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

[Rufus]

The recommendation is for $10 million a year through 2029-30. I'm guessing they want to end the Calimony in 2030 based on that? The Board of Regents still must vote on it.

UC president recommends UCLA pay Cal $10 million a year for leaving Pac-12

The president of the University of California system is recommending that UCLA pay Cal $10 million a year for leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.

www.latimes.com

 

[CL82]

The recommendation is for $10 million a year through 2029-30. I'm guessing they want to end the Calimony in 2030 based on that? The Board of Regents still must vote on it.

UC president recommends UCLA pay Cal $10 million a year for leaving Pac-12

The president of the University of California system is recommending that UCLA pay Cal $10 million a year for leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.

www.latimes.com

Lol "Calimony". Nice!

 

[huskymedic]

 

[jostar1]

Newspaper story calls Jamie Pollard (Iowa State) "One of the potential have-nots from the potential future of college athletics".

Iowa State's Jamie Pollard says college sports' power players are 'going to eat their own'

Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard had strong words about the state of college sports, specifically as Big Ten and SEC benefit financially.

www.desmoinesregister.com

 

[jostar1]

I hope it happens. Why should those schools who do nothing in athletics be collecting all that money just because they are grandfathered in those conferences? Yes, I'm bitter.

 

[CL82]

I hope it happens. Why should those schools who do nothing in athletics be collecting all that money just because they are grandfathered in those conferences? Yes, I'm bitter.

I hope it happens just because upsetting the status quo at least has the potential to benefit us. My hope is greed and self-interest blows the whole thing up and it reforms into something that looks vaguely like college athletics that I grew up with. I don't believe that it'll actually happen, though.

 

[uconndogs]

Here's where I think this is all going:

Full professional franshise model - Probably 40 programs and they will compete based attracting talent with money. This will have nothing whatsoever to do with academics. It will be win at all costs. It will not be sustainable without some kind of labor agreement. It will be an alternative to the NFL and probably the NBA.

College athletics with compensation - Athletes get paid, but it's controlled in some manner to assure a more level playing field and to assure that athletic department budgets are not stressed. This is probably the BCS football programs less the 40 from above for football. Probably most of the division 1 hoop programs less the 40 from above.

True aumature - Kids are at school to get and education and enjoy the athletics of their choosing. Eveyone else not referenced above.

We'll see........I don't see this going particularly well. God knows so far it's been a disaster.

 

[ScottVib]

I think eventually the top tier separates, schools can opt-in but the bylaws surrounding required funding levels and/or the CBA with athletes will be set as to make it cost prohibitive to make the move without a home in a power conference with a massive media deal, this ultimately leads to defacto consolidation of the Big Ten & SEC even if they are two "conferences" within a single super-structure. Essentially that pro-franchise model under a nominal NCAA umbrella. Think NCAA Elite Division or whatever they want to call it.

I think FCS and the remaining G-tier FBS schools will eventually consolidate. Conferences will need to ensure all teams full fund at least X scholarships to be eligible for the NCAA Division 1 for football or any other sports. Division 2 will go away.. with the demographic struggles imperiling the smaller colleges and universities, it'll be harder to justify a minor league emphasis on athletics.

Essentially the NCAA's new three division structure would become NCAA Elite Division (P2); NCAA Scholarship Division (D1+some D2); NCAA Non-Scholarship Division (D3+most D2)

 

[Stinger92860]

I have been saying similar for years. If the top half of the SEC and B1G splinter thats a new league of 17/18 teams. They need more than that. I still see a final config target of 24 to 32 teams. I hope they implement an English ladder version so more teams are engaged.

 

[Rufus]

The big brands still need teams in their conference to eat those losses. Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Oregon, Penn State, and Washington can’t all be 9-0 in conference play as it is now. Drop the have nots and some of the biggest brands will finish .500 or worse in conference play on a routine basis. Even if they go to unequal revenue sharing, they still need to play Indiana, Rutgers, etc. to pad their conference records and keep the fan base happy.

 

[Exit 4]

The big brands still need teams in their conference to eat those losses. Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Oregon, Penn State, and Washington can’t all be 9-0 in conference play as it is now. Drop the have nots and some of the biggest brands will finish .500 or worse in conference play on a routine basis. Even if they go to unequal revenue sharing, they still need to play Indiana, Rutgers, etc. to pad their conference records and keep the fan base happy.

And that is another reason the full breakaway won’t happen….but they will keep pushing to expand the gap.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Here's where I think this is all going:

Full professional franshise model - Probably 40 programs and they will compete based attracting talent with money. This will have nothing whatsoever to do with academics. It will be win at all costs. It will not be sustainable without some kind of labor agreement. It will be an alternative to the NFL and probably the NBA.

College athletics with compensation - Athletes get paid, but it's controlled in some manner to assure a more level playing field and to assure that athletic department budgets are not stressed. This is probably the BCS football programs less the 40 from above for football. Probably most of the division 1 hoop programs less the 40 from above.

True aumature - Kids are at school to get and education and enjoy the athletics of their choosing. Eveyone else not referenced above.

We'll see........I don't see this going particularly well. God knows so far it's been a disaster.

No one will care about a formal minor league that for some reason are affiliated with colleges.

 

[uconndogs]

No one will care about a formal minor league that for some reason are affiliated with colleges.

I tend to agree. My sense is that the loyal fanbase of those big programs will remain loyal and they have big followings. Nationally I think it loses a lot. What makes (made?) college football special was not the same thing that makes the NFL so successful. They are bluring those lines.

 

[ZooCougar]

No one will care about a formal minor league that for some reason are affiliated with colleges.

I agree with that. That would be an extreme evolution. I don't see anyone getting behind that.

 

[UConnJim]

The big brands still need teams in their conference to eat those losses. Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Oregon, Penn State, and Washington can’t all be 9-0 in conference play as it is now. Drop the have nots and some of the biggest brands will finish .500 or worse in conference play on a routine basis. Even if they go to unequal revenue sharing, they still need to play Indiana, Rutgers, etc. to pad their conference records and keep the fan base happy.

I think the biggest downside to conference consolidation is there will be top schools that will have football records that look mediocre or worse and the fan bases won't like that. The more conferences you have, the more conference champs you have and the more teams with really good records. There is a very high correlation between winning and football attendance over the long run, but what happens when a school stops winning as much? FSU is a perfect example of a school that won at a high level consistently and when they became mediocre, the fans stayed away. From 2018 to 2022, FSU averaged 52.9k fans per game, but attendance rebounded in 2022 and 2023 with more wins to 67.2k and 78.7k respectively.

 

[Stinger92860]

No one will care about a formal minor league that for some reason are affiliated with colleges.

No one? I think the fans from the schools which are part of the league will care. The folks who like to bet on college football will care but in a different way. I’d expect FOX and ESPN will like it.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

No one? I think the fans from the schools which are part of the league will care. The folks who like to bet on college football will care but in a different way. I’d expect FOX and ESPN will like it.

You can bet on G-League games.

Watch what happens if fan interest starts to slip. Why would the fans of the major programs care about a sport that only 20 schools play at the highest level? How many UConn fans would care if UConn had just won back to back "National Championships" of a sport that only 20 schools played?

 

[Stinger92860]

You can bet on G-League games.

Watch what happens if fan interest starts to slip. Why would the fans of the major programs care about a sport that only 20 schools play at the highest level? How many UConn fans would care if UConn had just won back to back "National Championships" of a sport that only 20 schools played?

I won’t care at all, but I don’t believe they are thinking about folks like me. The schools in the mix arelarge schools with a huge alumni network and national interest. I agree with you it won’t be like NFL fans. This is all about greed and they might kill the sport.

 

[Kolumbo]

Both sides in prior 2 posts make valid points. Remember, it wasn't that long ago when there was hardly any UConn apparel to be found around here. The local retailers were rocky places where one's seed could find no purchase, like Raising Arizona. Years ago all we saw around here was Penn State, Ohio State, Miami, Texas, Oklahoma, etc merch.

I have no idea how I still have this hat, it is one of the most resilient articles of clothing ever, but this is what I bought a long time ago at the Co-op. It's not even remotely a UConn logo!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I won’t care at all, but I don’t believe they are thinking about folks like me. The schools in the mix arelarge schools with a huge alumni network and national interest. I agree with you it won’t be like NFL fans. This is all about greed and they might kill the sport.

Might kill the sport? If the P2 box everyone else out, they will be the best teams in sports that no one will care about. I also firmly believe that if college sports still somehow remains relevant as a small, regional minor league, the NFL and NBA will step in to compete with it with their minor leagues.

I don't think the people running college sports every appreciated just how fragile their sports are. No where else in the world do minor leagues generate remotely this much fan interest or revenue. Yet those running college sports just can't stop messing with it.

 

[John]

Might kill the sport? If the P2 box everyone else out, they will be the best teams in sports that no one will care about**. I also firmly believe that if college sports still somehow remains relevant as a small, regional minor league, the NFL and NBA will step in to compete with it with their minor leagues.

I don't think the people running college sports every appreciated just how fragile their sports are. No where else in the world do minor leagues generate remotely this much fan interest or revenue. Yet those running college sports just can't stop messing with it.

**except their massive national-level alumni and fan bases.

 

[huskymedic]

Timing is everything in life:

 

[freescooter]

I hope it happens. Why should those schools who do nothing in athletics be collecting all that money just because they are grandfathered in those conferences? Yes, I'm bitter.

Nobody ever died for dear old Rutgers. Oh, sorry. I was thinking of schools that merely exist in proximity to big markets.

 

[LetsGoUC]

Coach K suggests an ACC-Big East Merger here.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Coach K suggests an ACC-Big East Merger here.

Between this and the UNC BoT comments. The ACC is falling.