Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[CascadeClone]

How many teams does it take to dissolve the ACC? It seems like that will be a big lift. Time for Big 12 to start working Miami and maybe a few others to work out a wink and a nod agreement on how they land if they league dissolves.

Who else makes the most sense that would not likely get an SEC or Big 10 invite for the Big 12 to join?

Geography is kind of out the window at this point.

Google says they need only EIGHT to vote for dissolution. So 4 to B1G and 4 to SEC would get it done...

That mix for the SEC is odd, I bet they floated UVa and UNC to get the B1G back onto the dance floor.
Still, they need the entire conference to dissolve - the GoR belongs to the conference not to ESPN.

Once again, ESPN is trying to break up a conference!

so probably:
B1G - UVa, UNC, Duke, GT
SEC - Clemson, FSU, Miami, NC St

Louisville and Pitt would be great adds for the Big12. More regional partners for our eastern schools.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Google says they need only EIGHT to vote for dissolution. So 4 to B1G and 4 to SEC would get it done...

That mix for the SEC is odd, I bet they floated UVa and UNC to get the B1G back onto the dance floor.
Still, they need the entire conference to dissolve - the GoR belongs to the conference not to ESPN.

Once again, ESPN is trying to break up a conference!

so probably:
B1G - UVa, UNC, Duke, GT
SEC - Clemson, FSU, Miami, NC St

Louisville and Pitt would be great adds for the Big12. More regional partners for our eastern schools.

I was thinking and anyone can respond to this:

Who has more power in this whole situation? Big 10 or SEC? I feel like the prevailing thought here in CF is B10, but that could be proximity/familiarity bias?

 

[Yaz]

I think they'd be good with arguably the top MBB brand in the country and an elite public university.

Then why not take Kansas too. They have both been cheating longer and better than 99% of the schools out there.

 

[Triggermv]

Source: Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson in Talks to Join SEC

A source told SwimSwam that Virginia, UNC, FSU, and Clemson are negotiating to join the SEC as ESPN attempts to void their 20-year TV deal with the ACC.

swimswam.com

Swimswam, the #1 destination for swim news on the web (self-proclaimed), is reporting some more details behind their claim

Before I believe this report, I really need to know how this move will affect ISU's swim team

 

[keepngoal]

I love that you follow Braden!

 

[keepngoal]

Honest question. How legit is this guy? Doesn't have a ton of followers. Have we seen this reported from anyone else?

WELL SOURCED in the swimming world.... Legit reporter.

 

[iahawks]

I was thinking and anyone can respond to this:

Who has more power in this whole situation? Big 10 or SEC? I feel like the prevailing thought here in CF is B10, but that could be proximity/familiarity bias?

I think they are about equal. The SEC is more dominant on the actual field of play, but the Big 10 is probably worth more money and has a lot higher academic prestige (if that is worth anything).

 

[keepngoal]

Who knows, Pat Forde follows him though, seems to lend a bit of credibility.

oh.. you don't follow.. lol

 

[PickSix]

Source: Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson in Talks to Join SEC

A source told SwimSwam that Virginia, UNC, FSU, and Clemson are negotiating to join the SEC as ESPN attempts to void their 20-year TV deal with the ACC.

swimswam.com

Swimswam, the #1 destination for swim news on the web (self-proclaimed), is reporting some more details behind their claim

Nothing newsworthy here.

Of course those schools want in that conference and of course they want to find a way out of their crappy GOR deal.

If they weren’t discussing and exploring, than the ADs, Presidents, and conference officials would be neglecting their job.

But everything I’ve read makes the GOR seem pretty hard to get around. And nobody has shown me yet what incentive ESPN would have to willing destroy their sweetheart deal.

I just can’t take any ACC explosion talk seriously until I’ve seen from reputable sources that either the GOR is escapable, or that ESPN would let them out.

 

[jbhtexas]

Sure. I guess I could put it this way - how has T. Boone Pickens' money at OSU helped the Big 12? It really hasn't done anything. Again, we're talking massive hypotheticals here.

If Oregon buys it's way into the Big 10, them accepting much less money than the other schools in the conference, and Phil Knight floating 500 million to 1 billion dollars to do so, I think that's again good for us. That's destabilizing.

Might want to do some research into what happened to all that money T. Boone left to OkSU...

 

[BigDH01]

Nothing newsworthy here.

Of course those schools want in that conference and of course they want to find a way out of their crappy GOR deal.

If they weren’t discussing and exploring, than the ADs, Presidents, and conference officials would be neglecting their job.

But everything I’ve read makes the GOR seem pretty hard to get around. And nobody has shown me yet what incentive ESPN would have to willing destroy their sweetheart deal.

I just can’t take any ACC explosion talk seriously until I’ve seen from reputable sources that either the GOR is escapable, or that ESPN would let them out.

ESPN could run the numbers and determine they'll make more money from a Clemson in the SEC than it would in the ACC. ESPN "runs the show" in both places.

The tweet earlier ended with "ESPN is trying to void their TV deal with the ACC." ESPN's best outcome is probably the most valuable schools moving to the SEC immediately and the ACC dissolving (and them not having to pay the "losers"). I don't think ESPN is the blocker here, it's the ACC itself. I think the GoR was given by the schools to the conference and it's the conference that made the TV deal and it's the conference that will block those schools from leaving... unless ESPN can find enough schools to leave that they can dissolve the ACC. We're not watching ESPN protect the ACC, we're watching ESPN attempt to destroy it.

 

[cyIclSoneU]

I don’t buy it but let’s say that report is correct.

There is no value left in the ACC for the B1G that’s still AAU. With the SEC at 20, the B1G would put a press on Notre Dame (who’s semi-affiliated league is dying). I bet they would get ND. They’d need at least one more (Oregon). Possible that Washington and Stanford also come. Or maybe they say screw the AAU rule and add Miami.

The four mountain schools and possibly Washington join the Big 12 ASAP.

Interesting to think what happens to this 10-team ACC:

Miami
Georgia Tech
NC State
Duke
Wake Forest
Virginia Tech
Pitt
Louisville
Syracuse
Boston College

That league could stick together but there would be a 16-17 team Big 12 on its side trying to pick it apart as well when the B1G and SEC were in the 18-20 team range.

 

[isucy86]

I wouldn't mind skipping over them to be honest. The Big 12 already has a Utah team. Why not take WSU instead of Utah? The BYU/Utah rivalry can continue as a non-con game, just like it has been.

H

You do realize that realignment is ALL about TV money. UU would be one of the top media value teams in the Big12. WSU would be the lowest. Even below Houston, UCF or Cincy.

 

[RoseClone]

You think USC and UCLA fit the BIG culture? I guess I don't.

All this talk about culture is just noise. The networks are driving all this mess and they don't give two ***** about culture.

 

[Gonzo]

Then why not take Kansas too. They have both been cheating longer and better than 99% of the schools out there.

UNC is a top-5 public university. Kansas isn't top-50.

 

[helechopper]

Swimswam, the world wide leader in sports.

 

[Acylum]

Smug?

Not only that, but the PAC and B1G were pretty much identical in their approach to handling athletics during the pandemic. Until OSU decided to start throwing their weight around. Nebraska tried to be the 800# gorilla and got slapped down, which was hilarious.

 

[Clark]

I was thinking and anyone can respond to this:

Who has more power in this whole situation? Big 10 or SEC? I feel like the prevailing thought here in CF is B10, but that could be proximity/familiarity bias?

I don't know that one holds more power than the other. I don't think we've yet seen a situation where they were "recruiting" against each other.

I guess we'll find out if UNC were to leave the ACC.

 

[CyJack13]

I don’t buy it but let’s say that report is correct.

There is no value left in the ACC for the B1G that’s still AAU. With the SEC at 20, the B1G would put a press on Notre Dame (who’s semi-affiliated league is dying). I bet they would get ND. They’d need at least one more (Oregon). Possible that Washington and Stanford also come. Or maybe they say screw the AAU rule and add Miami.

The four mountain schools and possibly Washington join the Big 12 ASAP.

Interesting to think what happens to this 10-team ACC:

Miami
Georgia Tech
NC State
Duke
Wake Forest
Virginia Tech
Pitt
Louisville
Syracuse
Boston College

That league could stick together but there would be a 16-17 team Big 12 on its side trying to pick it apart as well when the B1G and SEC were in the 18-20 team range.

Does basketball take over as priority for some of those schools? I know football always influences all the decisions but do schools like BC and Syracuse start to look at the Big East again for everything but football, realizing no matter what football conference they are in they will no longer be able to compete with the SEC, B10 and even B12 payouts.

 

[PickSix]

ESPN could run the numbers and determine they'll make more money from a Clemson in the SEC than it would in the ACC. ESPN "runs the show" in both places.

The tweet earlier ended with "ESPN is trying to void their TV deal with the ACC." ESPN's best outcome is probably the most valuable schools moving to the SEC immediately and the ACC dissolving (and them not having to pay the "losers"). I don't think ESPN is the blocker here, it's the ACC itself. I think the GoR was given by the schools to the conference and it's the conference that made the TV deal and it's the conference that will block those schools from leaving... unless ESPN can find enough schools to leave that they can dissolve the ACC. We're not watching ESPN protect the ACC, we're watching ESPN attempt to destroy it.

Fair point on the GOR being created by the conference.

But ESPN is getting Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, and Virginia currently at a fraction of the cost that they’d pay them in the SEC, not to mention all the other well priced ACC inventory from the other schools. Not sure why they’d want to void it.

I’ve heard people make the argument about destroying the conference if enough teams leave, but we heard the same thing about the Big 12 (with a nearly identical GOR) and here we still are today.

If 6 or 7 teams leave the ACC, what’s to stop the leftovers from raiding the AAC and cashing in the GOR checks?