I think WVU will be gone within a week, then what?

[ConnHuskBask]

They are going ape on BGN right now celebrating an SEC invite.

Nothing more than "un-named sources" "people close to the situation" type twitter reports. Not saying they aren't a candidate, but until I see something from a legitimate news outlet I'll presume they are still in the BE.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

They are going ape on BGN right now celebrating an SEC invite.

Nothing more than "un-named sources" "people close to the situation" type twitter reports. Not saying they aren't a candidate, but until I see something from a legitimate news outlet I'll presume they are still in the BE.

How much difference a few hours can make. The one writer that picked up this rumor, and used the term "done deal" on his Twitter account, was Shawn Rine of the Wheeler Post Intelligencer. Overnight he backed way off the rumor, and deleted the tweets where he claimed it was a done deal. Now the BGN board is pretty pissed, although most are still holding out hope.

The whole fan base is being played by a few "insiders" who are nothing more than fans hoping it is true.

 

[willie99]

what does WVU bring to the SEC in terms of market or revenues? nothing

does the SEC need to be in a hurry to add a WVU? no, there are many better options for them to explore 1st if they want to

does the SEC need WVU for football? please

IMHO, there is zero chance of WVU going to the SEC anytime soon

the B12, on the other hand, may be desperate to expand for survival, but that conference ain't example stable either

 

[uconNYC]

I'm in two minds. Don't want an Apocalyptic scenario for UConn, but I have a hunch that if the Big East implodes, B1G, ACC and Big XII will pick-up the scraps. Right now no one wants to be seen as the murderer of the Big East. If SEC takes WVU, then it is open season. Big XII will take UL and UC, Notre Dame will bolt for the B1G and Mizzou will join them. Big XII will go back for TCU and ACC not wanting B1G anywhere near NYC will gobble UConn and RU. USF is screwed.

 

[gars44]

I'm in two minds. Don't want an Apocalyptic scenario for UConn, but I have a hunch that if the Big East implodes, B1G, ACC and Big XII will pick-up the scraps. Right now no one wants to be seen as the murderer of the Big East. If SEC takes WVU, then it is open season. Big XII will take UL and UC, Notre Dame will bolt for the B1G and Mizzou will join them. Big XII will go back for TCU and ACC not wanting B1G anywhere near NYC will gobble UConn and RU. USF is screwed.

I love a good hunch like anyone else. How have you done with lotto?

 

[gars44]

They are going ape on BGN right now celebrating an SEC invite.

Nothing more than "un-named sources" "people close to the situation" type twitter reports. Not saying they aren't a candidate, but until I see something from a legitimate news outlet I'll presume they are still in the BE.

They're drinking home-made hootch and screech, mountain dew moonshine, and shooting off their muskets in the air. The wimmin folk are making possum pie and hominy grits with granny's wild mushroom gravy. Hee HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I'm in two minds. Don't want an Apocalyptic scenario for UConn, but I have a hunch that if the Big East implodes, B1G, ACC and Big XII will pick-up the scraps. Right now no one wants to be seen as the murderer of the Big East. If SEC takes WVU, then it is open season. Big XII will take UL and UC, Notre Dame will bolt for the B1G and Mizzou will join them. Big XII will go back for TCU and ACC not wanting B1G anywhere near NYC will gobble UConn and RU. USF is screwed.

Businesses don't pay for things unless they have to. If the Big East collapses, a few AQ leagues may add a team or two, and the rest of the Big East will dissolve into whatever mid-major will take them. If the Big East teams don't have any options and are going to fade into oblivion, why would the ACC or anyone else pay for those schools? Just let them fade.

 

[uconNYC]

Businesses don't pay for things unless they have to. If the Big East collapses, a few AQ leagues may add a team or two, and the rest of the Big East will dissolve into whatever mid-major will take them. If the Big East teams don't have any options and are going to fade into oblivion, why would the ACC or anyone else pay for those schools? Just let them fade.

To fully corner the Northeast market they need UConn and RU/ND. NYC and Boston cable outlets are not going to offer the ACC Network without a stronger NYC and New England presence. Let's also see how Swofford feels after we beat PITT and SU to win the BE tournament and UNC and Duke to win the National Championship.

 

[Pudge]

Please stop with the Academic arguments. I know that is what the Presidents are promoting. But, this is about MONEY grabbing. And, OUR BE or the ACC and especially the SEC will not let a good Football Brand name OR market go cause they are above 100 in USN&WR.

And Markets? Nelson has been spewing this for weeks. And, I get it ... but its not totally about that. The ACC grabbed Syracuse & Pitt as brand names BECAUSE it allowed them to re-open their TV negotiation to try to get near what Larry Scott got for the Pac 12. That was the dangerous push. John Swofford didn't like being so far behind. And further ... there is a Tobacco element that didn't like the BE stealing their BB bacon. They think that Pitt & SU pushed them forward. That should be right. But we have seen Pitt suck. And post-Boeheim ... you are playing in a Mausoleum & CNY may or may not support a .500 club. Could be 10,000 attendance quick.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Please stop with the Academic arguments. I know that is what the Presidents are promoting. But, this is about MONEY grabbing. And, OUR BE or the ACC and especially the SEC will not let a good Football Brand name OR market go cause they are above 100 in USN&WR.

And Markets? Nelson has been spewing this for weeks. And, I get it ... but its not totally about that. The ACC grabbed Syracuse & Pitt as brand names BECAUSE it allowed them to re-open their TV negotiation to try to get near what Larry Scott got for the Pac 12. That was the dangerous push. John Swofford didn't like being so far behind. And further ... there is a Tobacco element that didn't like the BE stealing their BB bacon. They think that Pitt & SU pushed them forward. That should be right. But we have seen Pitt suck. And post-Boeheim ... you are playing in a Mausoleum & CNY may or may not support a .500 club. Could be 10,000 attendance quick.

Sure it's money. And the TV money is a drop in the bucket compared to the research money. The big conferences want both. Good sports and good research/academics. Pitt and Syracuse were attractive for that reason.

 

[upstater]

Sure it's money. And the TV money is a drop in the bucket compared to the research money. The big conferences want both. Good sports and good research/academics. Pitt and Syracuse were attractive for that reason.

Research has nothing to do with sports. Only in the BigTen do schools sometimes collaborate through the CIC, but even then only 140 faculty members at the 12 Big10 schools even participated in CIC projects last year. The whole budget was only $2 million, and they managed to save on contract purchases for dorm mattresses and such by pooling resources. That's good money, but this is not a big income generator. For other conferences, research and sports just don't make a difference.

 

[RS9999X]

Top 100 matters. Rutgers would be in the ACC if any of that academics mattered outside of the BiG.

Northwest is the smallest school BiG school and in the top 75 and the worst ranked college is 81 or so (Iowa). UConn and Rutgers fit that profile that but not geography.

The other conferences forget it. Top 200 in size and academics will due in a pinch.

 

[upstater]

i haven't heard anyone with any credibility at all say anything about the SEC being interested in WVU. while WVU would be a good fit in terms of culture and being competitive, they provide basically nothing in terms of additional TV eyeballs and that's all anyone cares about anymore. think that is the main reason we won't see FSU, GTech or Clemson joining the SEC, moreso than the other school in their state forbidding it. expansion is being driven by TV footprints, which is why Western PA and upstate NY were more attractive to the ACC than NE and NJ. they expanded the ACC's footprint, while we merely filled it in. that's another reason i think we might be more attractive to the Big10 than ACC. if they want to make a play at NYC, picking up UConn and Rutgers is pretty much their only option. i think Mizzou would be crazy to stay in the B12 if they have the option of going to the SEC so that's where i see that going.

Upstate NY is not tied to Syracuse football in any way. Syracuse's market is Syracuse. Not Buffalo and Albany.

 

[Danzz]

There is only one school that doesn't want FSU -- florida. The Gators are being supported by Georgia and USC with an agreement not to allow the competitive ACC school for any of them to join the SEC. However, when Georgia and USC are told how much money they will lose by not taking FSU, and are guaranteed that they don't need Florida's vote to keep Georgia Tech and Clemson out, I think there word will prove to be as good as the words of all other university presidents on these matters.

Myfeelings were similar about Florida and FSU until I thought about it a little more. Both are state unversities funded by the same group of politicians. I have to believe that at some point politics wins out and Florida withdraws its objection to FSU.
As one who went to college in Florida I can attest to the disdain Florida has for FSU especially academiclly.
Ever notice this about state universities: the U of (insert state) schools are better academiclly than the -(insert state) State Unversity schools. The exception would be Ohio State but to my knowledge there is no University of Ohio.

 

[upstater]

Myfeelings were similar about Florida and FSU until I thought about it a little more. Both are state unversities funded by the same group of politicians. I have to believe that at some point politics wins out and Florida withdraws its objection to FSU.
As one who went to college in Florida I can attest to the disdain Florida has for FSU especially academiclly.
Ever notice this about state universities: the U of (insert state) schools are better academiclly than the -(insert state) State Unversity schools. The exception would be Ohio State but to my knowledge there is no University of Ohio.

There is indeed an Ohio University. So that would be the exception. But, I wouldn't put any other stock in this. All the SUNY's are State U's, there's Penn State as well with no public school called U Penn (only a private). Louisiana State is certainly better than any of the University of Louisiana's.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Research has nothing to do with sports. Only in the BigTen do schools sometimes collaborate through the CIC, but even then only 140 faculty members at the 12 Big10 schools even participated in CIC projects last year. The whole budget was only $2 million, and they managed to save on contract purchases for dorm mattresses and such by pooling resources. That's good money, but this is not a big income generator. For other conferences, research and sports just don't make a difference.

The budget for the CIC is irrelevant. The CIC schools received $7 Billion in research funding last year. The CIC lobbies for those grants on behalf of its members.

If you say "Ivy League", do people think of an athletic conference? That's what it is. Yet it is much more than that. It's an association of like institutions with very high academic standards and which mostly pull in huge research dollars. The Big Ten feels the same way about itself. To a lesser degree, so do the ACC and Pac 12.

 

[upstater]

The budget for the CIC is irrelevant. The CIC schools received $7 Billion in research funding last year. The CIC lobbies for those grants on behalf of its members.

If you say "Ivy League", do people think of an athletic conference? That's what it is. Yet it is much more than that. It's an association of like institutions with very high academic standards and which mostly pull in huge research dollars. The Big Ten feels the same way about itself. To a lesser degree, so do the ACC and Pac 12.

The CIC doesn't lobby anyone for those grants. There is no lobbying for those grants. None at all. Grants are issued through peer review committees on a blind basis. yiou don't lobby the committees in the national institutes.

The only people who get lobbied are politicians who fund the institutes in the first place. They get lobbied by the AAU. But that money needs to be approved of through a process.

I totally disagree with you about this relationship between athletic conferences and research that you're painting. It simply doesn't work that way, and if it did, some of these Ivy league schools should be complaining for pulling in a pittance relative to their peers.