Rumor- UCONN Pursuing ACC Membership?

[dayooper]

You're right, they could all find soft landings, in a conference together! You can't magically place 8 teams into 3 major conferences that currently have 16 or 12 teams. So what do those teams do, form their own conference? Oh wait, they are already in one.....there aren't many seats to be had in the P2 or 3 if you wanna count the Big12. It's why I think Oregon and UW are in trouble with the 4 corner schools leave for the Big12.

Eh, when push comes to shove, I think the Big10 will take Washington. They are too good of a fit to let go somewhere else and I’m not sure the Big10 wants to be the final nail in The Pac‘s coffin. If there’s a chance they would go somewhere else or die on the vine, the Big10 would react.

Oregon is a different story, though. They aren’t the academic and research brand that Washington is. I believe they will be added, but they aren’t the shoe in that Washington, USC and UCLA are.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Eh, when push comes to shove, I think the Big10 will take Washington. They are too good of a fit to let go somewhere else and I’m not sure the Big10 wants to be the final nail in The Pac‘s coffin. If there’s a chance they would go somewhere else or die on the vine, the Big10 would react.

Oregon is a different story, though. They aren’t the academic and research brand that Washington is. I believe they will be added, but they aren’t the shoe in that Washington, USC and UCLA are.

Oregon does have exceptionally strong ties to Nike.

 

[Pat125]

Right you are...

ACC, Maryland reach settlement on exit fee: $31.4M, not $52.2M

The ACC will keep the sum of $31,361,788 previously withheld.

www.usatoday.com

To add to this, a couple of months before Maryland announced they were leaving the ACC, a proposal to increase the exit fee from 1.25% to 3% of the annual distributions (about $21 million to $52 million at the time). This was done quickly, and unlike other bylaw changes of this type, it was to be effective immediately. Since Maryland was in negotiations with the Big Ten by then, they were obviously against it. Florida St. was also against it, because of the unethical manner in which the change was happening. It was speculated they were also interested in leaving. But their president signed a phony ACC unity letter, similar to the recent PAC letter. But the Florida St. signed two GORs as well.

But there was no GOR to contend with. The ACC did withhold the distributions to Maryland, until it reached about $32 when Maryland left. That ended up being the settlement.

 

[dayooper]

Oregon does have exceptionally strong ties to Nike.

Absolutely, the draw of both Nike and their success in football are the reasons why I think they will be added.

 

[UConnJim]

This could get far more complicated than that. FSU has granted their media rights to the ACC. If they were to just get up, join another conference and wait for the courts to determine a dollar amount they owe the ACC, the possibility exists that the new conference cannot broadcast any games FSU plays until the court case is decided.

How many can find soft landings? If it isn't more than the number of votes required to dissolve the conference, dissolution wouldn't be feasible.

I would think any school that wanted to leave the ACC would test the GORs before trying to leave so they would know the financial ramifications of leaving.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Absolutely, the draw of both Nike and their success in football are the reasons why I think they will be added.

While I believe it will take a bit of time for everything to unravel, I firmly believe that both Oregon and Washington will end up in the B1G. For openers, I don't believe the conference would have added USC-UCLA with the plan being keeping them on an island forever. Additionally, I believe the end game is for the B1G to be a 24 school conference with four divisons with six schools. This will take at least a decade to unfold but there is little reason for the conference to rush things.

 

[UConnJim]

It’s one thing to want to leave; it’s a whole other thing to find someone to take you in. I don’t see the BIG or SEC rushing to take either FSU or Clemson - they’ve always been there for the taking and they would add little to membership or tv partner.

The media world has changed. Conferences used to focus on captive TV boxes in a market when the cable bundle was the driver. Going forward, conferences are going to focus on brands and rivalries that drive ratings. That makes FSU and Clemson attractive to the P2. Rutgers would be a lot less attractive today than when they joined the Big 10.

 

[dayooper]

While I believe it will take a bit of time for everything to unravel, I firmly believe that both Oregon and Washington will end up in the B1G. For openers, I don't believe the conference would have added USC-UCLA with the plan being keeping them on an island forever. Additionally, I believe the end game is for the B1G to be a 24 school conference with four divisons with six schools. This will take at least a decade to unfold but there is little reason for the conference to rush things.

I agree with everything you say except the divisions. I believe they will gowith divisionless scheduling in the future. I to think 20 - 24 is the endgame with both East and West Coast schools in the mix. I do not think Cal is in the cards and Stanford might not be as well.

 

[CL82]

The increased price for being first one out is best option for a new landing place. The reward for waiting and getting a lower buyout is fewer opportunities for a landing spot once you leave.

Yeah, I don’t know about that. Remember we could always announce our intention to leave and then either stay or negotiate the 30 million down. I agree with you that there are a few seats left, though, and we can’t risk being the last one standing when all the chairs are gone.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

You're right, they could all find soft landings, in a conference together! You can't magically place 8 teams into 3 major conferences that currently have 16 or 12 teams. So what do those teams do, form their own conference? Oh wait, they are already in one.....there aren't many seats to be had in the P2 or 3 if you wanna count the Big12. It's why I think Oregon and UW are in trouble with the 4 corner schools leave for the Big12.

I could give a crap about the Big 12 or the PAC 12. I think the door is open right now for UConn to get an invite to the ACC in all sports. If Hurley’s boys go all the way this year, and they could, the ACC will be calling at some point. The UConn women are also very attractive to the ACC, not to mention Jim Mora and his football team. Don’t you think the ACC commish and the rest of the conference is looking for ways to prop up Boston College and Syracuse athletics?

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I disagree about FSU and the Big10. When the Big10 wooed Maryland, they were banking on other schools signing up as well. Those schools choose to stay in the ACC. FSU was one they were courting and the Noles decided to stay with Swafford and the ACC.

FSU would add a tremendous amount to the Big10. A huge football school in a football hotbed in a huge state in an area they currently don’t have any teams (closest school is Indiana at 11 and a half hours away by car). Showcasing the Big10 schools in Florida would be a boon for the likes of Michigan, OSU, PSU and USC.

While FSU has seen some rough years as of late, they are still a huge name in football. A name is a name and all it takes is the right situation to become the power they once were. Alabama was struggling before Saban, OSU has taken a hit since Meyer left, Florida has beef mediocre at best since Spurrier’s time and Georgia was average before Smart arrived. All FSU needs to do is find the right coach and make sure he stays. They have the cachet to be dominate again. With Florida struggling, staying away from Alabama and Georgia would be a huge help.

If FSU did want to join the Big10, all they would need is a NW school (Washington) and a NE school to have the nation covered. I wonder what school in NE would fit that bill?

FSU to the Big Ten is crazy, it would never happen. It’s more likely that the PAC 12 invites Guam, Saskatchewan or Cabo San Lucas. As I said in a prior post, strength in football can be fleeting

 

[Luna]

If uconn was offered full membership in either the acc or big 12 im sure they would accept… but nether the the big 12 or the acc has offered uconn anything… but it’s been a great year for uconn sports… I went to a few football games this year… what a great atmosphere… especially the Boston college game and the umass game… the big east has been very exciting also… most of the games are played in packed venues..a lot of excitement across all the fan bases…the big east tournament is going to be crazy… good times at uconn right now…enjoy

 

[CONN78SEJ]

If uconn was offered full membership in either the acc or big 12 im sure they would accept… but nether the the big 12 or the acc has offered uconn anything… but it’s been a great year for uconn sports… I went to a few football games this year… what a great atmosphere… especially the Boston college game and the umass game… the big east has been very exciting also… most of the games are played in packed venues..a lot of excitement across all the fan bases…the big east tournament is going to be crazy… good times at uconn right now…enjoy

Forget the Big 12, it’s living on borrowed time. The ACC, on the other hand has some serious “smoke”, if you will.

 

[noeynox]

Oregon does have exceptionally strong ties to Nike.

How many years does Phil Knight have left?

 

[Luna]

Forget the Big 12, it’s living on borrowed time. The ACC, on the other hand has some serious “smoke”, if you will.

How about if the big 12 invited us for basketball only.. but agreed on big 12 football teams coming to the rent… every year…cbs would probably pay us a lot more for that

 

[CONN78SEJ]

How many years does Phil Knight have left?

He’s been a runner all his life. I would think he’s got a few left.

 

[huskymedic]

How about if the big 12 invited us for basketball only.. but agreed on big 12 football teams coming to the rent… every year…cbs would probably pay us a lot more for that

Curious… what conference are you putting the rest of the sports in?

Can’t see the Big East agreeing to UConn pulling the valuable basketball teams out of the conference and letting them keep all the other non-revenue olympic sports in the Big East.

 

[Luna]

Curious… what conference are you putting the rest of the sports in?

Can’t see the Big East agreeing to UConn pulling the valuable basketball teams out of the conference and letting them keep all the other non-revenue olympic sports in the Big East.

That’s a good point …im not saying I would want to join the big 12 under those circumstances… i like where we are with the big east… and hopefully we get paid… but that would be something to consider

 

[CL82]

Curious… what conference are you putting the rest of the sports in?

Can’t see the Big East agreeing to UConn pulling the valuable basketball teams out of the conference and letting them keep all the other non-revenue olympic sports in the Big East.

Agree, although I think when most people say “basketball only” they mean basketball in the Olympics sports. That would make zero sense, because we would have the bulk of the expense of being in the big 12 without receiving the bulk of the income.

If it would make no sense for us, it would also make no sense for Georgetown and Villanova, which is one of the rumors out there.

 

[TheCatsLair]

Forget the Big 12, it’s living on borrowed time. The ACC, on the other hand has some serious “smoke”, if you will.

The ACC seems more like the conference living on borrowed time.

 

[noeynox]

He’s been a runner all his life. I would think he’s got a few left.

Let's give him that. Is that still enough for the B1G to make a long term investment in a school that doesn't meet its profile? Now I'm just going off of numbers that Tony Altimore laid out in terms of their overall research dollars that come up way short compared to the rest of the B1G. Washington apparently meets that profile much better.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Don’t you think the ACC commish and the rest of the conference is looking for ways to prop up Boston College and Syracuse athletics?

Umm, no. The ACC is perfectly content with those programs being jobbers for the southern schools. Someone has to suck and it might as well be the northern schools.

 

[CL82]

The ACC seems more like the conference living on borrowed time.

Maybe, but there’s no way the major eastern schools are left to flounder. They will have a home. Our job is to make sure that we do as well.

 

[CL82]

Umm, no. The ACC is perfectly content with those programs being jobbers for the southern schools. Someone has to suck and it might as well be the northern schools.

True, but they may come to the conclusion that they don’t need to pay full share of conference revenue someone to fill that role.

 

[Kolumbo]

The ACC looked like the hot babe in a red ferrari because we were driving a Tartan Prancer