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

[bendm]

Virginia, coveted by the Big Ten and SEC, is picked 14th in the ACC preseason poll


It’s all about football! except when it isn’t

sec prob has their pick of the litter and theyd certainly take any of FSU, Miami, Clemson, or UNC before they invited UVA.

 

[CL82]

Heck, they were anxious to grab Rutgers based upon that and nothing else

We've gone over this a lot, but they took Rutgers based upon it being in the NYDMA, coupled with having 9 million people in the state of New Jersey.

 

[RitzLuce1]

Virginia is a very large fan base. It is also precisely the kind of flagship state university that the BIG covets.

Heck, they were anxious to grab Rutgers based upon that and nothing else.

Anyway, consider that, with a veinous infusion of BIG or SEC $ just what that program could become.

Even if it is only the top end of the bottom third in football, that is still a welcome addition to either/both of those conferences.

Now do UConn's non football case vs Directional Orlando, Phi Slamma Commuta, the school you get tickets to when Ohio St is sold out that Saturday, and 2 Bay area schools now in the Atlantic Coast Conference (picked 16th and 17th in the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason football poll).

Nope. I don't care about anything other than football. Because apparently that's all that counts for us when it matters.

 

[RitzLuce1]

I wouldn't say Virginia has a large fan base. They're in a large, important market. And they have other important credentials.

They stink in football. That's all that matters! apparently only when it applies to UConn

 

[uconnyankee]

sec prob has their pick of the litter and theyd certainly take any of FSU, Miami, Clemson, or UNC before they invited UVA.

I agree on SEC getting their choice.
The issue with UNC and UVA is that they aren’t football schools in the SEC mold.
If you look at who SEC has added, they’ve been very selective in going after football schools in a geographic region.

I get Clemson and FSU are redundant to Florida and USC, but those are the biggest football brands in ACC and would add the most football $’s.

UNC and UVA fit the BIG model. State flagships, big brands, solid academics.

Regardless, I think the question is whether anyone after these four leave. And if that holds, is that enough to lure WVU, USF, and Cincy from Big 12 along with UConn. Still a decent league if that holds. Certainly a rival to Big 12.

 

[bendm]

I think the question is whether anyone after these four leave. And if that holds, is that enough to lure WVU, USF, and Cincy from Big 12 along with UConn. Still a decent league if that holds. Certainly a rival to Big 12.

If it works out like that then we drew a full house on the river lol but Assuming FSU and Miami leave then the ACC would prefer USF to UConn in that scenario so they maintain a Florida presence.

Regardless, ACC programs will be trampling over one another to get to the exits once those 4 aforementioned programs leave. But the more teams that leave the better our chances of being backfilled along with USF, Memphis and Tulane. We just have to hope there’s enough teams left when the smoke clears to reform a conference. That’s the bare minimum but that’s where I’m at.

 

[FightOnCT]

Virginia, coveted by the Big Ten and SEC, is picked 14th in the ACC preseason poll


It’s all about football! except when it isn’t

That’s the thing: too many people get caught up in football itself to see that conference realignment isn’t set off by one thing for every school. Just like how Rutgers and Texas got invites for two completely different reasons.

The reality is that sometimes your desirability isn’t based on merit or success on the field, if UVA does make the cut.

Power conferences always have an excuse to not take a school until someone else shows up that they want.

UVA does not have a particularly large fanbase. Their viewership numbers are pretty bad.

 

[bendm]

College football program valuations: Ranking every Power 4 team by how much they’d sell for

College football programs may not be for sale, but what if they were? Here's our best guess at how much the Power 4 would sell for.

www.nytimes.com

Given these estimates are people really so confident UVA would be coveted by the BIG? Pitt and Cuse are more valuable than them. And don’t use Rutgers/Maryland as flagship AAU comps that was over 10 years ago. It’s Money over everything now.

 

[bendm]

Regardless, I think the question is whether anyone after these four leave. And if that holds, is that enough to lure WVU, USF, and Cincy from Big 12 along with UConn. Still a decent league if that holds. Certainly a rival to Big 12

I think this is more likely (ordered by valuation):

1. F$U- sec
2. Clemson- sec
3. Miami- sec
4. UNC- sec
5. VT- big12
6. NC St- big12
7. Lville- big12
8. GT- Big10
9. Cuse- Big10
10. Duke- Big10
11. Pitt- big12
12. UVA- Big10
13. Stanford- PAC
14. SMU- PAC
15. BC- American (haha)
16. Cal- PAC
17. Wake- American

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I think this is more likely (ordered by valuation):

1. F$U- sec
2. Clemson- sec
3. Miami- sec
4. UNC- sec
5. VT- big12
6. NC St- big12
7. Lville- big12
8. GT- Big10
9. Cuse- Big10
10. Duke- Big10
11. Pitt- big12
12. UVA- Big10
13. Stanford- PAC
14. SMU- PAC
15. BC- American (haha)
16. Cal- PAC
17. Wake- American

The Big 10 wouldn’t be interested in those schools except for UVa. GT maybe if they get a few good football seasons together.

 

[bendm]

The Big 10 wouldn’t be interested in those schools except for UVa. GT maybe if they get a few good football seasons together.

Theyd take Duke for the bball brand alone but also Better academics and football than UVA, which has the worst football program of all 4.

I hope they all get left behind so we can merge I just think it’s more likely this doomsday scenario unfolds than the best case scenario the OP laid out.

 

[Exit 4]

The slicing and dicing of the ACC/B12 after you get past UNC + a partner exiting seems wildly difficult to do.

So many factors in play including; i) where the B12 lands on their next deal, ii) where the B12 is really at on exit fees, iii) how the P4 CFP dance shakes out over the next 4-6 years iii) what do the media companies really want to pay for-what do they value iv) what is the state of media - still hungry? v) what does ND decide and vi) politics.

 

[bendm]

So many factors in play including; i) where the B12 lands on their next deal, ii) where the B12 is really at on exit fees, iii) how the P4 CFP dance shakes out over the next 4-6 years iii) what do the media companies really want to pay for-what do they value iv) what is the state of media - still hungry? v) what does ND decide and vi) politics.

Sure but the big12 tv deal expires in 2031 when the ACC exit fee hits its lowest point before the GOR expires in 2036 and that timing will enable them to poach from the ACC just like they did with the PAC. So I don’t get why people think some teams might want to leave the big12 for a watered down ACC at best, when they’ll be locked into a new long term deal with high exit fees

 

[hank970]

Sure but the big12 tv deal expires in 2031 when the ACC exit fee hits its lowest point before the GOR expires in 2036 and that timing will enable them to poach from the ACC just like they did with the PAC. So I don’t get why people think some teams might want to leave the big12 for a watered down ACC at best, when they’ll be locked into a new long term deal with high exit fees

Geography and/or cultural fit, in the case of Cincy, UCF, and WVU. The opportunity to renew some old rivalries might be a factor too. But would geography and reestablishing old rivalries outweigh ($$$) and other considerations?

 

[ZooCougar]

Sure but the big12 tv deal expires in 2031 when the ACC exit fee hits its lowest point before the GOR expires in 2036 and that timing will enable them to poach from the ACC just like they did with the PAC. So I don’t get why people think some teams might want to leave the big12 for a watered down ACC at best, when they’ll be locked into a new long term deal with high exit fees

They didn't "Poach" the PAC. The PAC blew up into smithereens. The Big 12 was the best available lifeboat. Utah grudingly joined. The Four corners Presidents were as cynical as they could be about it.

 

[CL82]

They didn't "Poach" the PAC. The PAC blew up into smithereens. The Big 12 was the best available lifeboat. Utah grudingly joined. The Four corners Presidents were as cynical as they could be about it.

Yeah, it kind of bothered me at the time that we were enthusiastic about joining and didn't end up getting an offer while they begrudgingly accepted theirs.

 

[B1GEast]

I agree on SEC getting their choice.
The issue with UNC and UVA is that they aren’t football schools in the SEC mold.
If you look at who SEC has added, they’ve been very selective in going after football schools in a geographic region.

I get Clemson and FSU are redundant to Florida and USC, but those are the biggest football brands in ACC and would add the most football $’s.

UNC and UVA fit the BIG model. State flagships, big brands, solid academics.

Regardless, I think the question is whether anyone after these four leave. And if that holds, is that enough to lure WVU, USF, and Cincy from Big 12 along with UConn. Still a decent league if that holds. Certainly a rival to Big 12.

UNC and Virginia are probably the only schools that the SEC would target if they expand. Nobody else matters to them.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[JeepCSC]

I agree on SEC getting their choice.
The issue with UNC and UVA is that they aren’t football schools in the SEC mold.
If you look at who SEC has added, they’ve been very selective in going after football schools in a geographic region.

The SEC has gone after a mixture of programs. Missouri is not there because of football for instance. UNC and Virginia are the only flagship Southern universities not in the SEC, and UNC at least have already established natural rivalries with Kentucky, South Carolina, and (to a lesser extent) Tennessee.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Is the Big 12 still on ESPN+? Seems like their conference is never on mainstream TV.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[uconnyankee]

The SEC has gone after a mixture of programs. Missouri is not there because of football for instance. UNC and Virginia are the only flagship Southern universities not in the SEC, and UNC at least have already established natural rivalries with Kentucky, South Carolina, and (to a lesser extent) Tennessee.

Fair points. The schools could fit in either conference. I just think Big is a better fit, especially UVA.

 

[freescooter]

I

The SEC has gone after a mixture of programs. Missouri is not there because of football for instance. UNC and Virginia are the only flagship Southern universities not in the SEC, and UNC at least have already established natural rivalries with Kentucky, South Carolina, and (to a lesser extent) Tennessee.

I wouldn’t say that is really true about Missouri. At the time they left the B12 for the SEC they were coming off a very successful stretch. They had a 12-2, 10-4 10-3 records pretty regular top 25 finishes including a #4, and then went 12-2 their 2nd year in the SEC and 11-3 Won the SEC East. Lots of people at the time thought they were the next big deal. I think even the SEC thought they were a real program. They haven’t lived up to the hype but neither have lots of teams. (Hi Nebraska!).

 

[freescooter]

Is the Big 12 still on ESPN+? Seems like their conference is never on mainstream TV.

Lots of conferences, maybe most, are moving games to streaming of one sort or another. There are a ton of “who cares” games every year especially when leagues get too big. Only the team’s fans and the people who bet on those games even care. Especially if they are up against some bigger games. Their version of Butler-Seton Hall (ASU-Colarado perhaps) is espn+ bound.

 

[bendm]

Fair points. The schools could fit in either conference. I just think Big is a better fit, especially UVA.

How can the same people that think the big12 was right to turn down Memphis + $200mill, also think the BIG10 is going to welcome Virginia with open arms ?? The P3 are only going to add the schools that the networks say they’ll pay extra for And the networks don’t care that Virginia is a public flagship U. If That label were inherently valuable the BIG would have added Cal. No one cares about Virginia football.