You can see it coming a mile away...

[epark88]

Follow me a bit on this one:

What are the two remaining 'Jenga' pieces holding the Big East together? Yup, UofL and UConn. If these schools leave the league, it essentially becomes CUSA 1.5 - not even 2.0.

The B12 is sitting on 10 teams, publicly stating they're happy at 10, UofL has been flirting with them for months, UConn and BC are publicly announcing talks to thaw their relationship, and today FSU is making googly-eyes towards the B12, indignant over the latest ACC TV deal which grants 3rd-tier rights to the hoops schools but not the football schools (imho they need to be just as indignant about their football team getting smoked at home by Wake Forest, but I digress).

Hmmm.

It wouldn't be surprising at all that before the summer is over we could see the B12 take in FSU/UofL while the ACC backfills with UConn, effectively collapsing the Big East. All the parts are seemingly falling into place. Or as usual, I could be wrong...

 

[auggie22]

Crazy day. The BOT chair acknowledged today that the ACC ESPN deal includes tier3 for everything but basketball. THAT is either a crazy-stupid calculation on Swofford's part, or they already know FSU is out the door.

 

[whaler11]

Well Tier 3 is much more valuable in basketball. What FSU football game falls into Tier 3. Maybe an FCS game. Nothing else is.

 

[Kevin Caliendo]

The BOT chair actually had it wrong. ESPN holds tier 3 rights to both hoops and football except in football for UM, FSU, GT and maybe UNC, who broadcast on lacal cable networks. but whatever, the message is sent that FSU doesn't like the deal and are putting themselves out for bid. the thing is, the only bidder is the big12 unless FSUw ants to come and save the Big East

 

[SubbaBub]

Miami and FSU to the Big East. Press conference in 20 minutes.

 

[Dann]

its 20 minutes. did they forget?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I think FSU notified the ACC in the last 24 hours that they were exploring other options, giving the green light for Jimbo Fisher and the BOT Chair to make their comments. The Clemson blogs have mentioned avoiding "collusion" on several occasions, which means that schools of one league can not be in direct discussions of another league until they have notified the league they are currently in that those discussions will begin. If you remember, Slive and Swofford took great pains to emphasize that Missouri and Texas A&M, and Pitt and Syracuse, contacted them. It is also worth noting that Louisville provided notice to the Big East a few weeks ago that they were considering alternatives.

I believe this is a function of the 2003 raid of the Big East, in which BCU and Miami were sharing confidential information with the ACC for over a year prior to the raid. I think the current round or realignment's uber-sensitivity to "collusion" is an indication that the ACC was going to get hammered in 2003 if the BCS had not settled with the Big East.

I think every school will be denying any contact until they notify their league.

 

[UConnDan97]

This is all madness. Still, there is a very large part of me that would like to see the ACC get a gigantic dose of their own medicine, since I believe that they started this dance in 2003 and re-ignited it last year. Nothing would make me happier than to see them get absolutely raided for maybe 4 or 6 teams worth! Time will tell...

 

[observer]

FSU President says: Florida State University regrets that misinformation about the provisions of the ACC contract has unnecessarily renewed the controversy and speculation about University's athletic conference alignment. Florida State respects the views of the Chair of its Board of Trustees that, of course, any university would examine options that would impact university academics, athletics or finances. At the same time, Florida State is not seeking an alternative to the ACC nor are we considering alternatives. Our current commitments remain strong.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

FSU President says: Florida State University regrets that misinformation about the provisions of the ACC contract has unnecessarily renewed the controversy and speculation about University's athletic conference alignment. Florida State respects the views of the Chair of its Board of Trustees that, of course, any university would examine options that would impact university academics, athletics or finances. At the same time, Florida State is not seeking an alternative to the ACC nor are we considering alternatives. Our current commitments remain strong.

LOL. That's like kiss of death. He is lying. Missouri president said they are committed to the B12 right before they jumped to the SEC too. They are all committed until the minute they got a better offer. Don't believe a word those presidents say because they are lying.

UCONN is committed to the BE too until the minute another better offer comes in. That's how it works in the real world.

 

[geordi]

OK! Assuming that epark is right (and I'm not convinced of that), what is to prevent the ACC from going to Rutgers as it's 14th member aftger BC blackballs us for the second time? It'all speculation (or as an old friend once told me - "mental masturbation").

 

[The Funster]

Choosing Rutgers over UConn would be a massive mistake. Rutgers athletics are a financial mess and marginal, at best, on the firld of play. If Flipper and BC had the power to block UConn the first time around, his moronic crowing over that effectively ended any chance of him being able to do it again.

UConn is growing as an institution, athletically and academically. We need a better situation than the NBE to ensure we keep growing.

 

[junglehusky]

Unless the B12 is going to go to 16, the ACC death march would have to proceed through the B1G. There are ACC schools that would fit the B1G profile, but when it comes to poker Jim Delaney does not have a tell. They run a tight ship. So we're going to hear loads of speculation without much confirmation... The main questions in my mind: 1) does the B1G think it can do better TV-wise by expanding? 2) What geographic footprint do they want to expand to - northeast or mid-atlantic? (i.e., UConn/Rutgers vs. UVA/Maryland or UNC) 3) Would they prioritize making another run at Notre Dame before pursuing any other moves? 4) In general, would the B1G be okay with participating in the death of the ACC?

If the ACC only loses FSU and Clemson, any major raid by the B1G for 2 or more teams would be seen the same way the ACC's original raid on BCU/Miami?VT was - an act of war to try to kill the opponent. I guess you could argue the same thing for the B1G adding Rutgers/UConn though. So this is why future moves would proceed the way Texas A&M and Mizzou did - initiated by the school. I guess my reaction to this thread is that FSU and Clemson leaving might cause Maryland, UVa or other schools to think about leaving, but the death of the ACC is not yet a done deal, just as the death of the NNBE isn't. Either one could wind up extinct, but we don't know which one.

 

[Hoophound]

OK! Assuming that epark is right (and I'm not convinced of that), what is to prevent the ACC from going to Rutgers as it's 14th member aftger BC blackballs us for the second time? It'all speculation (or as an old friend once told me - "mental masturbation").

It doesn't matter. It is beginning to look like the ACC collapse is imminent. The best way to handle this is for the Big East to get the membership to hang tight and then pick up the ACC leftovers. Keep the current football schools, add Cuse, Pitt, Wake, BC and whoever else is left and then go after the better programs still available out west. Maybe BYU, Fresno etc.

After that is assembled, try to keep the basketball hybrid. This keeps the brand on tv constantly.

Between Boise, Houston, SMU, UCONN, Rutgers, USF, BYU, Louisville (if here) Cuse, Pitt, Wake etc you have enough decent teams that can make noise to almost guarantee that there will be rumblings that we deserve playoff perks. On top of that, it is the only conference with unreal amounts of content that is of decent quality. It should fetch good money. It basically just a much more appealing version of what we were going to pitch to networks in September.

 

[The Funster]

Could be time for someone with some real vision to create a completely new north/eastern all sports conference. Can you imagine the buzz and TV deal it could command?

 

[Hoophound]

Unless the B12 is going to go to 16, the ACC death march would have to proceed through the B1G. There are ACC schools that would fit the B1G profile, but when it comes to poker Jim Delaney does not have a tell. They run a tight ship. So we're going to hear loads of speculation without much confirmation... The main questions in my mind: 1) does the B1G think it can do better TV-wise by expanding? 2) What geographic footprint do they want to expand to - northeast or mid-atlantic? (i.e., UConn/Rutgers vs. UVA/Maryland or UNC) 3) Would they prioritize making another run at Notre Dame before pursuing any other moves? 4) In general, would the B1G be okay with participating in the death of the ACC?

If the ACC only loses FSU and Clemson, any major raid by the B1G for 2 or more teams would be seen the same way the ACC's original raid on BCU/Miami?VT was - an act of war to try to kill the opponent. I guess you could argue the same thing for the B1G adding Rutgers/UConn though. So this is why future moves would proceed the way Texas A&M and Mizzou did - initiated by the school. I guess my reaction to this thread is that FSU and Clemson leaving might cause Maryland, UVa or other schools to think about leaving, but the death of the ACC is not yet a done deal, just as the death of the NNBE isn't. Either one could wind up extinct, but we don't know which one.

I see what you are saying, but I just don't see MD, UNC and Virginia being left behind by the B10. This represents an opportunity for the B10 to steal valuable assets without much controversy. Everyone knows the ACC deal is weak, so it gives the B12 and B10 an opportunity to poach teams while public scrutiny will be minimal.

 

[noeynox]

Could be time for someone with some real vision to create a completely new north/eastern all sports conference. Can you imagine the buzz and TV deal it could command?

This is exactly how I see it as well. If the ACC is truly looking like it will collapse, and their TV contract is as bad as people are saying, I would expect for a new All Sports eastern conference to emerge with a new name. Call it, the Big Atlantic Conference or something.

 

[The Funster]

BCU/UConn/Syracuse/Pitt/WVU/PennSt/Temple/Rutgers/MD/Wake/Lville/Cinci

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There is no way anything shy of an alliance between ND & PSU to become anchors of a new, northeast all sports conference that PSU would leave the B1G. The idea of some new northeast conference saving us is a pipedream.

There is however a very strong possibility of some major movement coming soon. Regardless of what speculation there was running around the internet for months about the B-12 adding schools, that conference was not expanding without Texas on board and most of the candidates being speculated (Louisville, Cincinnati, et al) were not going to get UT excited. UT's internet mouthpiece (Chip Brown) commented a few days back on the possibility of the B-12 looking into FSU and perhaps other ACC schools. There was a purpose behind this (as UT seldoms sends info out into the world freely). This was either to scare the ACC or get the ball rolling on one school (FSU) that UT would openly accept into the conference.

I imagine that a large part of the equation is that the new four team playoff has most assuming that four power conferences, each with basically an auto-bid for its champion will become the adapted model. As the SEC and B1G will always be assured power conference status and the P-12, by virtue of geography will likely also always have major conference stature, the final conference will be either the ACC or B-12. Taking the most significant football member from the ACC and adding them to the B-12 (an identical strategy to the initial ACC raid of the BE) will give the B-12 an enormous leg up on the ACC.

The one thing that the BE football (and non BCS) schools have going for them is that historically, despite many efforts, the few on top have never been able to completely close out the remainder of the NCAA. As difficult as it has always been, there have been schools who have been able to work their way up to being near major player status.

 

[CTMike]

Could be time for someone with some real vision to create a completely new north/eastern all sports conference. Can you imagine the buzz and TV deal it could command?

100% yes.

 

[CTMike]

This is exactly how I see it as well. If the ACC is truly looking like it will collapse, and their TV contract is as bad as people are saying, I would expect for a new All Sports eastern conference to emerge with a new name. Call it, the Big Atlantic Conference or something.

I can't fathom why this is not being explored. There's too much money at stake for it not to be explored. New conference, new TV deal, take it to the market and NOT just ESPN... retain Tier 3 rights for individual schools... etc. A lot of schools stand to make a lot more money this way.

 

[Stinger92860]

Could be time for someone with some real vision to create a completely new north/eastern all sports conference. Can you imagine the buzz and TV deal it could command?

Sorry but Joe Pa is no longer with us (I assumed that's where you were going.)

 

[MattMang23]

So basically what should happen is FSU and another school-either Louisville, Clemson, or Miami (B12 can have their pick) go to the Big 12. The B1G can then pick two more ACC schools out of a group of UVA, UMD, UNC, and GA Tech. The remaining eastern NNBE all-sports schools then secede killing the BE as a hybrid conference. The remaining ACC schools secede, killing the ACC.

The eastern NNBE all-sports schools combine with the remaining ACC schools creating a league of:

UConn, Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida, Louisville/Clemson/Miami, Louisville/Clemson/Miami, BCU, Syracuse, Pitt, Wake, Duke, NC State, Maryland/Georgia Tech/UNC/UVA, Maryland/Georgia Tech/UNC/UVA, VA Tech. That's 15 schools. Throw in one of Central Florida/Houston/Temple to round it out.

Everyone's happy. B1G gets who they want, B12 gets who they want, NNBE members finally play in an all sports conference, former ACC teams can focus on being in a league that plays top level bball, the NNBE basketball schools can keep the BE conference name, a name with some bball cache, and everyone gets paid.

BOOM! Get it done and let's move on with our lives. It's all so simple right,?

 

[Dann]

Sorry but Joe Pa is no longer with us (I assumed that's where you were going.)

mark cuban is the man for the job.

 

[Dann]

Could be time for someone with some real vision to create a completely new north/eastern all sports conference. Can you imagine the buzz and TV deal it could command?

i have made a 100 diferent make believe confs on here for fun to enjoy myself even thou others here think im a idiot. but i always thought that if the big publics from the big east and acc every woke up and joined forces it would be amazing.

just imagine some 1 molding something like this.

uconn/ruty/psu/md/uva/md/unc/ncst/gt/clem/fsu/wvu
thats a great 12 team league that could have its picking on the east coast of the next 4 slots for 16 one day. fball wise psu/wvu/fsu among the others easily put this conf in the top 4 and keep it a power conf. on the bball side uconn/unc among others easily make it a power bball league. the baseball/soccer/wbball/lax and other sports are all quality also. this league gets a huge tv deal and never looks back. most importantly it puts all the big publics on the east coast together and it the balloon knots. the acc turns into the private bball league that never touches this league. its all dreams tho. bottom line is for me, i don't want to be stuck with cuse/pitt/bc/duke/wake and others like that. to me being in a league with those teams is like giving up, it would alow up to play ball and big time bball but it would never allow us to reach our full potential.

i may be crazy to you, thats fine. but being in a league with usf/ucf/ruty/uh/bsu among others is a national confs of teams that want and strive to play big boy fball and not just collect paychecks in a bball focused league. for those that fear bball isn't great in that type of league, were uconn guys! we can schedule games ooc with the bball teams like cuse and still be just fine.