Conference Expansion: Big 12 Not Dead Yet? Would The SEC Go After The ACC?
by Brian Favat on Jun 13, 2010 3:15 PM EDT
in Conference Expansion
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PrintThe Big 12 just might not be dead. According to The Oklahoman, the school's ten remaining members will hold a meeting of their athletic directors on Monday to discuss salvaging the Big 12.
The same Oklahoman source said one last-ditch effort to salvage the Big 12 could take place Monday in a meeting with the athletic directors from the Big 12’s remaining schools.
The meeting could also involve talking to TV officials, to gauge what kind of TV contract the league could land after losing both Colorado and Nebraska this past week.
The Big 12’s TV contract with Fox expires after the 2011 season.
Texas deciding to stand pat in a Big 12 without Colorado and Nebraska is probably the best possible outcome at the moment for BC and the ACC. If Texas decides the Big 12 isn't worth salvaging, then in all likelihood 5 of the remaining 10 Big 12 schools would likely join Colorado in a 16-team Pac 10.
For the ACC, the question of which 5 Big 12 teams becomes very important. Texas A&M is reportedly interested in breaking away from Texas and joining the SEC. The Aggies, however, are unsure which direction they will take. If they decide to pursue an invitation from the SEC, the conference would temporarily have 13 teams. This might trigger the SEC to look towards the ACC to round up to 14 teams or go balls out and match the Pac 10 with 16 teams. ESPN's Joe Schad seems to think the SEC could stop at 13 teams, but given the scheduling headaches that the MAC has faced, that situation doesn't seem too realistic. The SEC's fourteenth team could very well come from the ACC in the form of Florida State or Clemson.
The better question regarding Texas A&M is not whether they will vote to join the SEC, but rather whether the SEC is interested in Texas A&M. If Texas and Oklahoma go west and come off the board, the SEC's incentives to just invite just Texas A&M decrease substantially. While Texas A&M does provide the conference with an expanded footprint in the Dallas and Houston TV markets, the real jewel of Slive's eye appears to be Texas and Oklahoma.
Sources also told ESPN that there was no way the SEC would turn its gaze towards the ACC in any expansion plans:
Looking beyond the Big 12 for expansion, specifically to the ACC for schools such as Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State or Miami, was not in the SEC's plans, sources told ESPN.
The sources saw no way the SEC would raid the ACC and added serious doubt that Virginia Tech could be pried away from Virginia.
There is already plenty of blood in the water with Pac 10 and Big Ten expansion. Mike Slive doesn't have much incentive to tip the ACC apple cart if all they stand to gain is an Aggies program that would be walking away from most of their longstanding rivalries.
ACC Targets on Big Ten Expansion List?
The rumors about the Big Ten poaching an ACC program or two don't seem to be dying down either. Maryland, Georgia Tech and Boston College have all been rumored to be on the Big Ten's wish list. The Big Ten targeting Big East school rumors seems to have died down a bit and the conference may ultimately be spared in this round of conference musical chairs. However, if the ultimate goal of the Big Ten is to lure Notre Dame to join the fold, Jim Delany isn't going to accomplish this by extending invites to any one of those three ACC schools.
Expansion Wildcards
Money seems to be the primary motivating factor in all this conference realignment talk, so it should come as no surprise that the University of Memphis is willing to offer what amounts to a bribe for any BCS conference willing to take on the Tigers. FedEx CEO Fred Smith have spoken to a number of different conference officials and made it known that his company would be willing to offer up to $10 million annually to rescue Memphis from Conference USA obscurity and place them in the Big East or the SEC.
Would the ACC consider taking on the Tigers for $10 million a year? Not likely, especially considering this figure split 13 ways (1/13 cut for the league) amounts to a little over $750,000. This isn't chump change by any means, but the ACC would likely be taking on a lot more headaches than its worth. Those headaches include considering further expansion to get to an even number of teams and taking on a football team coming off a 2-10 season in Conference USA.
Chances are that this offer would be more strongly considered by the Big East (even though they would likely have to jettison one of their basketball-only members to make room for the Tigers) or the SEC (if they are looking for a fourteenth member to pair with Texas A&M).
East Carolina AD Terry Holland also wrote a rather candid open letter to Pirate supporters explaining where ECU falls in all the various expansion rumors. He states that Conference USA would be very interested in bringing on any of the Big 12 leftovers (who wouldn't be?) and explains the Big East's current dilemma they have between basketball and football schools. It's an interesting read and furthers the notion that the Big East is really just putting their heads in the sand and hoping the Big Ten doesn't poach any of their existing members in this round of expansion.
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The Fedex Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 will stay together. They will add Memphis and go to one 11 team conference without a championship game. They will Fedex brand the conference for $60 million per year( 10 mill to take mempis and 50mill to brand the conference). The runnerup will go to the Fedex Orange Bowl until the conference contracts with the Fiesta and Orange Bowl expire. After that the Fedex Big 12 champion will go to the Orange Bowl unless they are playing for the national championship. In that case the runnerup will go. The ultimate in branding. Each school gets a windfall of revenue.
Sound stupid? It is but how would the idea of 6 Big 12 schools merging with the PAC sound to you 5 years ago?
I like it
But the only wrench in the above plan is that FedEx will be cutting ties with the Orange Bowl as the title sponsor. Reese’s is reportedly taking their place as the title sponsor.
So … Reese’s Big 12 Conference?
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
B10 Expansion
Jim Delaney should woo ND by offering to invite three of its rivals, BC, Army and Navy to the Big ten, as well.
by Buckeye Armyguy on Jun 13, 2010 4:43 PM EDT reply actions
BC & Navy
Sound possible, I doubt Army would since they aren’t that good in football as Navy has been. Then to get to 16 I see them adding 2 northern schools (UCONN? Syracuse? Pitt? Rutgers?) To create a prescence in the northeast.
Army couldn’t hack it in Conference USA. I doubt either Army or Navy are on any Big Ten invite shortlists.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
B10 Nameplate
From what I’m hearing BC’s HQ – Boston, is considered by the B10, a savory-enough helping of New England charm and cable subscribers. The Army/ND equation is viewed as two national teams with an NYC presence, whereas the Navy/ND match-up serve to introduce the conference, to DC/Baltimore. Combined, that’s lots of eyeballs.
Jim Delaney’s striving to preserve the B10 nameplate, as long as possible. With Army, Navy and ND recognized as national teams with regional character, BC is Massachusset’s foremost college football team and represents what would be, the B10’s tenth state.
by Buckeye Armyguy on Jun 13, 2010 8:43 PM EDT reply actions
If they want the NY area
Shouldn’t they add Syracuse instead?
by Jiftastic on Jun 13, 2010 10:37 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
If they want New York, Rutgers is the obvious choice over Syracuse. No one would watch, but Delany doesn’t care. All about gaining the NYC metro area TV subscriber base.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Not true.
the ultimate goal of the Big Ten is to lure Notre Dame to join the fold, Jim Delany isn’t going to accomplish this by extending invites to any one of those three ACC schools.
It seems the only way that the Big Ten can force Notre Dame to join (because that’s the only way it will happen) is by taking away the home for the Irish’s non-revenue sports i.e. blowing up the Big East. However, the value of any/all the Big East candidates is debatable.
What has become increasingly clear is that the ACC may be the best route to go if Notre Dame is in fact the endgame. Nearly every ACC member carries more value with it than any possible Big East school. Thus, if say Maryland and Virginia were to jump ship, the ACC would be down two slots and have to find replacements for a championship game. Furthermore, this scenario could show the SEC that blood is in the water, and that schools like VT, GT, FSU, Miami and Clemson are there for the taking. The ACC could suddenly find themselves scrambling just to maintain a membership over 8. Naturally, the Big East would be the most likely hunting ground and, in poaching schools from that league, the ACC would force Notre Dame to find refuge in another league.
This is the scenario wherein the Big Ten obtains what it’s desired all along without having to go “slumming”.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
Trying to connect the dots here, but I can't
I agree that most ACC schools provide more value to the Big Ten than Big East schools (other than Rutgers), but I fail to see how adding a Maryland or Georgia Tech over a Rutgers or Syracuse does a better job of luring in Notre Dame. It makes the Big Ten and BTN more lucrative, but doesn’t provide any incentive for Notre Dame to leave current arrangement with the Big East.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
It's a scenario that opperates under the assumption
that, if it were to lose a member or two, the ACC would then be in a vulnerable state. The best case scenario is that the poaching would stop at two members, but the very real possibility would exist that the SEC would start sniffing around as well.
The point is this; if the ACC loses 2-5 members to other leagues, they would almost certainly have to try to replenish their stock with schools from another conference. The only real logical option would be the Big East. If the Big East, in their current state, loses 3 members they cease to exist as a BCS conference (all BCS leagues require at least 6 schools that have played together for a minimum of 5 years) and likely reform their identity altogether with the football schools having to seek new homes and the rest of the league existing as a conference of smallish Catholic schools.
The reason Notre Dame is in the Big East is to provide a home for its non-revenue sports. If the Big East loses all of its larger “football” schools, the Irish would be stuck in a cachet that they feel themselves above i.e. they have certain similarities to Providence College, but they are not like Providence College. In this even the Irish would need new conference affiliation. It’s possible that the ACC is such a home, but that league would have to offer continued football independence for Notre Dame in order to make themselves more attractive than the Big Ten because the advantages otherwise are 100% in favor of the BT.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Jun 14, 2010 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions
If I'm hearing you correctly ...
To lure in Notre Dame, the Big Ten could either A) invite 2-3 Big East schools and threaten their home for non-revenue sports … OR
B) Invite 2 ACC teams in the hope that Mike Slive and the SEC would poach up to 4 ACC teams and the ACC backfills with 4-6 Big East programs to keep their BCS status … thus killing the Big East and forcing Notre Dame to join the conference?
I’ll take Option A.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Sort of...
Through inviting two ACC schools, the Big Ten could already force the ACC into a position of (perhaps) needing to make a grab at the Big East, regardless of SEC involvement; that was merely a secondary possibility I mentioned, which convoluted things to the point of nonsense.
At that point, because of the BCS bylaws I’ve mentioned, a simple Big Ten invite to any remaining Big East member (likely Rutgers) would result in the end of the Big East. Now Notre Dame needs a new home. The odds would be on the Big Ten at that point.
However, when all is said and done, due to the today’s events it would appear that things will continue as before…for now.
Less memorable than Sam Okey's Hawkeye career.
by Kyle McCann't on Jun 15, 2010 4:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Army & Navy?
I’m fan enough of the academies to watch the occasional game, and the Army Navy game of course, but can the BigTen really be considering them? Football wise, they’ll never challenge for divisional titles (maybe a plus to the old guard?) and while Army has some nice corporate support in NYC and a nice way to insert BigTen games into NYC venues (like Yankee Stadium), I just don’t see it – if BC is too small and undergrad-focused for the BigTen pundits, aren’t Army & Navy even moreso?
What I like about that scenario is it probably gives ND the feeling that if it ever was fed up with the BigTen, it could walk away with its peeps (Army. Navy, BC) and form its own league.
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