USC and UCLA to the Big 10?

[BrewingFrog]

The top 40 will constantly be plucking the best players from the have-nots. Sounds fun.

I think people are not recognizing, or just choose to ignore, where this is heading. Unless some significant rules changes are made, it's over. College football as we have known it is done. What this is, is crap.

This.

With unlimited transfers, and great piles of NIL money to dole out, the FUCC (Federated Universities Collegiate Conference) will skim the cream of the "lesser" programs every year, not to mention successful Coaches and instructors.

As to "significant rules changes" being made, which All Powerful body will make these rules? The NCAA? I think we all know the answer to that question: the NCAA is as dead as Caesar. Even if they did stir their bloated, bureaucratic ass into "action" they would either allow the FUCC to write their own rules, or face irrelevance as they just withdrew from the NCAA and told them to pound sand. My bet is they act as if nothing happened, and just carry on as before without seeing, hearing, or speaking anything untoward.

No Conference is going to continue to exist without a sponsor. They graciously call this sponsorship arrangement a "broadcast partner" but in reality it's just a financial lifeline. Without TV money, there is no reason or ability to do College Football as we have come to know it. The Ivies de-emphasized Football years ago, not offering scholarships for athletes. They still play, of course, but it is hardly noticed. Take a good look, because that is our likely future. Even if the BIGXII hangs together, even if they successfully engineer a merger with the rump PAC, there's nothing that says ESPN has to offer them a Broadcast Contract. Hell, they might just abandon the BIGXII altogether and let CBS, Amazon, and YouTube pick over the rotting carcass. What do they care? They engineered this restructuring with their checkbook, and it's clear that they have picked the items they wanted off the buffet and have moved on to the desserts.

ESPN killed College Football. With malice aforethought. The corpse will twitch for a couple of years, and all the while they will tell us over and over how their New Product is sooo much better, and how College Football Fans are sooo excited!

 

[Limey Frog]

The thing is how much will the casual fan care? When Amon Carter stadium has been full, its been on the backs of casual fans and visiting fans.

If whatever conference/league we play in is considered 2nd tier FCS level football, will the casual fan even care?

And not every TCU grad is a die hard fan - there are plenty of fairweather bandwagon TCU fans - how much will they care if we are relegated to an FCS style existence?

Sam Houston State is a power at the FCS level - how much do their fans and graduates care that they dominate at the FCS level?

Good points. I'm still not convinced that this is inevitably sliding toward curtains for us, but you're right that it all hinges on access to the post-season. A two-conference closed shop deal is a disaster.

Right now we need the following:

1. Pac-12 implodes.
2. Notre Dame holds firm and doesn't commit to the Big Ten.
3. Clemson, Miami, and FSU don't just decide to bolt for the SEC immediately and figure out the legal/financial barrier of their ACC grant-of-rights later.

If (IF, IF, IF...) the latter two things occur, I still think there's a chance that enough stability forms in the medium term for a play-off structure to emerge that is partially open to non-big two participants.

 

[Hemingway]

This.

With unlimited transfers, and great piles of NIL money to dole out, the FUCC (Federated Universities Collegiate Conference) will skim the cream of the "lesser" programs every year, not to mention successful Coaches and instructors.

As to "significant rules changes" being made, which All Powerful body will make these rules? The NCAA? I think we all know the answer to that question: the NCAA is as dead as Caesar. Even if they did stir their bloated, bureaucratic ass into "action" they would either allow the FUCC to write their own rules, or face irrelevance as they just withdrew from the NCAA and told them to pound sand. My bet is they act as if nothing happened, and just carry on as before without seeing, hearing, or speaking anything untoward.

No Conference is going to continue to exist without a sponsor. They graciously call this sponsorship arrangement a "broadcast partner" but in reality it's just a financial lifeline. Without TV money, there is no reason or ability to do College Football as we have come to know it. The Ivies de-emphasized Football years ago, not offering scholarships for athletes. They still play, of course, but it is hardly noticed. Take a good look, because that is our likely future. Even if the BIGXII hangs together, even if they successfully engineer a merger with the rump PAC, there's nothing that says ESPN has to offer them a Broadcast Contract. Hell, they might just abandon the BIGXII altogether and let CBS, Amazon, and YouTube pick over the rotting carcass. What do they care? They engineered this restructuring with their checkbook, and it's clear that they have picked the items they wanted off the buffet and have moved on to the desserts.

ESPN killed College Football. With malice aforethought. The corpse will twitch for a couple of years, and all the while they will tell us over and over how their New Product is sooo much better, and how College Football Fans are sooo excited!

Don’t you know ? The Illuminati have already planned all this out to transpire over a 10-12 years. It won’t be happening over 1 to 2 years, that’d be to obvious.

 

[Paul in uhh]

B12 needs to go on the offensive

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

Unless USC and UCLA insisted on the BIG adding more PAC teams for their own shorter travel convenience, I will guess that the BIG does not add any other PAC teams, for that same reason—travel. That travel is a bear and shows how desperate or greedy USC and UCLA feel they are. The BIG and Fox get just what they need, two high profile teams that provide that late night TV game, so they now have the Big Ten on TV from 12 noon eastern time till the final whistle at night on the pacific coast. Why add more travel burden for the current members; only if USC and UCLA insist.

 

[Hoosierfrog]

Those early season conference baseball games will be a joy. IU played their first home conference game 4/1, game time start 37, but got up to balmy 43.

Trips to Rutgers should be relaxing…

 

[FBallFan123]

There absolutely will be playoff expanison:

• There will be an expanded playoff - for the SEC/Big 10, where SEC/Big 10 schools only are allowed to participate. It being similar to the NFL where 4-6 teams from the Big 10 and SEC each have their own playoff and the two champions meet in the "Mega Bowl"
• Then there will be a playoff for non SEC/Big 10 schools that will have the prestige of the NIT or the FCS playoff, aka no one will care.

Anyone who thinks TCU will have a path or access to a playoff where Big 10/SEC schools participate in is seriously deluding themselves.

Not sure it helps them financially to exclude the lesser teams/markets completely.

They can just expand to 16 team playoff and let the leftovers (Pac10/Big12/ACC/independents, etc.) fight for like 1-2 playoff spots.

Then put the weak teams in against the SEC and Big 10 champs in the first round … and let them get blown out like 16 seeds do in the NCAA Tourney.

 

[BrewingFrog]

Don’t you know ? The Illuminati have already planned all this out to transpire over a 10-12 years. It won’t be happening over 1 to 2 years, that’d be to obvious.

You left out the Bilderbergers, Rothschilds, WEF, Vladimir Putin, and the Rockettes...

 

[Big Frog II]

Boy did the ACC and Pac 12 screw things up when they didn't vote for the 12 team playoff. Idiots!

 

[Wexahu]

Boy did the ACC and Pac 12 screw things up when they didn't vote for the 12 team playoff. Idiots!

Wouldn't have changed much.

 

[FBallFan123]

Good points. I'm still not convinced that this is inevitably sliding toward curtains for us, but you're right that it all hinges on access to the post-season. A two-conference closed shop deal is a disaster.

Right now we need the following:

1. Pac-12 implodes.
2. Notre Dame holds firm and doesn't commit to the Big Ten.
3. Clemson, Miami, and FSU don't just decide to bolt for the SEC immediately and figure out the legal/financial barrier of their ACC grant-of-rights later.

If (IF, IF, IF...) the latter two things occur, I still think there's a chance that enough stability forms in the medium term for a play-off structure to emerge that is partially open to non-big two participants.

Not sure what specifically happens to the Pac 12 matters all that much.

Whether it stays the “Pac” or pairs up with the Big 12 or Mountain West or the teams scatter … I tend to think all these teams prolly end up in the same pool with the other lesser conference teams … fighting it out for limited spots in an expanded playoff.

Those teams still provide some things to the SEC/Big 10, like

-TV markets
-Regular season wins

Unless SEC and Big reduce their regular season schedules, they still need losers for come to places like Tuscaloosa and Columbus so the Alabamas and Ohio States of the world can get their 11-12 wins every season.

One way to keep those lesser teams on board with that, aside from just the paydays, is to give them access to the playoff (even if it’s limited).

 

[HornyWartyToad]

Unless USC and UCLA insisted on the BIG adding more PAC teams for their own shorter travel convenience, I will guess that the BIG does not add any other PAC teams, for that same reason—travel. That travel is a bear and shows how desperate or greedy USC and UCLA feel they are. The BIG and Fox get just what they need, two high profile teams that provide that late night TV game, so they now have the Big Ten on TV from 12 noon eastern time till the final whistle at night on the pacific coast. Why add more travel burden for the current members; only if USC and UCLA insist.

USC/UCLA: "I'm afraid we must INSIST that you include two more of our conference brethren to make this a realistic proposition that we can accept."

B1G: "Nope."

USC/UCLA: "Welp we tried, whaddayagonnado. Where do we sign?"

 

[MAcFroggy]

Those early season conference baseball games will be a joy. IU played their first home conference game 4/1, game time start 37, but got up to balmy 43.

Trips to Rutgers should be relaxing…

Not one person within the administration at USC or UCLA care about this at all. They will probably just tell the players to wear long sleeve shirts.

 

[Froggish]

Nothing else is likely to happen until someone convinces Notre Dame to join as a Football and Basketball card carrying member. They have a top 3 brand in the sport and would significantly elevate all of the conferences. Once they make a decision it will dictate how conferences respond. Before we assume it has to be the ACC, there are some outs in the clause. Really expensive ones but they exist. They are the catalyst for a super league.

 

[FBallFan123]

Not one person within the administration at USC or UCLA care about this at all. They will probably just tell the players to wear long sleeve shirts.

UCLA is prolly happy to just shut up and go along with whatever USC tells it to do.

The prize here is USC … not UCLA.

But USC makes a lot more sense to the Big 10 if they bring UCLA with them.

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

Unless USC and UCLA insisted on the BIG adding more PAC teams for their own shorter travel convenience, I will guess that the BIG does not add any other PAC teams, for that same reason—travel. That travel is a bear and shows how desperate or greedy USC and UCLA feel they are. The BIG and Fox get just what they need, two high profile teams that provide that late night TV game, so they now have the Big Ten on TV from 12 noon eastern time till the final whistle at night on the pacific coast. Why add more travel burden for the current members; only if USC and UCLA insist.

Adding to travel thought and geography—maybe if the BIG adds two more PAC teams it would reach for Colorado and Utah. Now that they added two LA schools, maybe for mountain representation and travel that would make sense, Colorado and Utah being about halfway between Nebraska and LA.

Besides, Nebraska needs some help as a program, and this would renew rivalry and recruiting turf in Colorado. Or, maybe the BIG adds Colorado, along with either Big 12 Kansas or SEC Missouri, all helpful to Nebraska, and a bit closer to LA.

 

[Chongo94]

According to PAC 12 radio, USC and UCLA asked for a larger piece of the tv pie during the last negotiations feeling they deserved more, apparently mainly because they were based in Los Angeles.

They were told no by the other schools and supposedly there were grumblings by USC and UCLA afterwards at having been told no and that helped prompt some of this jump.

 

[Deep Purple]

You left out the Bilderbergers, Rothschilds, WEF, Vladimir Putin, and the Rockettes...

 

[Frog-in-law1995]

You left out the Bilderbergers, Rothschilds, WEF, Vladimir Putin, and the Rockettes...

And Colonel Sanders before he went teats up.

 

[Froggy Bottom]

I think our best hope is that the B1G takes one or two more PAC schools (maybe Stanford to reel in ND which is the last great white whale)

If that happens then the B12 is in the position of power to pick off the PAC stragglers of value

But if they don’t then the PAC will have its pick of our schools and we can only hope we’re on the other side.

Or maybe the big/brand western schools get together and agree to ditch the eastern schools and reform a brand new western 16 team P5 with these pods (assuming B1G takes no one else):

Oregon
Oregon State
Cal
Stanford

Arizona
Arizona State
Colorado
Utah

Texas Christian
Texas Tech
Baylor
Houston

Oklahoma State
Kansas
Kansas State
Iowa State