Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[billybud]

Various Opinions...back in 2012...they swing all over the place

Does Rutgers really bring in NYC market?

When word started circulating that Rutgers might be the 14th team in the Big Ten, many in the sports business world were baffled. The thinking is that, due to its proximity to New York City, Rutgers could give the Big Ten and its television network a stronghold in the nation's top market.

www.espn.com

 

[billybud]

Interesting article about NYC and college football realignment...circa September 2011...by NY Times

The Geography of College Football Fans (and Realignment Chaos)

The possible realignment of college football conferences raises a host of interesting questions about fan loyalty.

archive.nytimes.com

 

[Chin Diesel]

You can't be that dense.

The number of times I say this daily when reading work emails is borderline incalculable.

 

[Bobol]

…… The schools ESPN/ACC chose were the mistake

The bottom line is that the decision makers at the B1G were smarter and more shrewd than the good old boys running the ACC And have been able to outmaneuver the good old boys.

 

[Incursio007]

The ACC is dying a slow death. Just like the AAC, it’s only a matter of time before a lot of these schools jump ship for “greener” pastures.

I still can’t believe the ACC took a community college over UConn. Karma is a b*tch & I’m enjoying every second of watching them do damage control. FSU, Clemson & UNC are gone first chance they get. Good luck to BC & Cuse.

 

[freescooter]

The bottom line is that the decision makers at the B1G were smarter and more shrewd than the good old boys running the ACC And have been able to outmaneuver the good old boys.

That is sort of true, but on the other hand the Big X was a superior football conference from the very beginning, so they had a pretty significant head start. The ACC really was trying to surplant them and thought adding what had been a top 5 program for a over a decade I’m Miami, and a top 20 program in VaTech plus 2 borderline top 25 programs in BC and Syracuse to be added to Florida State would help them do it. Unfortunately all 4 really regressed and only Clemson among the original ACC really stepped up. And it sure didn’t help that FSU regressed at the same time. So what was expected to be a league with a bunch of programs with national attraction turned out to be what it always was, a one trick pony with really good basketball. Miami-Florida State, one of THE matchups of the year every year, is just another game between mid-level teams now. BC-Norte Dame, the Holy War, doesn’t happen every year and has been all Irish for 8 or 9 years now. Just another occasional ACC REQUIRED meeting for the DomersBad choices for sure,

 

[CAtlantic]

In case anyone's wondering, this is in response to a stream of tweets from Mh ver about the possibility of Stanford and Cal joining the Big 12 which, if somehow rings true, would upend CFB even more.

 

[coachcap]

In case anyone's wondering, this is in response to a stream of tweets from Mh ver about the possibility of Stanford and Cal joining the Big 12 which, if somehow rings true, would upend CFB even more.

For those unfamiliar with Braden Gall, he is a former regular contributor a.k.a. "talking head" on Sirius-XM's ESPNU channel. His agenda has been promotion of "traditional powers" in college football, though he sometimes offers insight due to his contact connections.

 

[coachcap]

The ACC is dying a slow death. Just like the AAC, it’s only a matter of time before a lot of these schools jump ship for “greener” pastures.

I still can’t believe the ACC took a community college over UConn. Karma is a b*tch & I’m enjoying every second of watching them do damage control. FSU, Clemson & UNC are gone first chance they get. Good luck to BC & Cuse.

While I share your angst about UConn's lack of a seat at the big boy table, I wish no ill against the ACC. It could, after all, be UConn's ultimate destination as backfill due to possible raiding. Louisville had a long history as a 1-A football school that UConn doesn't share.
My consternation is more to the XII when West Virginia & TCU openly campaigned for & got admission. At the time, I felt that it was a better fit than the AAC,, UConn could be a "travel partner" of WVU, & give the XII better access to the Northeast market. When the mythical expansion of the XII didn't occur a few years later, it really tarnished UConn's reputation. Now with the addition of Cinci & UCF, it continues to be a head scratcher. The Huskies seem relegated to the minor bus league.

 

[ScottVib]

Agan this would still seem to be something that could be accomplished more easily within the leftover shell of the Pac-12 where yes you'd still have to deal with the only two schools left behind (Wash. St & Ore. St); but you can cast off more "less desirable" schools form the Big XII.

 

[Kolumbo]

As UConn fans we've gone through this so many times that we're immune but billy, like most FSU & Clemson fans, has entered the Denial stage for the first time.

This is where they say to themselves, and anybody that will listen (as we UConn fans did,) that since they are an ESPN owned property (as the Old Big East was), the Mouse will always look out for them and provide for them. After all, why wouldn't ESPN want a P5 conference they have total control of, to be successful? Oh wait, how did that work out for the Old Big East?

Remember how stunned we were when we faced the scary reality of Conference Realignment for the first time? Maybe we need to have some patience with our visitors making their inaugural journey and let them face the Grief Stages as they see fit

One tends to bounce back and forth between bargaining and depression for a while, with a dash of anger rearing its head every once in a while. It's not an easy journey for the uninitiated.

 

[billybud]

I think that FOX has bailed out of bidding on the new PAC media deal. Giving ESPN sole negotiating power with the leftover PAC until August 4th.

ESPN has given the PAC an offer of around $30M per year per team. It is uncertain if the PAC will accept it or risk it all like the Big East did back in the day and try to branch out on their own and put it on the open market. A risk for the PAC because ESPN will pull the offer on August 5th.

ESPN can than move on with forming a Tier 2 League with the ACC BIG 12 and PAC leftovers.

ESPN has, I hear from supposed insiders, given the PAC an offer of around $30M...that is where that figure comes from.

 

[billybud]

PAC schools are probably torn on how to proceed. Stanford may be waiting on Notre Dame and the B1G and won’t sign anything. Oregon and Washington are in limbo as well.

The supposed insiders on West Coast boards put out info...pick and choose what you believe.

 

[CL82]

That is sort of true, but on the other hand the Big X was a superior football conference from the very beginning, so they had a pretty significant head start. The ACC really was trying to surplant them and thought adding what had been a top 5 program for a over a decade I’m Miami, and a top 20 program in VaTech plus 2 borderline top 25 programs in BC and Syracuse to be added to Florida State would help them do it. Unfortunately all 4 really regressed and only Clemson among the original ACC really stepped up. And it sure didn’t help that FSU regressed at the same time. So what was expected to be a league with a bunch of programs with national attraction turned out to be what it always was, a one trick pony with really good basketball. Miami-Florida State, one of THE matchups of the year every year, is just another game between mid-level teams now. BC-Norte Dame, the Holy War, doesn’t happen every year and has been all Irish for 8 or 9 years now. Just another occasional ACC REQUIRED meeting for the DomersBad choices for sure,

While I share your angst about UConn's lack of a seat at the big boy table, I wish no ill against the ACC. It could, after all, be UConn's ultimate destination as backfill due to possible raiding. Louisville had a long history as a 1-A football school that UConn doesn't share.
My consternation is more to the XII when West Virginia & TCU openly campaigned for & got admission. At the time, I felt that it was a better fit than the AAC,, UConn could be a "travel partner" of WVU, & give the XII better access to the Northeast market. When the mythical expansion of the XII didn't occur a few years later, it really tarnished UConn's reputation. Now with the addition of Cinci & UCF, it continues to be a head scratcher. The Huskies seem relegated to the minor bus league.

We are a horrific geographic fit in the big 12. If I recall correctly that was the major knock against us. If BYU hadn’t shot its self in the foot, then expansion would have been more likely and I think we would’ve been invited.

It may turn out to be for the best as we are a much better geographic fit in the ACC and have some traditional rivals there. Either one is going to be a second tier conference. It’s better to be in the one that makes more geographic sense into which we have historic ties.

 

[ScottVib]

PAC schools are probably torn on how to proceed. Stanford may be waiting on Notre Dame and the B1G and won’t sign anything. Oregon and Washington are in limbo as well.

The supposed insiders on West Coast boards put out info...pick and choose what you believe.

I think the place I saw that quote first was from a radio host who covers Oregon sports (having interviewed a few media consultants as well).

$30M per team still feels bigger than the Big XII, which had been rumored to be looking at $20M per team (without OU or Texas) about a year ago.. now perhaps that changes given the current environment.. but who knows.

 

[businesslawyer]

That is sort of true, but on the other hand the Big X was a superior football conference from the very beginning, so they had a pretty significant head start. The ACC really was trying to surplant them and thought adding what had been a top 5 program for a over a decade I’m Miami, and a top 20 program in VaTech plus 2 borderline top 25 programs in BC and Syracuse to be added to Florida State would help them do it. Unfortunately all 4 really regressed and only Clemson among the original ACC really stepped up. And it sure didn’t help that FSU regressed at the same time. So what was expected to be a league with a bunch of programs with national attraction turned out to be what it always was, a one trick pony with really good basketball. Miami-Florida State, one of THE matchups of the year every year, is just another game between mid-level teams now. BC-Norte Dame, the Holy War, doesn’t happen every year and has been all Irish for 8 or 9 years now. Just another occasional ACC REQUIRED meeting for the DomersBad choices for sure,

This. The ACC was never, never, on the level of any of the SEC, Big Ten, Big XII or Pac Ten in football. It brought in FSU and had its first national power. Then it expanded, and because it was by prestige the best basketball conference in the country, and was a "major" conference," got grouped for some purposes with the real big boys. But Clemson's recent run aside, it was never on the level of the others -- it just has survived as the number above it keeps shrinking.

I'm not knocking it -- we're also basketball centric, and I hope that will be our home when the dust settles, as a place viewed as the Big East was viewed when we got there -- right on the line between "major" and not. But it is what it is.

 

[businesslawyer]

In case anyone's wondering, this is in response to a stream of tweets from Mh ver about the possibility of Stanford and Cal joining the Big 12 which, if somehow rings true, would upend CFB even more.

It is possible that, faced with the choice of not playing big time football and going to the Texas-centric XII, Stanford and Cal will join the Big XII. But I can guaranty you they are not going to be the ones who cause that to happen. The flagship university of the largest state in the union, and arguably the most progressive state, is not looking to showcase itself in the southwest. Whatever that does for them as an athletic department, it does nothing for them as a university.

 

[Rufus]

Mandel: TV numbers show Pac-12 might be healthier than we think (for now)

Television numbers indicate the Pac-12 isn't necessarily in a weaker position than the Big 12.

theathletic.com

 

[uconnsouth]

If the Big12 is able to poach some of the bigger brands from P12

Would there be mutual interest to start a “national conference” by adding UConn to the Big12?

They could add northeast TV sets to a new Big12 network

Thoughts?

 

[CL82]

People have forgotten that for a while it was unclear which was the better conference, the Big East or the ACC. Indeed, there has been risk of the ACC falling apart for quite some time now. That is why the school presidents opted for a draconian GOR. The ACC survived solely because ESPN chose to fund its evisceration of the Big East. Basically, ESPN made the business decision that it was less expensive to consolidate more D1 teams in one conference and pay them a premium than to pay to D1 conferences. They made the decision that the ACC would be the surviving conference. Had they decided to consolidate in the Big East, we would be in a far better position today. Have they decided that consolidation in the ACC must include the University of Connecticut, we would be in a far better position today. They did neither.

So, basically, ESPN, a Connecticut company, was the architect and financier of the evisceration of the big east conference which in turn cost the university and thus the state of Connecticut, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars. That should never be forgotten in this state. There may be a time that ESPN comes to us with a hat in hand asking for incentives again. Any legislator who votes in favor of that should immediately be voted out in the next election.

 

[BigTenFan]

People have forgotten that for a while it was unclear which was the better conference, the Big East or the ACC. Indeed, there has been risk of the ACC falling apart for quite some time now. That is why the school presidents opted for a draconian GOR. The ACC survived solely because ESPN chose to fund its evisceration of the Big East. Basically, ESPN made the business decision that it was less expensive to consolidate more D1 teams in one conference and pay them a premium than to pay to D1 conferences. They made the decision that the ACC would be the surviving conference. Had they decided to consolidate in the Big East, we would be in a far better position today. Have they decided that consolidation in the ACC must include the University of Connecticut, we would be in a far better position today. They did neither.

So, basically, ESPN, a Connecticut company, was the architect and financier of the evisceration of the big east conference which in turn cost the university and thus the state of Connecticut, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars. That should never be forgotten in this state. There may be a time that ESPN comes to us with a hat in hand asking for incentives again. Any legislator who votes in favor of that should immediately be voted out in the next election.

ESPN was a CT company - Disney bought them 25 years ago. ESPN really does not seem that engaged in Connecticut sports or local events.

 

[billybud]

The ACC has always been behind the SEC and Big Ten....the gap will just widen.

CL82 is correct, IMHO, that the Big East and ACC were battling each other in a survival match to make the P5 breakaway...it was a fight to the knife. And that ESPN made the decision to invest in the ACC and SEC.

Heretofore, the ACC was fairly successful, even with lower media revenue...but in the new semi-pro age, I expect diminished success..

Since 2010...ACC

...3 football NC's...Clemson, FSU
...4 basketball NC's...Duke, UNC, Virginia
...1 baseball NC...Virginia

and smaller sports...9 Men's Lacrosse and 8 Women's, 4 Men's Soccer and 4 Women's...etc

I think it will become the P2 and everybody else in football...maybe, just maybe, the Tier 2 can compete with them in other sports.

 

[businesslawyer]

People have forgotten that for a while it was unclear which was the better conference, the Big East or the ACC. Indeed, there has been risk of the ACC falling apart for quite some time now. That is why the school presidents opted for a draconian GOR. The ACC survived solely because ESPN chose to fund its evisceration of the Big East. Basically, ESPN made the business decision that it was less expensive to consolidate more D1 teams in one conference and pay them a premium than to pay to D1 conferences. They made the decision that the ACC would be the surviving conference. Had they decided to consolidate in the Big East, we would be in a far better position today. Have they decided that consolidation in the ACC must include the University of Connecticut, we would be in a far better position today. They did neither.

So, basically, ESPN, a Connecticut company, was the architect and financier of the evisceration of the big east conference which in turn cost the university and thus the state of Connecticut, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars. That should never be forgotten in this state. There may be a time that ESPN comes to us with a hat in hand asking for incentives again. Any legislator who votes in favor of that should immediately be voted out in the next election.

We can't vote out of office people who don't particularly believe in basic principles of democracy and truth. You think it's likely we're going to vote out of office people who vote for incentives for one of CT's better known and more prestigious employers?

 

[CL82]

We can't vote out of office people who don't particularly believe in basic principles of democracy and truth. You think it's likely we're going to vote out of office people who vote for incentives for one of CT's better known and more prestigious employers?

Yes. You would be surprised what some well placed defining of issues in the margins can achieve particularly in local elections.

For what it’s worth, if the polls are to be believed, we are about to vote out of office a whole heck of a lot of people “who don’t believe in basic principles of democracy and truth.”

 

[huskymedic]

3-2-1…

 

[CAtlantic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[JeepCSC]

Maryland and Rutgers didn’t get full shares until last season I believe. Haha.

 

[CL82]

Let’s be honest, it is a complete slap in the face to Rutgers. A clear statement that the Big Ten doesn’t value them. A humiliation, on a daily basis. Frankly, if I were them, I would just withdraw from the conference. Today.

I mean, it’s not like the Big Ten could replace them with another school from a state that is part of the NYCDMA! Certainly, even if they could get a school, it wouldn’t be one with more name recognition, 15 basketball championships and, dare I say it, more knowledgeable and well, more attractive, fans.

 

[buddy]

I am sure Rutgers could care less. Even one half share is better than they would get elsewhere, and they have lifetime security.