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USC Traveler

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Everything posted by USC Traveler

  1. The magical thinking is hilarious. That "heard it from my buddy at the gym" post is a truly epic fail. For no revenue increase, existing BIG schools are going to play West Coast games that are streaming-only with 9:30pm CT starts ? 😂 The same BIG schools that don't want to add the PNW schools because they don't want their games moved onto streaming platforms ? The same BIG ADs who have said they don't want to take more than one trip to the West Coast per season ? Can you imagine a BIG President or AD trying to sell their donors on this ? 😂😂😂
  2. Agree on the ACC part, and would love to see the second part take place.
  3. Agreed on NE's 3 rivals. That's who I think it will be also. Also agree that Rhule is their best hire (by far imo) since Osborne, for the reasons you listed. // As far as UW and the Zeros from Eugene, you're spot on with the CA recruiting angle- the other BIG schools want to get those CA recruits. The Zeros have no recruiting grounds for BIG schools to access, but are very aggressive in NIL. They almost got Kaydn Proctor out of Iowa before Bama did. NE and the other mid-lower tier programs (MN, PU, IL, IN, Rutgers, etc) won't want them in the mix for the rare blue chip recruits they have in their home states. The lower-mid tier BIG schools also don't want to take additional Ls while taking less money, and per Thamel and others, they don't want their games shifted onto streaming due to having too many conference games for their broadcast partners to handle. Plus, per Thamel and others, OSU, UM, PSU, MSU, Wiscy are not taking pay cuts to add trips to Eugene to their schedules. And oh btw, USC has been lobbying from day 1 UW and UO, according to Feldman and the LAT. I've heard it's the same for UCLA. There's a reason the PNW schools didn't get an invite with USC and UCLA. UW is the more attractive of the two- much better tv market, academics and research, but the revenue dilution and fear of getting shoved down another peg among the middle tier is still there. Kevin Warren wanted to keep expanding, and the schools told him it wasn’t happening, so fans of the PNW saying that the new commissioner is going to get them in makes me laugh. I can't think of one school in the BIG that would support adding the PNW schools. Certainly not before they see how things play out with ND and the ACC in 10-12 years. UNC, UVA, GT, Miami and FSU are all much more attractive than UW or the Zeros. The only other West Coast school that I think gets in will be Stanford. ND and USC will both want Stanford to come in with ND, and BIG Presidents would be thrilled to add Stanford for a variety of reasons, especially since they wouldn't dilute revenue as ND's partner, since ND will bring so much value on their own.
  4. Agreed. That's what I'd been thinking. It makes much more sense. I was just saying in that other post that if a merger did somehow invalidate the GOR, there wouldn't be enough votes to make the merger happen in the first place.
  5. I'm with you. If they add teams, that would be covered under whatever expansion provisions are in the contract. If a merger would somehow invalidate the GOR, schools like Wake, BC, Cuse, etc aren't going to vote for it, as FSU, Clemson, etc would bolt at the first opportunity, with some of the remnants getting left behind entirely. Schools like VT and NC St aren't assured of a landing place in the P2. If UNC and UVA go SEC, they're not getting into the BIG. Louisville, Pitt no shot. I don't think the votes are there for anything that would allow teams to escape.
  6. Well played my friend. I was there in Vegas. It was brutal.
  7. Nah- it's perfectly fitting. The conference has been WAC for the last decade and a half- at least. It's the perfect name for the Presidents that hired Tennis Larry and then wouldn't relent on LHN, launched PACN without ESPN or FOX, rejected OU, didn't take USC seriously when the AD said "All options are on the table" regarding realignment, completely misunderstood who had the leverage in their lates tv negotiations, etc, etc, etc.
  8. TK- see my post above. You and I are in agreement about BIG not wanting to overload the top programs, and the Athletic reported USC and UCLA won't be getting OSU or UM as a rival. Multiple BIG ADs have said that the top priorities with the schedule are maximizing playoff slots, competitive balance, and frequent rotation (3-6-6 model). I think UCLA will get Neb. Rhule will make them much better, but they've been down for so long, they're in the BIG's middle tier, along with UCLA, Iowa, MN, Purdue and IL. Plus, UCLA has played NE more than any other BIG team. I'd be fine with USC also getting Neb, but I doubt the other BIG teams want to give Neb that type of recruiting exposure in CA. Besides too much schedule strength with UM, OSU, PSU and MSU all playing two of the other three schools every year, I can't see USC getting any of the Eastern time zone schools as a permanent rival for a few other reasons: BIG will want closer schools for travel, bodyclock and PR reasons. They're not going to want to see a million stories about how much the "student athletes" are traveling across country. They're going to get some of those stories no matter what, but they're going to try and minimize it. LA to Madison looks a lot better on a map than LA to Columbus or State College. Fans are a minor consideration, but PSU would be brutal from LA. Wiscy and NW are the easiest schools for fan travel to and from LA. // I agree with you about PSU getting MD as their 3rd rival, and Rutgers becoming someone else's cupcake. UM might lobby for them for recruiting exposure.
  9. According to the Athletic, USC won’t be getting OSU or UM as a protected rival. I don't think we'll get PSU or MSU either. BIG won’t want top teams getting too many guaranteed losses. At some point, it’s just math. OSU will get UM, PSU and a cupcake. UM will get OSU, MSU and a cupcake. PSU and MSU will get each other on rivalry weekend (there's no one else for them to play that makes sense), plus the above games. For any of those teams, having USC as their 3rd game would give them brutal schedules. // For USC, I want Wiscy and NW, and that's who I think we'll get. If you break the BIG down into tiers of five (excluding USC): Wiscy is in the top tier, along with OSU, UM, PSU and MSU. Wiscy and USC make good partners in that sense- gives each of the other two programs with the highest likelihood of winning the BIG a game vs each other. TV can sell Wiscy vs USC, and Fickell vs Riley, as a big-time matchup, and I think Fickell would love the CA exposure for recruiting. Wisc would be USC's top-tier annual BIG game, UCLA would be our mid-tier game, and NW would be our cupcake. USC and NW are the only two private schools in the BIG, and are the only two in huge urban areas besides UCLA. Nonstop flights for fans between LA to both Wiscy and NW. Wiscy and NW might sound easy, but WI will be tough, and with ND as an annual opponent, the calculus is different for USC. BIG wants to maximize CFP spots, and USC-ND will impact the CFP race in most years, so the BIG will factor that into our rivals selection. We'd still getting something like OSU and PSU one year, then UM and MSU the next year, plus WI and UCLA, so there's no cakewalk in any year. I think UCLA gets Corn- they've played them more than any other school in the BIG, although if I was Corn, I'd lobby to get both USC and UCLA as rivals and get a game in LA every year for recruiting. // from the Athletic (3-17-23): "At this point, it doesn’t look like USC or UCLA will have Ohio State or Michigan as a protected game, two sources who attended last week’s meetings said. But the newcomers will still see the two Big Ten mainstays at least twice over a four-year span (and on both campuses) in any of the formats still in the mix. Big Ten ADs have asked the league that it not require any current member to travel twice to Los Angeles in the same season — an ask that should be able to be accommodated. Multiple administrative sources expect that the Big Ten will have its conference scheduling model chosen and announced by the summer. A scheduled in-person meeting of the ADs in May is likely the latest this decision-making process will stretch. The conference will likely also announce the fixed and rotational opponents for each school at that time."
  10. I’d bet that the Zeros from Eugene Community College never get in. UW has a much better case, but they’re 50/50 imo depending on how the BIG does in raiding the ACC. If BIG gets all the schools they’ll want, they won’t need any other WAC10 schools, other than adding Stanford when ND joins.
  11. I would love that. I grew up playing in snow games, and they’re awesome to watch on tv. I have my doubts that USC is on the road that much late in the season, though. I’m thinking BIG schools’ admin and fans will be looking forward to coming to LA when the weather is starting to get cold in the Midwest. Can’t wait for the 2024 BIG schedule release to see how it plays out. We get to see who everyone’s fixed rivals are first though.
  12. That tweet is hilarious. It really shows the depth of delusion that a lot of WAC10 types live in. UW vs Eugene Community College is top 10 nationally?😂 In no particular order, rivalries above UW-UO historically and at present (UT vs aggy and Arky coming back in ‘24): USC-ND USC-UCLA RRS UT-aggy UT-Arky Iron Bowl The Game FSU-Miami UF-FSU UGA-UF UGA-Auburn LSU-Bama OSU-PSU UM-MSU Bedlam Tenn-UF Bama-Tenn That’s 17 off the top of my head without putting any thought into it. So glad to be leaving the WAC10 in the dust.
  13. Bama scheduling FCS teams is truly pathetic- no doubt. But Stoops can’t have it both ways- he’s improved UK to the point that he wants to be known as a football school, so he can’t then turn around and act like they’re Vandy. They have more resources by far than UL. It’s laughable that he wants to drop them so they can schedule another cupcake. I’d say the same thing if I was one of their boosters or had season tickets there.
  14. Mark Stoops burner account ? edit: Maybe not- Stoops will never have to worry about whether to rest his players in an SEC CCG.
  15. So they’ve always been pussies. “We’ll have to drop Louisville”, but Stoops wants to puff out his chest and say UK is a football school- what a fucking joke. Dear Stoops and UK admin: STFU about 10 P5 games- USC and UT have been playing at least 10 P5 games for over a decade. USC had years with 11 P5 games, and will again next year, with a BIG schedule, ND and LSU. But UK has to drop Louisville ? Drop down to FCS you fucking pussies.
  16. Incredible. Rick George has done idiotic things on multiple occasions, so this is on brand for him.
  17. That was still on Larry Scott and the WAC-PAC Presidents. They were the ones who decided launching a conference network without ESPN was a good idea in the first place. The combination of naivete, hubris, and arrogance was deadly in the short and long run. If ESPN was their partner from the get-go, that whole scenario plays out very differently. Also- if they had relented on unequal revenue for T3, they could have still closed the deal to get UT and friends into a PAC16, even with LHN.
  18. Tried to add this as an edit the above but wasn't quick enough: Mandel's longstanding smug superiority regarding the PAC is actually a good reflection of the mindset of the idiotic WAC-PAC Presidents, who have always seen the BIG as their only peer conference, looking down their noses at the SEC and B12 due to academic snobbery, coastal elitism and religious intolerance. It's why they're now in this position, as opposed to being in a conference with UT, OU, aggy, Tech, etc. And btw, with USC and UCLA still in the conference. They are reaping what they have sowed for the last 13 years. Even further back actually, when Stanford nuked UT as a PAC member back in the day.
  19. I think he's suffering from cognitive dissonance- he's lived in the Bay Area for a while now, and can't comprehend that a conference he saw as above the B12 and on par with the rest of the P5 is now a complete joke. He doesn't seem to be able to conceive that the B12 is in a much stronger position than the WAC10 thanks to fanbases that care and smart moves by management (expansion and jumping the line to extend their deal) in the wake of UT and OU leaving. What's amazing is that he fails to see all of this, despite decades of bad management by the WAC10, leading to the exit of the only football blueblood and bellcow, and losing all access to the LA market with the only hoops blueblood leaving as well. He's probably been getting fed BS by Klownkoff and his cronies for months, and is now shellshocked to see what's really happening.
  20. He really is. When he said CU leaving wouldn't hurt the PAC and that the four PNW schools plus Utah was a strong enough core to keep the PAC intact, I realized that he was in an extreme state of denial. An interesting question is who is living deeper in fantasyland ? Klownkoff, or his media water boys like Mandel, Wilner and Canzano ?
  21. Agreed. I think that's exactly why we've heard about how UNC and UVA are top priorities for SEC's next round of expansion. Will be quite a battle with the BIG. That's why I think UNC and UVA will have the leverage to bring Duke along wherever they end up. Even if UVA and UNC go BIG, Sankey can counter with VT, NC State and KU. The first two are better football fits in the SEC, and with OU in the conference, KU isn't really that much of a reach in terms of travel. Having KU and UK in the same conference would bring real value.
  22. If it's only CU and UA, PNW will probably feel like they can backfill with SDSU and SMU and stay at 10, with easier playoff access offsetting revenue and exposure differences, but it would really come down to just how bad is the PAC's deal at that point.
  23. I was working on the assumption that UW and UO would push to have CA schools in the conference as a condition of them joining. CA is the prime recruiting territory for both schools- they're not going to want to abandon that. I can't see them joining B12 without CA schools. Also- believe it or not, Bob Thompson (former Fox Sports President) said a while back the Stanford and Cal actually have more tv value than UW and UO. That was in the context of BIG membership so Bay Area market for BTN is obviously a big part of that calculation, but I still found that interesting.
  24. Agree 100% with the first part. B12 would be smart to take the 8 PAC schools not named Wazzu or OSU and establish themselves as the #3 conference with no real competitor in terms of future status. As for the PNW schools, I'd think the 4C schools leaving would force them to go B12 at that point. It was interesting to hear Mandel on his podcast yesterday, though. He was saying that, putting Stanford and Cal aside, with Utah wanting to hang onto the PAC no matter what, the PNW schools plus Utah was a strong enough core to keep the PAC intact. Five schools. I just don't see it. They'd be much better off in an expanded B12, with guarantees that they're all in the same division, or pods. UW and UO would love to be in a pod with Cal and Stanford or SDSU in that scenario.
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