Plus if we add Kansas we get that Civil War grudge match between them and Mizzou into the SEC.
UCLA and USC WILL Join the B1G in 2024
- Thread starter 81usaf92
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Starting to look like we are going back to the early days of college football when they had like 30 teams in one conference. Seriously google the old Southern Conference.
If I was North Carolina and Virginia I would choose the SEC. The travel would be a lot easier and cheaper than the Big 10 when you consider the non revenue sports. Plus the SEC would more likely consider taking Duke and Virginia Tech. The Big 10 might would take Duke, but I don’t see them considering Virginia Tech. But all of that depends on if they are attached to each other.
That would've been great for an alliterative reference back when they had that all-time great nickname, the B1G Bugeaters!
The problem is that North Carolina and Virginia both know they are a 9.5 on the hotness scale of potential expansion and you can bet the farm they are going to shop for the best deals. That could include a conference to take their ugly cousin as well.
If I were to guess
B1G takes
Washington
Notre Dame
Stanford
And one of Arizona/Oregon/Kansas/Pittsburgh
SEC takes
UNC
Duke
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Clemson, Miami, and Florida St join the Losers club
Agree. All that is happening is financial. With so many teams in just two conferences, divisions will have to be further split apart, creating an "NFC/AFC" alignment. Of course, the Bowls are going to get theirs, as they are some kind of mystical money power play that cannot be touched, apparently. But, more, if you don't belong to one of either the SEC or Big 10, in 2025, you'll be on the outside looking in.
The ACC must do more to shore up it's ties to the schools it currently has. They would be seen as rype for the picking if Clemson hadn't been as dominant as they have been.
One more thing: Saban is still the Captain of the good ship "College Football". He's not going to be coaching forever. He is going to step aside at some point in the not distant future. All of the new conference alignments, all over the college football world, may be subject to some change when the balance of power shifts from Alabama. It's true. He has THAT MUCH IMPACT on what all is going on in college football right now. Not Jimbo. Not Dabo. Not the coach at ND, or Ohio State, or Michigan, or USC or anywhere.
You are right the Big Ten would never take Va Tech. It is AAU schools only for them, and Notre Dame.
I do think the SEC would, but probably only as a package deal to get Virginia. There was a time when I thought Virginia Tech was a shoe in because of football and cultural fit. But it's been somewhat proven now that their football success was mostly due to Frank Beamer, and recruiting advantages that are no longer present. Now, they are a pretty dull addition. Yeah, they've got a rowdy home field advantage, but that's only true when they are good, and it is a night game. That's hardly worthy of adding them to the SEC.
I wouldn't be so quick to bury the Florida schools just yet. Just the state of Florida alone with the recruiting it has inside it's borders, may rise up and become the epicenter of college football if 2 of the 3 big programs lock down the borders. There's THAT MUCH talent. Now, locking down recruiting isn't easy, but the head honcho of recruiting in the state of Florida, Nick Saban, won't coach forever. Sure, others have had success. But the Saban "presence" all over media and all over the face of the sport has impact. It has relevance.
Florida as a state may eventually find it has a lot of impact in overall conference alignments.
That is what I think also. I think Arizona and Oregon would make the most sense for the Bug 10 in order to pair them with USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Washington. Plus that is the name I hear the most in regards to the PAC 12 about being left out and what is going to happen to them. So it might be a push to include them in all of this.
I also question what is the motivation of Sankey and those driving this bus in the SEC.
If it is "total package" then UNC and Virginia are their targets. But I do wonder how much they value football cache on their scale? Because that moves Clemson and FSU to the top of the list, despite the fact we are already in Florida and South Carolina, and despite the fact that FSU is down right now. But Florida State vs. Florida/Georgia/Alabama is a lot more attractive for TV than North Carolina/Virginia vs. anyone.
What's truly driving these decisions? A lot remains to be seen.
Florida is a bigger obstacle against other Florida teams joining the conference than aTm ever was for Texas. This news is probably very unsettling for both the Florida St and Miami athletic departments because they know their value is very limited to the SEC.
North Carolina could basically name their price to the SEC. Without them, there is no reason to expand.
I thought this was a very thought-provoking article on RBR about why the UCLA may not happen:
I'll believe this when it actually happens
I'll believe this when it actually happens
UCLA will happen if they want to leave. The only way UCLA doesn’t jump is if the University of California blocks it. But let’s think logically… they have all been aware of it if it has gotten this far.
Folks - you want to see people come up with caveats to their "beliefs".......let millions of dollars get involved and you will find some AMAZING elasticity.
Yeah what the author fails to list is that UCLA has scheduled trips to Baton Rouge, Auburn, and Georgia. California’s bans for everyone is just empty political threats. When money is involved they look the other way.
However the University of California is somewhat a legitimate worry, but I still have my doubts that they were not very involved or aware of it. More or less they agree with it.
Since hearing this news, I've been thinking what others have alluded to in this thread: I don't see how this doesn't inevitably end with 2 24-team super-conferences (SEC & Big 10) being the whole of "major college football."
Then we probably get a pro-style structure to the postseason, with two teams in each conference battling it out for a conference championship and the winners playing each other in what would effectively be the College Super Bowl.
It's just going to be the NFL on Saturdays. The only question is how long does it take to get there.
Then we probably get a pro-style structure to the postseason, with two teams in each conference battling it out for a conference championship and the winners playing each other in what would effectively be the College Super Bowl.
It's just going to be the NFL on Saturdays. The only question is how long does it take to get there.
Well, the issue there is that schools that would be left behind are going to do all they can to maintain those contracts. They are probably going to try to use it to leverage their way into the Big 10 or the SEC, and I can't blame them. No one is going to want to be left out.
I guess that begs the question of whose baggage has to be taken to get something done. If someone asked me a while ago about the biggest prizes outside of the Big 10 and the SEC I probably would have said (well I guess I have said), Texas, Notre Dame, USC and North Carolina.
Well, I was never that big on Oklahoma but they were part of the Texas package deal. Then there's the USC deal in which UCLA was included as well (UCLA doesn't really move the needle much in my opinion). What is Notre Dame going to demand? Standford, Pitt, or Boston College? They have the leverage I suppose. Then a lot of people would assume North Carolina demands Duke be included.
So, oddly enough it all becomes about what you have to take to get the deal done. I'm worried that the cultural fit/football power crowd had enough say and the SEC ends up with something like NC State, Virginia Tech, FSU and Clemson... and I don't think that really helps all that much.
I could warn up to a North Carolina/Duke package deal though, that's a couple of massive basketball brands. But is that really better than just adding NC State and Virginia Tech?
Also, it's starting to seem like the Big 12 might end up being an... almost super conference if things play out a certain way. They can pick up a few Pac 12 schools, then the ACC leftovers and if that could include Clemson, FSU, Miami, and Oregon so that could be interesting. It might take a while for those programs to starve...
Edit:
Pardon me for taking a bit of a victory lap here, but I did cite those reasons for not wanting VT back when Beamer was there and they were at the height of their success. It's kind of the same reason I'm not enamored with Clemson. Recent success should only be a factor, and a lesser one at that.
It's about demographics, the support base that's been built up over generations and so on. VT and Clemson have value most assuredly, but just less value than a casual observer might assume.
I doubt very seriously things have gotten this far without I's dotted and T's crossed.
In fact, one of the reasons Cal-Berkeley is seemingly quiet about all of this is that they've already been assured their landing spot, and that this is only the Big Ten's first salvo. Or... they don't care.
Consider that institutions like Cal-Berkeley don't give a rat's behind about football, and will happily disband it if need be, a la the University of Chicago in another era. In fact, I have no doubt that will be part of this shifting landscape. Those serious about the sport (and its money) are driving these super leagues and I think those who have secretly disdained it all of these years will take this opportunity to let it pass away.
Remember much of the Pac 12's response to the pandemic? Yeah. Several of them were almost excited about the prospect of not having a football season that year...
In fact, one of the reasons Cal-Berkeley is seemingly quiet about all of this is that they've already been assured their landing spot, and that this is only the Big Ten's first salvo. Or... they don't care.
Consider that institutions like Cal-Berkeley don't give a rat's behind about football, and will happily disband it if need be, a la the University of Chicago in another era. In fact, I have no doubt that will be part of this shifting landscape. Those serious about the sport (and its money) are driving these super leagues and I think those who have secretly disdained it all of these years will take this opportunity to let it pass away.
Remember much of the Pac 12's response to the pandemic? Yeah. Several of them were almost excited about the prospect of not having a football season that year...
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