Brady Hoke on Conference Realignment, Roy Roundtree, Kaleb Ringer, the Gentlemen's Agreement, and Beer
Brady Hoke spoke at the Agonis Club's 59th-annual awards banquet in his hometown of Kettering on Tuesday, He spoke on a number of topics including his time at Ball State, the supposed gentlemen's agreement between Big Ten coaches, conference realignment, Kaleb Ringer, and Roy Roundtree.
On his time at Ball St.:
“I had two goals at Ball State. One was to play football and the other was to drink every beer in Muncie, Ind.”
On the Gentlemen's agreement:
“No. 1, we have an actual signing day for a reason. That is, they can change their minds until they sign. This is competitive. This isn’t ... I’d like to say golf — don’t take offense. I’ve never heard of agreements or not agreements. Look, they’re 18 to 23 years old. They got a lot going on, more so now than when I was 18 to 23.”
On conference realignment:
“I think really in about three years you’ll see four super conferences, and I think the Big East will go away and maybe the ACC. But look, I’m just a coach. I don’t know all of it.”
On Kaleb Ringer:
“He had a great spring. He had over a 3.0 (GPA). He did a great job from the academic side of it. He did a nice job of learning the defense. He was awesome. I think he can be in the mix (for playing time).”
On Roy Roundtree:
“He’s doing great. He’s going to wear No. 21 in honor of (Heisman Trophy winner) Desmond Howard. It’s a big deal. Desmond is fired up. Roy is fired up. And I’m fired up.”
I found his comments on conference realignment to be particularly interesting, mainly because you'd think that he'd have some inside information on the topic, via discussion with Dave Brandon and what not. It'll be interesting to see what happens down the road.
This sounds about right to me.
If I could have a beer with Hoke and Bo, that would be the greatest day ever.
Should...not...post this but can't help myself....I would also want Mo there so we could keep the party going a little longer! But seriously, If I could have a beer with 2 deceased men one would be my grandpa and the other would be Bo.
It's great to have goals and all, but you might find it more impossible to have a beer with Bo these days than with Hoke.
Just sayin'.
Why did they randomly talk about Kaleb Ringer?
Maybe it wasn't so random. Maybe (and I bet you could have looked this up like I did) Kettering, OH, where Hoke is from and where the dinner was, is near Clayton, OH where Ringer is from, so they wanted to know how the hometown boy was doing? Both cities are suburbs of Dayton, as is Trotwood where Roundtree is from, so I'm thinking this has a lot to do with why those topics were discussed.
Why use search engines, when the people of MGOBLOG will do it for you?
thanks
...is from The Dayton Daily News.
Well he doesn't need 1,000 yards but I look to him for at least 993 yards to make us proud.
4.... Big Ten, SEC, PAC .... so it really comes down to Big 12 and ACC. If FSU leaves the ACC, that could potential be bigger in the long run than we realize.
I think both the ACC and Big East get some teams poached, and ultimately they combine to be the east coast super conference. I just can't imagine the other conferences splitting them up and each having a presence on the east coast (save PAC).
I see the PAC, Big 10, and SEC splitting the Big 12. We end up with an Eastern conference, Southern, Western, and Mid West. Obviously they each will have teams outside of their primary footprint, but I don't see a lot of these conferences overreaching too much in terms of geography.
That makes sense, but I don't see sense (especially regarding geographic cohesion) playing much of a role so far in conference realignment, and I'm not sure that will change.
The five largest conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big XII, Pac 12, SEC) and two major independents (BYU, ND) will shortly comprise 64 total prograrms provided there's no more realignment taking place.
If the ACC and the two independents were to be assimilated into the other four conferences, then that would give you four 16-team super conferences. The problem, however, is that it would leave some pretty good programs on the outside looking in at that point.
If super conferences are set up, we'll probably see a baseline of 72 teams (four conferences with 18 members apiece) or more probably 80 teams (either five conferences with 16 members apiece or four conferences with 20 members apiece). We might also see a contraction in the number of members in Division 1-A from approx. 125 down to that 72 or 80 number. I suppose another possibility could be 96 teams in six 16-team conferenes.
If 80 is the number, then which 16 teams would be added to the 64? The WAC is down to two football members (New Mexico State, Idaho) and the Sun Belt Conference could be eliminated (and probably the MAC as well). That leaves:
Big East (13): Connecticut, Rutgers, Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, South Florida, Central Florida, Boise State, San Diego State, Navy, Houston, SMU, Temple
Mountain West (10): Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV, Wyoming, Fresno State, Nevada, Hawaii, San Jose State, Utah State
Conference USA (14): UNC-Charlotte, Florida International, Lousiana Tech, North Texas, Old Dominion, Texas-San Antonio, UAB, East Carolina, Marshall, Southern Miss, Rice, UTEP, Tulane, Tulsa
Here's the MAC membership, FWIW;
MAC (12): Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami, Ohio, Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo
I could see most of the teams moving into super conferences coming from the Big East and the Mountain West with a handful from Conference USA.
Whatever happens will be messy. The trend in recent years has been for programs to be "promoted" to better conference situations depending on circumstances and their perceived self-interest (which is why TCU could go from the Mountain West to the Big East and onto the Big XII in an instant).
If Florida State and Clemson do move to the Big XII (which I'd put at about 50-50), then that puts the ACC at 12 members. Provided nothing else happens, then the status quo remains much the same.
But if the remaining members of the ACC and select members of the Big East continue to put out feelers, then further movement might happen. It will be interesting, for instance, to see what happens if/when the SEC puts together its own conference network. Outside of probably having to go to nine conference football games to increase the inventory for television, they could also look at getting it into the states of Virginia and North Carolina. That means programs like Virginia Tech, UNC and NC State might be of interest to them.
For the Big Ten, the goal has long been to move the BTN onto basic cable in the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Notre Dame is a major component of that strategy, but it might invariably include programs like Maryland (DC-Baltimore area), Rutgers (NYC/NJ) and Georgia Tech (Atlanta) as well. Others for consideration would be Virginia, UNC and Duke.
For the Big XII, outside of Florida State and Clemson, there could be programs like Louisville, Miami, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and BYU on the table. I'd also add Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech to that list as well.
Since the Pac 12 wasn't able to get Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State into a Pac 16 Conference after two attempts, getting to super conference status might not be too easy beause the pickings are pretty slim (especially when considering the athletics side). Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, UNLV and Nevada come to mind (BYU wouldn't be a member due to the religious angle). Perhaps Hawaii becomes a possibility as well. Of all the conferences, the Pac 12 will have the most difficult time adding four programs that fit their needs.
You forgot to mention Syracuse. Living in Rochester (upstate ny) nothing would make happier than to see them join the B1G.
" Provided nothing else happens, then the status quo remains much the same."
Isn't that like repeating the same thing over and over, again and again more than once?
Ringer adjusting well to the UM experience. He could factor in on D this year, as could Bolden and possibly Pipkins. I think Hoke was probably a bit vague on the realignment issue; he probably prefers to leave that to the suits and deal with Xs and Os
Bad, Good, Good, Non-existent, Good.
Are you saying...
Ball State=bad?
Agreement=good?
Realignment=good?
Ringer=Non-existent?
Roundtree=Good?
Turns out Ringer is a figment of our imaginations. A shared delusion over the past year.
Though, now that you mention it, has anyone ever SEEN Kaleb Ringer? Like, in real life?
/tinfoil hat
I heard he was at the Maize N Blue Deli with Tacopants last week.
...but that he thought Zingerman's was better.
paging Captain Tuttle...
with Taylor Lewan
Photoshop minions commence...
My handiwork become someone else's photoshop fodder. Can't wait for Taylor to appear all through the 2012 season.
I do agree with you. I do not want it but I fear there is no stoping it.
At the end of the story they buried the fact that Jerel Worthy received an award. Says a lot about Ohio media's opinion of MSU and its players.
But man... he never ever passes up a chance to tell that joke about drinking beer in Muncie.
"There's a scene in the Lion King..."
I would imagine that, if football realigned in this manner, then at least the sports which also received extensive coverage on television (typically basketball, but potentially other sports as well) would realign as well. That would likely be easier on schools than worrying about who had first and second tier rights for one sport in one conference and who had those same rights for another sport in another conference - negotiating individual agreements like that would probably be a nightmare anyway unless you're ND, of course.
That being said, it seems like we are trending towards superconferences as television deals get more lucrative and geography begins to mean less. From a football standpoint alone (putting other sports aside for the moment), the Big East and ACC (although ACC football gets decent Nielsen ratings - teams might be interested in a better structured deal more than anything) might be the most vulnerable. Hoke may be spot on in that regard.
The B1G, SEC and B12 are all salivating over the East Coast b/c of the population. What drives me crazy is that New England could care less about CFB. They are pro football cities. The Patriots, Giants, Jets, Ravens, Eagles and Redskins rule the roost. The problem is that unlike most of the country people in this area went to smaller colleges and universities. These schools often don't have football or they participate in DIII or DII.
I live in CT and pretty much the only people here who are big college football fans are the transplants. There are also a few BC fans before the season starts but they fade away as the season goes on.
I don't blame them, not exactly premier college ball played at BC. Only reason I am a die hard in my area is because of a transplant when I was 9.
When conference realignment talk started a few years ago, I stated often that I thought the game was going to four superconferences: the Big Ten, SEC, Pac 12, and what I called, for geographical reasons, the "Leftoverture Conference," combining what was left of the Big 12, ACC, and Big East after the three stronger conferences skimmed the better teams off the top.
This appears to be what is happening, except that the "Leftoverture Conference" is going to turn out to be a stronger Big 12. I am waiting to see the four superconferences form an elite division. That will also create the possibility of CUSA, ACC, Big East, and MWC forming a decent second tier out of whatever is left of the FBS.
When a coach like Brady Hoke says he expects four superconferences, you really have to believe that he is serious and has a bit more info at his disposal than the rest of us. We may get a de facto eight team playoff to determine a true champion on the field yet.
I was surprised by Hoke saying anything at all about conference realignment. Normally he "coach-speaks" around things like that.