More conference realignment talk

[MU82]

If the back-to-back national champion with six titles and football is struggling to get an invite, I doubt there is serious interest from any power conference in any of the other Big East teams.

Well, it would have to be for an entirely different format using entirely different reasoning and economics.

They, the B10 or the SEC would only add Big East schools if they were going to form a non-football division within the conference - almost the way the Big East was proposing to do it before the Catholic 7 said buh-bye.

So you've got one division with the current programs in the Football Division, and then the likes of Marquette, Nova, Creighton, Gonzaga, Xavier, St. John's, etc, in the Non-Football Division.

For basketball, there would be crossover play throughout the season, with one champion being crowned at the conference tournament.

The NF schools would receive a smaller piece of the pie than F schools, and everybody would know that going in.

[wadesworld]

Big 12 contract ends the same year as BE - 2031. Very interesting....

And Uconn would be added at the start of the 2032 season - the same year as the new B12 contract.

Thanks.  So where the big money is (football), the Big Twelve would not have another piece in the pie to split the Fox contract with.  So I'm not sure how big of a hinderance that is in making this a possibility.  Plus I assume that when UCONN does fully enter the B12, they will not receive equal money to the rest of the members of the B12 right away.

[TallTitan34]

Well, it would have to be for an entirely different format using entirely different reasoning and economics.

They, the B10 or the SEC would only add Big East schools if they were going to form a non-football division within the conference - almost the way the Big East was proposing to do it before the Catholic 7 said buh-bye.

So you've got one division with the current programs in the Football Division, and then the likes of Marquette, Nova, Creighton, Gonzaga, Xavier, St. John's, etc, in the Non-Football Division.

For basketball, there would be crossover play throughout the season, with one champion being crowned at the conference tournament.

The NF schools would receive a smaller piece of the pie than F schools, and everybody would know that going in.

Maybe when the Big Ten steals some ACC schools they will name their divisions the Pac 12, Big 10, and ACC.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

IDK. I just don't think schools will drop football for a variety of reasons. If the ACC becomes a glorified G5 conference, I think most of them keep the sport.

But you are right...who really knows.

To be clear,  I think if the ACC becomes a glorified G5 conference,  they would keep football. What I'm saying is that I could see a world where the G5 doesnt exist and the ACC is a glorified FCS conference.  That's when I could see schools dropping football

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Big 12 contract ends the same year as BE - 2031. Very interesting....

And Uconn would be added at the start of the 2032 season - the same year as the new B12 contract.

Everything is ending around that time (except for ACC) because that’s when the NCAA contract ends.

[TallTitan34]

Nice to see UConn football keep it within 7 touchdowns today.  Big 12 must be licking their chops.

[Herman Cain]

NM Wrong Thread

[MU82]

Nice to see UConn football keep it within 7 touchdowns today.  Big 12 must be licking their chops.

The Athletic has UConn ranked #131 (out of 134 teams).

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

To be fair, UConn is a great example of why schools stick with football programs. Despite being one of the worst programs in the sport, it hasn't impacted the success of their other programs, AND hasn't kept them out of the conversation for P4 conference membership.

OTOH, Idaho ending their quixotic attempt at becoming an FBS program, dropped back down to FCS, and has a top 10 program.

[WhiteTrash]

To be fair, UConn is a great example of why schools stick with football programs. Despite being one of the worst programs in the sport, it hasn't impacted the success of their other programs, AND hasn't kept them out of the conversation for P4 conference membership.

OTOH, Idaho ending their quixotic attempt at becoming an FBS program, dropped back down to FCS, and has a top 10 program.

The Vandals sure put a scare into the Ducks last week. They look to be a better team than UCONN.

That said, I agree with your points.

[TallTitan34]

To be fair, UConn is a great example of why schools stick with football programs. Despite being one of the worst programs in the sport, it hasn't impacted the success of their other programs, AND hasn't kept them out of the conversation for P4 conference membership.

Doesn’t their athletic department lose about $50M each year though?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Doesn’t their athletic department lose about $50M each year though?

Almost every athletic department across the country loses money. Most schools don't view them as stand-alone business entities.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Doesn’t their athletic department lose about $50M each year though?

Not exactly.  They were loosing $40something mil with like the $13mil of Kevin Ollie buyout money rolled in, but it's significantly less now but still large.

[TallTitan34]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35468085/uconn-athletics-deficit-climbed-53-million-2022

If I am reading this article correctly, it got to $53M in 2022 ($13.4M of which was Ollie) after being $47M without Ollie in 2021.

It does sound like they knocked $7M off though if you discount Ollie's money.

[MUbiz]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35468085/uconn-athletics-deficit-climbed-53-million-2022

If I am reading this article correctly, it got to $53M in 2022 ($13.4M of which was Ollie) after being $47M without Ollie in 2021.

It does sound like they knocked $7M off though if you discount Ollie's money.

They would still run a deficit if they were granted full membership in B12.

[WhiteTrash]

They would still run a deficit if they were granted full membership in B12.

True, but is would be a big help as the Big12 distributed (from all revenues) about $55M to members last year under their old TV deal.

[MUbiz]

True, but is would be a big help as the Big12 distributed (from all revenues) about $55M to members last year under their old TV deal.

That's fair - but the spend of the football program will go way up to stay up to B12 standards. I also read that West Virginias travel budget went up 10 million per year when they joined the B12. UConn's will go up by that and even more.

[forgetful]

To be fair, UConn is a great example of why schools stick with football programs. Despite being one of the worst programs in the sport, it hasn't impacted the success of their other programs, AND hasn't kept them out of the conversation for P4 conference membership.

OTOH, Idaho ending their quixotic attempt at becoming an FBS program, dropped back down to FCS, and has a top 10 program.

I'm not sure how this is a "great example of why schools stick with football programs."

The football program brings them no attention. They would have just as much benefit, in terms of publicity, student recruitment, without Football, except they would save $30-50M per year.

It's a better example of how Universities will throw away massive amounts of money to avoid upsetting a handful of donors.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I'm not sure how this is a "great example of why schools stick with football programs."

The football program brings them no attention. They would have just as much benefit, in terms of publicity, student recruitment, without Football, except they would save $30-50M per year.

It's a better example of how Universities will throw away massive amounts of money to avoid upsetting a handful of donors.

I’m not saying it’s a wise investment. Just an example of why schools don’t want to give it up.

[WhiteTrash]

That's fair - but the spend of the football program will go way up to stay up to B12 standards. I also read that West Virginias travel budget went up 10 million per year when they joined the B12. UConn's will go up by that and even more.

Agreed. I think that is the reason the presidents are opposed, right now, to UCONN's invitation. The B12 $ will not be a panacea.

Maybe Yormark is serious about UCONN, but I wouldn't rule out his desire to just rattle cages, specifically the ACC's. I'd guess the ACC would take UCONN if/when they have defections, but Yormark wants them to sweat about UCONN's availability. Maybe he wants the ACC to add another not so great member to really push FSU's and Clemson's buttons. Yormark has proven himself to be pretty good at this stuff already.

[MUbiz]

Agreed. I think that is the reason the presidents are opposed, right now, to UCONN's invitation. The B12 $ will not be a panacea.

Maybe Yormark is serious about UCONN, but I wouldn't rule out his desire to just rattle cages, specifically the ACC's. I'd guess the ACC would take UCONN if/when they have defections, but Yormark wants them to sweat about UCONN's availability. Maybe he wants the ACC to add another not so great member to really push FSU's and Clemson's buttons. Yormark has proven himself to be pretty good at this stuff already.

I do not see why you would add UConn in Basketball only and then admit football 7 years later. There will be many more schools around that 2031-2032 time frame that are more attractive than UConn looking to find a home.

[WhiteTrash]

I do not see why you would add UConn in Basketball only and then admit football 7 years later. There will be many more schools around that 2031-2032 time frame that are more attractive than UConn looking to find a home.

It is a head scratcher for sure. I can't imagine the non-football compensation is much different than that the Big East, but I guess it is a 'foot in the door" play much like SMU to the ACC. Alas, I don't think anything will come of it in the foreseeable future.

[TallTitan34]

Agreed. I think that is the reason the presidents are opposed, right now, to UCONN's invitation. The B12 $ will not be a panacea.

Maybe Yormark is serious about UCONN, but I wouldn't rule out his desire to just rattle cages, specifically the ACC's. I'd guess the ACC would take UCONN if/when they have defections, but Yormark wants them to sweat about UCONN's availability. Maybe he wants the ACC to add another not so great member to really push FSU's and Clemson's buttons. Yormark has proven himself to be pretty good at this stuff already.

My ideal scenario is UConn leaves for the ACC.  The Big East collects UConn's exit fee and tournament credits.

The ACC either folds or loses members becoming on par with the AAC.

UConn rejoins the Big East.  The Big East collects UConn's entrance fee.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Yormark has been good at getting a media deal done and picking up the pieces when the P12 broke apart, but the rest will be hard. They have a 18 team conference with some additions who, while they made sense at the time, aren't really great programs - Cincinnati and Houston? Meh.

[WhiteTrash]

Yormark has been good at getting a media deal done and picking up the pieces when the P12 broke apart, but the rest will be hard. They have a 18 team conference with some additions who, while they made sense at the time, aren't really great programs - Cincinnati and Houston? Meh.

Excluding the SEC and B10, has anyone done it better than Yormark and the Big12?

I think the Cincy and UH additions were as much about TV sets as competitive football teams. Not suggesting those schools are number 1 in the markets (Cincy is OSU, Huston is TAM?) but like UCF (who may have potential) brings TV audiences.

Overall I agree, in hindsight I think he may have jumped the gun on some of those additions in light of the ACC's situation.