Yeah - this was the brilliance of the ACC play. They leapt ahead of the line to secure their situation. Even if it involved taking some less-than-impressive schools, it guarantees they can't be poached. SEC could make a play for West Virginia (the presumed #14) and Missouri, if the Big10 doesn't jump on MU prettty quickly. Not sure who #16 would be, though. Maybe Cinci to break into Ohio?
Why does the SEC need to go to 16? They could do whatever they wanted and they'll always be just as well off as anybody, it would seem.
They don't really need to - and it's unclear if they will. But part of the SEC's issue is that their TV deal is already outdated and they want to re-open it. There were questions about whether A&M + WV would be enough to do that - but 16 teams would almost definitely blow up the TV deal.
Also, ACC is making it very clear they're not interested in schools that aren't in the Eastern Time Zone.
Hmmm this is getting to be a tough matrix to solve. Also, my Rutgers to the Big 10 is a pretty big blow to their academic requirements. I laughed wen I did it.
Just wanted to point out your ACC membership is off. Here it is now with two recent additions: FSU Wake Forest NC State Clemson UNC VA Tech GA Tech UVA Maryland BC Miami Duke Syracuse (new) Pitt (new) They will probably go to 16 by adding UConn and Rutgers.
The two easy ones: ACC adds UConn, Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse Pac12 adds OU, OSU, TX, TTU SEC adds A&M, WV After that, I think there are questions as to whether the SEC goes to 16 or whether the Big10 expands at all. If the Big10 goes up, options are ND, Missouri, Kansas, ??? If the SEC goes up, possibilities are Louisville, Cinci, Missouri, South Florida (?) Or, those two could stay where they are and you get the new Heartland Conference: Missouri and Kansas as the power players, and then Baylor, Iowa State, K-State, Louisville, Cinci, South Florida, TCU, UH? to make an 10 team MWC type conference. I'd add Boise and some other team to make 12 and get some BCS credibility between TCU and Boise.
Oof.... That would suck for SOFLO. But hey, BCS money is BCS money. UCF, So Miss, and ECU would be considerations for that conference as well.
If SEC wanted to get to 16 they could add West: A&M (new market), Missouri (new market) East: West Virginia (new market), Louisville (not new market, but solid FB and BB and Kentucky rival) No poaching of ACC teams since it would be tough for them to leave now.
I poached some for the SEC .But it appears the ACC is playing the best harball. So, I will assume the ACC is: FSU Wake Forest NC State Clemson UNC VA Tech GA Tech UVA Maryland BC Miami Duke Syracuse Pitt UConn Rutgers.
What happens to TCU? They're their current conference for one that might not be there when it's time to bring in the moving trucks. They made the move to get the BCS eligibility and now that is likely gone.
So I've got the Pac 16 and the ACC 16 set. I like Missouri and Kansas to the Big 16. I like Notre Dame there too. The SEC probably doesn't have to go to 16 since they are the #1 product anyway and I don't see much that fits without FSU. Wva? That leaves The Big 12, The Big East and TCU for the last conference. Kansas St. Iowa St. Baylor Rice BYU, TCU Cincinnati Louisville Rutgers USF WVa Throw in UH, SMU and UCF and .... you have a really ugly 14 team conference.
Considering the potential exit fees that would have been imposed on the teams leaving the Big 12 and Big East the first time, I highly doubt any team that really wants to leave to go the SEC and that the SEC wants will stop that for a $20 million exit fee. Having said that, the ACC is much, much stricter on how early notice has to be given in and I don't really see them allowing exceptions to that. So I would not expect any teams from the ACC leaving soon.
After all the arguments about the Houston TV Market, how many fans there are respective to each school, etc in this thread- The NY Times was nice enough to provide us with the Geography of College Football. http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-college-football-fans-and-realignment-chaos/
WTF kind of messed up metrics is this thing using to put Tulane and Rice with more fans than Houston? That, to anybody, should instantly jump out as bogus.
