Report: OU & Texas reach out to join SEC

[norcalcy]

An undeniable law of physics when it comes to college football (or basically any form of competition) is that one team's success must come at the expense of another team. And this simple law of physics is the fatal flaw of the superconference.

The "blue blood" programs became blue bloods because they had a long history of success in their respective conferences. They achieved this long history of success because their conferences included weaker programs.

When you stack these blue blood programs into the same conference, the majority of them will no longer enjoy that degree of success. Their fans will become unhappy and their coaching staff will turn over. Of course, all these blue blood programs think they'll still be successful, but it's mathematically impossible.

Having many conferences stocked with programs of varying levels of success is vital to the ecosystem of college football. ESPN and the SEC have just destroyed this ecosystem because they no longer feel that $50+ million per year in TV revenue is satisfactory.

College football as we know it is about to die and greed will be the cause of death.

Very good summary. The bulk of the eco system is under serious threat. Hopefully the likes of Iowa, Purdue, Northwestern, the two Arizona schools, Utah, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Boston College, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and many others like them around the country see this is coming for them too. Are there enough enlightened people to save the eco system by coming up with something new and more stable? It's going to take some creativity, but something that preserves most of what we like about college football can be built. The game exploded when cable allowed more games to be televised and included more opportunities for exposure. With all that's going on in media, perhaps we are on the cusp of a similar advance forward.

It was announced this week that Barstool Sports took over naming rights to the Arizona Bowl and will also stream the game. I know not everyone likes them, and I am not saying Barstool becomes a major media bidder but it shows how the sports media world is morphing and fragmenting. Perhaps a new media structure/alliance/entities can be built that allows athletic departments like ISU to maximize their potential to monetize their product. We could find out what our true market value is. Wouldn't it be nice to have a true media "partner"?

$EC and ESPN think the future is in consolidation and rolling up the major brands and marginalizing everybody else. They'll run their hype machine 24/7 telling us how great it is. Most of us know that product will be much less appealing than what we have now. Millions won't watch it.

I also don't think we are trapped in an either/or as it relates to staying in a "Power Conference" or being relegated to something like the AAC. As long as everyone seems willing to destroy things, it's time to re-think the whole idea of conferences. A better managed process with a centralized league office can put together interesting matchups year in and year out while preserving some historical rivalries. Getting rid of the useless NCAA can hasten this type of reorganization of the game.

There's a way forward that can save most of what we like about the game, but it's going to take cooperation and coordination against the blue blood bullies and current corporate media. I am hopeful the beginnings of thought around that design is already occurring somewhere even as the lawyers gear up for the rear guard battle to make sure we get what's ours out of the current deals.

 

[NorthCyd]

This dude just throws **** at the wall to see what sticks.

And none of it ever seems to stick for him, which is hard to do because **** is kinda sticky.

 

[cydsho]

If we stick together and add BYU and Cincinnati, could we remain relevant in the postseason discussion by restricting our members' nonconference games to FBS teams? Or is that too expensive?

Absolutely not. Existing conf expansion is the only way. The lines have been drawn.

 

[Falselife]

An undeniable law of physics when it comes to college football (or basically any form of competition) is that one team's success must come at the expense of another team. And this simple law of physics is the fatal flaw of the superconference.

The "blue blood" programs became blue bloods because they had a long history of success in their respective conferences. They achieved this long history of success because their conferences included weaker programs.

When you stack these blue blood programs into the same conference, the majority of them will no longer enjoy that degree of success. Their fans will become unhappy and their coaching staff will turn over. Of course, all these blue blood programs think they'll still be successful, but it's mathematically impossible.

Having many conferences stocked with programs of varying levels of success is vital to the ecosystem of college football. ESPN and the SEC have just destroyed this ecosystem because they no longer feel that $50+ million per year in TV revenue is satisfactory.

College football as we know it is about to die and greed will be the cause of death.

This is exactly how I feel. They are destroying college football. To narrow the scope will kill the magic of it. And soon they will basically murder the smaller schools, reducing the landscape of competition. It's going to be bad.

 

[cyIclSoneU]

If we stick together and add BYU and Cincinnati, could we remain relevant in the postseason discussion by restricting our members' nonconference games to FBS teams? Or is that too expensive?

Nobody even knows what the postseason will look like yet.

In terms of expense, FCS buy games are cheaper than G5 buy games. If we are playing 9 conference games a year, we could fill out the schedule with all home-and-home series and get 6 home games per year, or we could have one buy game spot to alternate between 6 and 7 home games (which is what we do now with a Big 12 budget). Not sure which would be most cost effective.

If our new league is especially poor, we could be the team getting bought in a buy game in years where we have 5 home conference games, too. Some SEC or B1G program could pay us $1.5-2M to go play them.

 

[Daserop]

I'd vote no too adding BYU. They are just like Texas. There's a reason the PAC 12 didn't invite them

 

[Statefan10]

I'd vote no too adding BYU. They are just like Texas. There's a reason the PAC 12 didn't invite them

Wasn’t it because of their religious affiliation though? Or was it more than that?

 

[CloneGuy8]

I'd vote no too adding BYU. They are just like Texas. There's a reason the PAC 12 didn't invite them

The Pac 12 didn't invite them because of the religious affiliation, which is why TCU and Baylor could be in trouble if the Pac 12 wants to absorb Big 12 teams. BYU is by far the most attractive free-agent not named Notre Dame.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

Wasn’t it because of their religious affiliation though? Or was it more than that?

I thought the official word was because they weren’t able to play on Sundays and the Pac basketball games are on Sundays or something like that.

 

[Statefan10]

I thought the official word was because they weren’t able to play on Sundays and the Pac basketball games are on Sundays or something like that.

Yeah that certainly presents a problem lol.

 

[dabears32]

Yes, but I was asserting that as the worst case scenario

True. But the problem is something close to worst case scenario seems like the likely scenario at this point. But who knows

 

[Jeh]

I know BYU is the most attractive option, but no one ever mentions UConn. Are they really that bad an option?

 

[cyIclSoneU]

I know BYU is the most attractive option, but no one ever mentions UConn. Are they really that bad an option?

Yes. They have no football fans at all. They basically gave up on football entirely to join the Big East in hoops.

 

[Statefan10]

I know BYU is the most attractive option, but no one ever mentions UConn. Are they really that bad an option?

Yeah I don’t even think UCONN has even been brought up. I think that’s because they truly don’t care about their football program and they just made the move to the Big East this year.

 

[TheHelgo]

This dude just throws **** at the wall to see what sticks.

While this is true, ‘the dude’ said something similar and referenced a podcast in which a recruit actually said he was told something like that. So, it makes me wonder what we are telling recruits. I don’t mean we are misleading or giving false hope, but I’m sure the question comes up, and I wonder how it is being answered by the various coaches. I have to think JP has given coaches some ISU party line to give as an answer, right?

The longer this drags on, the harder it will be to answer that question for recruiting.

 

[jdoggivjc]

Yeah I don’t even think UCONN has even been brought up. I think that’s because they truly don’t care about their football program and they just made the move to the Big East this year.

I think they were brought up a decade ago when we were last going through this, but UConn football has died a painful death since then.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the PAC 12 has to act, or they are basically locked in where they are (barring defections) for the foreseeable future.

The most likely scenario, if they don't, is the Big 12 reconstituting by picking off the best programs of the AAC and Mountain West (plus BYU), and that leaves the PAC 12 almost locked into the status quo.

There is zero chance the B1G and the Pac12 sit on their hands. They both will need more teams in order to grab the available TV inventory. As it sits now, the Pac needs the central time zone and the B1G needs the Pacific zone in order to sweeten the next round of negotiations.

 

[LLCoolCY]

Yeah I don’t even think UCONN has even been brought up. I think that’s because they truly don’t care about their football program and they just made the move to the Big East this year.

Exactly and they just paid 17 million for the right to leave the AAC and obsolete their Football program. Not that distance matters too much now a day but we've all seen the complaints for WV Morgantown games UCONN is that much farther from the B12 blue print.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

While this is true, ‘the dude’ said something similar and referenced a podcast in which a recruit actually said he was told something like that. So, it makes me wonder what we are telling recruits. I don’t mean we are misleading or giving false hope, but I’m sure the question comes up, and I wonder how it is being answered by the various coaches. I have to think JP has given coaches some ISU party line to give as an answer, right?

The longer this drags on, the harder it will be to answer that question for recruiting.

The uncertainty won’t drag out that long. Just like UT and OU did, if a school secures a conference, they too can announce their future. If the Pac accepted ISU today, I can guarantee you we’d put something out talking about how we’re excited to join in 2025. The future of most of the schools will likely be decided by late winter. The “when” will be the thing that might be the toss up.

 

[Cyclonepride]

There is zero chance the B1G and the Pac12 sit on their hands. They both will need more teams in order to grab the available TV inventory. As it sits now, the Pac needs the central time zone and the B1G needs the Pacific zone in order to sweeten the next round of negotiations.

I agree on the PAC 12. If they don't do something now, they will have no good options to expand at all. I'm not sure the Big 10 needs Pacific exposure, but if they did, the remainder of the Big 12 and Pac 12 getting together is an attractive option (3rd behind a Big Ten invite and an invite to an intact PAC 12).