Brady Hoke on Conference Realignment, Roy Roundtree, Kaleb Ringer, the Gentlemen's Agreement, and Beer

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'.

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.

...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.

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.

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.

Are you saying...

Ball State=bad?

Agreement=good?

Realignment=good?

Ringer=Non-existent?

Roundtree=Good?

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.

That was a joke?

"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.