Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)
- Thread starter ISUcyclones11
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I think there has to be a chance that the ACC survives. Maybe they get Notre Dame to join as a permanent member and try some form of unequal revenue distribution. Stanford joins as well.
Everyone saying the ACC is for sure screwed is not hitting the pause button, because that is what realignment is hitting with the ACC GOR. If everyone thinks the ACC isn't going to learn from the PAC stupidity, they are fooling themselves. The ACC was slow and did a poor job this go around, but it was probably a wake up call to them. Not saying they are going to be okay, but the Big 12 still has to play defense and offense and I'm sure the ACC is rooting around the big 12 teams also to see if there are any cracks there.
Delaware also
And the entire WAC/ASUN merger. Tbh I dont think there's going to be an FCS, or at least a recognizable one, for much longer
Idk… I think allure of the SEC and Big 10 is going to be too much to keep 5-6 schools. And I am not sure ND wants to contractually bind itself to those teams that are left behind.
But you are right, ND could probably save that conference and cement the ACC in 3rd place if it wanted to.
I feel like Syracuse will get a shot if ESPN has anything to say about it. They seem like a school BY would really like too, especially paired with UConn.
Where did you hear about that? Not sure that fits with current events but it is interesting.
I think there will be an ACC after they get hit with theirs. Too many teams, way more expansion options, and as far as I know the AAC and Sun Belt dont have as crazy of buyouts
They are stuck though, like PAC and big 12, expansion is their best option but like those two leagues, the big money schools aren't going to allow it.
It's best bet at surviving is to go through what those leagues did and then expand. If fsu, Clemson and UNC left, they conference could move on add the schools they're looking for. As long as they're stuck with those schools, they are screwed.
The ACC's fate will ultimately come down to whether or not they're united after the big ten and sec take what they want. Will they be united like the Big 12 or will it be 10 different agendas like the PAC.
contrarymary
may her colors ever fly
Has anyone posted about what effect this will have on the portal and recruiting? I mean, I think Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz (yeah, yeah, I know) has a good point about the student-athletes. And before you comment that there won't be any student athletes in ten years, consider the interim. How will places like WVU, UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington retain athletes after they experience traveling across the country multiple times each year and then needing to attend class or take an exam? I'm thinking the Big 10 will soon lobby hard for restricting the portal to one transfer, but even that won't help these schools recruit and retain. I believe the student-athletes will have a greater impact than we think and I also agree with CW that the loss of regional rivalries along with limited media slots and $$ will cause another huge - perhaps even bigger - realignment in 5 - 7 years.
Yeah, no way Syracuse gets downgraded. They have good history with the football program, and obviously an outstanding BB history. I agree, they'd be a potential good get for the B12, perhaps paired with UConn, Pitt and Louisville. I know many on here don't like Louisville, but like Syracuse, they have excellent history with both their football and basketball programs.
There’s a chance we could’ve got a similar deal even going second because our fan bases are actually engaged and we had expanded our market slightly. Not disagreeing with you in general but I do think the rampant apathy of half of the pac fanbases was really exposed in all of this, they only had 5-6 programs with a lot of fans who really care. Cal and Stanford getting left behind isn’t even a huge story in their own metro.
That might be what the current governance model stipulates. But I would be surprised if the Power conferences don't split off from G5 in the next couple years.
Just too much chatter by Power commissioners and coaches that we don't see a change. Sankey even alluded to it when discussing the CFP working group needing to address recent realignment.
Media & fans commonly use the vernacular Power 5. The NCAA documents actually use Autonomous 5. A little foreshadowing.
I think it was on Greg Flugaur's show. Two of his frequent contributors are from Iowa and Ohio State. The Ohio State guy thinks its going to be three conferences of 24 as Power Conferences and everything will be in place in time for the 2026 playoffs. To me that is a lot of conjecture. Thus, an interesting theory.
One thing I think they have spot on is the playoff money starting this year will be divided based upon the number of teams and not the number of conferences. Thus, there is no more advantage of having 10 teams (like the Big 12 for years) versus 14 or 16 teams. This set-up is only for two years. Potentially, bigger changes will happen in 2026.
I believe in the end, the 3rd Conference (Big12/ACC) will have the most teams. The media rights threshold today ($31.7M) is about half the Big10 or SEC. So over the next decade I can see a lot of Big12 expansion: 24-28 teams.
But there are a couple existential threats beyond money driven realignment.
- The first being employee status for student athletes. Does this create a couple paths of student athletes: semi-pro vs. traditional.
- The second being the growing financial commitment to support a P4 football program. Do prestigious academic universities like Vanderbilt, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Stanford, etc. drop or de-emphasize football like Chicago or Ivy League or Big East schools.
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I think the ACC just have too many teams with landing spots in the P2 to operate from a position of strength vs the Big 12. It’s going to be tough to poach WVU, Cincy, TCU when all you have is Boston College, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Louisville, Pitt and maybe Miami. Also if the ACC blows up hopefully we have a new TV deal after 2031. Having that in hand will be another advantage. Of course all that changes if Notre Dame joins the ACC.
Who knows what things will be like then, but it might be in our best interest to just merge at that point and use the strategy of strength in numbers
