Conference Realignment thread

[EvilPoke]

It seems like there should be more noise out there - the Pac-2 are running out of time to find football opponents for 2025.

[Wyobraska]

On 8/22/2024 at 8:29 PM, EvilPoke said:

It seems like there should be more noise out there - the Pac-2 are running out of time to find football opponents for 2025.

They said they want to have a plan by early 2025 so they don't seem to be in a hurry 

[EvilPoke]

On 8/22/2024 at 10:14 PM, Wyobraska said:

They said they want to have a plan by early 2025 so they don't seem to be in a hurry 

For a conference, yeah - but I thought they needed football opponents ASAP?

[EvilPoke]

This appears to be W/OSU'S order of preference:

- Get into Big 12 (hail Mary)

- ACC blows up, leaving either spots to join or CALFord needing a place to land (not likely - at least in the timeframe they need)

- Best of Best G5 - which ties into CALford - I don't know if the money or desire by other schools is there to make this viable - and they have until July to pull it off, or it's going to get hella expensive.

- Merger with MWC 6 - See above.

-Merger with MWC 9 - A lot cheaper, but I don't know how you pull this off without the lawyers getting involved 

- Full reverse merger - This is like their fallback plan if everything else fails 

- Straight Join the MW. Wow. Someone f'd up here.

[Full]

On 8/23/2024 at 5:55 AM, EvilPoke said:

This appears to be W/OSU'S order of preference:

- Get into Big 12 (hail Mary)

- ACC blows up, leaving either spots to join or CALFord needing a place to land (not likely - at least in the timeframe they need)

- Best of Best G5 - which ties into CALford - I don't know if the money or desire by other schools is there to make this viable - and they have until July to pull it off, or it's going to get hella expensive.

- Merger with MWC 6 - See above.

-Merger with MWC 9 - A lot cheaper, but I don't know how you pull this off without the lawyers getting involved 

- Full reverse merger - This is like their fallback plan if everything else fails 

- Straight Join the MW. Wow. Someone f'd up here.

- Last option (BYU model) Football independence with Olympic sports in the WCC.
 

If I’m not mistaken, the scheduling agreement needs to be re-uped for 2025 by September 1st. It looks like the MW and the PAC-2 are turning to a more adversarial relationship with PAC-2 presidents and AD’s talking openly about best of the rest conference and them disregard the spirit of the agreement. I also think they lose access to a lot of their war chest in this scenario.  

[HawaiiMongoose]

On 8/23/2024 at 5:28 AM, Full said:

- Last option (BYU model) Football independence with Olympic sports in the WCC.
 

If I’m not mistaken, the scheduling agreement needs to be re-uped for 2025 by September 1st. It looks like the MW and the PAC-2 are turning to a more adversarial relationship with PAC-2 presidents and AD’s talking openly about best of the rest conference and them disregard the spirit of the agreement. I also think they lose access to a lot of their war chest in this scenario.  

Yep, the BYU model is certainly an option and one that may become more appealing to them as other options fall off the table.  As for the more adversarial relationship with the MWC, I definitely see that emerging, although another thing to keep an eye on is whether OSU and WSU are able to remain in lockstep with respect to how they manage that relationship.

From the very beginning the vibe coming from Murthy has felt a lot more negative toward the option of joining forces with the MWC than what we've heard from Schulz.  At least Schulz has spoken about the importance of WSU being in a regional conference and not wasting its P-2 war chest money on joining forces with schools from far away.  Murthy just keeps emphasizing that OSU will do anything it takes to remain a step above the unwashed G5 masses.  And while Schulz is a lame duck, he's not planning to retire until June 2025, by which time the fates of both OSU and WSU should be settled.

I think OSU and WSU not seeing eye-to-eye could be a factor in delaying a final resolution until well into next spring.

[SteedLaw]

On 8/23/2024 at 11:35 AM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Yep, the BYU model is certainly an option and one that may become more appealing to them as other options fall off the table.  As for the more adversarial relationship with the MWC, I definitely see that emerging, although another thing to keep an eye on is whether OSU and WSU are able to remain in lockstep with respect to how they manage that relationship.

From the very beginning the vibe coming from Murthy has felt a lot more negative toward the option of joining forces with the MWC than what we've heard from Schulz.  At least Schulz has spoken about the importance of WSU being in a regional conference and not wasting its P-2 war chest money on joining forces with schools from far away.  Murthy just keeps emphasizing that OSU will do anything it takes to remain a step above the unwashed G5 masses.  And while Schulz is a lame duck, he's not planning to retire until June 2025, by which time the fates of both OSU and WSU should be settled.

I think OSU and WSU not seeing eye-to-eye could be a factor in delaying a final resolution until well into next spring.

I fully expect Schultz and WSU to make a decision before the end of September, even if OSU and Murthy do not. 

It is just stupid to wait any longer -- MWC is the ONLY option for now. And, the longer they wait, the less leverage they have. And, unlike BYU, they don't have over ten million LDS followers globally. 

Honestly, I think they are totally overplaying their hand and, if they are not careful, the BYU independent route will be the ONLY option left which will NOT work for OSU/WSU. 

 

[wolf from 73]

On 8/23/2024 at 5:56 PM, SteedLaw said:

I fully expect Schultz and WSU to make a decision before the end of September, even if OSU and Murthy do not. 

It is just stupid to wait any longer -- MWC is the ONLY option for now. And, the longer they wait, the less leverage they have. And, unlike BYU, they don't have over ten million LDS followers globally. 

Honestly, I think they are totally overplaying their hand and, if they are not careful, the BYU independent route will be the ONLY option left which will NOT work for OSU/WSU. 

 

In Murthys interview last week she mentioned that their focus right now was to complete their 2025 football schedule. Only 2 MW teams have 1 available game each probably in negotiations with the Pac2. They still need 5 and 6 games to complete their 2025 schedule, not looking good for the 2 this late in the game. The longer this drags on they will be forced to join the MW for a fee. The 2 are eating-up their Pac-2 finances by plundering to the tune of 27 million each for the 2025 year.

[Billings]

On 8/23/2024 at 7:48 PM, wolf from 73 said:

In Murthys interview last week she mentioned that their focus right now was to complete their 2025 football schedule. Only 2 MW teams have 1 available game each probably in negotiations with the Pac2. They still need 5 and 6 games to complete their 2025 schedule, not looking good for the 2 this late in the game. The longer this drags on they will be forced to join the MW for a fee. The 2 are eating-up their Pac-2 finances by plundering to the tune of 27 million each for the 2025 year.

Some on the OSU board believe they are near a scheduling deal with the BIG 12 for 2025   It would be similar to what they have with the MWC except for it is $2 million per game they would pay the BIG 12 versus the $1 million per game they pay the MWC. 

Just people saying they have insider info although one or two might

[Wyobraska]

On 8/23/2024 at 9:21 PM, Billings said:

Some on the OSU board believe they are near a scheduling deal with the BIG 12 for 2025   It would be similar to what they have with the MWC except for it is $2 million per game they would pay the BIG 12 versus the $1 million per game they pay the MWC. 

Just people saying they have insider info although one or two might

Makes absolutely zero sense for the Big 12 from my perspective.  I don't see the upside.  I wouldn't be happy about it if I was a Big 12 school fan.  I'd want to play conference members, especially with so many schools in the conference 

[Chalsean]

On 8/23/2024 at 9:21 PM, Billings said:

Some on the OSU board believe they are near a scheduling deal with the BIG 12 for 2025   It would be similar to what they have with the MWC except for it is $2 million per game they would pay the BIG 12 versus the $1 million per game they pay the MWC. 

Just people saying they have insider info although one or two might

If I remember reading, didnt they say that their sources were twitter heads and sportskeeda?

[wolf from 73]

On 8/23/2024 at 8:21 PM, Billings said:

Some on the OSU board believe they are near a scheduling deal with the BIG 12 for 2025   It would be similar to what they have with the MWC except for it is $2 million per game they would pay the BIG 12 versus the $1 million per game they pay the MWC. 

Just people saying they have insider info although one or two might

Yes, I saw that but it's not happening because there are only 3 B-12 teams that have 1 opening each for 2025. OSU has 2 games scheduled with B-12 teams for 2025 and WS has 0. OSU still needs 5 more games and WS is in need of 6 more. My guess is they will add Nevada and Wyoming from the MW, Baylor, BYU and Kansas from the B-12. Calford has 3 games available with OSU already scheduling Cal. If they add all of those that would be 8 of the 11 games still needed. I have no doubt that they tried but failed to reach a scheduling agreement with the B-12. They are G-5 with money for now and everyone knows it but them and will ultimately pay a fee to join the MWC after much of their windfall is gone.

[wolf from 73]

They were so foolish to try and retain P-5 status when they were demoted to G-5 and no P-5 is interested in them. With their windfall they could have been at the very top of the G-5 and hoped for a call up. Instead they will burn through most of their cash and still be G-5 but more towards the middle of the pack.

[Wyobraska]

On 8/23/2024 at 11:37 PM, wolf from 73 said:

Yes, I saw that but it's not happening because there are only 3 B-12 teams that have 1 opening each for 2025. OSU has 2 games scheduled with B-12 teams for 2025 and WS has 0. OSU still needs 5 more games and WS is in need of 6 more. My guess is they will add Nevada and Wyoming from the MW, Baylor, BYU and Kansas from the B-12. Calford has 3 games available with OSU already scheduling Cal. If they add all of those that would be 8 of the 11 games still needed. I have no doubt that they tried but failed to reach a scheduling agreement with the B-12. They are G-5 with money for now and everyone knows it but them and will ultimately pay a fee to join the MWC after much of their windfall is gone.

If the Big 12 wanted to, they could just make it a conference game like the MW did this year and that would solve any scheduling issues.  I just don't know why the Big 12 would do that.  

There isn't an upside or anything to gain for the Big 12 like the current scenario for the MW where they wanted to figure out a way for OSU and WSU to be in the same conference as the MW members.  

[utgrizfan]

On 8/21/2024 at 11:32 AM, Wyobraska said:

Some people starting to report the possibility of UConn to the Big 12 but I haven't read any thing substantial at this point.  

I would think the Big 12 would want to wait on the ACC situation first.  

https://www.krem.com/video/sports/locked-on/lo-national/big-12-show/source-uconn-joining-expansion-big-12-conference-within-two-weeks-imminent-realignment-move/535-946b2b8f-bc6c-407a-b251-eb616d67b9ea

Been reading that it will be all sports except Football which would join in 2031. This is to see if UConn will keep their word and invest heavily into Football and get them up to P4 status while still benefiting from their Basketball.

[wolf from 73]

On 8/24/2024 at 2:00 AM, utgrizfan said:

Been reading that it will be all sports except Football which would join in 2031. This is to see if UConn will keep their word and invest heavily into Football and get them up to P4 status while still benefiting from their Basketball.

It would appear that the B-12 have an eye on the ACC, What ever happens with U-Con the B-12 will go after ACC members if they become available. Nothing said about the P-2 which are available now so that says to me there is 0 interest in them.

If UConn is added, it may not be the Big 12’s last addition.

“Keep your eye on what happens in the ACC,” a source said.                                                                                          https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaaf/big-12-considering-adding-uconn-huskies?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=BrettMcMurphy

[BacksThePack]

Syracuse would make sense if they were bringing in UConn as a travel partner I guess. and Louisville and Pitt. Going for the whole old Big East

[wolf from 73]

Will Pac-12 holdovers make Mountain West home?                                                                                                                                                                          https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/will-pac-12-holdovers-make-mountain-west-home/ar-AA1pmyyn

[utgrizfan]

On 8/25/2024 at 4:43 PM, wolf from 73 said:

Will Pac-12 holdovers make Mountain West home?                                                                                                                                                                          https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/will-pac-12-holdovers-make-mountain-west-home/ar-AA1pmyyn

Yomark mentioning he wants the Vegas market is interesting, hypothetically would the Big12 want UNLV paired with UConn? Could do x3 Pods of 6 teams at that point to help travel costs and match the Big10 in # of teams:

WEST: UNLV, BYU, UTAH, AZ, ASU, Colorado

CENTRAL: Kansas, KSU, OSU, TTU, TCU, Baylor

EAST: WVU, Cincy, UConn, UCF, ISU, Houston

Playing 9 Conference games every year could easily be: 5 Pod games and 2 games from each other pod (1 home, 1 away) and could enable some rivalry games (Farmageddon) to be played every season.

[Wyobraska]

On 8/25/2024 at 6:14 PM, utgrizfan said:

Yomark mentioning he wants the Vegas market is interesting, hypothetically would the Big12 want UNLV paired with UConn? Could do x3 Pods of 6 teams at that point to help travel costs and match the Big10 in # of teams:

WEST: UNLV, BYU, UTAH, AZ, ASU, Colorado

CENTRAL: Kansas, KSU, OSU, TTU, TCU, Baylor

EAST: WVU, Cincy, UConn, UCF, ISU, Houston

Playing 9 Conference games every year could easily be: 5 Pod games and 2 games from each other pod (1 home, 1 away) and could enable some rivalry games (Farmageddon) to be played every season.

Do you need UNLV though to have a nice piece of the Vegas market?  It's debatable