Jeremy Fowler @JFowlerCBS ACC in talks with UConn, Louisville, South Florida and Cincinnati about 14th team to replace Maryland, source told @CBSSports. ACC could move quickly, I'm told. UConn and Louisville are considered clubhouse leaders among the four, per source. Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN Maryland prez tells regents MD, RU in Leaders Division w/OSU, PSU, Wisconsin, Purdue & Indiana. Illinois moves to Legends All eyes on ACC after Maryland move to Big Ten, but all conferences eyeing each other Expansion fallout: Houston can get out of deal with Big East without penalty
You're a spokesman for everyone? Congratulations, dude! The TCU move was made because Dodds HAD to. The Big 12 was effectively at eight teams. That is not going to survive and everyone knew it. The conference had an avalanche of awful publicity and needed some sort of noteworthy additions to bring temporary stability. TCU and West Virginia were by far the best football programs available to poach, and it worked. What I'm asking is whether Dodds will be proactive about expansion when the league isn't on the verge of collapse and he's not in desperation mode.
I think that whether it happens sooner or later the ACC just has the feel of a sinking ship and Maryland knows it and got out first. Florida State obviously explored their options earlier this year and I think it's just a matter of time before the top programs in the conference start getting more disgruntled and looking elsewhere. Like I said, the Big XII really really needs to be proactive here because this next round of poaching will likely be the last time that there are any top flight programs available to add (FSU, Clemson, Virginia Tech).
A sinking ship? You mean like the Big "XII" of 2010?? Maryland is the first and only ACC team to leave. They were garbage in recent years. The ACC has stability with television rights and an access bowl. Certainly I could understand teams like FSU and Clemson leaving for the SEC (and ONLY the SEC), but how in the hell is Maryland's departure anything close to a "sinking ship"? They'll be, arguably, the strongest basketball conference next year with Syracuse and Pitt. They've got Notre Dame on board. And, at this point, a school like Louisville is better than Maryland in basketball and football. How is the ACC a sinking ship?
It's a matter of current circumstances. FSU, Clemson, Miami, and North Carolina should be top-25 teams going into next year. VA Tech might bounce back. Wait, UNC and Miami?? North Carolina had a top-5 team before **** went down a couple of years ago; they've got a great future with Fedora. Miami's a possible 10-win team next year (seriously). I don't buy into the beliefs that the ACC is in a dire situation. Maryland picked up its ball and went home. BFD.
Being the strongest basketball conference means next to nothing (Just ask Kansas how important they felt in 2010 when it looked like the Big XII was done). It’s all about football and adding programs like Pitt & Syracuse only further waters down an already weak football conference which likely does not sit well with schools like FSU and Clemson, who both know that the grass is greener on the other side whether it’s in the SEC, Big XII or Big Ten.
I'm not really sure why the Big 10 didn't invite Boston College, Pitt, Virginia/Virginia Tech, or Syracuse instead. What's so hot about Maryland?
Yeah, Maryland and Rutgers are so meh but the only reason I can think of is that they are bordering other Big10 states. Footprints need to be expanded such and such.
I don't think the ACC is in a dire situation but they need to be very careful with their next move and rhetoric. If they take UCONN, it further infuriates FSU and Clemson who say that ACC is bias toward bball. Louisville may be a better option but it's still Louisville. Either way, you know FSU & Clemson are making phone calls right now. I don't know much about the ACC dynamic but if word gets out that UNC or Duke is sniffing around then all hell breaks loose. I love this conference realignment stuff; makes for great drama with infinite possibilities. But I think it will cool off now only to pick up during the offseason, or possibly bowl break.
I agree that the ACC isn't on the verge of falling apart, but their awfulness in football goes well beyond "current circumstances." They've been wretched as a league for over a decade now in football. The ACC has had ONE one-large bid in BCS History, and their teams are a combined 3-13 in BCS games. By comparison, the wretched Big East is 7-7 (many of those wins being over the ACC).
Can't argue with that; having teams like Wake Forest playing in the Orange Bowl isn't exactly what the ACC had in mind, that's for sure. However, a strong Miami and a strong ND will lure in a lot of viewers. If the ACC is smart/creative, they would find a way to give schools more money to spend on coaches and coordinators (or recruits, lol). I know money trumps all, but competitively FSU is better off in the ACC. If they didn't **** the bed against NC State they'd be #1 in the nation right now, even with the "weak" ACC slate.
Just tired of the carousel. The MWC is not a financially better option, as the markets are smaller. However, the fact that that your conference-mates are in the Mountain and Pacific timezones mean that, unless the Pac 12 feels like expanding, you won't have to worry about any kind of changes. I doubt it's going to happen, because the financial ramifications for a lot of the joining members of the BE would be too steep initially. I think it's going to end up looking like this. East: Cincinnati Louisville Memphis Temple UCF USF Navy West: Boise State BYU Houston Fresno SMU SDSU AFA If BYU doesn't join, then Memphis slides to the West, and ECU or Army join the East. It's no secret that Boise and SDSU are going to lobby VERY hard for additional West teams (UNLV, UNM, CSU, etc) to make their travel schedule easier after these defections. I support either decision.
Dodds was against adding a 5th Texas team with good reason. No one wanted the Southwest conference all over again. He relented when A&M left. That is what happened. I don't think you know him or are in his extended family and can give more insight to what his personal motivations were. What teams are Dodds turning away? You don't get it. No conference expanded to get a conference championship. None of them. Those were all byproducts of increasing the value of the conference through adding valuable teams. The big 12 will expand when their TV partners tell them that they will get more money for doing so. That is why losing Colorado was addition by subtraction. Despite playing in Denver, no one in Denver watched them. If Florida St is available then they will get swept up in the big 12 and I guess they will find some random team to balance out the schedule. For the millionth time, Dodds is not keeping out UH, Rice or any other school that the rest of the big 12 wants.
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268750/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Vp0ir5Ah No peace: Conference realignment revs up again Just when it looked as if there would be peace, that the conferences were done realigning, the Big Ten struck another blow that will send shock waves across the country. Financially strapped Maryland grabbed the Big Ten's lifeline on Monday, agreeing to become the conference's new southern base along the East Coast. On Tuesday, Rutgers will gleefully jump aboard, too, and complete the Big Ten's new Mid-Atlantic bookends. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said the move was about demographics and claiming new territory, to keep the conference vibrant and competitive for decades to come. Simply put: The Midwest is not growing fast enough to sustain the Big Ten long term, so it needs to go where the people are. It was a move not for 2014, when the Terps and Scarlet Knights will settle into the Leaders Division with Ohio State and Wisconsin, but with an eye toward 2030. "I think the best of both worlds is to have traditions, but also to be able to pivot toward creative innovations when the opportunity presents or is required," he said. Delany noted how when the Southeastern Conference and Big 12 expanded, they planted their flags on new turf. The Big 12 took West Virginia. The SEC added Texas A&M and Missouri, a school not far from what has always been considered Big Ten territory. It should be noted that Maryland is about half as far from Atlanta as it is from Lincoln, Neb.. "We're very proud of the fact that the Big Ten has been Midwest-centric," Michigan athletic director David Brandon said. "But with population growth and shifts that have taken place over time, we know we need to grow into those areas where's there's more people, fans, alums and recruits." So what's next for college football's most powerful and prominent conferences. ___ ACC When the ACC added Notre Dame, without its football program, and increased its exit fee to $50 million, the conventional wisdom was that the league had been locked down. But Maryland's departure is a reminder that the ACC is not on equal footing with the Big Ten - or the SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12 for that matter because football drives revenue and ACC football generally lags behind the other four. SI.com reported that Maryland officials forecast the Big Ten will be paying each of its members $43 million in shared TV and media rights in 2017. The ACC projection for that season is $24 million per member. There were rumblings of discontent coming from Florida State circles last summer, and rumors about Clemson and even Virginia Tech looking for better football competition. Now those will no doubt start again. "All of this conference jumping seems as if it keeps going and going," Florida State President Eric Barron said. "I don't necessarily understand it. The ACC is a fine conference, a fine conference academically and a fine conference athletically." As for replacing Maryland, the ACC has already been getting phone calls from potential applicants, and should be familiar with the candidates since the league just went through the expansion process last year. That resulted in Pittsburgh and Syracuse leaving the Big East for the ACC. They arrive next year. The ACC will look toward the Big East again. Connecticut and Louisville have both made it clear they'd like to upgrade. Maybe South Florida or Central Florida get into the mix. This should not take long. ___ BIG EAST Another conference that had to be thinking it was in the clear. The Big East just landed the access point it needed in college football's new postseason, rolled out its divisional alignment for its rebuilt 12-team football conference, which starts next year, and now it's scrambling again - while trying to negotiate a crucial TV deal. New Commissioner Mike Aresco's job just got even tougher. With Rutgers leaving, the Big East loses one of its best chips, a football member in the New York media market. Losing Connecticut would also chip into the Big East's foothold in the New York metropolitan area. The Big Apple is becoming Big Ten and ACC country, and that's a big problem for the Big East. The league countered its eastern losses by building a west wing with Boise State and San Diego State, and dipping into Texas with SMU and Houston. Are all those schools still on board with joining next year? The Big East was already looking west for a 14th member to balance out the conference when Navy joins in 2015. BYU and Air Force are the top targets. Now it might need both, and one more because the pickings are slim in the east. Then the football members have to figure out if it's worth sharing whatever revenue they do get from the new TV deal with St. John's, Georgetown and the five other non-football members. ___ BIG 12 Currently with 10 members, and apparently happy that way, the Big 12 in many ways holds the key to whether conference realignment turns into a frenzy again. Chuck Neinas, who spent about 10 months as the Big 12's interim commissioner and helped hold the conference together when Texas A&M and Missouri left, said there is still no indication from the league's leaders that they want to go back to 12 members. "Let's face it, they're making as much money as for the (Sugar Bowl) as the SEC and as the Pac-12 and Big Ten are making for the Rose Bowl and they only have to share it with 10 teams," he said in a phone interview Monday. The new deal the Big 12 and SEC just signed with ESPN for the rights to the Sugar Bowl will pay the conferences about $40 million apiece per year. Plus, the Big 12's new television deal included a grant of rights that makes it all but impossible for its current members to leave for the next dozen years. "My feeling is there is stability there. I'd be very surprised if they looked at expansion," Neinas said. ___ PAC-12 Commissioner Larry Scott tried to go really big a couple years ago, when he targeted Texas and half the Big 12. The Pac-12 settled for Utah and Colorado, then passed at a shot to possibly grab Oklahoma and Oklahoma State without Texas, because the conference leaders weren't ready to share their newfound riches. With the Big 12 teams off the table, the Pac-12 simply doesn't have a lot of schools to choose from even if it did want to expand. "They're in a difficult spot geographically," Neinas said. __ SEC The SEC has shown no desire to add members in states where it already has members. That precludes the SEC from adding the most desirable and logical programs, such as Florida State and Clemson. That also knocks Louisville and Georgia Tech off the list. Until the SEC ends that "gentlemen's agreement," as Neinas called it, it's potential for growth is limited. Not that it really needs to grow as it works on starting its own network, a la the Big Ten.
These are very good points. Lots of stuff I didn't even think about. The Big 10 has been showing some serious rust over the past decade. Makes you wonder if they're going to pick up 2 more Eastern teams and go to a full 16 schools.
