Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

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FriendlySpartan

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They do if all of a sudden one institution is forced to get rid of one or two girls sports and the other institution increases the salary of its football coach to $10 million and the AD to $5 million. Guess who loses the lawsuit?
Again, that still has nothing to do with title 9. Separate institutions my man.
 

2speedy1

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Jan 4, 2014
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I hope ESPN’s obsession with turning college football into a feeder minor league system for the NFL backfires spectacularly. Maybe if the two leagues condense to just 44-48 teams or so the remaining D-1 schools collectively sue ESPN/Fox/TV networks for monopolizing and ultimately destroying what had been a great, profitable product for a lot of schools. There are people out there that dont give two ***** about the NFL but love(d) everything about college football.

What made college football better is access to everyone, basically the NFL with 90 more teams. Not everyone could win a title. Im not that naive. But the games still mattered in the old system. Now weve been told by CFB media numerous times that only the playoff matters and only the teams in large markets are going to be able to access it. It’s such a stupid way of doing things. Imagine the NBA saying it was contracting the league to just New York, Brooklyn, Boston, the LA teams, Dallas, Chicago and Miami, and the other ones can still play but the other 3/4 of the league wont be considered for the playoffs.
I really think things start blowing up when the teams start acting like TEXAS. When teams like OSU, Alabama, etc start demanding they get a bigger piece of the pie, they will destroy the whole system just like Texas did with the SWC and the Big 12.

I think their conference mates will put up with it for a while to appease them and to remain part of their club, but eventually it will tear it all apart.

We have all seen the attitudes some of these places have.. they think they are owed it, that they carry the rest, not understanding they need the rest, to make their seasons etc. Someone still has to lose, someone still has to be there for the other sports, someone still has to be part of their system. When their egos finally take over is the beginning of the end.
 

JP4CY

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I really think things start blowing up when the teams start acting like TEXAS. When teams like OSU, Alabama, etc start demanding they get a bigger piece of the pie, they will destroy the whole system just like Texas did with the SWC and the Big 12.

I think their conference mates will put up with it for a while to appease them and to remain part of their club, but eventually it will tear it all apart.

We have all seen the attitudes some of these places have.. they think they are owed it, that they carry the rest, not understanding they need the rest, to make their seasons etc. Someone still has to lose, someone still has to be there for the other sports, someone still has to be part of their system. When their egos finally take over is the beginning of the end.
Yeah not much stopping the big dogs from telling Purdue, MS State that their piece will be less.
 
  • Agree
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StLouisClone

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Big Ten is following the exact formula as SEC. Take just 2 teams. Pac 12 will expand and take 4 MWC teams. Both Big 12 and Pac 12 survive but both have further weakened themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if Bowlsby and the Pac 12 guy knew this would be the end result from the time they were hired.
 

2speedy1

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Can someone explain to me why we need Utah so bad when we already have BYU?
Im pretty sure UU is the fastest growing University and state in the Pac. It is the one that is still filling stadiums, I think it had the highest viewership in recent years of the PAC or near the top.

I believe UU has really passed UW in value, it is just if the value is there with both Utah and BYU, but then its like having Michigan and Michigan St together basically, Or Baylor and TCU etc.

Ultimately Utah is Probably one of the top Brands left in the Pac, its just we have BYU also that makes it more questionable.
 

Cloneon

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One argument I've seen only a few comments on is: who wants to be the new big fish in a 'surviving' pond? If I were Notre Dame, it has the power to control revenue. Committing to the B12 would be a better move than the B1G as far as prestige. Of course the trade off is another Texas sized ego. But if it happens it immediately elevates the conference to a point where Oregon and a few other big fish may want to join. And, then the B12 is staring the B1G and SEC square in the eyeballs. That's the play I'd be spinning to Apple/Amazon and ND and OR immediately. That's the type of power move I'd hope our new commissioner take.
 

WhoISthis

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No offense, but all this talk about adding the ones we want is babble unless in the back channels the media sponsorship is singing good future numbers. The options will follow the money. Fox and ESPN IMO are close to being spread too thin. Borrowing is getting too expensive. Unless additional money is injected into the B1G or SEC, I see them soon staying pat. The remaining question mark is how well is B12 management at soliciting new potential revenue. That should be the focus of speculation first. Not what teams we want.
There is very little chance of staying pat.

What are you referring to when talking about borrowing? Fox and ESPN are not borrowing for these moves. The conferences are not borrowing. Cost of capital going up and inflation just puts pressure on gravitating towards a P2. If college football conferences were businesses, this M&A would have happened long ago. Restructuring makes the networks more money, and they pass that on to the conferences/schools. If realignment and brand consolidation hurt the networks, it would not be happening.

Money has been injected into the SEC and BIG. The current BIG schools will make more than now on their new deal regardless of which P12 schools they add.
 

JP4CY

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Big Ten is following the exact formula as SEC. Take just 2 teams. Pac 12 will expand and take 4 MWC teams. Both Big 12 and Pac 12 survive but both have further weakened themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if Bowlsby and the Pac 12 guy knew this would be the end result from the time they were hired.
Man, your takes are gold.
 

CoKane

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The Notre Dame to the Big 10 stuff real right now? Been seeing a ton of buzz and not legit reporting on it but nothing for certian yet
 

HoopsTournament

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One argument I've seen only a few comments on is: who wants to be the new big fish in a 'surviving' pond? If I were Notre Dame, it has the power to control revenue. Committing to the B12 would be a better move than the B1G as far as prestige. Of course the trade off is another Texas sized ego. But if it happens it immediately elevates the conference to a point where Oregon and a few other big fish may want to join. And, then the B12 is staring the B1G and SEC square in the eyeballs. That's the play I'd be spinning to Apple/Amazon and ND and OR immediately. That's the type of power move I'd hope our new commissioner take.
They would make less in the Big 12 than staying independent. They aren’t going to join a conference unless it makes them more money. Only Big Ten or SEC would go that.
 

Kinch

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Again, that still has nothing to do with title 9. Separate institutions my man.
Not really. It won't be very hard for a smart attorney (think Roxanne Conlin) to connect the actions of one institution with the damage suffered by another institution (even if indirectly), in the same state and governed by the same board, IF the attorney can show that the institution benefiting from the damage done to the other institution DOES NOT mitigate the effects by offsetting the loss of scholarship and funding to women's athletics. I guarantee you that the current Athletic Director Barta is dumb enough to walk into another Title 9 lawsuit like the one coming down the pike in three or four years. Just last October, a Federal judge found the University of Iowa in non compliance of Title 9 when it comes to supporting women's athletics and forced the university to reinstate the programs that Barta sought to cut and pay $400,000. The Iowa Legislature is very tired of the millions of dollars paying off settlements from caused by this athletic director. The Big 10 has a horrible history of abuse to women and children.
 

Cloneon

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There is very little chance of staying pat.

What are you referring to when talking about borrowing? Fox and ESPN are not borrowing for these moves. The conferences are not borrowing. Cost of capital going up and inflation just puts pressure on gravitating towards a P2. If college football conferences were businesses, this M&A would have happened long ago. Restructuring makes the networks more money, and they pass that on to the conferences/schools. If realignment and brand consolidation hurt the networks, it would not be happening.

Money has been injected into the SEC and BIG. The current BIG schools will make more than now on their new deal regardless of which P12 schools they add.
First, thanks for backing up your 'disagree'. Borrowing in general will continue to get more difficult (inflation and interest rates). As highly leveraged as ESPN still is in cable, they're now approaching financial woes. Fox having spread agreements with the B12, but now playing the power move suggests they'll be devoting more resources to the B1G for next round of negotiations. Finding deeper pockets will require a better product. Unless (and mind you, this all runs in parallel behind closed doors just as ESPN and FOX have done with their primaries) the revenue stream increases as product is enhanced, there will be no product enhancement. I just suggested making a power move for ND, but that's only IF we have money eyeballs on our plans. We'll see just how big our new commissioner's kahunas are. And, finally, I agree better product equals more money. BUT, that's an ever increasing 'risk'. Watch for Disney to bail if the SEC payouts aren't happening as optimistically as their play was advertised.
 

FriendlySpartan

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Not really. It won't be very hard for a smart attorney (think Roxanne Conlin) to connect the actions of one institution with the damage suffered by another institution (even if indirectly), in the same state and governed by the same board, IF the attorney can show that the institution benefiting from the damage done to the other institution DOES NOT mitigate the effects by offsetting the loss of scholarship and funding to women's athletics. I guarantee you that the current Athletic Director Barta is dumb enough to walk into another Title 9 lawsuit like the one coming down the pike in three or four years. Just last October, a Federal judge found the University of Iowa in non compliance of Title 9 when it comes to supporting women's athletics and forced the university to reinstate the programs that Barta sought to cut and pay $400,000. The Iowa Legislature is very tired of the millions of dollars paying off settlements from caused by this athletic director. The Big 10 has a horrible history of abuse to women and children.
Not going to disagree with the last sentence but again that has nothing to do with title 9. You can’t cross over institutions like that. I get what you are trying to do but that just isn’t the way the law works. Plus 400k is a drop in the bucket fine for a university that is soon to be making 100mil+ per year with media rights.
 

Cloneon

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They would make less in the Big 12 than staying independent. They aren’t going to join a conference unless it makes them more money. Only Big Ten or SEC would go that.
Respectively disagree. The landscape is changing. The ability to control their destiny lies within a conference. And the ability to control their current agenda is in the weakest of the 3. It's still a play I'd make.
 

FriendlySpartan

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Respectively disagree. The landscape is changing. The ability to control their destiny lies within a conference. And the ability to control their current agenda is in the weakest of the 3. It's still a play I'd make.
There is no way ND would join the Big12. This is one of the most scorching hot takes I have ever seen. They will remain independent until one of the P2 gives them an ultimatum like keeping them out of the playoff or not allowing member schools to schedule games with them.
 

Kinch

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Not going to disagree with the last sentence but again that has nothing to do with title 9. You can’t cross over institutions like that. I get what you are trying to do but that just isn’t the way the law works. Plus 400k is a drop in the bucket fine for a university that is soon to be making 100mil+ per year with media rights.
The next lawsuit will not be a drop in the bucket. And it won't be against just the regents and the u of I. Like said you don't know Conlin