Val Ackerman on the future of college athletics & conference realignment | Page 5 | The Boneyard

Val Ackerman on the future of college athletics & conference realignment

I'm not sure it's all going to matter very much in a couple-few years. By all appearances the SEC and BiG are throwing big money at hoops to attract and retain talent. How do programs outside those conferences compete?

Folks seem to want to ignore the payroll costs associated with this and I just don't see how the rest of college basketball can compete with deep pocketed programs and conferences.

The pressure for those schools to keep increasing spending on football will be intense; there’s internal competition for that money and basketball will lose.

Also they’re a little worried that some basketball school is going to opt in and pay their hoop program $20.5 million a year.
 
The pressure for those schools to keep increasing spending on football will be intense; there’s internal competition for that money and basketball will lose.

Also they’re a little worried that some basketball school is going to opt in and pay their hoop program $20.5 million a year.
Maybe but it’s sort of like the 2 guys who meet a grizzly bear in the forest. First guy says let’s run for it. Second guy says “that’s one of the fastest animals in this part of the world. You can’t outbtun the grizzly bear.” First guy says”I’m not trying to outrun him. I just want to outrun YOU!” The Big and SEC just need to outspend everyone else.
 
The pressure for those schools to keep increasing spending on football will be intense; there’s internal competition for that money and basketball will lose.

Also they’re a little worried that some basketball school is going to opt in and pay their hoop program $20.5 million a year.

I'm sure that's right, but I think it's highly probable that there will be a number of athletic departments that will go rogue regarding financial management for as long as they can. They are going to to everything they can to attract and retain talent. I continue to ask why most schools will even want to bother competing in that environment.
 
we should add Memphis
angry clint eastwood GIF


The only thing sadder than offering Memphis is the fact that they wouldn't accept.
 
They absolutely would accept. They reached out to the Big East. The BE presidents said no.
That seems extraordinarily unlikely to me. Do you have a link?
 
Memphis explored other options, including Big East in basketball, as Pac-12 situation played out | Report
Doesn't mention the BE prez's categorically saying no, but it's implied the fit wasn't good...where have we heard this before...?
Thanks! I either never saw this or had forgotten about it. Apparently Memphis considered big East membership provided that they could get an acceptable football only deal with the PAC 12(ish).

That scenario, obviously, did not come to fruition.

"... given the quick timeframe, concerns about fit from the Big East side (the league is all private Catholic schools except UConn) and the lack of certainty about Pac-12 money, Memphis had little choice but to recommit to the AAC for now," Wolken wrote
 
Thanks! I either never saw this or had forgotten about it. Apparently Memphis considered big East membership provided that they could get an acceptable football only deal with the PAC 12(ish).

That scenario, obviously, did not come to fruition.

"... given the quick timeframe, concerns about fit from the Big East side (the league is all private Catholic schools except UConn) and the lack of certainty about Pac-12 money, Memphis had little choice but to recommit to the AAC for now," Wolken wrote
Butler University is not a Catholic school.
 
angry clint eastwood GIF


The only thing sadder than offering Memphis is the fact that they wouldn't accept.
I checked some message boards and I think Memphis is very similar to UConn. They are discussing the PAC 12, ACC, PAC 12 football only and rest in Big East, remaining AAC. They ultimately want better than the PAC 12 so why move now. I don't think they have much of a choice. Renovating their stadium too, increasing from 32k to 44k.

 
Memphis explored other options, including Big East in basketball, as Pac-12 situation played out | Report
Doesn't mention the BE prez's categorically saying no, but it's implied the fit wasn't good...where have we heard this before...?
Yeah. I’m not sure the Presidents said no. My guess is it never got that far once Memphis decided not to go to the PAC 2.0. They were checking options. We have people pushing for St Louis and Dayton. At least Memphis brings something to the table.
 
I think Memphis approached the Big East to see if membership was a possibility if they put football in the Pac 12. I believe the answer was “no”. Memphis would have been crazy to pass on that. No chance they had the option.

The only reason we passed on PAC football is that we believe a P4 offer is coming.
 
I think Memphis approached the Big East to see if membership was a possibility if they put football in the Pac 12. I believe the answer was “no”. Memphis would have been crazy to pass on that. No chance they had the option.

The only reason we passed on PAC football is that we believe a P4 offer is coming.
Why would the big east say no? I gotta imagine it was the pac 12
 
The Pac-12 can't take a football only member until they find the final all-sports member they need to meet NCAA conference regulations, the initial discussions were for all sports, Memphis (and Tulane) wasn't (weren't) willing to jump without a known TV deal they were jumping too.
 
Because they want St Louis and Dayton. Those places wouldn’t challenge the status quo Memphis would.

They don’t want anyone.

And Memphis would not challenge anything. It’s barely an actual university.
 
The Pac-12 can't take a football only member until they find the final all-sports member they need to meet NCAA conference regulations, the initial discussions were for all sports, Memphis (and Tulane) wasn't (weren't) willing to jump without a known TV deal they were jumping too.
I think they have the required “all-sports” members now. 7 is the limit. They need 1 more football member to be recognized as an FBS conference. I think they would like 2-3. Then they don’t need to scramble I’d someone leaves. When the media deal is clear people can evaluate. I do think they would like to get some football members in the more eastern time zones. Gives them the opportunity for “day” games that don’t start too early in the local market. And avoid 11 pm eastern starts which get zero coverage in the major media markets east of the Mississippi. That was an issue for the original PAC and one Scott (I think his name was) tried to address with an east coast PAC office and holding the pre-season meeting in NYC one year. Didn’t work because the games were still at 11 pm but it was something they tried.
 
They don’t want anyone.

And Memphis would not challenge anything. It’s barely an actual university.
Much like Seton Hall ( btw in the midst of its 3rd university presidential scandal in the last decade. The last 2 involved money. This one invoked sexual abuse coverups) DePaul, and a few others. I’ll grant you it isn’t Princeton for undergraduates. But it has several respected graduate programs. And unlike some NBE schools it doesn’t call itself a university because it has an a pseudo academic MBA program.
 

Val sounds very intelligent and knowledgeable about CR. She says the Big East has earned the right to be at the table given the success and investment.

Alliances and mergers - she has great relationships but didn't provide any insight as to what may be possible. Leads me to believe there isn't anything there. He does summarize her comments at the end of the podcast.

Talks about Title IX

"CR is basically a scheduling agreement." Natural limit to number of member schools.
 

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