The next dominoes (Sept 1 addition)

[shizzle787]

With the news that BYU has become a serious front-runner, and the fact that there will be serious discussion regarding Houston (whether pro or against in the Big 12 circles-think other Texas schools), I now think the Big 12 will expand by 4.

I believe they will add 4 schools: BYU, Cincy, Houston, and UCF (who gets the last spot over Memphis).

Big 12:
East: WVU, Cincy, UCF, Iowa State, Houston, Baylor
West: BYU, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech

This raiding of the AAC will lead to the MW becoming the de-facto #6 conference. The MW will want to eliminate any chance the AAC has of usurping the former, so they will poach two schools: SMU and Memphis.
It will be a geographic stretch for Memphis but better than remaining in the
AAC (especially basketball-wise).

As an aside, Gonzaga sees the writing on the wall in the WCC and inquires to the MW about an Olympic sports membership and beats Wichita to the punch. This leaves the MW with 14 football and 14 Olympic sports members.

MW:
Mountain: Memphis, SMU, Air Force, Colorado State, Boise State, New Mexico, Wyoming
West: Utah State, Fresno State, San Jose State, Nevada, San Diego State,
UNLV, Hawaii

With the Texas schools gone, Navy contemplates leaving the AAC but comes up with a plan: get back into Texas and get Army on board to free up a non-conference slot. Army did not enjoy its previous stint in a conference because they were in over their head. This time around, it will be a good fit. The AAC adds four schools to get to 10: Army, Rice, UTEP, and UAB. The conference stays with 9 in basketball and goes to a 16-game schedule, which will allow Temple and Wichita State multiple OOC opportunities.

AAC:
West: Navy, Army, Rice, UTEP, Tulsa
East: UAB, ECU, Tulane, Temple, USF

At this point, C-USA is left with 11 schools. I'm torn as to whether they would stay at 11 or expand by one school to get to 12. Ultimately, I think they would succeed in adding Appalachian State.

C-USA:
West: WKU, MTSU, LaTech, North Texas, Southern Miss, UTSA
East: App State, Charlotte, ODU, Marshall, FIU, FAU

The Sun Belt at this point is down to 9 schools. I don't believe Liberty, UMass, or UConn would be interested. I also don't think the conference will want to call up an FCS team (perception-wise this is a bad look). Ultimately, they add New Mexico State to get to 10.

Sun Belt:
West: New Mexico State, Texas State, Louisiana, UL Monroe, Ark State
East: South Alabama, CCU, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Troy

The MAC remains unchanged.

The remaining independents are Notre Dame, UConn, UMass, and Liberty.

Under this scenario, the basketball power conferences are:
SEC, ACC, B1G, Pac-12, Big East, Big 12

The top mid majors are:
MW, A-10

The next rung of mid-majors are:
MVC, AAC, WCC

 

[CL82]

With the news that BYU has become a serious front-runner, and the fact that there will be serious discussion regarding Houston (whether pro or against in the Big 12 circles-think other Texas schools), I now think the Big 12 will expand by 4.

I believe they will add 4 schools: BYU, Cincy, Houston, and UCF (who gets the last spot over Memphis).

Big 12:
East: WVU, Cincy, UCF, Iowa State, Houston, Baylor
West: BYU, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech

This raiding of the AAC will lead to the MW becoming the de-facto #6 conference. The MW will want to eliminate any chance the AAC has of usurping the former, so they will poach two schools: SMU and Memphis.
It will be a geographic stretch for Memphis but better than remaining in the
AAC (especially basketball-wise).

As an aside, Gonzaga sees the writing on the wall in the WCC and inquires to the MW about an Olympic sports membership and beats Wichita to the punch. This leaves the MW with 14 football and 14 Olympic sports members.

MW:
Mountain: Memphis, SMU, Air Force, Colorado State, Boise State, New Mexico, Wyoming
West: Utah State, Fresno State, San Jose State, Nevada, San Diego State,
UNLV, Hawaii

With the Texas schools gone, Navy contemplates leaving the AAC but comes up with a plan: get back into Texas and get Army on board to free up a non-conference slot. Army did not enjoy its previous stint in a conference because they were in over their head. This time around, it will be a good fit. The AAC adds four schools to get to 10: Army, Rice, UTEP, and UAB. The conference stays with 9 in basketball and goes to a 16-game schedule, which will allow Temple and Wichita State multiple OOC opportunities.

AAC:
West: Navy, Army, Rice, UTEP, Tulsa
East: UAB, ECU, Tulane, Temple, USF

At this point, C-USA is left with 11 schools. I'm torn as to whether they would stay at 11 or expand by one school to get to 12. Ultimately, I think they would succeed in adding Appalachian State.

C-USA:
West: WKU, MTSU, LaTech, North Texas, Southern Miss, UTSA
East: App State, Charlotte, ODU, Marshall, FIU, FAU

The Sun Belt at this point is down to 9 schools. I don't believe Liberty, UMass, or UConn would be interested. I also don't think the conference will want to call up an FCS team (perception-wise this is a bad look). Ultimately, they add New Mexico State to get to 10.

Sun Belt:
West: New Mexico State, Texas State, Louisiana, UL Monroe, Ark State
East: South Alabama, CCU, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Troy

The MAC remains unchanged.

The remaining independents are Notre Dame, UConn, UMass, and Liberty.

Under this scenario, the basketball power conferences are:
SEC, ACC, B1G, Pac-12, Big East, Big 12

The top mid majors are:
MW, A-10

The next rung of mid-majors are:
MVC, AAC, WCC

LOL I kept scrolling and it just kept going. I can tell you put a lot of thought into this.

 

[Vowelguy]

The Sun Belt has surpassed CUSA. No way App St makes that change.

And lol that “adding FCS is a bad look.” Half of the Sun Belt was FCS 10 years ago, and the conference is doing just fine.

Sun Belt had NMSU. They dumped them.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

If the AAC adds Army and Rice, should UConn return? Maybe even as FB only. I think SMU should stay with AAC.

 

[Vowelguy]

If the AAC adds Army and Rice, should UConn return? Maybe even as FB only.

 

[Kolumbo]

Crazy, perhaps, but I think the AAC schools should stick together. 2 programs in Florida, 2 in Texas, Ohio, Penn, Tenn, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina. The Big XII is now G6, it had a chance to solidify in 2016 and it punted. Maybe WVU ends up in the ACC. Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma State are probably short-timers. This is the 9th season of AAC football? Stay together, invite up to 5 other programs over the next few years to get to 16, including the Big XII scraps. I think that would be a much more solid move.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The Big 12 is probably going to do the adding, but I don't think this game is quite over with ESPN. The worldwide leader is ruthless enough to find a way to drive a stake through the heart of the Big 12, and I think they want to do it.

 

[shizzle787]

If the AAC adds Army and Rice, should UConn return? Maybe even as FB only. I think SMU should stay with AAC.

I would only join the AAC for football only if a) we only play 7 conference games, b) our five non-conference games are against low to mid-level P5 schools (Syracuse, BC, UNC, NC State, etc.), and c) we play Army and Navy every year.

 

[ScottVib]

What writing would be on the wall for the WCC & Gonzaga? BYU was the last team added to the WCC; there's no writing on the wall, they were successful within the WCC prior to BYU and will remain after them. There's little reason for Gonzaga to move to the Mountain West.

I do think that the MWC raiding the AAC is possible, as that contractual value will be crippled. SMU & Memphis seem like the most reasonable candidates, if they choose to do that, but I don't know that either will increase the MWC value significantly... but the $4M per team value of the MWC deal is better than what will likely be left for the AAC.

At that point I don't see Temple hanging around the AAC to play basketball with USF, Tulane, ECU, and Tulsa. They go back to the A-10 and become an Independent for football, scheduling UConn annually in November (likely at a higher yearly value than will be left in the AAC). Navy also returns to football indepence

The AAC shell remains and between them C-USA and the Sun Belt the league's consolidate regionally in some form or fashion.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I would only join the AAC for football only if a) we only play 7 conference games, b) our five non-conference games are against low to mid-level P5 schools (Syracuse, BC, UNC, NC State, etc.), and c) we play Army and Navy every year.

I'll go out on a limb: We'll never again be associated with the AAC.

 

[shizzle787]

I'll go out on a limb: We'll never again be associated with the AAC.

Hence why I threw out all the conditions.

 

[John]

Under this scenario, the basketball power conferences are:
SEC, ACC, B1G, Pac-12, Big East, Big 12

one of those is not like the others.

 

[huskymedic]

With the news that BYU has become a serious front-runner, and the fact that there will be serious discussion regarding Houston (whether pro or against in the Big 12 circles-think other Texas schools), I now think the Big 12 will expand by 4.

I believe they will add 4 schools: BYU, Cincy, Houston, and UCF (who gets the last spot over Memphis).

Big 12:
East: WVU, Cincy, UCF, Iowa State, Houston, Baylor
West: BYU, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech

This raiding of the AAC will lead to the MW becoming the de-facto #6 conference. The MW will want to eliminate any chance the AAC has of usurping the former, so they will poach two schools: SMU and Memphis.
It will be a geographic stretch for Memphis but better than remaining in the
AAC (especially basketball-wise).

As an aside, Gonzaga sees the writing on the wall in the WCC and inquires to the MW about an Olympic sports membership and beats Wichita to the punch. This leaves the MW with 14 football and 14 Olympic sports members.

MW:
Mountain: Memphis, SMU, Air Force, Colorado State, Boise State, New Mexico, Wyoming
West: Utah State, Fresno State, San Jose State, Nevada, San Diego State,
UNLV, Hawaii

With the Texas schools gone, Navy contemplates leaving the AAC but comes up with a plan: get back into Texas and get Army on board to free up a non-conference slot. Army did not enjoy its previous stint in a conference because they were in over their head. This time around, it will be a good fit. The AAC adds four schools to get to 10: Army, Rice, UTEP, and UAB. The conference stays with 9 in basketball and goes to a 16-game schedule, which will allow Temple and Wichita State multiple OOC opportunities.

AAC:
West: Navy, Army, Rice, UTEP, Tulsa
East: UAB, ECU, Tulane, Temple, USF

At this point, C-USA is left with 11 schools. I'm torn as to whether they would stay at 11 or expand by one school to get to 12. Ultimately, I think they would succeed in adding Appalachian State.

C-USA:
West: WKU, MTSU, LaTech, North Texas, Southern Miss, UTSA
East: App State, Charlotte, ODU, Marshall, FIU, FAU

The Sun Belt at this point is down to 9 schools. I don't believe Liberty, UMass, or UConn would be interested. I also don't think the conference will want to call up an FCS team (perception-wise this is a bad look). Ultimately, they add New Mexico State to get to 10.

Sun Belt:
West: New Mexico State, Texas State, Louisiana, UL Monroe, Ark State
East: South Alabama, CCU, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Troy

The MAC remains unchanged.

The remaining independents are Notre Dame, UConn, UMass, and Liberty.

Under this scenario, the basketball power conferences are:
SEC, ACC, B1G, Pac-12, Big East, Big 12

The top mid majors are:
MW, A-10

The next rung of mid-majors are:
MVC, AAC, WCC

Thamel has other ideas for G5…



-> Again, TV money dictates everything in college sports. And a tangle of TV contracts make this more ideal in theory than reality. So the determination of value would ultimately come down to the details and the consultants. But consider this a haymaker for common sense and a better future for athletes and schools.

This is what a new Group of Five could look like:

West Coast League (14)

Division 1
Hawaii
Fresno State
Nevada
UNLV
San Diego State
San Jose State
Utah State

Division 2
Air Force
Boise State
Colorado State
New Mexico
Wyoming
UTEP
New Mexico State

Southwest League (16)

Division 1
Tulsa
SMU
North Texas
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
Arkansas State
Memphis

Division 2

Louisiana Tech
Louisiana
Louisiana-Monroe
Tulane
UAB
Southern Miss
Troy
South Alabama

Southeast League (14)

Division I

FAU
FIU
USF
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Middle Tennessee
Liberty

Division 2
Coastal Carolina
Charlotte
East Carolina
Appalachian State
Marshall
Western Kentucky
Old Dominion

Midwest League (14)

Division 1
Miami (Ohio)
Ball State
Bowling Green
Eastern Michigan
Central Michigan
Northern Illinois
Ohio

Division 2

Toledo
Akron
Kent State
Temple
UConn
UMass
Buffalo

Independent (or flexible) 2

Navy
Army

 

[Vowelguy]

Thamel has other ideas for G5…

Oy ve. Yet another "let me be central planner and decide what's best for everyone."
That's not, nor will it ever be, how this works.

Anyone who has a sliver of advantage over the other dregs wants to hold/expand that sliver.


“We really should hit pause before we start poaching each other’s teams and explore what this would look like if we started over today,”

Guarantee this was said by an AD in the bottom rung (eg CUSA) worried about losing what little value that conf has, and/or from ODU/Charl/etc who, rumor has it, have been wanting to break off and form a more regional conference.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Thamel has other ideas for G5…



-> Again, TV money dictates everything in college sports. And a tangle of TV contracts make this more ideal in theory than reality. So the determination of value would ultimately come down to the details and the consultants. But consider this a haymaker for common sense and a better future for athletes and schools.

This is what a new Group of Five could look like:

West Coast League (14)

Division 1
Hawaii
Fresno State
Nevada
UNLV
San Diego State
San Jose State
Utah State

Division 2
Air Force
Boise State
Colorado State
New Mexico
Wyoming
UTEP
New Mexico State

Southwest League (16)

Division 1
Tulsa
SMU
North Texas
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
Arkansas State
Memphis

Division 2

Louisiana Tech
Louisiana
Louisiana-Monroe
Tulane
UAB
Southern Miss
Troy
South Alabama

Southeast League (14)

Division I

FAU
FIU
USF
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Middle Tennessee
Liberty

Division 2
Coastal Carolina
Charlotte
East Carolina
Appalachian State
Marshall
Western Kentucky
Old Dominion

Midwest League (14)

Division 1
Miami (Ohio)
Ball State
Bowling Green
Eastern Michigan
Central Michigan
Northern Illinois
Ohio

Division 2

Toledo
Akron
Kent State
Temple
UConn
UMass
Buffalo

Independent (or flexible) 2

Navy
Army

Ahhhhh, no! Why on earth would UConn be better off in his Division 2 versus being a full-on independent? Hopefully he gave it like 10 seconds of thought and if not he is dumber than I thought.

 

[Goatmeat]

Ahhhhh, no! Why on earth would UConn be better off in his Division 2 versus being a full-on independent? Hopefully he gave it like 10 seconds of thought and if not he is dumber than I thought.

He does have a point. These are the schools with which we can hoped to be grouped (when it comes to football). We will see what happens with basketball. Independence is not the way going forward. We are now an average basketball school with a rich history over the last 22 years, but that’s about it. While I don’t agree with his article in principle, he’s not wrong.

 

[Kolumbo]

Thamel has other ideas for G5…



-> Again, TV money dictates everything in college sports. And a tangle of TV contracts make this more ideal in theory than reality. So the determination of value would ultimately come down to the details and the consultants. But consider this a haymaker for common sense and a better future for athletes and schools.

This is what a new Group of Five could look like:

West Coast League (14)

Division 1
Hawaii
Fresno State
Nevada
UNLV
San Diego State
San Jose State
Utah State

Division 2
Air Force
Boise State
Colorado State
New Mexico
Wyoming
UTEP
New Mexico State

Southwest League (16)

Division 1
Tulsa
SMU
North Texas
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
Arkansas State
Memphis

Division 2

Louisiana Tech
Louisiana
Louisiana-Monroe
Tulane
UAB
Southern Miss
Troy
South Alabama

Southeast League (14)

Division I

FAU
FIU
USF
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Middle Tennessee
Liberty

Division 2
Coastal Carolina
Charlotte
East Carolina
Appalachian State
Marshall
Western Kentucky
Old Dominion

Midwest League (14)

Division 1
Miami (Ohio)
Ball State
Bowling Green
Eastern Michigan
Central Michigan
Northern Illinois
Ohio

Division 2

Toledo
Akron
Kent State
Temple
UConn
UMass
Buffalo

Independent (or flexible) 2

Navy
Army

I think it's great, happened to notice Western Michigan isn't listed, not sure if everyone else was captured. This makes a lot of sense especially in the short term. Regional rivalries and less travel. Let the "power" conferences continue their shameless greed until the golden few maximize their profits and they separate the wheat from the chaff. Let the rest of us just play football.

If you don't like it, what is your end-game for UCONN football and your timeline to get there?

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

He does have a point. These are the schools with which we can hoped to be grouped (when it comes to football). We will see what happens with basketball. Independence is not the way going forward. We are now an average basketball school with a rich history over the last 22 years, but that’s about it. While I don’t agree with his article in principle, he’s not wrong.

We're not an average basketball school.

There's nothing wrong with being independent in football - it's much more attractive to the fan base than the school's he listed.

Think big - don't settle for a lousy football existence.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I think it's great, happened to notice Western Michigan isn't listed, not sure if everyone else was captured. This makes a lot of sense especially in the short term. Regional rivalries and less travel. Let the "power" conferences continue their shameless greed until the golden few maximize their profits and they separate the wheat from the chaff. Let the rest of us just play football.

If you don't like it, what is your end-game for UCONN football and your timeline to get there?

I think it's terrible.

There can be no "end game" in mind right now. All we can do is hire the right next new head coach and staff, recruit kids who have potential, are coachable and want to work hard, and improve the win-loss record. Return to being respectable in the next 3 or so years and then go from there.

 

[Kolumbo]

good summary regarding the power structure.

Big 12 expansion: How adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF may change college football's power structure - CBSSports.com

 

[UCFBfan]

The article has the AD stated as saying:

TV has made it obvious they’re only paying for the big brands moving forward. If there’s a way to cut our travel costs by millions, let our student-athletes spend more time in class and sell more tickets because fans actually know the teams, know alums from the universities and can travel to games, we should at least spend a few weeks to discuss the thought that maybe there’s a better solution.”

The issue is that you are still lumping some teams together that have no real history. Look at that group they put UConn with....geographically it is a fit but is anyone really excited over a schedule that consists of these teams:
Toledo
Akron
Kent State
Temple
UConn
UMass
Buffalo

Look at this Division:
Division 1
Tulsa
SMU
North Texas
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
Arkansas State
Memphis

What teams in there really know each other and will sell tickets easily because they are on the schedule??

I like the idea of returning to geographical conferences but without regrouping ALL schools and renewing old rivalries, it doesn't matter what you do.

 

[Kolumbo]

The article has the AD stated as saying:



The issue is that you are still lumping some teams together that have no real history. Look at that group they put UConn with....geographically it is a fit but is anyone really excited over a schedule that consists of these teams:
Toledo
Akron
Kent State
Temple
UConn
UMass
Buffalo

Look at this Division:
Division 1
Tulsa
SMU
North Texas
UTSA
Texas State
Rice
Arkansas State
Memphis

What teams in there really know each other and will sell tickets easily because they are on the schedule??

I like the idea of returning to geographical conferences but without regrouping ALL schools and renewing old rivalries, it doesn't matter what you do.

I like the potential of UMass, Temple and Buffalo. The Ohio schools are fine. The options are limited to this and the Atlantic coast teams.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Our best chance of success is just what we are doing now: Big East and Independent football. Period.

 

[whalerfan]

Our best chance of success is just what we are doing now: Big East and Independent football. Period.

Plus a few (more) wins would help too.

 

[shizzle787]

Our best chance of success is just what we are doing now: Big East and Independent football. Period.

We need to schedule 6 P5 games a year. If we can do that and schedule Army yearly, we should be fine from a schedule standpoint.