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Conference Realignment thread

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On 9/20/2022 at 9:48 AM, RSF said:

Bedlam becomes the latest victim of realignment.

 

 

 

Losing games like this is making college football less interesting to me.  I don't really care to see OU vs Mississippi St or Ole Miss or Vandy or teams like that.  I want to see them play Nebraska, OK St, Texas, etc.  I know they will still play UT, A&M, and Mizzou but to me, the regionalization of college football is what made it great. 

I'm probably in the minority on this one and change is inevitable but losing fun rivalries like this one sucks.

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On 9/20/2022 at 9:48 AM, RSF said:

Bedlam becomes the latest victim of realignment.

 

 

 

It still blows me away watching CFB chase the money and ruin what makes CFB great.

Enjoy swimming in the dough while your program becomes mediocre and your fanbase stops caring.

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"We don't have evidence but, we have lot's of theories."

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On 9/15/2022 at 9:54 PM, jdgaucho said:

 

A west coast Ivy League needs other state flagships.  I'm certain Nevada and Hawaii would be invited to join this fantasy league if it ever comes to pass.  Not saying they will join,  but they'd give it some serious thought.

 

Inviting those two (or UNLV or Boise) immediately makes it a decidedly non-ivy conference. 

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On 9/20/2022 at 6:22 AM, Wyobraska said:

Losing games like this is making college football less interesting to me.  I don't really care to see OU vs Mississippi St or Ole Miss or Vandy or teams like that.  I want to see them play Nebraska, OK St, Texas, etc.  I know they will still play UT, A&M, and Mizzou but toe, the regionalization of college football is what made it great. 

I'm probably in the minority on this one and change is inevitable but losing fun rivalries like this one sucks.

You may be in the minority but I don’t think you’re wrong.

Realignment is being driven by the insatiable hunger of the TV networks to pump up ratings by maximizing the number of regular season games they can broadcast between top-tier programs.  The network execs are assuming that the best way to do this is to bring all the top-tier programs together under the SEC and B1G umbrellas.

What the TV networks are overlooking IMHO is what made these programs blue-bloods in the first place: dominating their regional rivals in geographically sensible conferences, essentially making them the kings of college football in the parts of the country where they’re located.  Back in the 80s and 90s USC and UCLA owned the West Coast, Texas and Oklahoma owned the Southwest, Nebraska owned the Great Plains, Michigan and Ohio State owned the Great Lakes, and Alabama and Florida owned the Southeast.  Non-conference matchups between these programs were rare before bowl season and that made them big events.

Since then we’ve had 25 years of realignment and consolidation that’s about to culminate in all of these schools being in the SEC or B1G (which will also own almost all of the other current national powers, e.g. Georgia, Penn State, and potentially Oregon).  The inevitable consequence will be that they won’t all remain kings.  Each of them will win fewer games and fewer conference titles.  And with the demise of divisional play in conferences they won’t be winning any division titles.  The only meaningful measuring stick for program achievement will be appearances in the expanded college football playoff, and with them beating each other up all through the regular season they may find that reaching the CFP is harder than they expected.

I believe that much of the historical fan appeal of college football boils down to the system being rigged to make it easier for the richest and most popular programs to be the winningest programs, which in turn helps them remain the richest and most popular programs.  Conference realignment and the expanded CFP are about to break that chain.  The blue blood schools grouped together in the SEC and B1G will still be the richest, but they’ll no longer be the winningest.  It won’t be mathematically possible, and less winning will translate to less satisfied and fewer fans.  Combine that with the destruction of historical conference rivalries like Oklahoma versus Oklahoma State and over the next decade or two I think the TV execs may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

P.S. For the record, I won’t be shedding any tears over the richest programs beating each other up on a more level playing field.  If it opens the door to less privileged programs having a realistic shot at a national championship then I’m all for it.

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5 minutes ago, HawaiiMongoose said:

You may be in the minority but I don’t think you’re wrong.

Realignment is being driven by the insatiable hunger of the TV networks to pump up ratings by maximizing the number of regular season games they can broadcast between top-tier programs.  The network execs are assuming that the best way to do this is to bring all the top-tier programs together under the SEC and B1G umbrellas.

What the TV networks are overlooking IMHO is what made these programs blue-bloods in the first place: dominating their regional rivals in geographically sensible conferences, essentially making them the kings of college football in the parts of the country where they’re located.  Back in the 80s and 90s USC and UCLA owned the West Coast, Texas and Oklahoma owned the Southwest, Nebraska owned the Great Plains, Michigan and Ohio State owned the Great Lakes, and Alabama and Florida owned the Southeast.  Non-conference matchups between these programs were rare before bowl season and that made them big events.

Since then we’ve had 25 years of realignment and consolidation that’s about to culminate in all of these schools being in the SEC or B1G (which wil also own almost all of the other current national powers, e.g. Georgia, Penn State, and potentially Oregon).  The inevitable consequence will be that they won’t all remain kings.  Each of them will win fewer games and fewer conference titles.  And with the demise of divisional play in conferences they won’t be winning any divisional titles.  The only meaningful measuring stick for program achievement will be appearances in the expanded college football playoff, and with them beating each other up all through the regular season they may find that reaching the CFP is harder than they expected.

I believe that much of the historical fan appeal of college football boils down to the system being rigged to make it easier for the richest and most popular programs to be the winningest programs, which in turn helps them remain the richest and most popular programs.  Conference realignment and the expanded CFP are about to break that chain.  The blue blood schools grouped together in the SEC and B1G will still be the richest, but they’ll no longer be the winningest.  It won’t be mathematically possible.  Combine that with the destruction of historical conference rivalries like Oklahoma versus Oklahoma State and over the next decade or two I think the TV execs may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

 

This. This. And more this.

These blue bloods for the most part were created by being in the right place at the right time (meaning they just happened to be good at the time when TV realized they could drive ad revenue by having live football programing).  TV created the brands that exist today... more exposure  = more money = better talent = more winning = more exposure

And you are right... as they continue to consolidate these teams they will end up losing more and more fans overall... There is already pro football league for people to care about... sure the alums from these blue bloods will be excited about watching but I think a good chunk of other fans will start to lose interest and overall viewership will start dropping.  As I said, there is already a pro league for people to watch and bet on.  jmo

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On 9/20/2021 at 7:01 PM, Aslowhiteguy said:

Yeah, I do struggle with that.  Our media contract is up soon. We'll be getting paid and the AAC will be getting a haircut. 

 

 

Let's revisit this...

The AAC didn't end up getting a Haircut. In fact, ESPN extended the AAC's deal 2 more years.

The MWC gets to renegotiate it's deal sooner, but there will be no room on ESPN or Fox for MWC games, so it will be streaming.

Aresco won this one. He deserves to use the P6 branding. At least until another league can challenge him.

Frankly, with Boise State looking awful, I'm thinking the MWC will have a tough time in its negotiations.

https://herosports.com/fbs-aac-commissioner-mike-aresco-mnmn/

 

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And now this rehashed proposal (rumor) resurfaces:

Please God, No !

 

ACC reportedly discussing merger with two major conferences (msn.com)

"We don't have evidence but, we have lot's of theories."

Americans Mayor

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On 9/28/2022 at 12:23 PM, Cougar King said:

 

lol, I swear no one actually reads. If you go to the end of the Dodd piece that is driving this he clearly states that FOX and ESPN do not want further expansion. IOW, the ones who would actually be on the hook to pay for further expansion have tapped out. I do think the PAC schools want into the B10 and even think B10 leadership is open to it, even if some member institutions are not, but this is getting embarrassing. How many times are "sources" going to say this and it not happen over and over again. 

 

image.png.cefb363edf81c89e15f3b6c87e2fc212.png

 

There is a secondary reason the PAC likely sticks around and it was announced recently, CFP expansion. Dodd is getting his clicks though.

image.png.f2c6ee6697e3cde86be0c74eb28ded28.png

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On 9/28/2022 at 2:27 PM, AztecSU said:

lol, I swear no one actually reads. If you go to the end of the Dodd piece that is driving this he clearly states that FOX and ESPN do not want further expansion. IOW, the ones who would actually be on the hook to pay for further expansion have tapped out. I do think the PAC schools want into the B10 and even think B10 leadership is open to it, even if some member institutions are not, but this is getting embarrassing. How many times are "sources" going to say this and it not happen over and over again. 

 

image.png.cefb363edf81c89e15f3b6c87e2fc212.png

 

There is a secondary reason the PAC likely sticks around and it was announced recently, CFP expansion. Dodd is getting his clicks though.

image.png.f2c6ee6697e3cde86be0c74eb28ded28.png

Poor Aztecs about to be left behind.

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On 9/28/2022 at 1:27 PM, AztecSU said:

lol, I swear no one actually reads. If you go to the end of the Dodd piece that is driving this he clearly states that FOX and ESPN do not want further expansion. IOW, the ones who would actually be on the hook to pay for further expansion have tapped out. I do think the PAC schools want into the B10 and even think B10 leadership is open to it, even if some member institutions are not, but this is getting embarrassing. How many times are "sources" going to say this and it not happen over and over again. 

 

image.png.cefb363edf81c89e15f3b6c87e2fc212.png

 

There is a secondary reason the PAC likely sticks around and it was announced recently, CFP expansion. Dodd is getting his clicks though.

image.png.f2c6ee6697e3cde86be0c74eb28ded28.png

I understand this angle and honestly don't know why future expansion should be considered, especially since the PAC champ will have a clear path to the Playoff most if not all seasons.

The expanded playoff is what could save the PAC from collapsing, it's going to be that vs $ offered by other Conferences. The only Conferences that should be considering expansion is the PAC, add SDSU and FSU to get as much of the Cali market as you can and call it good.

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