Conference Realignment thread

[Headbutt]

On 11/21/2023 at 1:13 PM, RSF said:

He said a lot of things that were off base.

Yeah, just thought I'd start with the basics.  The leap of convoluted logic aside.

[UofMTigers]

Fred Smith (FedEx) donates 50 million to the UofM to cover the funding gap in the Liberty Bowl's 220 million dollar renovation and Mayor Strickland (UofM grad) intends to transfer ownership of the Liberty Bowl (plus the land it sits on) to the Univ of Memphis before his term ends Dec 31st. That way the Liberty Bowl will finally be our stadium to run however we like.

https://www.memphistn.gov/city-of-memphis-proposes-120-million-of-state-grant-fundsand-transfer-ownership-of-simmons-bank-liberty-stadium/

[Headbutt]

On 11/21/2023 at 6:57 PM, UofMTigers said:

Fred Smith (FedEx) donates 50 million to the UofM to cover the funding gap in the Liberty Bowl's 220 million dollar renovation and Mayor Strickland (UofM grad) intends to transfer ownership of the Liberty Bowl (plus the land it sits on) to the Univ of Memphis before his term ends Dec 31st. That way the Liberty Bowl will finally be our stadium to run however we like.

https://www.memphistn.gov/city-of-memphis-proposes-120-million-of-state-grant-fundsand-transfer-ownership-of-simmons-bank-liberty-stadium/

Aaaaahhhhhh, a pork project.  Thank God for corrupt politicians.  Congratulations.

[UofMTigers]

On 11/21/2023 at 8:40 PM, Headbutt said:

Aaaaahhhhhh, a pork project.  Thank God for corrupt politicians.  Congratulations.

we called out Nashville for spending like 1.5 billion on the Tit's new stadium and said 'uh, what about our 50 year old stadium and our Pro team?'

so they gave us 350 million to renovate the Liberty Bowl and upgrade FedExForum to extend the Grizz lease like 20 years (Grizz wouldn't agree without a lot of promised upgrades)

[RSF]

On 11/21/2023 at 7:57 PM, UofMTigers said:

Fred Smith (FedEx) donates 50 million to the UofM to cover the funding gap in the Liberty Bowl's 220 million dollar renovation and Mayor Strickland (UofM grad) intends to transfer ownership of the Liberty Bowl (plus the land it sits on) to the Univ of Memphis before his term ends Dec 31st. That way the Liberty Bowl will finally be our stadium to run however we like.

https://www.memphistn.gov/city-of-memphis-proposes-120-million-of-state-grant-fundsand-transfer-ownership-of-simmons-bank-liberty-stadium/

Too little, too late.

[UofMTigers]

On 11/21/2023 at 10:11 PM, RSF said:

Too little, too late.

we still need it though...the Liberty Bowl is over 50 and something major needs to be done to keep it viable into the 2030s and beyond.

that's true no matter if we're in the AAC playing Tulane, USF, Army, Navy, etc or playing in a P5 conference.

[An Admirer from the East]

WSU AD Pat Chun interview yesterday in the Seattle Times: Chun said “Plan A” is for Oregon State and Washington State — who will essentially represent the Pac-2 next season — to partner with the Mountain West and have schools from that conference fill out the remainder of unscheduled games. But he didn’t elaborate on what Plan B or C would be, only joking that “Plan D” would be to play Oregon State six times.  https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/wsu-ad-pat-chun-on-the-state-of-college-athletics-broken-beyond-repair/

[HawaiiMongoose]

On 11/22/2023 at 5:21 PM, An Admirer from the East said:

WSU AD Pat Chun interview yesterday in the Seattle Times: Chun said “Plan A” is for Oregon State and Washington State — who will essentially represent the Pac-2 next season — to partner with the Mountain West and have schools from that conference fill out the remainder of unscheduled games. But he didn’t elaborate on what Plan B or C would be, only joking that “Plan D” would be to play Oregon State six times.  https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/wsu-ad-pat-chun-on-the-state-of-college-athletics-broken-beyond-repair/

A lot of finger-pointing at previous Pac-12 leadership, which isn't surprising.  Of course what Chun doesn't acknowledge is that the Pac-12 was also a victim of its own heterogeneity.  In the big-money era of college sports, it's becoming unsustainable to house rich-uncle blue-chip national brands, well-to-do mom-and-pop power conference schools, and ambitious-but-poor dependent children under the same roof.  The media companies are no longer willing to pay power conferences extra money to subsidize members who don't pull their weight financially, and drew the line in the Pac-12 media deal negotiations.  OSU and WSU were the first to be relegated but they won't be the last.

[utenation]

On 11/23/2023 at 1:48 PM, HawaiiMongoose said:

A lot of finger-pointing at previous Pac-12 leadership, which isn't surprising.  Of course what Chun doesn't acknowledge is that the Pac-12 was also a victim of its own heterogeneity.  In the big-money era of college sports, it's becoming unsustainable to house rich-uncle blue-chip national brands, well-to-do mom-and-pop power conference schools, and ambitious-but-poor dependent children under the same roof.  The media companies are no longer willing to pay power conferences extra money to subsidize members who don't pull their weight financially, and drew the line in the Pac-12 media deal negotiations.  OSU and WSU were the first to be relegated but they won't be the last.

The P12 presidents all turned down $30 million a year from ESPN including OSU and WSU.  Being greedy thinking they could get $50 mill per.  

The buck starts and stops right there. There is no one else to blame. 
 

The B12/ESPN/Fox just subsidized UCF, Cincy, BYU and Houston. So that part still happens. 

[AztecSU]

On 11/23/2023 at 1:11 PM, utenation said:

The P12 presidents all turned down $30 million a year from ESPN including OSU and WSU.  Being greedy thinking they could get $50 mill per.  

The buck starts and stops right there. There is no one else to blame. 

Exactly. The greed of the top schools ruined it for the rest. Hell, if USC doesn’t mislead the PAC leadership two summers ago the movement between the PAC and B12 would’ve been in the opposite direction. An all time failure by the PAC leadership. 

[HawaiiMongoose]

Jonathan Smith is on his way to Michigan State.  The exodus from OSU is now officially underway.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/michigan-state-hires-jonathan-smith-oregon-state-coach-leaves-alma-mater-to-take-over-spartans-job/

[818SUDSFan]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:33 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Jonathan Smith is on his way to Michigan State.  The exodus from OSU is now officially underway.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/michigan-state-hires-jonathan-smith-oregon-state-coach-leaves-alma-mater-to-take-over-spartans-job/

And the end of any chance of a Pac-8 or Pac-10 is also now official.

And I'll predict this: Although OSU and WSU will enter THE Mountain West Conference with more money and a better roster than the great majority of current MWC schools if not all of them, they better win the conference football title quickly because by the end of this decade they'll be the next versions of Wyoming.

[UofMTigers]

if the 'Pac' wanted to simply merge with the MWC would they lose all that money or would it just belong to the new MWC?

[smithy]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:33 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Jonathan Smith is on his way to Michigan State.  The exodus from OSU is now officially underway.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/michigan-state-hires-jonathan-smith-oregon-state-coach-leaves-alma-mater-to-take-over-spartans-job/

I have a feeling OSU and WSU is really going to have a hard time keeping their rosters and coaches at the end of the season. The fear of being a have not is starting to be become reality.

[smithy]

On 11/21/2023 at 8:11 PM, RSF said:

Too little, too late.

I thought Memphis already owned the Liberty Bowl and land in order to renovate it? I guess it would be silly to renovate a product that they don't actually own. It's good for them...kinda like the Bears getting out of the rented Soldier Field and not getting all the advantage of ownership...so here comes the Arlington Hts project. Tired of making peanuts while they can get the whole cake.

[Headbutt]

On 11/25/2023 at 12:59 PM, UofMTigers said:

if the 'Pac' wanted to simply merge with the MWC would they lose all that money or would it just belong to the new MWC?

If the twins join the MWC I suspect that conference assets, beyond what OSU/WSU can claim as theirs will be disbursed somehow.  They won't keep that money.  If the MWC teams merge into the Pac, then those assets would stay viable and would belong (in some fashion) to all the Pac teams ie. the MWC gang plus the twins.  Nobody really knows right now which assets belong to OSU/WSU and which ones belong to the Pac.  The court ruled that WSU/OSU get to make most of that determination as they are the board of directors, the court did not rule that everything falls into the two schools bank accounts.

There's a reason they need a scheduling alliance.  They need time to sort this out, and then whatever resolution they come to will go to court, and of course the conference also has some pretty significant liabilities that need addressed.

The short answer is...stay tuned.

[Nevada Convert]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:37 AM, 818SUDSFan said:

And the end of any chance of a Pac-8 or Pac-10 is also now official.

And I'll predict this: Although OSU and WSU will enter THE Mountain West Conference with more money and a better roster than the great majority of current MWC schools if not all of them, they better win the conference football title quickly because by the end of this decade they'll be the next versions of Wyoming.

I don’t see how this changes anything. We all knew this was going to happen. We all know the twins won’t be nearly as good in the future, and the twins still have a lot of decisions to make. I think the chances of them being added to the MWC are almost zero. A reverse merger with the PAC with mandatory minimums is still the most likely scenario, but they still have more denial issues to work through, first. 

[SalinasSpartan]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:37 AM, 818SUDSFan said:

And the end of any chance of a Pac-8 or Pac-10 is also now official.

And I'll predict this: Although OSU and WSU will enter THE Mountain West Conference with more money and a better roster than the great majority of current MWC schools if not all of them, they better win the conference football title quickly because by the end of this decade they'll be the next versions of Wyoming.

I get that WSU is in a small town, but they are a major university in the 13th largest state. And Oregon isn’t a big state, but I mean it’s bigger than Oklahoma. 

[UofMTigers]

On 11/25/2023 at 5:14 PM, Headbutt said:

If the twins join the MWC I suspect that conference assets, beyond what OSU/WSU can claim as theirs will be disbursed somehow.  They won't keep that money.  If the MWC teams merge into the Pac, then those assets would stay viable and would belong (in some fashion) to all the Pac teams ie. the MWC gang plus the twins.  Nobody really knows right now which assets belong to OSU/WSU and which ones belong to the Pac.  The court ruled that WSU/OSU get to make most of that determination as they are the board of directors, the court did not rule that everything falls into the two schools bank accounts.

There's a reason they need a scheduling alliance.  They need time to sort this out, and then whatever resolution they come to will go to court, and of course the conference also has some pretty significant liabilities that need addressed.

The short answer is...stay tuned.

thx for the update!

[Nevada Convert]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:20 PM, SalinasSpartan said:

I get that WSU is in a small town, but they are a major university in the 13th largest state. And Oregon isn’t a big state, but I mean it’s bigger than Oklahoma. 

Just saw a presser where Dickert at WSU was saying they’re a total failure with NIL so far. He said Oregon St. has 10 times the NIL money they do, Arizona 20 times the money, etc. He sounded dead serious. I’ll try to find it. He was basically pleading with the fanbase to step up.