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Realignment talk not going away


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2 hours ago, Sir Ulrich said:

The Big10 has never taken a non AAU school in their history. The B2 in the latest round of expansion has taken pairs with at least 1 of them being in the top 15 of viewership with Washington being the lowest 2nd fiddle at ~35.  ND is the only one that fits both of those and imo they are far off from joining the Big10. UVA, UNC and Miami don't add full share value unless ND drags one of them with. FSU and Clemson probably don't get SEC anytime soon with their antics so the ACC will be stable for a few more years. 

 

ND & Miami were just given AAU status this year.

FSU is working towards it, and they have the demographics where the presidents would look the other way.  I don't think that's true with Clemson, maybe I'm wrong.

The B1G would press hard for UNC/UVA, especially if they could get them below full share until the next TV contract - someone has to lose football games too, and be better in other sports, plus they're perfect academic fits 

Once the B1G goes to 10/11 conference games, it's going to get real tough for ND to fill it's schedule without joining a conference.  And ironically, the only non-regional option for them will be the B1G if they grab a southern wing from the ACC.

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57 minutes ago, Hurtlocker said:

So...?

SEC: FSU, Clemson?

B1G: UVA, UNC, Miami? Hold for ND or swipe Duke?

B12: VTech, NCState, Pitt, Louisville?

Left out: Cuse, BC, Wake, Tech?

The biggest issue I see here is ESPN is THE player in all of these moves besides the B1G, and they've invested a ton in the ACC Network.   Its equally plausible FSU/Clemson leave and the remaining 12 stay together, add UConn, and live comfortably on the buyouts, which should be significant if you can't get 12 teams to vote for dissolution.   Let's pretend its only a quarter bill each, that's $500m in the ACC's coffers, which is equal to an entire year of revenue.   They could buy Cal's debt and make another $600m on the servicing over the next century.

Agree though that FSU/Clemson not having a home in advance that is bought and paid for is dumb.   Especially when someone else currently owns your rights.

UVA averaged 600k viewers from 15-19 and 600k and 240k the last two years. They are a net negative to the Big10. 

Miami averaged 1.5 million from 15-19 but dropped to just over 1 million and 600k the last two years. In '21 they got 5.67 million for the Bama game and would averaged 615k the rest of the year. They don't have their own stadium continue to let their biggest donors embarrass the University.

UNC averaged 750k from 15-19 and just over 1 million and 849k (with a Heisman level QB no less) the last two years. They vaguely reach the Washington level of viewership but who would be their Texas/USC/Oregon to help bring them along? 

Duke averaged 400k from 15-19 and 64k and 115k the last two years. Georgia Tech and Syracuse would be a better add than this. 

Just now, hawkfan said:

 

ND & Miami were just given AAU status this year.

FSU is working towards it, and they have the demographics where the presidents would look the other way.  I don't think that's true with Clemson, maybe I'm wrong.

The B1G would press hard for UNC/UVA, especially if they could get them below full share until the next TV contract - someone has to lose football games too, and be better in other sports, plus they're perfect academic fits 

Once the B1G goes to 10/11 conference games, it's going to get real tough for ND to fill it's schedule without joining a conference.  And ironically, the only non-regional option for them will be the B1G if they grab a southern wing from the ACC.

When ND gets squeezed by expanding conference slates they will have their choice of partners and Miami is 3rd in the state for brand/viewers etc. 

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18 minutes ago, hawkfan said:

 

ND & Miami were just given AAU status this year.

FSU is working towards it, and they have the demographics where the presidents would look the other way.  I don't think that's true with Clemson, maybe I'm wrong.

The B1G would press hard for UNC/UVA, especially if they could get them below full share until the next TV contract - someone has to lose football games too, and be better in other sports, plus they're perfect academic fits 

Once the B1G goes to 10/11 conference games, it's going to get real tough for ND to fill it's schedule without joining a conference.  And ironically, the only non-regional option for them will be the B1G if they grab a southern wing from the ACC.

And to expand on schools for non football front the Big10 cares only for football. The only value their 4 adds bring in non football is UCLA basketball which has finally turned the corner it seems. Of the Big 3 sports no P5 has won less NCs than the Big 10s 3. They add like a F500 company would add purely for profit with little care for the non revenue departments/sports. 

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29 minutes ago, hawkfan said:

 

ND & Miami were just given AAU status this year.

FSU is working towards it, and they have the demographics where the presidents would look the other way.  I don't think that's true with Clemson, maybe I'm wrong.

The B1G would press hard for UNC/UVA, especially if they could get them below full share until the next TV contract - someone has to lose football games too, and be better in other sports, plus they're perfect academic fits 

Once the B1G goes to 10/11 conference games, it's going to get real tough for ND to fill it's schedule without joining a conference.  And ironically, the only non-regional option for them will be the B1G if they grab a southern wing from the ACC.

Wasn’t Clemson part of the scandal as a school that manipulated data to move up the US News rankings? I think OU did it too. That’s to say I don’t think they have the academic prestige BIG wants regardless of AAU. Wasn’t it known that Nebraska was getting kicked out of AAU when the BIG invited them anyway?

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7 minutes ago, bejezuz said:

How does this benefit either the Big 12 or the TV networks?  ESPN would be better just renegotiating the ACC contract.  

This only happens IF the ACC is raided of these schools UV, UM, FSU, CLEMSON & NC. If any of those five are left behind by the BIG & SEC, then they'd be the first in line for the BIG12. The four ACC additions that the Big12 would get out of an ACC collapse are NCST, VT, LOUISVILLE & PITT. Those guys are perfect fits for the Big12. Why do some people think additions have to raise the viewership and/or be some blue blood brand. The Big12 is going be filled will feisty younger brothers that out punch their weight class and occasionally knock out the heavy weight. That makes for some entertaining football.

As we know the Linear overlords want consolidation. Three 20 team conferences give them just that. The ACC left behind will be BC, CUSE, WF & GT. They don't deserve to left out but that's life. There is a chance that B.Y. would also want Cuse & Duke in the Big22. He would love some MBB Blue Bloods.

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Pure speculation on my part, but I have the sense that UNC and UVA like being the epicenter of the ACC. And for as good as they are academically and in basketball, their football teams have been perpetually mediocre and their football tv ratings are bad to mediocre. If FSU and Clemson leave, I think they could muster a decent tv contract and stay together. Unless, of course, ESPN and Fox decide they want it dead like the PAC.

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19 minutes ago, LTbear said:

I like how they tweeted this out before they could even think up a name for that god awful final pod. 

 

It's funny and sad after this many years, you still have casual fans who are like "this is ridiculous, I could realign better than this" and then they get about 60% done with their own "perfect" realignment concept and then just start throwing shit against the wall. But rather than just going "oh" they fucking post it to the Internet.

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2 hours ago, Sir Ulrich said:

UVA averaged 600k viewers from 15-19 and 600k and 240k the last two years. They are a net negative to the Big10. 

Miami averaged 1.5 million from 15-19 but dropped to just over 1 million and 600k the last two years. In '21 they got 5.67 million for the Bama game and would averaged 615k the rest of the year. They don't have their own stadium continue to let their biggest donors embarrass the University.

UNC averaged 750k from 15-19 and just over 1 million and 849k (with a Heisman level QB no less) the last two years. They vaguely reach the Washington level of viewership but who would be their Texas/USC/Oregon to help bring them along? 

Duke averaged 400k from 15-19 and 64k and 115k the last two years. Georgia Tech and Syracuse would be a better add than this. 

When ND gets squeezed by expanding conference slates they will have their choice of partners and Miami is 3rd in the state for brand/viewers etc. 

Everyone except ND is a net negative for the B1G, even FSU/Clemson, though FSU would be the closest #2.

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30 minutes ago, 'stache said:

Pure speculation on my part, but I have the sense that UNC and UVA like being the epicenter of the ACC. And for as good as they are academically and in basketball, their football teams have been perpetually mediocre and their football tv ratings are bad to mediocre. If FSU and Clemson leave, I think they could muster a decent tv contract and stay together. Unless, of course, ESPN and Fox decide they want it dead like the PAC.

Its really a question of how much Fox wants to fuck with ESPN.    Any move from the ACC to B1G is full on stolen property.  It almost makes more sense for the B1G to go UVA/UNC/Duke/FSU because they take the biggest football brand and all the basketball cache that ESPN has built their network on.   The ACC media contract for weekly basketball games is basically who is playing UNC or Duke and for football its whoever is playing ND or FSU.  

How much is neutering your rival's last non-SEC value worth?

And what if the mouse doesn't care?   If the SEC doesn't care?   Let the ACC go, dump the money into the NBA and just feature SEC/B12 football and basketball.

Edited by Hurtlocker
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8 minutes ago, Pasken said:

Isn't Disney trying to Dump ESPN and ABC?

They're currently looking for a "strategic partner" for ESPN. So big tech with a lot of money and dumber than Amazon or Apple. YouTube come on down! 

But... 

They could load ESPN with debt and spin it off. 

ABC has value to promote their movies and parks/it's a requirement to bid on the NBA. 

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31 minutes ago, Pasken said:

Isn't Disney trying to Dump ESPN and ABC?

Yes, but its not because ESPN is losing them money. It does pretty well for them. The issue is Disney can't pay for the buying sprees they went on a few years ago. IIRC they paid $71bill for Fox. Those payments are still being made.

Disney would actually prefer to partner ESPN with somebody. But the last week or two have proven, though Amazon and Apple have money to burn, they actually never burn any. So don't expect them to partner up with ESPN.

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Regardless of what they say publicly, I don't think Clemson and FSU go to the major trouble of getting out of the GOR without some backchannel conversations with either the B1G or SEC telling them that they have a landing spot if they succeed.  The company that makes the most sense as the intermediary for those conversations is ESPN, which points to their landing spot being in the SEC.  ESPN would have to look like they have clean hands in all of this, though, so you'd need some legal theater.    

If those two leave, the ACC is in the new Big 12's situation.  Nobody else has enough value to move into the B1G or SEC.  They'd be in that fall of 2021 space that the Big 12 was in, where schools like KU and ISU were talking themselves into believing they had a Big Ten invite but that wouldn't last long.  I think it would play out the same way.  After a few months, Tobacco Road would have a hand on the reigns of the ACC, they'd be making Big 12-ish money, and they'd probably settle in and be happy.

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3 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

I remain steadfastly suspect that any ACC school will be able to break the GOR. 

I think it could be done for a more reasonable cost (there's no way the ACC could enforce $300-$500M in damages under a liquidated damages clause), but I don't think the BIG or SEC have any desire for more expansion this round, not yet at least. 

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6 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I think it could be done for a more reasonable cost (there's no way the ACC could enforce $300-$500M in damages under a liquidated damages clause), but I don't think the BIG or SEC have any desire for more expansion this round, not yet at least. 

It's not damages, that's the catch.  The ACC literally owns the rights.   If FSU wants them before 2036, they need to buy them back.

The question is, what is that worth?

It's hard for FSU to argue that they only need to pay $300m on one side and that they're worth $750m on another.

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1 hour ago, CustersDoctor said:

This only happens IF the ACC is raided of these schools UV, UM, FSU, CLEMSON & NC. If any of those five are left behind by the BIG & SEC, then they'd be the first in line for the BIG12. The four ACC additions that the Big12 would get out of an ACC collapse are NCST, VT, LOUISVILLE & PITT. Those guys are perfect fits for the Big12. Why do some people think additions have to raise the viewership and/or be some blue blood brand. The Big12 is going be filled will feisty younger brothers that out punch their weight class and occasionally knock out the heavy weight. That makes for some entertaining football.

As we know the Linear overlords want consolidation. Three 20 team conferences give them just that. The ACC left behind will be BC, CUSE, WF & GT. They don't deserve to left out but that's life. There is a chance that B.Y. would also want Cuse & Duke in the Big22. He would love some MBB Blue Bloods.

 

B1G and SEC taking ND + Stanford , Virginia, UNC, FSU and Clemson.

That'll leave 10 teams for ACC. That's not a terrible conference. I mean, it's definitely behind Big12. 

My preidiction, I know this sounds crazy, but what's to stop the Big12 and the ACC to merge then? Essentially go to an everyone else model? Hell, then pick up Cal and SDSU. 

You ensure that your champion at least gets an autobid to the dance (The SEC and B1G are obvi trying to kill that) and you have 'content'.

You'll have the two majors at 20 teams - Tier 1, a 28 team mega conference - Tier 2 - Divide the league into an East (Atlantic) Division and a West (Big) Division, and the Tier 3 Group of 5 level.

It's BAC to the Future my firend.

Doc Brown Shock GIF by Back to the Future Trilogy

 

Each League plays a 9 game schedule within their Division.

3-6. No cross divisions games. Just a championship game. As far as the other sports... IDK in the slightest

Big Atlantic Conference

Big (West)

Cal

SDSU

BYU

Utah

Arizona

ASU

Colorado

KSU

Kansas

TTech

TCU

Baylor

UH

OSU

Atlatnic (East)

IowaSt

Cincy

Pitt

WVU

Louisville

VaTEch

'Cuse

Boston College

Wake

NC State

Duke

GaTech

UCF 

Miami

 

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4 hours ago, CustersDoctor said:

 

 

2 hours ago, LTbear said:

I like how they tweeted this out before they could even think up a name for that god awful final pod. 

 

 

I mean, you call the 'East' Division the 'North' and call 'X' division the 'East'. Not really all that hard, but sitll lol as it just looks like: 'Oh and these leftover fuckers' division in that tweet.

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6 hours ago, Sir Ulrich said:

The Big10 has never taken a non AAU school in their history. The B2 in the latest round of expansion has taken pairs with at least 1 of them being in the top 15 of viewership with Washington being the lowest 2nd fiddle at ~35.  ND is the only one that fits both of those and imo they are far off from joining the Big10. UVA, UNC and Miami don't add full share value unless ND drags one of them with. FSU and Clemson probably don't get SEC anytime soon with their antics so the ACC will be stable for a few more years. 

I read on here that University of Oregon is a community college with a tiny fan base. TIL they are actually AAU and have been top 15 in viewership.

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17 hours ago, Zhorn96 said:

It was horrific.  Splintered old benches, dripping water underneath, it was like a dungeon.  Weight room could only handle 1/3rd or so if the team at a time… the stadium fucking sucked except for the view and the historic cool factor.  They had to spend the coin on it…

Rice had benches that could give you splinters.  At Cal they were literally broken with the jagged wood edges from each half exposed.

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5 hours ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

Have to wonder if this year is a curtain call for Traylor in SA as well, they have a good year with said 7th year QB his stock and name is never gonna be hotter and theres gotta be some decent to good P5 offers headed his way...Heck might even be one a few hours away in Collie Station...

Stetson Bennet has transferred to UTSA?!

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5 hours ago, Hurtlocker said:

So...?

SEC: FSU, Clemson?

B1G: UVA, UNC, Miami? Hold for ND or swipe Duke?

B12: VTech, NCState, Pitt, Louisville?

Left out: Cuse, BC, Wake, Tech?

The biggest issue I see here is ESPN is THE player in all of these moves besides the B1G, and they've invested a ton in the ACC Network.   Its equally plausible FSU/Clemson leave and the remaining 12 stay together, add UConn, and live comfortably on the buyouts, which should be significant if you can't get 12 teams to vote for dissolution.   Let's pretend its only a quarter bill each, that's $500m in the ACC's coffers, which is equal to an entire year of revenue.   They could buy Cal's debt and make another $600m on the servicing over the next century.

Agree though that FSU/Clemson not having a home in advance that is bought and paid for is dumb.   Especially when someone else currently owns your rights.

Well the Big 10 and SEC aren't going to get in the middle of the GOR fight, but they might have given them a wink, wink, nod, nod.

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34 minutes ago, Dnaguy said:

 

B1G and SEC taking ND + Stanford , Virginia, UNC, FSU and Clemson.

That'll leave 10 teams for ACC. That's not a terrible conference. I mean, it's definitely behind Big12. 

My preidiction, I know this sounds crazy, but what's to stop the Big12 and the ACC to merge then? Essentially go to an everyone else model? Hell, then pick up Cal and SDSU. 

You ensure that your champion at least gets an autobid to the dance (The SEC and B1G are obvi trying to kill that) and you have 'content'.

You'll have the two majors at 20 teams - Tier 1, a 28 team mega conference - Tier 2 - Divide the league into an East (Atlantic) Division and a West (Big) Division, and the Tier 3 Group of 5 level.

It's BAC to the Future my firend.

Doc Brown Shock GIF by Back to the Future Trilogy

 

Each League plays a 9 game schedule within their Division.

3-6. No cross divisions games. Just a championship game. As far as the other sports... IDK in the slightest

Big Atlantic Conference

Big (West)

Cal

SDSU

BYU

Utah

Arizona

ASU

Colorado

KSU

Kansas

TTech

TCU

Baylor

UH

OSU

Atlatnic (East)

IowaSt

Cincy

Pitt

WVU

Louisville

VaTEch

'Cuse

Boston College

Wake

NC State

Duke

GaTech

UCF 

Miami

 

Why would you need to merge?  Just do a joint TV contract.

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43 minutes ago, Dnaguy said:

 

Cal

SDSU

BYU

Utah

Arizona

ASU

Colorado

KSU

Kansas

TTech

TCU

Baylor

UH

OSU

Atlatnic (East)

IowaSt

Cincy

Pitt

WVU

Louisville

VaTEch

'Cuse

Boston College

Wake

NC State

Duke

GaTech

UCF 

Miami

 

This is a big NO. There are too many teams on that list that don't belong in the show. Consolidation is happening. Its great for the schools surviving it and devastation for the left behind. I think we're headed toward three 20 team conferences. We're certainly not headed for a 28 team conference. Here are the 10 bottom feeders in your list, you can keep two. CAL, SDSU, BU, UH, CINCY, BC, CUSE, WAKE, DUKE, GT & UCF.

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34 minutes ago, bullet said:

Why would you need to merge?  Just do a joint TV contract.

The idea I’ve seen floated out there is merger and dump the Eastern footprint (assumes Stanford joins Big Ten with ND).

ACC loses 4+ND=10 merge with Big 12=26+UConn+Cal=28 and you have 2 conferences of 14 (one of each side of the Mississippi) with joint tv contracts, scheduling agreements and a network.

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1 minute ago, CustersDoctor said:

This is a big NO. There are too many teams on that list that don't belong in the show. Consolidation is happening. Its great for the schools surviving it and devastation for the left behind. I think we're headed toward three 20 team conferences. We're certainly not headed for a 28 team conference. Here are the 10 bottom feeders in your list, you can keep two. CAL, SDSU, BU, UH, CINCY, BC, CUSE, WAKE, DUKE, GT & UCF.

Nearly all of them are better contributors than Rutgers and Vanderbilt.  I would also suggest some of them are better than Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Maryland, Mississippi State, etc.

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1 hour ago, CustersDoctor said:

This is a big NO. There are too many teams on that list that don't belong in the show. Consolidation is happening. Its great for the schools surviving it and devastation for the left behind. I think we're headed toward three 20 team conferences. We're certainly not headed for a 28 team conference. Here are the 10 bottom feeders in your list, you can keep two. CAL, SDSU, BU, UH, CINCY, BC, CUSE, WAKE, DUKE, GT & UCF.

Did you go to a Big 10 school?  I count 11!

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2 hours ago, Hurtlocker said:

It's not damages, that's the catch.  The ACC literally owns the rights.   If FSU wants them before 2036, they need to buy them back.

The question is, what is that worth?

It's hard for FSU to argue that they only need to pay $300m on one side and that they're worth $750m on another.

The other side of it is that if you're the ACC, the longer you wait to let FSU/Clemson leave, the lower their exit value.  There's a reason Texas and OU were willing to hang around so long after announcing their exit, and that was less than five years, not more than ten.  Would FSU and Clemson each pay $100M+ today to escape today? Probably, and maybe quite a bit more.  There's an upper end on that before it become untenable financially, but it's a huge number.  That upper end number goes down annually though. 

So if you're a member of the ACC, and your revenue recently took a huge hit from COVID, maybe you take the short term cash infusion in exchange for releasing them.

But this is why I think the SEC has to be their destination.  In order for that to work, the ACC needs ESPN to keep payouts about where they are now.  ESPN has no reason to do that unless those two are going to the SEC.     

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1 hour ago, camel at sea said:

The other side of it is that if you're the ACC, the longer you wait to let FSU/Clemson leave, the lower their exit value.  There's a reason Texas and OU were willing to hang around so long after announcing their exit, and that was less than five years, not more than ten.  Would FSU and Clemson each pay $100M+ today to escape today? Probably, and maybe quite a bit more.  There's an upper end on that before it become untenable financially, but it's a huge number.  That upper end number goes down annually though. 

So if you're a member of the ACC, and your revenue recently took a huge hit from COVID, maybe you take the short term cash infusion in exchange for releasing them.

But this is why I think the SEC has to be their destination.  In order for that to work, the ACC needs ESPN to keep payouts about where they are now.  ESPN has no reason to do that unless those two are going to the SEC.     

Which is why it does not make a lot of sense.  The SEC and ESPN do not gain much from adding FSU and Clemson, so I am not sure why they would help this along.  If each school offered the ACC $500 million for their rights back, I'm sure the ACC schools would like to take it, but I am not sure why ESPN would proceed to agree to pay the SEC schools enough to make it worth everyone's while.  And my guess is $500 million is more than FSU/Clemson can afford, especially if it takes them years to get a full share in their new conference.

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I finally understand why the PAC 12 failed.

In a USA Today story it was said that the PAC 12 turned down $30m from espn and countered at $50m.

espn then bailed on the pac 12 and agreed to bring in the Pac 10 schools into the big 12 at the rate they did.

It all makes total sense now.  

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15 hours ago, EastHorn said:

I feel like the final move on the board is an SEC and BIG10 agreement in which they pay the football and maybe basketball players and crown a champion outside the NCAA framework (basically they leave NCAA for football).  This creates an NFL lite that would sell. Players can transfer end of season no restrictions once in their career so small budget schools can get guys that can’t crack the huddle at a Texas or Ohio State after a year or two. 

Not going to happen.  

6 hours ago, bejezuz said:

How does this benefit either the Big 12 or the TV networks?  ESPN would be better just renegotiating the ACC contract.  

Is this a serious question?  This would solidify the Big 12's seat at the power conference table.  

5 hours ago, The Hot Dog Buffet said:

The Big 12 did it out of self-preservation, though. They really didn't want to add those nerds.

Umm, they added us.  We're as nerdy as it gets.  

1 hour ago, CustersDoctor said:

This is a big NO. There are too many teams on that list that don't belong in the show. Consolidation is happening. Its great for the schools surviving it and devastation for the left behind. I think we're headed toward three 20 team conferences. We're certainly not headed for a 28 team conference. Here are the 10 bottom feeders in your list, you can keep two. CAL, SDSU, BU, UH, CINCY, BC, CUSE, WAKE, DUKE, GT & UCF.

Longterm it would be bad for everyone as the general interest in the sport (and thus the $$$) would dry up and that pie would shrink like a pair of naked testicles in the Bering Strait.  

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16 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

I finally understand why the PAC 12 failed.

In a USA Today story it was said that the PAC 12 turned down $30m from espn and countered at $50m.

espn then bailed on the pac 12 and agreed to bring in the Pac 10 schools into the big 12 at the rate they did.

It all makes total sense now.  

I think Oregon and UW not wanting to sign the GOR killed any and every deal. Turner has a hole burning in their pocket. They would have happily paid $30 million per school to get into college football. 
 

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20 minutes ago, Texas Wahoo said:

Which is why it does not make a lot of sense.  The SEC and ESPN do not gain much from adding FSU and Clemson, so I am not sure why they would help this along.  If each school offered the ACC $500 million for their rights back, I'm sure the ACC schools would like to take it, but I am not sure why ESPN would proceed to agree to pay the SEC schools enough to make it worth everyone's while.  And my guess is $500 million is more than FSU/Clemson can afford, especially if it takes them years to get a full share in their new conference.

For pro rata shares to those two schools, ESPN and the SEC could shut and lock the door on the Deep South in college athletics.  That's potentially a very valuable chip if you're looking for a financial partner.  How much would Apple or Amazon pay for a piece of the SEC?  Likely a lot.  You'd have 90% of college football's national titles since 2000, the nation's best HS football recruiting footprint, etc.  

I also think that if FSU and Clemson are gone, the ACC gets stable.  UNC and UVA aren't worth B1G shares.  The B1G already added two dilutive members a few days ago.  The only way they'd be able to add again without taking another loss would be if ND joins.  So for the price of moving FSU and Clemson, you also buy ACC stability (stability that probably keeps ND indy, even without FSU and Clemson.)  The ACC's Tier 1 deal is as undervalued right now as the Big 12's deal was before Texas and OU announced their exit. The Mouse might be willing to keep them status quo in exchange for letting their two football jewels go.  

I don't know what FSU and Clemson could afford, but if ESPN is mediating the GOR exit, it doesn't have to be $500M each or anything prohibitive.  Would the ACC release them for $125M each and status quo media rights payouts?  I think they would.  

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