Katz on UMass

[whaler11]

Hey anytime you can add the worst football team in the MAC, that also hasn't made the NCAAT since 1998, you gotta do it, right?

NOTE: Mr. Aresco if you're reading this, that was a joke.

That's the tough part. Once you've added Tulane it's hard to look down your nose at anyone. Tulane makes UMass look like Ohio State.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

That's the tough part. Once you've added Tulane it's hard to look down your nose at anyone. Tulane makes UMass look like Ohio State.

The ineptitude of Tulane's basketball and football programs is startling.

My understanding was that the TV contract necessitated 12 football playing teams for a CCG. That being said, there had to be some value in foregoing the title game in lieu of Tulane, Tulsa and having a round robin basketball schedule?

 

[whaler11]

The ineptitude of Tulane's basketball and football programs is startling.

My understanding was that the TV contract necessitated 12 football playing teams for a CCG. That being said, there had to be some value in foregoing the title game in lieu of Tulane, Tulsa and having a round robin basketball schedule?

It seems impossible that the per team rake is better with 12 instead of 10. How aren't the few teams people might watch diluted by teams the AAC didn't even want?

It seems the championship game would need to be worth 7 figures on it's own. That seems ridiculous looking at the numbers.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

It seems impossible that the per team rake is better with 12 instead of 10. How aren't the few teams people might watch diluted by teams the AAC didn't even want?

It seems the championship game would need to be worth 7 figures on it's own. That seems ridiculous looking at the numbers.

Agreed. This brings me back to the idea of combining the best of the AAC and Mtn.West.

How the best of both leagues didn't combine still confuses me. It's like the one time in CR teams didn't act in their self interests was in our scenario.

It's like UConn, Cinci, Boise, SD State are content to let Tulane, Wyoming etc leech off of them.

No clue how all this happened, (of course Boise eventually got their sweetheart deal, but this could've taken place before that).

 

[whaler11]

Agreed. This brings me back to the idea of combining the best of the AAC and Mtn.West.

How the best of both leagues didn't combine still confuses me. It's like the one time in CR teams didn't act in their self interests was in our scenario.

It's like UConn, Cinci, Boise, SD State are content to let Tulane, Wyoming etc leech off of them.

No clue how all this happened, (of course Boise eventually got their sweetheart deal, but this could've taken place before that).

Boise got a deal from Mountain West that should get them 1 to 1.5 million more than the AAC.

The real key was getting an easier trip to the BCS because the MWC deal includes a 50/50 split of BCS money for anyone that qualifies. Substitute access bowl for BCS in future.

Let the marginally tougher AAC beat each other up a bit and dominate New Mexico and Wyoming and gross half that payment even just every third year and they are way ahead.

Had the timing worked better it may not have happened, but Boise was never going to sign without giving MWC a last look once the thing melted down.

 

[pj]

Agreed. This brings me back to the idea of combining the best of the AAC and Mtn.West.

How the best of both leagues didn't combine still confuses me. It's like the one time in CR teams didn't act in their self interests was in our scenario.

It's like UConn, Cinci, Boise, SD State are content to let Tulane, Wyoming etc leech off of them.

No clue how all this happened, (of course Boise eventually got their sweetheart deal, but this could've taken place before that).

Here's why: Missouri spent $7.1 mn on all sports travel using buses to get to SEC destinations (http://www.stltoday.com/sports/coll...cle_b26d13a4-a0ed-53de-a09d-0aa492d6103b.html). A MW-AAC combo would have cross-country travel by charter and could easily have $15 mn travel costs for all sports. The student-athletes would struggle with classes. Travel time would become a major recruiting negative. As we saw in MW and AAC TV negotiations, TV networks will only pay a few million a year more for the top of these leagues versus the bottom. So you gain $2 mn/yr in revenue but lose $8 mn in travel costs. And the league is more competitive and harder to stand out in.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Boise got a deal from Mountain West that should get them 1 to 1.5 million more than the AAC.

The real key was getting an easier trip to the BCS because the MWC deal includes a 50/50 split of BCS money for anyone that qualifies. Substitute access bowl for BCS in future.

Let the marginally tougher AAC beat each other up a bit and dominate New Mexico and Wyoming and gross half that payment even just every third year and they are way ahead.

Had the timing worked better it may not have happened, but Boise was never going to sign without giving MWC a last look once the thing melted down.

You can't blame Boise for taking the deal they have in place now, it's a huge win for them.

It would be interesting to me to see how much per year a conference of:

UConn, Cinci, USF, Temple, UCF, Memphis, Navy (fb only)
Boise St, SD St, UNLV, Air Force, Houston, SMU, New Mexico

I mean, you take the properties with some perceived value in both leagues and combine them it has to at least be between 3-4M, no?

It's hands down the 6th best football conference so it would be in the access bowl every year, abd it's a 5-6 bid league for basketball?

idk, who knows. Just feels like this could've all played out better ( aside from the obvious ACC Mess).

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Here's why: Missouri spent $7.1 mn on all sports travel using buses to get to SEC destinations (http://www.stltoday.com/sports/coll...cle_b26d13a4-a0ed-53de-a09d-0aa492d6103b.html). A MW-AAC combo would have cross-country travel by charter and could easily have $15 mn travel costs for all sports. The student-athletes would struggle with classes. Travel time would become a major recruiting negative. As we saw in MW and AAC TV negotiations, TV networks will only pay a few million a year more for the top of these leagues versus the bottom. So you gain $2 mn/yr in revenue but lose $8 mn in travel costs. And the league is more competitive and harder to stand out in.

IDK, if you played Olympic sports within your division, i think you could mitigate assume of the costs.

 

[B1GALUM]

Here's why: Missouri spent $7.1 mn on all sports travel using buses to get to SEC destinations (http://www.stltoday.com/sports/coll...cle_b26d13a4-a0ed-53de-a09d-0aa492d6103b.html). A MW-AAC combo would have cross-country travel by charter and could easily have $15 mn travel costs for all sports. The student-athletes would struggle with classes. Travel time would become a major recruiting negative. As we saw in MW and AAC TV negotiations, TV networks will only pay a few million a year more for the top of these leagues versus the bottom. So you gain $2 mn/yr in revenue but lose $8 mn in travel costs. And the league is more competitive and harder to stand out in.

I saw this article as well and am glad you posted it.
Aside from the loss of historical rivalries, travel in terms of financial cost and impact on the student-athletes - those in the Olympic sports in particular - is yet one more drawback of all this conference realignment.
Maryland deal included multimillion-dollar travel subsidy from Big Ten: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...bsidy-worth-tens-maryland-athletic-department
Big 12 agrees to look at WVU's travel problems: http://www.exponent-telegram.com/sports/article_b06ac074-7e3e-11e2-aa76-001a4bcf887a.html
Expanding ACC illuminates concerns with team travel: http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2013/07/01/expanding-acc-illuminates-concerns-team-travel

 

[woomba]

Travel is a legitimate concern for conf. alignment but the Maryland deal was just a way to disguise a way to sweeten the pot for Maryland to jump ship from the ACC and not really founded on any real travel difficulties.

 

[itgoeslike]

Maryland needed the cash sooner than later and the travel subsidy was one of the ways they "front-loaded" the deal.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Don’t discount the impact of the number of sports that each conference sponsors on the bottom line.

ACC: 25 sports (Men 12, Women 13)​

B1G: 28 sports (Men 14, Women 14)​

PAC: 21 sports (Men 10, Women 11)​

SEC: 21 Sports (Men 9, Women 12)​

XII: 20 Sports (Men 9, Women 11)​

Just another example of the differences between North and South conferences. Texas, which is the richest collegiate athletic programs in the country just sponsors 20 total sports (9 men, 11 women) while Ohio State, which is typically ranked second, sponsors 28 (14 men, 14 women). UConn, by the way, sponsors 22 teams (10 men, 12 women).

 

[CL82]

I'm looking at your avatar of the new logo without the toupee SubbaBub, and I can't believe how many jackasses here actually thought that looked better!

Well at least you wouldn't have to print the wordmark 'UCONN' for it to be recognizable to the casual fan. Just sayin'.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

There's a rule against it?

Yep, it's on page 1,000,375, Article 200,000, Paragraph 2, of the "NCAA Manual."