Great point on the women’s side, however that seems to be more of a Clark phenomenon then anything, wnba numbers show that trend but college could be different, UConn women’s is for sure the crown jewel there though
Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)
- Thread starter ISUcyclones11
- Start date
With this stacked of a bball league we absolutely need to ensure that we play less conference games than the other leagues and get a week or two off for some non con games in late February before the postseason.
I was at that ISU/U-Conn football game many years ago. Their football stadium outside of Hartford sits at the end an old airplane runway. I think it was a test runway for Pratt and Whitney. The stadium held about 40,000 and that's the game where Cy broke his arm when a U-Conn fan threw him off a stair way that went into the stands. Just because I was cheering for ISU, I almost got accosted by a U-Conn fan. It's an old open sore for me, but if the Big 12 can keep growing and intimidate other conferences, I can put that aside.
Just posted this in the other thread.
Yormark "leaked" the UCONN conversations last year citing the networks preferred only 1 additional school beyond CU in order to pressure AZ, AZ State, and Utah to jump to the Big 12. And it worked. It wouldn't shock me if there is a similar ulterior motive (ACC schools perhaps). This kind of stuff doesn't get leaked unless it has a purpose.
The only benefit to adding UCONN would be MBB and WBB only then negotiating the basketball TV contracts separately which BY has been very vocal about doing. We'll see. BY has been excellent as commissioner so I trust him.
Yormark "leaked" the UCONN conversations last year citing the networks preferred only 1 additional school beyond CU in order to pressure AZ, AZ State, and Utah to jump to the Big 12. And it worked. It wouldn't shock me if there is a similar ulterior motive (ACC schools perhaps). This kind of stuff doesn't get leaked unless it has a purpose.
The only benefit to adding UCONN would be MBB and WBB only then negotiating the basketball TV contracts separately which BY has been very vocal about doing. We'll see. BY has been excellent as commissioner so I trust him.
Well that certainly isn’t happening if the goal is to spin basketball rights off separately. I do agree with you though if teams continue to perform at their current levels it’s a good idea. With that many good teams some will fall off though.
Regional rivalries are going to trump playing everyone in hoops. We will see a rebirth of divisions to promote more rivalry games that fans want to watch.
Divisions got a bad name because in a 4 team CFP there was so much riding on being CCG winner. And the fear by Big10 that Purdue or Iowa could be their Conference Champ.
With a 12 team CFP, the benefit of being CCG winner is a bye week. Also, I expect CCG will become 4 team "playoffs" and having division champs the selection basis.
Everything that has developed has moved away from this idea you are proposing. Problem with divisions is you end up with a big ten west. That’s why they are going away regional rivalries are impossible to balance
I think ESPN looks at how the NBA became popular. It leveraged college players with huge fan familiarity- Jordan, Magic, Ewing, Shaw, Webber, Hill, etc.
ESPN can ride the wave of WNBA popularity. But a key part is creating fan visibility of future players while they are in college. If the top 5-10 college WBB players are household names, that's gold for ESPN & WNBA.
Fans (and Big 10 office) won't care if a weak Big 10 West winner has to win a CCG play-in game among 4 division champs (or 3 division champs + highest rated).
If you expand the CCG the issue is how long the season gets, I 100% can see it happening but it isn’t coming soon. Also the schools do not want to go back to divisions that’s why you won’t be seeing them in any conference
Talks seem serious this time. I don’t like it. I’d think waiting for ACC holdouts could still net great basketball programs, but ones that have higher floors/current investment levels in football along with it.
UConn might have been a great add a few years ago, but I just feel like we should be past the stage of buying “growth stocks” like UConn (as an overall athletic dept. obviously they’re the real deal in hoops).
With that being said, if Yormark thinks it’s best, then I guess I’ll get behind it. After all he has done for the conference, he’s earned the right to go out in this limb. I’ll see what happens I guess.
UConn might have been a great add a few years ago, but I just feel like we should be past the stage of buying “growth stocks” like UConn (as an overall athletic dept. obviously they’re the real deal in hoops).
With that being said, if Yormark thinks it’s best, then I guess I’ll get behind it. After all he has done for the conference, he’s earned the right to go out in this limb. I’ll see what happens I guess.
Football is king. However, basketball has fewer expenses, liabilities, facility costs, and other extraordinary costs. It has a slightly longer season with more games, is played largely with fewer outdoor distractions, and is poised for a significant contract boost if separated out from football. There are fewer and fewer children playing football in lieu of basketball, baseball, and soccer. I see BY as a very shrewd businessman. I think his vision will stand the test of time.
The Big 10 used a flex model during the Covid season and we could see something similar to add a CCG play-in round without adding games.
Have a set 8 game season and flex game 9. Game 9 for the Top 4 teams will be CCG play-in.
Yep more then earned the benefit of the doubt, will be very fascinated how that negotiation goes and what other conferences will try it
