ACC-Big East merger?

[The Sultan]

I also think the Group of 5 conferences, (six if you include the Pac-12) should test the media market for doing their own playoff and leaving the CFP behind. I think it may be more popular than people realize.

[brewcity77]

Oh, I think they for sure go to 64. The P4 alone have 68 teams and inviting 10-15 non-P4 it will let them keep the veneer of including everyone. They will want it to look as much like the current tournament to keep the fans and bettors invested. The 64-team bracket just looks better on a single page. That's why they won't shrink to 48, and any NCAA expansion beyond 68 will still funnel to a 64-team Thursday/Friday.

[wadesworld]

Oh, I think they for sure go to 64. The P4 alone have 68 teams and inviting 10-15 non-P4 it will let them keep the veneer of including everyone. They will want it to look as much like the current tournament to keep the fans and bettors invested. The 64-team bracket just looks better on a single page. That's why they won't shrink to 48, and any NCAA expansion beyond 68 will still funnel to a 64-team Thursday/Friday.

Agree with this.  I think we're a long, long ways away from shrinking the NCAA Tournament.

[PJDunn]

I agree that tourney will not shrink. The Cinderella teams are what make it special and drive ratings.

Regarding academics, I don't think that will matter much in realignment calculations. It it mattered, everyone would be fighting to get Cal and Stanford, and that will not be the case.

[wiscwarrior]

I really don't understand why football schools don't  break from the NCAA just for football. It's been mentioned somewhere, but leaving all their other sports in the NCAA in regional conferences with traditional rivalries seems to make a lot of sense including financially. It also avoids all the hassle of setting up administratively for Olympic sports.
Schools participating in different conferences for different sports already happens.

[The Sultan]

I really don't understand why football schools don't  break from the NCAA just for football. It's been mentioned somewhere, but leaving all their other sports in the NCAA in regional conferences with traditional rivalries seems to make a lot of sense including financially. It also avoids all the hassle of setting up administratively for Olympic sports.
Schools participating in different conferences for different sports already happens.

Because conferences package and sell their media rights for everything. I guess you could do the same for "Big Ten football" and "Big Ten the rest of the sports minus USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington." But I just don't see that working all that well.

[muwarrior69]

Oh, I think they for sure go to 64. The P4 alone have 68 teams and inviting 10-15 non-P4 it will let them keep the veneer of including everyone. They will want it to look as much like the current tournament to keep the fans and bettors invested. The 64-team bracket just looks better on a single page. That's why they won't shrink to 48, and any NCAA expansion beyond 68 will still funnel to a 64-team Thursday/Friday.

Right now CBS and Turner carry all the games. I wonder, post 2032, if some of the games wind up on one or more streaming services how that will affect the tournament.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I really don't understand why football schools don't  break from the NCAA just for football. It's been mentioned somewhere, but leaving all their other sports in the NCAA in regional conferences with traditional rivalries seems to make a lot of sense including financially. It also avoids all the hassle of setting up administratively for Olympic sports.
Schools participating in different conferences for different sports already happens.

It's my dream.  I also agree that it would make sense financially.  But it would take a massive paradigm shift from the confrences that I don't see happening.

[brewcity77]

While everything hits cable now, it's also all streaming on CBS Sports and other apps. I'm guessing the next contract will have some stream only games, but the way it's going that's just the broadcast model of the next decade or two.

[GoldenWarrior11]

The current NCAAT tv deal is grossly undervalued.  Imagine what it would fetch on open market today.

[brewcity77]

The current NCAAT tv deal is grossly undervalued.  Imagine what it would fetch on open market today.

I think that's the other big worry with the potential for a breakaway tournament. All the major conference rights deals are up in 2031 or 2032. That is ground zero for the next major round of upheaval. That's when the P4 can present their own basketball tournament model to networks and push for a big revenue boost.

EDIT: Just look at the CBB Crown starting this year. Any Big 10, Big 12, or Big East teams invited to it must accept. They are only inviting non-NCAA teams, but what's to prevent them from continuing this to 2032, then pulling their teams from the NCAA Tournament and sending invites to pretty much the entirety of the SEC and ACC with equal revenue shares?

[WhiteTrash]

I see the ACC is going to reset the revenue sharing among schools that will result in some schools losing $7M per year. (Also the early exit fees are being "adjusted")

I know the overall payout of the ACC deal is multiple times higher than the BE, but based on some estimates of the value of basketball in these deals and assuming the schools that get the reduction will minimize the revenue reduction to football, the BE's new contract could be better than the ACC's for basketball.

I believe I saw the BE deal was on par with the ACC already, for basketball value only. I don't like the merger concept but maybe I can see ACC schools warming to the concept.

[FairWeatherEagle]

I haven't read all the posts but didn't realize there was serious talk about ACC BE merger. Is that really a thing?

[TallTitan34]

I haven't read all the posts but didn't realize there was serious talk about ACC BE merger. Is that really a thing?

No.

[Billy Hoyle]

I haven't read all the posts but didn't realize there was serious talk about ACC BE merger. Is that really a thing?

No, it was something thrown out by Pitino during a press conference.

[Newsdreams]

I haven't read all the posts but didn't realize there was serious talk about ACC BE merger. Is that really a thing?

No one wants the BE

[The Sultan]

No one wants the BE

I mean it's no A10.

[Oldgym]

I see the ACC is going to reset the revenue sharing among schools that will result in some schools losing $7M per year. (Also the early exit fees are being "adjusted")

Yeah, deal appears imminent.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/44093338/sources-fsu-clemson-expected-reach-settlement-acc

[WhiteTrash]

I mean it's no A10.

Dayton tips the scales in favor of the A10. If we could get Dayton, I think we'd see revenues close to the Big10.

[Pakuni]

Dayton tips the scales in favor of the A10. If we could get Dayton, I think we'd see revenues close to the Big10.

The classics never get old:

UDPride
November 28, 2012, 12:08:54 PM
If you think schools are going to "beat a path to your door" for the privilege of insecurity, instability, no TV contract, no conference tournament, and the chance many of those same schools in a newfangled conference bolt once again as soon as they see something better, I want the same liquor you are drinking.

You wont be raiding the A10, but the A10 might raid you -- if you're that fortunate. The A10 is stability in a sea of chaos. They have no reason or urgency to leave. More money wont put them over the top because theyve been stretching a dollar all their lives. That's their normal. They are used to making the Big Dance on a shoestring budget -- and have done quite well for themselves.

If you believe all the BE basketball schools have to do is yell "jump", and the A10 schools will respond with "How high?", you are seriously over-estimating your negotiating position in this giant mess.  The A10 schools have the high ground.  They dont NEED you. They might want you, but NEEDING and WANTING are two entirely different things. You NEED the A10 schools however if you cut bait with football. Big difference.

While you guys were sitting around counting the checks the last 6-7 years, the A10 was busy trying to position themselves as the best basketball-only conference. They never tried to be something they were not. They didn't sit still. They added Butler and VCU and St. Louis.  They never twiddled thumbs waiting on conference collapses to snag a Georgetown.

Five years ago, some of the A10 schools might have listened to your plea to form a new hoops only league. But you were too busy counting benjamins. That ship has sailed, my friend. There may or may not be a collective empowerment between the Big East and A10, but if there is, it will be on the A10's terms.

The A10 has the luxury of doing nothing and remaining relevant, secure, stable, and collectively united among all of its member institutions in a common goal.  Unfortunately, you don't have that option. Your re-invention requires a lifeboat someone else must provide. And when someone else provides it, its not your position to demand hot towels and a wine list.

The Big East name means nothing now. The value was not in the name, but the value of the institutions within it. That's gone now. With Barclays Arena committed to the A10, MSG is no longer the carrot it once was. And history? History is for historians.  That and a cup of coffee won't get you far, and it certainly won't get you into the BIG12 or ACC as a basketball-only member -- as some delusional fans on here are trying to talk themselves into.

Many of you are right in this sense: you are second class citizens in the Big East and have been for years. You cashed the paychecks, but were otherwise red-headed stepchildren. Your say never counted at the board meetings and you were to be seen and not heard. Football drove the bus and basketball was back-burner.  But you should have seen this coming a long time ago. You waited far too long. Instead of being proactive and guaranteeing your own autonomy, nothing mattered as long as the checks didnt bounce. From the very beginning you never had a hand on the wheel -- and no conference should ever be run without all hands steering together in the same direction.

The A10 has always had that luxury. And member institutions are not in any hurry to jump ship in 50-foot seas when the boat ain't leaking. It might not be the fastest or prettiest ship on the high seas, but she's not foundering, and that's quite impressive given the current climate.

If you truly believe you hold the cards, why the panic?  Nobody in the A10 is panicking. Your stress level tells me all I need to know about where the leverage really is.

[wadesworld]

The classics never get old:

UDPride
November 28, 2012, 12:08:54 PM
If you think schools are going to "beat a path to your door" for the privilege of insecurity, instability, no TV contract, no conference tournament, and the chance many of those same schools in a newfangled conference bolt once again as soon as they see something better, I want the same liquor you are drinking.

You wont be raiding the A10, but the A10 might raid you -- if you're that fortunate. The A10 is stability in a sea of chaos. They have no reason or urgency to leave. More money wont put them over the top because theyve been stretching a dollar all their lives. That's their normal. They are used to making the Big Dance on a shoestring budget -- and have done quite well for themselves.

If you believe all the BE basketball schools have to do is yell "jump", and the A10 schools will respond with "How high?", you are seriously over-estimating your negotiating position in this giant mess.  The A10 schools have the high ground.  They dont NEED you. They might want you, but NEEDING and WANTING are two entirely different things. You NEED the A10 schools however if you cut bait with football. Big difference.

While you guys were sitting around counting the checks the last 6-7 years, the A10 was busy trying to position themselves as the best basketball-only conference. They never tried to be something they were not. They didn't sit still. They added Butler and VCU and St. Louis.  They never twiddled thumbs waiting on conference collapses to snag a Georgetown.

Five years ago, some of the A10 schools might have listened to your plea to form a new hoops only league. But you were too busy counting benjamins. That ship has sailed, my friend. There may or may not be a collective empowerment between the Big East and A10, but if there is, it will be on the A10's terms.

The A10 has the luxury of doing nothing and remaining relevant, secure, stable, and collectively united among all of its member institutions in a common goal.  Unfortunately, you don't have that option. Your re-invention requires a lifeboat someone else must provide. And when someone else provides it, its not your position to demand hot towels and a wine list.

The Big East name means nothing now. The value was not in the name, but the value of the institutions within it. That's gone now. With Barclays Arena committed to the A10, MSG is no longer the carrot it once was. And history? History is for historians.  That and a cup of coffee won't get you far, and it certainly won't get you into the BIG12 or ACC as a basketball-only member -- as some delusional fans on here are trying to talk themselves into.

Many of you are right in this sense: you are second class citizens in the Big East and have been for years. You cashed the paychecks, but were otherwise red-headed stepchildren. Your say never counted at the board meetings and you were to be seen and not heard. Football drove the bus and basketball was back-burner.  But you should have seen this coming a long time ago. You waited far too long. Instead of being proactive and guaranteeing your own autonomy, nothing mattered as long as the checks didnt bounce. From the very beginning you never had a hand on the wheel -- and no conference should ever be run without all hands steering together in the same direction.

The A10 has always had that luxury. And member institutions are not in any hurry to jump ship in 50-foot seas when the boat ain't leaking. It might not be the fastest or prettiest ship on the high seas, but she's not foundering, and that's quite impressive given the current climate.

If you truly believe you hold the cards, why the panic?  Nobody in the A10 is panicking. Your stress level tells me all I need to know about where the leverage really is.

And just think.  You have to pay a monthly fee just to participate at UDPride to get this type of hard hitting analysis.

I think the funniest part is that he notes conferences lining up to get their conference tournaments into the Barclays Center and the Big East is left to play in the dump that is MSG.  LOL.

[WhiteTrash]

And just think.  You have to pay a monthly fee just to participate at UDPride to get this type of hard hitting analysis.

I think the funniest part is that he notes conferences lining up to get their conference tournaments into the Barclays Center and the Big East is left to play in the dump that is MSG.  LOL.

Don't be so dismissive; I believe people from Dayton are considered national experts in "dumps".

[Shaka Shart]

I bet UDPride bet big on NFTs

[tower912]

I bet UDPride bet big on NFTs

Bet big on the Cobalt market.

[Shaka Shart]

Bet big on the Cobalt market.

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