OT: FSU to Big 12 talk picking up heat. Clemson and Georgia Tech in talks with big 12

Submitted by orobs on

 

http://dev.chuckoliver.net/2012/05/fsu-to-the-big-12-it-is-inevitable/

 

"According to two people with the strongest ties possible to Florida State's Athletic Department, FSU fully plans on exiting the Atlantic Coast Conference. Florida State will begin its transition to the Big 12 Conference beginning this June. One source went as far as to say, "at this point the move is inevitable."

Important dates to watch will be: May 30th, the Big 12 will have its conference meetings. June 15th, the new commissioner of the Big 12 when Bob Bowlsby will take office and August 15th, the deadline for any institution to withdraw from the ACC."

denardogasm

May 20th, 2012 at 5:52 PM ^

Pitt and Syracuse are lookin like the weird kid on the block that no one wants to play with, including their own coaches in the case of Pitt.

"Hey Pitt! Go long!  Keep going!..... Keep going!.....  Come on test my arm!.............goooo..... alright let's make a break for the Big12.  I don't want to play with these weirdos."

timot

May 20th, 2012 at 5:57 PM ^

Anyone think there are some sleepness nights these days  for the AD's at Syracuse, BC, Pitt, NCST, Duke and Wake Forest? These schools seem to be in the most peril of losing when the music stops.

Leaders And Best

May 20th, 2012 at 6:28 PM ^

Rutgers and Syracuse will not get you the NYC market.  It will not get the BTN on expanded basic.  Although Rutgers may be the largest fanbase in NYC, there are about as many B1G fans and alumni in NYC as there are Rutgers fans.  But the kicker is this: Rutgers fanbase only makes up approx. 3% of NYC population.  And these estimates are probably being generous for Rutgers.

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/the-geography-of-college-football-fans-and-realignment-chaos/

Brodie

May 20th, 2012 at 6:32 PM ^

it's only about getting enough Big Ten alums (who have substantial buying power and make up a large enough portion of the market to get things done) to demand it to get it on Cablevision or Verizon and then you rake in the money. The actual fanbase of the local team is almost irrelevant. Especially if one of the schools you have is Notre Dame. 

Leaders And Best

May 20th, 2012 at 6:42 PM ^

NYC is too large and the college football following is too small in the Northeast.  It will not make financial sense for the cable companies to add it on expanded basic because there will not be enough demand for it.  Buying power does not matter for cable subscribers.  That only matters for advertisers.  All cable companies care about is number of customers, and there aren't enough college football customers in NYC.

JohnnyV123

May 20th, 2012 at 6:30 PM ^

I'm all for academics, but the Big Ten needs to stop only considering adding AAU members. I mean that's already ruined now that Nebraska is out.

weasel3216

May 20th, 2012 at 6:48 PM ^

I understand that most of us don't want the B1G to expand, jus the talent level wouldn't be the same.  

My question is, if these superconferences do start, does the B1G really need to expand?  My point is that the Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC would all be absorbing shools of less talent as well, but if the B1G was to not expand wouldn't that essentially mean that the talent of the B1G would be superior to that of the remaining conferences.  I am sure that someone has thought of a reason as to why this won't happen.

Or (i have seen others post similar ideas) what if each of the super conferences only add two teams and allow the teams that weren't picked (kind of like tha last kid at recess) go down to a lower level of athletics.  One example being Boston College, they are not really good at anything but Hockey, and NCAA hockey is followed only by those schools who are good so a very limited viewer base.  

Leaders And Best

May 20th, 2012 at 6:57 PM ^

Especially when partnered with the Pac-12 (who has very few expansion possibilities with the Big 12 stabilized).  I don't think the Big Ten will add a school unless it is the right school and adds value to the conference.  There is a risk of diminishing returns above 12 schools as the ACC found out so you need to be extra careful now when deciding on expansion.

Brodie

May 20th, 2012 at 6:51 PM ^

what a weird conference this will be... at least the Pac-16 would have been geographically contiguous, this is almost as bad as the Big East with three random eastern schools in states that don't even border each other let alone Iowa or Kansas. Cincinnati and Louisville would have at least made the thing look tidy. 

I know we've moved way beyond geography being a factor in these things but every move till now has made at least some vague sort of sense from a mapping perspective Hopefully if we raid the ACC's corpse we take Maryland so it all stays neat.. 

maizeonblueaction

May 20th, 2012 at 7:01 PM ^

I have been waiting for this for two years. The way I see it, superconferences are bound to happen due to consolidation, and I think we are in place to pick up some pretty valuable real estate, in one way or another. If we pick up say UVA and UNC, UNC will bring us a great basketball team and a fast growing state, and UVA is up and coming in basketball and football. Both are top five public schools, which would give us three out of five, as someone else said. Plus, more baseball relevance, more geographic reach into the South, and obviously lacrosse. The other three ACC candidates I see are Duke, GT, and Maryland. Maryland has some natural fit with Penn State, and has had some basketball success in the past and good lacrosse, and is not a bad school. Duke has basketball, and would match up with Northwestern, and GT would ensure we have a lock on about half of the country's top engineering schools, which would bring in research dollars and prestige. I'm sympathetic that there would be some rub, at least at first, but these would be decent fits in the long run. I don't like Notre Dame, so screw 'em, and they bring in nothing geographically, plus we always say their football team is no longer relevant, so why bother?

Seattle Maize

May 20th, 2012 at 7:21 PM ^

Because of our combination of tradition, stability, academics and most attractively revenue, the B1G is in a great position to compete for any school in expansion consideration. I think we should basically tell ND that it's time to get on board and then go hard after Virginia, Virginia tech and north Carolina. This gives us 4 good to great academic schools and also 4 potentially very good football programs that will make us as deep and competitive as any league including the SEC. We also expand into the fertile recruiting grounds of Virginia and north Carolina.

Seattle Maize

May 20th, 2012 at 7:52 PM ^

They probably aren't going to have much of a choice. Very few conferences are going to be lining up to add duke because they just aren't a good football school. UNCs best bet would be the big ten and I would imagine they would jump at the chance to have some stability in this conference realignment madness.

Mr Miggle

May 20th, 2012 at 7:41 PM ^

should just go ahead and offer Texas a sweetheart deal, like a double share, and let them pick another school to come with them. Either Texas will take it and the Big XII is off the list of super conferences, or Texas demands a similar deal to stay.

I just don't see this scenario of four super conferences with every other school shut out ever happening. There are a ton of political hurdles to overcome. If it were to happen the Big 10 would be smart to grab two attractive teams and leave two spots open until the end. Can you imagine the bidding war among the schools vying for the last two spots in this new system?

 

 

Wolverine Devotee

May 20th, 2012 at 7:49 PM ^

What about the B1G adding NC, Duke, Maryland and Syracuse?

All have great basketball, half of them have decent football, all of them would expand the B1G's footprint and bring in new TV markets.

Plus every one of them have lacrosse, which would mean a B1G Lacrosse conference.

M-Wolverine

May 21st, 2012 at 11:35 AM ^

Basketball has huge tv contracts, the Tourney, and all sorts of popularity and profile...and it's an afterthought next to the football beast.  I think they'll consider what's good for lacrosse five minutes after they think about what would help baseball....which is never.

Sambojangles

May 20th, 2012 at 9:14 PM ^

My prediction: everyone regrets forming conferences bigger than 12. When the WAC was at 16 it didn't last long before they broke up. I think the same thing might happen if the Big XII tries to get bigger than 12, if the ACC replaces any losses, and if the B1G adds more. Even the SEC might not like 14 teams soon.

Everyone wanted to get into a BCS conference to get access to BCS money. Utah was the luckiest by playing their way into the Pac-12, and that's why TCU and everyone else the Big East has added recently took the chance. But with the playoff and new B12-SEC bowl game, it looks like the BCS will stop to exist soon. Bigger conferences just means it's harder for each team to win it.

I won't guess who, but I think someone in either the ACC or SEC will soon start to complain that it is too hard to win the conference with 14 teams, and that they would be better off in a smaller conference. If we do go to some form of 16+ team super-conferences, my prediction is that it doesn't last long, and the conferences end up splitting again into more reasonable 8 or 10 team leagues, which make much more sense.

To me, all this speculation is kind of sad. When Nebraska joined, their chancellor made the comment that changing conferences is a 100 year committment. I'm sure that Texas A&M and Missouri said that when they went to the SEC, that Pitt and SU said that to the ACC, and whoever the Big East added may have mentioned it too. Still, it seems like it's still not over (the conference merry-go-round) and the craziness will continue, and that no one seems to really be committed to their current situation, which is and should be relatively stable.

lhglrkwg

May 20th, 2012 at 10:16 PM ^

of all 120 teams. That would maximize the televsion and marketing deals because then everyone's team would be in that conference!

Obviously this creates some scheduling difficulties so I think you'd need to separate those 120 into various pods and in those pods, or "conferences" if you will, those teams will all play each other and at the end of the year teams from all of the different "conferences" can play each other. Radical, I know.

dayooper63

May 20th, 2012 at 11:10 PM ^

From a very long WVU thread.  The one school that approached the BiG was none other than UVA!

 

 

Maybe it's total BS, but there was a flight from Perdue University that landed at Roanoke briefly and landed at Richmond. So, what you said carries weight considering that the UVa president has B1G ties.
---------------------------------------------
--- MHver3 wrote:
The school that contacted the b1G was indeed UVA.
also I believe the dude is tweeting that Clemson is in for number 12(haven't seen it but was just told in a pm)
 
 
I know this is no more than speculation, but if it's true, the ACC is indeed dead.

JohnnyV123

May 21st, 2012 at 1:16 AM ^

Which tradition is more important to you if you are a Notre Dame fan.....

Remaining independent or giving up your rivalries with Michigan, Boston College, Michigan State, USC, Army, Navy to instead play Kansas State, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kansas State, TCU, etc.

They aren't joining the Big XII

Brodie

May 21st, 2012 at 3:57 AM ^

well, Notre Dame will probably be forced into a conference at some point in the near future if things keep going the way they are... and the new Big 12 would be able to use them as a convinient midway point between Iowa and the southeast for road swings, plus it would put them right on par with the other big conferences in terms of power programs.

but there's no benefit for Notre Dame and the Big 10 is a much stronger cultural and academic fit. I imagine the faculty would riot if they cast their lot with FSU and Texas Tech over us. 

Perkis-Size Me

May 21st, 2012 at 10:47 AM ^

I would not be very big on adding UVA. Don't get me wrong: it's an amazing school, definitely on the same level as Michigan. But from a football and basketball perspective I don't see them adding much. If we go after anyone in the ACC, get Duke and UNC together. I'm fine with adding Duke's crappy Indiana-esque football team if it means we get their basketball team.

Perkis-Size Me

May 21st, 2012 at 10:30 AM ^

It's in FSU's best interest to leave. Save for VaTech and FSU, neither of which has proven it can win the big game, the ACC is a joke for football. But FSU does look like its on it's way back.

Perkis-Size Me

May 21st, 2012 at 10:42 AM ^

I am fine with where we are at with 12 teams. Regardless of all this superconference speculation, I really hope the B1G shuts itself off from further expansion unless it can hit an absolute home run, like acquiring ND, or UNC/Duke together.