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Realignment talk not going away


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4 hours ago, camel at sea said:

as Texans and Okies watch college football, the viewership for the new Big 12 will be pretty good

Every shit-eating ou fan I know likes to drop the old "Ah alwayz root fer OSU when they ain't playin' Oh-Yew!" any time bedlam comes up in discussion. So I guess that means we're bound for huge Neilson numbers. Or whatever they use now.

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Every shit-eating ou fan I know likes to drop the old "Ah alwayz root fer OSU when they ain't playin' Oh-Yew!" any time bedlam comes up in discussion. So I guess that means we're bound for huge Neilson numbers. Or whatever they use now.
And yet every single article posted online is full of unsolicited OU fans talking shit. Weird.
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On 6/9/2023 at 12:53 PM, TKthunder2 said:

Which linear partner is going to carry 60% of their content?

The PAC12 has lived with a lousy linear to streaming ratio for six years. Literally a third of their content is buried on the PAC12 network. During the non conference part of the season the ratio is really bad. Last season 15 of the first 32 PAC12 games were streamed. Soooo, by staying at 10 teams, the PACX will get just enough linear coverage to have THREE games a week on linear During conference play. That gives them ratio of 3 linear to 2 streaming, when it has been 4 to 2. Surely they can get Thursday night game, a Saturday matinee, and the Saturday late night slot on linear. If they can pull this off they'll have 60% linear ratio and prolly a 6 year 1.8 billion dollar deal that pays 30mill a year per school and no expansion.

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5 hours ago, tonedeaf said:

I can't figure out how anyone thinks the B12 is worth 50m per school minus TX-ou.  I don't see the value.  I don't see the conference as being all that stable.  Who are the big names? BYU, WV, UCF will be logging lots of miles.  I see lots of empty seats.   Just my thoughts.  

Tell us you are trolling without telling us you are trolling.... BYU and WVU are big names and the parity and competitiveness of this conference will draw ratings, which will generate the value needed for that level of revenue.  The Big 12 will be fine as the 3rd Power Conference (if it even comes to less then a P5).

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52 minutes ago, FartingDreamer said:

Tell us you are trolling without telling us you are trolling.... BYU and WVU are big names and the parity and competitiveness of this conference will draw ratings, which will generate the value needed for that level of revenue.  The Big 12 will be fine as the 3rd Power Conference (if it even comes to less then a P5).

If you take the new 69 P5 schools and divided them in 3rds, you have 23 big names, 23 medium names, and 23 small names.

BYU and WVU would not be classified as big names.

If you are looking at all of DI then sure, but we’re not talking about basketball, we’re talking about big time football.

I agree the Big 12 will be fine, no need to exaggerate… 

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3 hours ago, Okie State said:
3 hours ago, Sandman said:
Every shit-eating ou fan I know likes to drop the old "Ah alwayz root fer OSU when they ain't playin' Oh-Yew!" any time bedlam comes up in discussion. So I guess that means we're bound for huge Neilson numbers. Or whatever they use now.

And yet every single article posted online is full of unsolicited OU fans talking shit. Weird.

And they are talking through that meth-induced teeth grinding. 

So annoying. 

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2 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

If you take the new 69 P5 schools and divided them in 3rds, you have 23 big names, 23 medium names, and 23 small names.

BYU and WVU would not be classified as big names.

If you are looking at all of DI then sure, but we’re not talking about basketball, we’re talking about big time football.

I agree the Big 12 will be fine, no need to exaggerate… 

With all due respect you are quite wrong about BYU and WVU.  BYU is a Top 40 brand with a built-in national base and WVU is a Teir 3 brand as well.

Edited by FartingDreamer
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2 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

If you take the new 69 P5 schools and divided them in 3rds, you have 23 big names, 23 medium names, and 23 small names.

BYU and WVU would not be classified as big names.

If you are looking at all of DI then sure, but we’re not talking about basketball, we’re talking about big time football.

I agree the Big 12 will be fine, no need to exaggerate… 

 

15 minutes ago, FartingDreamer said:

With all due respect you are quite wrong about BYU and WVU.  BYU is a Top 40 brand with a built-in national base and WVU is a Teir 3 brand as well.

Do you see how your rebuttal falls just short?

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4 hours ago, CustersDoctor said:

The PAC12 has lived with a lousy linear to streaming ratio for six years. Literally a third of their content is buried on the PAC12 network. During the non conference part of the season the ratio is really bad. Last season 15 of the first 32 PAC12 games were streamed. Soooo, by staying at 10 teams, the PACX will get just enough linear coverage to have THREE games a week on linear During conference play. That gives them ratio of 3 linear to 2 streaming, when it has been 4 to 2. Surely they can get Thursday night game, a Saturday matinee, and the Saturday late night slot on linear. If they can pull this off they'll have 60% linear ratio and prolly a 6 year 1.8 billion dollar deal that pays 30mill a year per school and no expansion.

Zero chance of this happening - that would be 86% of their games on linear.   The B12 could do that because they had no conference network - FS1 was basically that.   The Pac needs to feed the PACN beast, even if the beast isn't on TV anywhere.

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15 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

If you take the new 69 P5 schools and divided them in 3rds, you have 23 big names, 23 medium names, and 23 small names.

BYU and WVU would not be classified as big names.

If you are looking at all of DI then sure, but we’re not talking about basketball, we’re talking about big time football.

I agree the Big 12 will be fine, no need to exaggerate… 

Fair enough.   (Sorry, I was drunk.)

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15 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

If you take the new 69 P5 schools and divided them in 3rds, you have 23 big names, 23 medium names, and 23 small names.

BYU and WVU would not be classified as big names.

If you are looking at all of DI then sure, but we’re not talking about basketball, we’re talking about big time football.

I agree the Big 12 will be fine, no need to exaggerate… 

Are you sure it's 23 big names? 

Off the top of my head : 

West Coast - USC

Midwest - Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska 

Southwest - Texas and OU 

South - Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, LSU, Clemson, Florida State, Miami 

Northeast - Penn State 

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https://tucson.com/sports/pac-12-hotline/pac-12-mailbag-the-importance-of-the-oregon-washington-game-colorado-smoke-and-more/article_cbe57f02-0758-11ee-9cf4-030499842075.html

Wilner not so much rainbows and unicorns:

"...Wilner: Two things can be equally true and, in the Hotline’s opinion, are equally true:

Colorado, Utah, Arizona and ASU much prefer to remain in the Pac-12.

The four schools must perform their due diligence and keep their options open in case Commissioner George Kliavkoff presents an untenable media rights deal.

We have no doubt the Buffaloes have met with Big 12 representatives. In that regard, the media narrative is more than smoke.

 

But meeting with Big 12 representatives and preferring the Big 12 are two different things. From that standpoint, much of what you hear and read is smoke.

 
 

Chancellor Phil DiStefano said earlier this spring that he was content to wait for Kliavkoff to present the schools with an offer. We have no reason to believe his view has changed.

If the offer is reasonable, the Buffaloes will remain in the conference. If not, they will leave. And that’s true for other schools, as well.

The Hotline continues to expect a reasonable offer.

That said, nothing is certain until the schools sign on the bottom line...."

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1 hour ago, bullet said:

https://tucson.com/sports/pac-12-hotline/pac-12-mailbag-the-importance-of-the-oregon-washington-game-colorado-smoke-and-more/article_cbe57f02-0758-11ee-9cf4-030499842075.html

Wilner not so much rainbows and unicorns:

"...Wilner: Two things can be equally true and, in the Hotline’s opinion, are equally true:

Colorado, Utah, Arizona and ASU much prefer to remain in the Pac-12.

The four schools must perform their due diligence and keep their options open in case Commissioner George Kliavkoff presents an untenable media rights deal.

We have no doubt the Buffaloes have met with Big 12 representatives. In that regard, the media narrative is more than smoke.

 

But meeting with Big 12 representatives and preferring the Big 12 are two different things. From that standpoint, much of what you hear and read is smoke.

 
 

Chancellor Phil DiStefano said earlier this spring that he was content to wait for Kliavkoff to present the schools with an offer. We have no reason to believe his view has changed.

If the offer is reasonable, the Buffaloes will remain in the conference. If not, they will leave. And that’s true for other schools, as well.

The Hotline continues to expect a reasonable offer.

That said, nothing is certain until the schools sign on the bottom line...."

What a putz. 
 

For months his line has been that no schools would leave the PAC 12 for the Big 12. 
 

Now it’s, well they may leave, but they don’t want to. 
 

Asshole. 

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4 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Are you sure it's 23 big names? 

Off the top of my head : 

West Coast - USC

Midwest - Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska 

Southwest - Texas and OU 

South - Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, LSU, Clemson, Florida State, Miami 

Northeast - Penn State 

It was a generous division on my part (mostly because the math was easy) but keeping with the theme you could add a few borderline teams like Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, Michigan State to round out the numbers.

If you divide by 4 to have big, medium large, medium small, small, you’d have around 17 in each category which would pretty much lines up with your list for the big names.

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4 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

It was a generous division on my part (mostly because the math was easy) but keeping with the theme you could add a few borderline teams like Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, Michigan State to round out the numbers.

If you divide by 4 to have big, medium large, medium small, small, you’d have around 17 in each category which would pretty much lines up with your list for the big names.

Yeah I’d be hard pressed to put any of those 4 in the blue blood category. U Dub is a damn good team and should have a pretty good look at the CFP this season. 

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They wouldn't encourage you to attend the temple yet, but  rather the LDS church does have an addiction recovery program similar to the 12-step program that they would encourage you to attend first to get the addiction out of the way prior to attending the temple.

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On 6/10/2023 at 11:12 PM, Hurtlocker said:

Zero chance of this happening - that would be 86% of their games on linear.   The B12 could do that because they had no conference network - FS1 was basically that.   The Pac needs to feed the PACN beast, even if the beast isn't on TV anywhere.

3 games on linear & 2 on streaming will be 60% linear vs 40% streaming.

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BYU is one of the top programs in the country.  Right behind Baylor and ahead of Vandy.

Source:  WSJ  https://graphics.wsj.com/table/NCAA_2019

RANK
 
SCHOOL
 
REVENUES ($)
 
2018 VALUE ($)
 
2017 VALUE ($)
 
1 Texas 163,928,296 1,105,493,378 1,243,124,000
2 Ohio State 136,574,384 1,048,166,317 1,510,482,000
3 Alabama 140,831,439 1,009,903,620 930,001,000
4 Michigan 133,665,548 924,625,003 892,951,000
5 Notre Dame 118,740,294 913,401,562 856,938,000
6 Georgia 138,088,467 891,099,506 822,310,000
7 Oklahoma 126,416,865 885,558,053 1,001,967,000
8 Auburn 128,960,499 871,907,615 724,191,000
9 LSU 122,703,938 852,445,897 910,927,000
10 Tennessee 113,766,836 727,849,384 745,640,000
11 Florida 117,963,328 634,885,946 682,031,000
12 Texas A & M 101,114,415 540,883,003 522,863,000
13 Penn State 103,736,242 518,754,453 549,497,000
14 Wisconsin 88,713,614 474,552,451 439,379,000
15 Nebraska 93,990,274 471,585,561 507,679,000
16 Arkansas 99,599,352 462,727,317 456,153,000
17 South Carolina 101,297,652 460,753,199 484,757,000
18 Iowa 100,040,046 458,973,690 483,564,000
19 Washington 102,248,826 440,821,919 434,313,000
20 Michigan State 75,674,898 354,160,110 336,794,000
21 Oregon 81,953,780 348,920,032 368,529,000
22 Mississippi 78,736,032 341,560,846 330,503,000
23 Southern California 74,174,551 326,021,581 324,195,000
24 UCLA 64,845,985 302,006,607 314,436,000
25 Arizona State 70,375,000 300,826,000 315,412,000
26 Clemson 72,218,581 298,051,865 328,411,000
27 Florida State 94,597,591 289,776,745 385,339,000
28 Virginia Tech 65,851,157 278,315,358 269,883,000
29 Kansas State 68,787,446 277,146,330 277,203,000
30 Oklahoma State 63,909,363 270,953,731 285,293,000
31 Kentucky 66,574,141 270,898,513 287,589,000
32 Minnesota 73,576,081 269,798,883 260,264,000
33 Texas Tech 61,914,432 244,097,131 246,871,000
34 Stanford 68,340,862 232,872,852 225,479,000
35 Miss State 50,754,094 223,175,464 230,655,000
36 Georgia Tech 59,422,543 215,013,855 212,068,000
37 Utah 61,344,782 213,586,437 206,365,000
38 Colorado 72,425,832 208,242,792 203,533,000
39 Kansas 64,704,137 208,020,519 183,031,000
40 California Berkeley 61,566,987 198,881,848 220,017,000
41 Miami of Florida 47,820,654 193,474,341 254,502,000
42 Texas Christian 66,084,236 191,286,297 153,631,000
43 Iowa State 47,732,812 187,819,863 196,973,000
44 Indiana 61,193,975 181,988,355 178,168,000
45 Northwestern 58,545,202 179,637,659 163,315,000
46 North Carolina State 51,911,816 179,255,274 191,813,000
47 Louisville 58,011,677 175,765,264 160,899,000
48 Arizona 51,865,116 166,020,258 146,153,000
49 Illinois 52,784,303 156,797,041 143,318,000
50 North Carolina 50,024,180 155,246,919 147,179,000
51 Maryland 49,907,652 149,751,824 147,608,000
52 Wash State 51,125,157 142,466,371 142,052,000
53 Virginia 31,675,701 134,926,313 168,534,000
54 Purdue 55,132,293 134,004,805 135,021,000
55 Oregon State 48,212,470 127,555,982 144,713,000
56 Missouri 42,568,466 122,333,162 126,219,000
57 Syracuse 44,613,716 121,057,725 120,903,000
58 Pittsburgh 48,091,636 112,942,437 114,468,000
59 Baylor 50,465,954 105,708,897 103,591,000
60 BYU 32,704,695 93,302,419 98,924,000
61 Vanderbilt 36,915,107 81,494,539 73,991,000
62 Boston College 37,155,617 81,051,159 82,241,000
63 Boise State 27,172,138 78,823,574 77,981,000
64 Wake Forest 32,604,709 76,590,240 52,940,000
65 Central Florida 29,550,300 68,117,425 82,302,000
66 Duke 35,987,926 67,502,331 64,195,000
67 Rutgers 35,376,322 67,018,106 72,441,000
68 West Virginia 34,050,353 61,134,888 72,049,000
69 South Florida 24,026,107 58,188,736 70,189,000
70 Connecticut 32,695,983 56,065,312 59,776,000
71 UAB 28,840,003 49,527,523 N/A
72 Houston 22,613,559 41,385,725 41,386,000
73 Temple 25,992,000 40,668,751 40,669,000
74 Southern Methodist 21,848,464 36,047,017 36,047,000
75 Memphis 19,849,064 32,289,623 32,290,000
76 Wyoming 20,381,998 31,958,278 34,554,000
77 Cincinnati 21,140,792 30,230,291 30,230,000
78 Colorado State 20,588,154 29,387,009 30,221,000
79 East Carolina 18,270,690 28,407,940 28,408,000
80 San Diego State 19,148,065 27,715,793 27,716,000
81 Fresno State 18,658,904 26,465,123 29,325,000
82 North Texas 15,870,821 26,435,533 29,266,000
83 Hawaii 16,823,588 26,284,393 26,284,000
84 Florida International 16,435,347 23,269,107 24,145,000
85 UNLV 14,741,875 22,116,472 21,772,000
86 Ohio 14,749,167 22,081,346 22,302,000
87 Rice 15,429,983 21,452,498 21,453,000
88 Marshall 13,067,058 20,707,560 21,483,000
89 Akron 12,354,872 20,494,710 20,235,000
90 Middle Tennessee 13,572,649 19,288,110 19,322,000
91 Toledo 13,339,849 18,735,651 18,736,000
92 UTEP 12,808,393 18,701,471 19,344,000
93 Utah State 13,904,944 18,304,858 18,305,000
94 Nevada 14,023,542 17,477,801 17,478,000
95 Western Michigan 12,863,908 17,133,922 17,134,000
96 Western Kentucky 13,764,592 16,531,955 16,532,000
97 Buffalo 12,283,034 15,885,812 16,090,000
98 Northern Illinois 10,300,855 15,728,575 16,141,000
99 New Mexico 16,789,019 15,380,142 15,380,000
100 Troy 13,247,801 15,220,137 14,879,000

 

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On 6/10/2023 at 5:41 PM, camel at sea said:

OU was probably the one leading the SEC move initially.  OU's Tier 3 deal is the one that was up so they had the reason to start the rights talks.  OU was pissed at its old Tier 3 partner, FOX, over the constant 11 a.m. kickoffs.  Castiglione took a public shot at FOX when the '21 OU-NU kickoff time was announced.  OU had basically begged FOX behind the scenes not to choose that game for "Big Noon" or to kick it later, due to the alumni events associated with the 50th anniversary of the "Game of the Century."  FOX told OU to pound sand.  That was just the latest in a long list of OU grievance over that issue.  "Big Noon" did not exist when OU signed its deal with the Big 12, so the Big 12 and the media side were disingenuous when they kept slamming OU with the "you signed the deal" stuff.  I'd guess that when OU approached ESPN about Tier 3, the topic of switching leagues came up with it.  From there, OU calls UT and the two start making plans.  The SEC was the move that made the most sense, both for the recruiting benefits that would come with it, and the ease it would present for folding the LHN into the SECN.  I'm sure UT and OU both wanted to be in the room while the SEC hashed out its own NIL policy.  

OSU didn't pitch a big fit in the legislature b/c the Big 12 was given assurances by the media partners about its future pretty quickly, and before the situation could devolve in that direction.  ESPN/FOX both signed off on the 4 team expansion.  I assume that the 4 team expansion was done with some preliminary discussions over the terms of the next rights agreement, too.  

All in all, this is going to end up a great outcome for everyone.  A few Big 12 schools are going to win at a higher level than they ever have, play in better TV windows than they ever have, etc., while still making really good money.  UT and OU will be in a conference of peer athletic departments for the first time, ticket values will go up, donations will go up, etc.  

I thought the general consensus was that OU was lifting its skirt to all of the other P5 conferences & promised to bring little sister along if they needed another school to make it work but no one was interested in OU with OSU & they needed to get their hot friend UT to come with them in order to get the invite. Apparently UT preferred SEC sports over B1G academics & snow so they gave Sankey a call & said "we want to keep the RRS so OU gets to come & you have to publicly humiliate a&m if you want us" which Sankey gladly accepted.

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2 hours ago, hook me said:

I thought the general consensus was that OU was lifting its skirt to all of the other P5 conferences & promised to bring little sister along if they needed another school to make it work but no one was interested in OU with OSU & they needed to get their hot friend UT to come with them in order to get the invite. Apparently UT preferred SEC sports over B1G academics & snow so they gave Sankey a call & said "we want to keep the RRS so OU gets to come & you have to publicly humiliate a&m if you want us" which Sankey gladly accepted.

i'll be quoting this theory as the reason going forward forever and it will be truth. 

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On 6/10/2023 at 6:41 PM, FartingDreamer said:

Tell us you are trolling without telling us you are trolling.... BYU and WVU are big names and the parity and competitiveness of this conference will draw ratings, which will generate the value needed for that level of revenue.  The Big 12 will be fine as the 3rd Power Conference (if it even comes to less then a P5).

? BYU a big name?

It appears that BYU finished ranked in the AP Top 5 twice, in its history. 
 
Really? You’re going with that, on a Texas board?

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I was around some Sooner fans about four years ago. They were all telling me that the SEC badly wanted OU, but didn’t want Texas. The SEC fans o. The Sooner message boards told them that Texas was a bad co Terence mate, and the LHN made us poison. 
 
I wasn’t convinced- pretty sure we’d drop the LHN if it was in the way of what we wanted- but they were so sure they were right…

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The latest we're hearing on Colorado, the Big 12 and all things realignment

Quote

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Colorado football program hasn't won a league title since 2001, sputtered to a 1-11 mark last season and has hibernated on the south side of mediocrity for the better part of two decades.

Despite that, Colorado has somehow managed to become the most compelling program in all of college athletics. Deion Sanders' arrival as head coach has coincided with the school positioning itself as a potential linchpin for the next round of conference realignment.

Keeping Up With Colorado has been the sport's smash hit of the offseason -- Louis Vuitton luggage coming in, waves of players heading out and school officials mulling a new conference partner. Welcome to the college football offseason in 2023 -- reality television plotlines becoming the industry's reality.

With the season's kickoff still nearly three months away, Colorado's conference affiliation has become the centerpiece of realignment speculation. Here in the dog days of June, the periscopes of paranoia from campuses and conference offices around the country are locked in on Boulder.

How will the Pac-12's impending TV deal impact Colorado and the Big 12? When will the SEC and Big Ten think about more expansion? And what's going on with the ACC? Here's a peek at some potential answers to realignment's biggest questions after talking to power brokers in all corners of the college sports industry.

What will Colorado do?

Here's the bottom line on Colorado. It has met with the Big 12. It has been in the Big 12 in a prior life, leaving after the 2010-11 season.

It remains improbable the Buffaloes leave for the Big 12 until the Pac-12 presidents get a firm sense of what their next television deal is going to look like. Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano has said as much. However, sources told ESPN that Colorado's patience has waned, which prompted the in-person meeting with the Big 12 back in May.

Still, realignment decisions are made by university officials and boards, who are historically not as bold as Coach Prime. This is a legacy move for DiStefano and athletic director Rick George, as it impacts the whole university for the next generation. As Arizona president Bobby Robbins said in Washington, D.C., last week, Pac-12 schools are preparing to make decisions once the league delivers details on the TV contract. "I think it's going to be quick," Robbins said. "I really do."

When will those numbers come in?

The latest timeline for a deal came from Washington State president Kirk Schulz, who predicted by the end of June in a board meeting on Friday. Holding the Pac-12 to Schulz's date may be foolish, as it came in the context of him trying to get board approval for a budget, not a hard-and-fast deadline. The most realistic expectation for the Pac-12 remains later this summer.

The Pac-12 won't be blindsided if Colorado does end up leaving. It has been acknowledged around the league that the Buffaloes would be replaced by San Diego State, a quick solution that delivers a desirable market.

But it's also not as simple as plug and play, since the symbolism of Colorado leaving would likely mean more than the actual defection, leading to more departures and uncertainty.

Who else could end up jumping to the Big 12?

The prospect of Colorado leaving for the Big 12 is real enough that schools are already jockeying to see who could join them.

It is instructive that Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark denied meeting with Memphis about joining the conference but hasn't denied contact with Colorado and UConn. For now, the Memphis interest remains strongest on Memphis' side, as they are just part of the Big 12's whiteboard of potential additions.

Sources say the Big 12 has held an in-person visit with school officials at Colorado at a neutral site. And they've also had an on-campus visit to Connecticut. That UConn meeting has some predicting that if Colorado does jump to the Big 12, UConn is a top choice if none of the other Four Corner schools -- Arizona, Arizona State, Utah -- join the Buffaloes.

But there's also a notion bubbling up in the Big 12 that patience may be the most prudent option if Colorado ends up joining the league in the upcoming months. (This assumes no one else from the Pac-12 comes with them.)

The Big 12's main objective is fortifying the league with the best brands and markets to maximize revenue in the league's next television deal, which comes up after the 2030 football season. Could they see if some of the aggrieved ACC schools end up breaking away and attempt to poach some of the leftovers?

"There's a lot of unhappiness in the ACC right now," said a Big 12 source. "Why not see what happens with the Pac-12 and the ACC a little more before making any decisions?"

Every Pac-12 school with options has been exploring potential moves, as the league's protracted timeline for a TV deal has made it irresponsible for schools or their representatives not to pick up the phone and see what's out there.

If the Pac-12 numbers don't materialize by the time media days roll around in mid-July, perhaps schools will get a little more anxious. But for now, waiting and making other moves to maximize revenue -- like the recent Mexico initiative -- looks like the Big 12's short-term course of action.

Can the Pac-12 keep things together?

Yes, it can. The stakes here have been clear and haven't really changed since we visited this topic in March.

The future of the league rests on commissioner George Kliavkoff delivering a television deal and coinciding grant of rights that's flush with enough money to keep the league together. Nothing else matters.

Robbins, the University of Arizona president, said last week he's optimistic the league stays together. But call around to the traditional television partners and those in the industry who know where money flows, and there's still an aura of mystery to how the Pac-12 gets it done.

Until both the deal and grant of rights -- which ties each school's TV money to the conference for the duration of the deal -- are signed, uncertainty remains. Have-nots like Oregon State and Washington State remain hopeful. The schools with options to upgrade continue to explore them.

Robbins spoke extensively about Arizona and the other schools needing to see the numbers of the upcoming deal before any moves are made. "I've seen forecasts and projections," Robbins said. "I do think there's good data on what the Pac-12 is valued at. I've seen those numbers. If we get close to those numbers, I think we'll be fine."

Once the numbers arrive, schools still have to agree to their grant of rights for that amount and length of time. Robbins was cagey when asked about reports that the grant of rights have already been agreed to, saying essentially that the presidents need to see a deal. "Show me the data," he said. "We've got to see the data, and I think that's what everybody's waiting on. And it sounds like it's coming soon."

Per a source, the league has already decided if there's an early exit fee and what it would look like for any school attempting to leave the conference early. "It allows the league to move faster once the media partners are set to announce a deal," said a Pac-12 source of the early grant-of-rights discussions.

This shroud of uncertainty can all go away for the Pac-12 if the television deal has a numeric value and comparable reach to a deal like the Big 12's, which delivers about $31.7 million annually to each school.

Sign a comparable deal and this stretch of Pac-12 awkwardness, vulnerability and uncertainty becomes a distant memory. But no one is still quite sure where the money and exposure are coming from.

"Right now, everyone's dance card is pretty full," an industry source told ESPN this weekend.

Could North Carolina -- along with Virginia -- actually be the most intriguing ACC options in future expansion? 

When will the Big Ten or SEC be back in the realignment business?

The term Power Two is the most accurate way to describe the current college athletics landscape. As that moat increases between the Big Ten, SEC and everyone else, the plotting to get across the moat over the course of the next decade will dominate decision making.

While the Big Ten and SEC have both prided themselves on distinctly different league cultures, there's a turf war looming in the distance as big brands inevitably creep up to the Power Two: Who can land Virginia and North Carolina?

Both leagues are peering at each other from their respective league headquarters. Neither wants to be overtly destructive or accused of tortious interference. (That's legalese for prying a school out of a current contract, as the expiring deals of the Big 12 and Pac-12 allowed the marquee defections from there in recent years.)

But neither league wants to be a step behind the other. So they watch and wait.

This is what makes the prospect of landing North Carolina and Virginia integral in both leagues' down-the-road expansion plans. Outside of Notre Dame, there are no programs that will be as coveted by the SEC and Big Ten thanks to both geography and market.

To be clear, none of this is imminent. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said publicly last year that his league is happy to stay at 16 teams for now. The Big Ten has a new commissioner, Tony Petitti, and a current television deal to iron out. It's coming off league leaders shooting down a late push by Kevin Warren to bring in Oregon and Washington.

Meanwhile, all 14 ACC teams are tied to the league through a TV contract with ESPN that runs through 2036. And sources around the league are skeptical of an imminent breakaway attempt. It's just too complicated, given the legal and financial questions.

It's important to remember that expansion desirability does not directly correlate to football success, which is why there may be smoke coming out of Clemson's fans' ears reading this. Florida State and Miami, too. Think about the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri to the SEC or Rutgers and Maryland to the Big Ten, none of which has won a league football title since arriving.

North Carolina and Virginia mark a geographic, population and recruiting battleground for the SEC and Big Ten. They are desirable media markets and could help with student recruiting, as they are the No. 9 (North Carolina) and No. 12 (Virginia) most populous states in the country.

Both North Carolina and Virginia are in contiguous states for both leagues. (Notre Dame is, too, with Indiana bordering Kentucky and amid the Big Ten footprint.)

It was always theorized to be former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany's ideal scenario to someday lure his alma mater, UNC, to the Big Ten, and that the Maryland and Rutgers move opened up the I-95 corridor to make it happen. He just ran out of time.

Will one of his successors be able to pull it off?

What can keep the ACC together long term?

An ACC source indicated this week that the best hope for the league to stay together in the long term may be some type of additional unequal revenue sharing that goes beyond the recent revenue adjustments.

The seven have-not schools in the league are facing an existential question. Do they give up more money to the league's top earners and those who draw the biggest audiences? Or do they eventually find out the value of a league with Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Duke, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech? It's hard to imagine it would be comparable.

Unequal revenue sharing has long been viewed as a league killer. That's why there's a damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don't feel in the ACC right now.

Unequal revenue sharing eventually split up the Big 12, helping send Nebraska, Missouri and Texas A&M running more than a decade ago.

On the flip side, USC and UCLA left the Pac-12 in part because the league didn't stress it as an option.

But telling schools that are already pressed financially to give up millions to their in-conference competitors is a difficult administrative pill to swallow. Of course, so is being relegated to an inferior league for less money down the road.

It's also hard to imagine the league looking similar in five years. So when does discontent lead to action?

No one knows. If the seven ACC schools that have met about alternative options -- Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and NC State -- leave together, they really don't have a lucrative future tied to each other.

The breakaway ACC schools would need to go to another league for a better pay day than the current one. And they'd need to cleanse themselves of legal issues relating to their departure before another league would feel good taking them.

So does that leave re-slicing the current ACC pie a better option for all?

 

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Unequal revenue sharing has long been viewed as a league killer. That's why there's a damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don't feel in the ACC right now.

Unequal revenue sharing eventually split up the Big 12, helping send Nebraska, Missouri and Texas A&M running more than a decade ago.

I get so tired of reading this crap when neither Corn nor aggy ever voted for equal revenue sharing. How did Mizzery vote? Not that anyone on this board cares.

Fuck Pete Thamel

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13 hours ago, statsman said:

? BYU a big name?

It appears that BYU finished ranked in the AP Top 5 twice, in its history. 
 
Really? You’re going with that, on a Texas board?

I mean, we're not exactly a blueblood, but we put ourselves on the map by making innovative contributions to the way offense is played and are known for producing QBs, head coaches,, won a national title, a Heisman and have a built in modest-sized national fanbase.  I'd say a Top 25-40 brand name in CFB historically.

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1 hour ago, FartingDreamer said:

I mean, we're not exactly a blueblood, but we put ourselves on the map by making innovative contributions to the way offense is played and are known for producing QBs, head coaches,, won a national title, a Heisman and have a built in modest-sized national fanbase.  I'd say a Top 25-40 brand name in CFB historically.

So...you stopped drinking?

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7 hours ago, Gidnik said:

There is nobody on planet earth that know less about what’s going on in the pac 12 than Monty. He knows less than that wvu guy mhver3

You can watch the video from the board meeting, dumbass.

I don't agree with a lot of his opinions and don't enjoy most of their comedic chatter, but the dude has given valid information through his prior connections with ESPN and his familiarity with West Coast schools. He also has guests once in a while that are somewhat high profile.

Edited by Jabberwocky
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33 minutes ago, Jabberwocky said:

You can watch the video from the board meeting, dumbass.

I don't agree with a lot of his opinions and don't enjoy most of their comedic chatter, but the dude has given valid information through his prior connections with ESPN and his familiarity with West Coast schools. He also has guests once in a while that are somewhat high profile.

Yeah, nothing they said in that clip was wrong at all.  All they had to do was show the video from the board meeting and that's all you need to know.

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17 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

End of June is coming. Along with the end of the “get out of jail free” card. 
 

PAC office knows that date, what it means. Their game of checkers is to not reveal the bad deal until after, while they take the risk nobody leaves beforehand. 
 

Bold move, Cotton. 

Yup, July 1 is dangerous dangerous territory for PAC.

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1 hour ago, Uncle Nate said:

Yeah, nothing they said in that clip was wrong at all.  All they had to do was show the video from the board meeting and that's all you need to know.

And, according to Scheer from AZ, the West Coast media dudes get most of their quotes from WSU, OSU, and Pac offices.

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1 hour ago, Jabberwocky said:

You can watch the video from the board meeting, dumbass.

I don't agree with a lot of his opinions and don't enjoy most of their comedic chatter, but the dude has given valid information through his prior connections with ESPN and his familiarity with West Coast schools. He also has guests once in a while that are somewhat high profile.

 

1 hour ago, Uncle Nate said:

Yeah, nothing they said in that clip was wrong at all.  All they had to do was show the video from the board meeting and that's all you need to know.

Can one of you idiots just tell the rest of us what happened on the video that we're not going to watch of Wazzou's board meeting, please?

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