oregon-washington-insider-reaction

 

[SEbluebood]

Monday, July 31, 2023 - ​

If Arizona and Arizona State begins (or has begun) to get "weak knees", and becomes serious about leaving the PAC 12 that's already down to 9 members, that could leave UConn as the odd-man-out. The BIG 12 would look very favorably to having the Arizona schools join the family. There may be other PAC 12 schools (the 4 Oregon and Washington schools) looking to leave the conference also.

Meet the man holding the keys to the next wave of conference realignment​

Meet the man holding the keys to the next wave of conference realignment

Will the Pac-12 hold together, or are we in for more seismic change?

sports.yahoo.com

Chances are strong UConn is a bridesmaid again! A weakened ACC may be their only future option if it ever materializes!

 

[hoophuskee]

Frustrating how supposed experts and also supposed higher-ups at UCONN could be so naive. If we count the # of Pac schools and then even consdier some ACC schools would be desperate, how it can be reported that an invite for UCONN is a done deal/imminent seems to be pretty silly.

 

[Carnac]

Chances are strong UConn is a bridesmaid again! A weakened ACC may be their only future option if it ever materializes!

Unfortunately..... I think you're right. And that's "IF" the ACC decides to reach out to UConn which won't happen until they lose a school.
We know that Clemson and Florida State want to leave. Get in where you fit in. The only "fit" for UConn may be the ACC. Especially if the BIG 12 never extends an offer to join.

I'm still holding out that the unnamed UConn administrator who said Friday that there would be good news this week that UConn would be joining the BIG 12 will come to pass.

We don't know what "backroom" discussions went on last week or over the weekend. Unfortunately, UConn does not have any bargaining chips. While its football team is on the come, it still has a way to go. It's not nearly as attractive to BIG 12 or ACC executive committee members as other programs are.

 

[hoophuskee]

I'm still holding out that the unnamed UConn administrator who said Friday that there would be good news this week that UConn would be joining the BIG 12 will come to pass.

I thought the news should have been coming last week?

 

[Carnac]

I thought the news should have been coming last week?

They're still playing "musical chairs". I guess we have to wait until the music stops for good, and see who is still standing........on the outside looking in.

 

[broooce]

Unfortunately..... I think you're right. And that's "IF" the ACC decides to reach out to UConn which won't happen until they lose a school.
Get in where you fit in. The only "fit" for UConn may be the ACC. Especially if the BIG 12 never extends an offer to join.

I'm still holding out that the unknown UConn administrator who said an invitation from the BIG 12 would be forthcoming this week.
We don't know what "backroom" discussions went on last week or over the weekend. Unfortunately, UConn does not have any bargaining chips. While its football team is on the come, it still has a way to go. It's not nearly as attractive to BIG 12 or ACC executive committee members as other programs are.

Carnac - you've been around much longer than me, and it must frustrate the hell out of you as it does me (and probably most BYers) that UConn keeps getting the condescending pat on the head by various conferences when realignment occurs. We all know football drives the bus but Brett Yormark is the first commissioner with real long-term vision on the programming value that men's and women's basketball (and for that matter other Olympic sports) brings to the table for the future of Power 5 conference media deals.

I mentioned in a previous post that I like watching Big Ten wrestling and occasionally women's volleyball because that conference is arguably the best in those sports. I'll tune in some Big Ten and SEC football games for the compelling match-ups like LSU-Alabama or Ohio State-Penn State, yet I'll skip Rutgers-Northwestern and Vanderbilt-Missouri. Other fans of gymnastics, softball and ice hockey will tune into conferences that are strong in those sports and watch games that are appealing.

So while football "drives the bus" I don't know who really wants to watch an Arizona vs. Kansas football game (outside of people affiliated with those schools), but I think there are plenty more people who'd tune into a UConn-Arizona (women or men) or UConn-Kansas (men's) basketball game because they are ranked teams playing each other. And because the basketball season is longer than football with more games, there are more programming opportunities for media partners. So IMO Yormark is like your avatar - Carnac the Magnificent - he sees the answers to questions that most university presidents don't know to ask. These presidents are enamored with the shiny object that they're familiar with, even though schools like Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State have had modestly more success in football but significantly less success in basketball than UConn as judged by records, NCAA appearances and championships.

From my past corporate life the word I'd use to describe the addition of UConn to a P5 conference is accretive. UConn's athletics pedigree has better long-term prospects in a P5 conference than most of the colleges being talked about for the Big 12 and in a few years I'm sure Jim Mora will have football in a place where it will no longer be our Achilles heel.

 

[Carnac]

Carnac - you've been around much longer than me, and it must frustrate the hell out of you as it does me (and probably most BYers) that UConn keeps getting the condescending pat on the head by various conferences when realignment occurs. We all know football drives the bus but Brett Yormark is the first commissioner with real long-term vision on the programming value that men's and women's basketball (and for that matter other Olympic sports) brings to the table for the future of Power 5 conference media deals.

I mentioned in a previous post that I like watching Big Ten wrestling and occasionally women's volleyball because that conference is arguably the best in those sports. I'll tune in some Big Ten and SEC football games for the compelling match-ups like LSU-Alabama or Ohio State-Penn State, yet I'll skip Rutgers-Northwestern and Vanderbilt-Missouri. Other fans of gymnastics, softball and ice hockey will tune into conferences that are strong in those sports and watch games that are appealing.

So while football "drives the bus" I don't know who really wants to watch an Arizona vs. Kansas football game (outside of people affiliated with those schools), but I think there are plenty more people who'd tune into a UConn-Arizona (women or men) or UConn-Kansas (men's) basketball game because they are ranked teams playing each other. And because the basketball season is longer than football with more games, there are more programming opportunities for media partners. So IMO Yormark is like your avatar - Carnac the Magnificent - he sees the answers to questions that most university presidents don't know to ask. These presidents are enamored with the shiny object that they're familiar with, even though schools like Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State have had modestly more success in football but significantly less success in basketball than UConn as judged by records, NCAA appearances and championships.

From my past corporate life the word I'd use to describe the addition of UConn to a P5 conference is accretive. UConn's athletics pedigree has better long-term prospects in a P5 conference than most of the colleges being talked about for the Big 12 and in a few years I'm sure Jim Mora will have football in a place where it will no longer be our Achilles heel.

Well said Broooce!! UConn basketball is attractive......men & women. They will hold their own (dominate) in whatever conference they move to. The men are national champions, the women are a perineal top 3 team every year. I think if UConn can score a membership in the BIG 12 or ACC, Jim Mora will have the UConn football program "competitive" with other conference teams in 3 years.....or less.

 

[Carnac]

If that's true, Colorado hit the lottery. We can expect to see other PAC members bailout of the conference in the coming days/weeks. The PAC Conference is losing members faster than they can replace them. The PAC Conference is not looking very attractive to prospective new members right now. Current member schools are leaving and there's no TV deal in place. I would imagine the PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff will try and raid the surrounding/nearby conferences for replacements........Big West, Mountain West, West Coast, Conference USA, and the BIG Sky.
The members schools of these conferences are all mid-majors.

View attachment 90156
The PAC 12 Conference today.

TRENDING NOW

Pac-12 President Signals Latest Bad News for Floundering Conference.​

On Monday, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that the Pac-12 and ESPN are having “no substantive talks at this time,” meaning that the worldwide leader in sports is out on the conference’s media rights.

Pac-12 President Signals Latest Bad News for Conference

On Monday, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that the Pac-12 and ESPN are having “no substantive talks at this time,” meaning that the worldwide leader in sports is out on the conference’s media rights. That’s not a good omen for the conference, whose death is widely considered an...

www.heartlandcollegesports.com

That’s not a good omen for the conference, whose death is widely considered an eventuality at this point, and coinciding reports of other events seem to point further to impending doom. That sounds like blood in the water to me. For the past several months, the Pac-12 has done a wonderful job of dancing around the question that really matters: where will the next media rights deal come from, and will is satisfying the conference’s members? Well, budget cuts and significant decreases in revenue certainly aren’t the words that Pac-12 brass want to hear, but that’s just the truth of the matter.

Bottom line......................refer to the picture posted below.

 

[rvwsleep]

TRENDING NOW

Pac-12 President Signals Latest Bad News for Floundering Conference.​

On Monday, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that the Pac-12 and ESPN are having “no substantive talks at this time,” meaning that the worldwide leader in sports is out on the conference’s media rights.

Pac-12 President Signals Latest Bad News for Conference

On Monday, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that the Pac-12 and ESPN are having “no substantive talks at this time,” meaning that the worldwide leader in sports is out on the conference’s media rights. That’s not a good omen for the conference, whose death is widely considered an...

www.heartlandcollegesports.com

That’s not a good omen for the conference, whose death is widely considered an eventuality at this point, and coinciding reports of other events seem to point further to impending doom. That sounds like blood in the water to me. For the past several months, the Pac-12 has done a wonderful job of dancing around the question that really matters: where will the next media rights deal come from, and will is satisfying the conference’s members? Well, budget cuts and significant decreases in revenue certainly aren’t the words that Pac-12 brass want to hear, but that’s just the truth of the matter.

Bottom line......................refer to the picture posted above.

Apple is supposedly in talks with the Pac.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Carnac]

Apple is supposedly in talks with the Pac.

Thanks. Somebody had better throw them a lifeline, and fast. 400 miles – the Titanic's distance from land (640 km), when the iceberg was struck in April 1912. The time it took the Titanic to sink after hitting the iceberg was 2 hours and 40 minutes. The Titanic was in better shape after hitting that iceberg than the PAC 12 is right now.

 

[Waquoit]

I posted this on another board. The lyrics to this classic yacht rock song explain UConn's current position:

 

[Carnac]

I posted this on another board. The lyrics to this classic yacht rock song explain UConn's current position:

I hope you're right, Mr. Positive.

 

[Zinethar]

From things I've read it appears that the PAC12 caused their problems themselves by refusing to negotiate any carriage deals that did not include coverage of all their sports. Very few networks were willing to give up that many channels and bandwidth for the price they were willing to pay. They refused to negotiate a deal with DirecTV and others resulting in few people saw their games outside of their conference which hurt recruiting and further weakened their product. To get the money you need the eyeballs. The only exposure they got was the few national games that got broadcast mostly by ESPN.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Carnac]

And with the two Arizona schools leaving, the PAC 12 will become a dead man walking. Schools are leaving, and they aren’t being replaced. If and when they do, it will be with mid-major programs, i.e., UNLV, Gonzaga, San Diego St, New Mexico, Weber St, etc. That will seriously reduce its attractiveness to potential media broadcasters. This could be UConn’s last best chance to ever join the Big 12. Fingers crossed.

 

[broooce]

And with the two Arizona schools leaving, the PAC 12 will become a dead man walking. Schools are leaving, and they aren’t being replaced. If and when they do, it will be with mid-major programs, i.e., UNLV, Gonzaga, San Diego St, New Mexico, Weber St, etc. That will seriously reduce its attractiveness to potential media broadcasters. This could be UConn’s last best chance to ever join the Big 12. Fingers crossed.

If the Big Ten is successful in adding Oregon and Washington, they'll be up to 18 teams in that conference.

If Florida State and Clemson bolt the ACC for the SEC, that'll bring the SEC to 18 teams (including Texas and Oklahoma) and the ACC will be down to 13 teams (inclusive of Notre Dame, or 12 not counting ND).

Who woulda thunk that the Pac 12 would be on the ropes - Vegas probably had the Big 12 with the best odds of falling apart. Kudos to Yormark for what he's done for his remaining and new members!

So if these things happen then that might lead the ACC to want to add teams to get back to at least 14 full members (not counting ND) or 15 w/ND.

OR the Big 12 just might want to belly up to the bar and get to 18 themselves to better match-up with both the SEC and the Big Ten.

IMO at 18 teams media partners will more likely look at overall programming value of each conference beyond football, and that means basketball! I think basketball and other Olympic sports have been purposely undervalued by media partners as everyone has focused on football. But if we are in fact living through the transition from "Power 5" to "Power 4" then the four stronger conferences will have and should leverage their overall programming value to get larger deals from their media partners, including new ones like streaming companies. Hulu? Netflix? Fubo? YouTubeTV?

So as Fraulein Maria once said, "when the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." Not just for UConn but also for Brett Yormark to realize his vision.

 

[Carnac]

Per ESPN’ Pardon the Interruption show today, the B1G has been given the ok to explore adding Oregon and Washington.

 

[sun]

If UConn joins the Big 12, the traveling distances between schools would be getting ridiculous.

Flying distance from Hartford to Tucson (University of Arizona) - 2,198 - 4 hours, 54 minutes in the air.
Flying distance from Hartford to Tempe (Arizona State) - 2,209 - 4 hours, 55 minutes in the air.
Flying distance from Hartford to Denver (University of Colorado) - 1,692 - 3 hours, 58 minutes in the air.

Compared to the flying distance from Hartford to Miami - 1,184 - 2 hours, 43 minutes flying time.

 

[HuskyNan]

If UConn joins the Big 12, the traveling distances between schools would be getting ridiculous.

Flying mileage from Hartford to Tucson (University of Arizona) - 2,198 - 4 hours, 54 minutes in the air.
Flying mileage from Hartford to Phoenix (Arizona State) - 2,216 - 4 hours, 56 minutes in the air.

Compared to the flying mileage from Hartford to Miami - 1,184 - 2 hours, 43 minutes flying time.

UConn had to fly to New Orleans, Tulsa, Dallas, and Houston in the AAC

 

[sun]

UConn had to fly to New Orleans, Tulsa, Dallas, and Houston in the AAC

Flying mileage from Hartford to Houston - 1,513 - 3 hours, 32 minutes flying time.

All figures are from the Travelmath website.

Travelmath trip calculator

Calculate the driving distance between cities and flight time to figure out whether it's better to fly or drive.

www.travelmath.com

 

[MSGRET]

If UConn joins the Big 12, the traveling distances between schools would be getting ridiculous.

Flying distance from Hartford to Tucson (University of Arizona) - 2,198 - 4 hours, 54 minutes in the air.
Flying distance from Hartford to Tempe (Arizona State) - 2,209 - 4 hours, 55 minutes in the air.
Flying distance from Hartford to Denver (University of Colorado) - 1,692 - 3 hours, 58 minutes in the air.

Compared to the flying distance from Hartford to Miami - 1,184 - 2 hours, 43 minutes flying time.

The league would probably schedule a 3 game road trip to make it easier on the team. The AAC used to schedule a two game road trip when UConn went to Texas for the Dallas and Houston road games, one more shouldn't be much of a problem.