Realignment Carousel Spins Up again (USC and UCLA to Big 10)

[pogo]

I don't think the ncaa has the nuts to try and do anything about it.

[shock]

All those cross country flights to compete in the ACC can’t be good for the environment.

[shockerfan_realist]

TL;DL recap?

Not sure why they would care. Teams (Like us) are in different conferences in different sports. Some teams are in 3 or 4 conferences. The NCAA won't care what they do with their conferences just as long as they still get to be the overarching bad guy

[ABC]

TL;DL recap?

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000625305627

1:03

It was a response to a question from a WSU fan in their "mail bag" question. "Is there any hope for WSU to leave the AAC to a basketball-first league like the Big East or A-10, or is the AAC the ceiling for a team like the Shocks?"

Norlander: never say never, but the AAC feels like the ceiling for WSU. blah blah blah. WSU fans hope to get back to top-25 . . . objectively WSU should be aiming for Top 40. WSU should be a top-3 in the AAC. (some generally positive comments about Mills)

Parrish: If Gregg Marshall, or anyone else could have kept WSU where they were, then the Big East is a goal. Right now, try to be relevant in the American.

[pogo]

My only question in any conference change for WSU is what is the pay out for the A-10 or the big E compared to what we receive from the AAC

[TrackSuitAndTie]

Cal/Stanford going to the ACC gives ESPN a little inventory in the west, but not much. AAC has to hope ESPN wants to go after OSU/WSU with the plan of adding five MWC schools when their buyouts are lower (assuming SMU is gone and they want to get to 20).

Even if the MWC and AAC are pretty similar in terms of quality, the exposure offered by the AAC, along with the eastern markets, has to be enticing for MWC schools. It would make sense for the top MWC schools to join a 'best of the rest' conference now that we are seeing the P5 turn to P4 in football.

[SubGod22]

If it does, which I personally don’t get it, I would imagine to get the AAC holdouts to vote yes, it would be for football and possibly basketball sports only.

Stanford and Cal are realizing that no one outside of Standford and Cal really care much about them, imo.

You can do football only, but your home conference for all sports are in the conference you are in for basketball, unless that conference doesn't offer a certain sport, at which point you can become an affiliate member of a conference that does for that sport(s) only.

It's possible they could take them for football only. It's not possible to take them for football and basketball only.


If Cal/Stanford do get into the ACC, then the AAC should stay as is and wait to see if they can pick off some MWC schools down the road. Keep producing on the field/court and stay ahead of the MWC in media payouts and exposure in hopes of eventually expanding west to get some of them.

If SMU leaves, either stay as we are or look into pulling Toledo or Buffalo into the fold. Pretty sure Buffalo would accept as they have ambition. I don't know enough about Toledo, but getting back into Ohio wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Stickboy46]

Cal/Stanford going to the ACC gives ESPN a little inventory in the west, but not much. AAC has to hope ESPN wants to go after OSU/WSU with the plan of adding five MWC schools when their buyouts are lower (assuming SMU is gone and they want to get to 20).

Even if the MWC and AAC are pretty similar in terms of quality, the exposure offered by the AAC, along with the eastern markets, has to be enticing for MWC schools. It would make sense for the top MWC schools to join a 'best of the rest' conference now that we are seeing the P5 turn to P4 in football.

Thats the rumors right now. If Calford and SMU go ACC then the expectation is for ESPN to push for OSU/WSU to going the AAC along with 3 members of the MWC in 2025

[Stickboy46]

You can do football only, but your home conference for all sports are in the conference you are in for basketball, unless that conference doesn't offer a certain sport, at which point you can become an affiliate member of a conference that does for that sport(s) only.

It's possible they could take them for football only. It's not possible to take them for football and basketball only.


If Cal/Stanford do get into the ACC, then the AAC should stay as is and wait to see if they can pick off some MWC schools down the road. Keep producing on the field/court and stay ahead of the MWC in media payouts and exposure in hopes of eventually expanding west to get some of them.

If SMU leaves, either stay as we are or look into pulling Toledo or Buffalo into the fold. Pretty sure Buffalo would accept as they have ambition. I don't know enough about Toledo, but getting back into Ohio wouldn't be a bad thing.

If Calford and SMU go ACC then OSU/WSU will go to MWC or AAC. So they really have to make a push for OSU/WSU in order to have a chance on picking off MWC in the future. Otherwise it likely wouldn't make sense for the MWC teams

[TrackSuitAndTie]

Thats the rumors right now. If Calford and SMU go ACC then the expectation is for ESPN to push for OSU/WSU to going the AAC along with 3 members of the MWC in 2025

I suspect they might want more than three MWC teams (subject to our to direction from our rodent overlords). I was thinking something along the lines of Boise State, Colorado State, Air Force, UNLV, and SDSU.

[Stickboy46]

I suspect they might want more than three MWC teams (subject to our to direction from our rodent overlords). I was thinking something along the lines of Boise State, Colorado State, Air Force, UNLV, and SDSU.

If they go 5, then yea its those 5 or sub UNLV for Fresno maybe. One idea thrown out on the AAC board is that if they go with 3, it might be reasonable to subsidize the MWC exit fees for 3 with the exit fees from SMU and potentally Pac Money if they can find a way to make it a "merger" so that the new conference keeps the PACs CFP/NCAAT money. Then those 3 can join in 2024 vs 2025. Would be a little harder to do 5 early like that but I guess they could stagger those and do 3 in 2024 and 2 more in 2025

[AZ Shocker]

All those cross country flights to compete in the ACC can’t be good for the environment.

Agree but big money (elites) don't care. Their gonna do what their gonna do. The word "bubble" comes to mind. All about the status. The rest of us be damned.

[SubGod22]

If Calford and SMU go ACC then OSU/WSU will go to MWC or AAC. So they really have to make a push for OSU/WSU in order to have a chance on picking off MWC in the future. Otherwise it likely wouldn't make sense for the MWC teams

Without Cal/Stanford, OSU/Wazzu will go MWC. They've pretty much already said that. The money for the AAC won't be enough to make up for travel for them and they've pretty much accepted that.

Also, I still don't think either of them really add anything of value to the AAC. The AAC would be better off waiting and making another run at the Colorado schools down the road. Maybe take all four front range schools if you could.

[1972Shocker]

The Gekko-ization of college sports

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/08/the_gekkoization_of_college_sports.html

The great August collegiate athletic conference purge occurred in just one day, reducing the storied Pac-12 Conference to the Pac-4. Giving several years' notice was the standard, but no longer. Money rules — chisel it on the Pac-12's tombstone.

The linear equation is not complicated: national exposure + bigger payouts = conference changes. The express money train of change has turned conference realignments into an NCAA version of The Price is Right. The ACC is locked into a media rights deal with ESPN through 2036, placing it behind door number four in the cash sweepstakes trailing the Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12.

Grow or wither away, as schools aligned themselves with the richest conferences — their carbon footprint be damned. Some urban residents are not allowed a kitchen gas range, but for the USC's women's soccer team to fly to State College, Pa. for a weeknight game...no problem.

College football and basketball have gone corporate, with no regard for the tradition, rivalries, and geographical concerns from where they conduct business...er, games. Conference musical chairs is contrary to what college sports is supposed to be about, as it dismisses local rivalries and places many road games out of reach. Big-time college sports is a televised event rather than a fan-driven affair.

A market correction could one day be in the offing as the broadcast pie that baked the Power 5 turns on itself as it did with the Pac-12. How great is the anticipation to watch Indiana play Oregon? While these universities are awash in broadcast dollars, Biden still wants you to bail out student loans.

It mocks the student-athlete. Non-football and basketball athletes have become unwitting dupes in this drive for cash and ratings, as now they will fly cross-country to run cross-country.

The NFL loves this, as their product grows with no investment needed by the league.

One solution from longtime photojournalist Ken Seay: Stanford and Cal join the Big 10, and the conference is renamed "The Cash 20" with two divisions: the "Pac 10" and the "Big 10." Both first-place finishers in each division play each other on New Year's Day at the Rose Bowl for the conference championship.

[TrackSuitAndTie]

Without Cal/Stanford, OSU/Wazzu will go MWC. They've pretty much already said that. The money for the AAC won't be enough to make up for travel for them and they've pretty much accepted that.

Also, I still don't think either of them really add anything of value to the AAC. The AAC would be better off waiting and making another run at the Colorado schools down the road. Maybe take all four front range schools if you could.

I don't trust anything school administrators say in the media - everything is about positioning. The AAC can offer better exposure than the MWC and, if ESPN wants it badly enough, more money. At the end of the day, I think OSU/WSU would prefer the AAC if the financials can be worked out. It's also pretty clear that the AAC would be in a good position to poach from the MWC if OSU/WSU join, whereas the inverse (MWC adding OSU/WSU and poaching from the AAC) is a much harder sell. The valuable eyeballs are in the eastern and central time zones.

Disagree that OSU/WSU don't add anything of value. For one, they both have large, passionate fanbases who provide solid TV numbers. They also give ESPN late-window programming they currently lack. Not to mention the prestige that would come to the AAC for adding two P5 teams to the league.

That's my take, anyway.