USC and UCLA to the Big 10?

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

From the previously posted Football Scoop article—

10. Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz said last summer that what ultimately pushed his school and their burnt orange frenemy to the SEC was the fact that the Big 12 had the last at-bat among all conferences and sports leagues in the upcoming round of media rights deals. “It became clear that the Big 12 was the last in line for meeting and negotiations — not just as between among all of the Power 5 conferences, the autonomous five, but among all of those with the major broadcasters in live sports — the NFL, the NHL, all those. And the last in line has consequences," he said.

I obviously haven't spoken to USC president Carol Folt or UCLA president Michael Drake, but I bet it was the same logic for their schools. The Big Ten is first to the plate, and the LA schools feared a scenario where they show up to the bank to find the bank's empty. Painful as it was and uncomfortable as it will be, they chose to hop on the boat rather than watch it sail away and leave them marooned.

 

[TopFrog]

From what I‘ve read it’s much more likely to be two super conferences, big ten with fox and sec with espn.

I was thinking B1G was an ESPN property.

 

[Froginbedford]

S

you’re thinking of Alaska.

Neither Alaska nor Hawaii have islands west of the International Date Line....

 

[Limey Frog]

The problem is it won't be considered a "great league" if....


...this happens, which it will. Since this "great league" you speak of consisting of leftover teams not invited to the Big 10/SEC super league won't allow us to participate in whatever postseason format they come up with, the "great league" will be viewed nationally as a 2nd tier minor league. Yeah this "great league" could have a "playoff" but it would be the college football equivalent of the NIT.

Then you have basketball. Will this Big 10/SEC super league try to still participate in March Madness? If not, will they try to create some kind of NBA playoffs style postseason? If they do, that will not have anywhere near the mainstream appeal March Madness has.

Honestly, even if it is a separate sub-division that doesn't play in the big boy post-season, if all of those schools are in it I'd still be happy. TCU would still be playing meaningful football games that are worth watching/attending, and could play historical rivals and win championships at their level. The only thing I'm afraid of is being the last one out of a 60-school arrangement where we don't get to play Baylor, Tech, Oklahoma State, West Va., etc. That would suck. If the 40 biggest money programs want to do their own thing without the next 20-30, I can live with that.

 

[Limey Frog]

Interesting. Didn’t know that. However, Alaska remains the easternmost and westernmost (and, obviously, northernmost) state.

That's the trivia question I had in mind: Hawaii is the southern-most, and Alaska is all of the other three cardinal directions.

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

12. The Big Ten's next TV contract is going to be big, in more ways than one. The deal(s) were already set to create a $1 billion windfall for the league each year, before adding the two biggest brands west of Austin, Texas. But who cares about that; fans don't get dividend checks.

It's going to be in that Big Ten football is going to be everywhere. Imagine a B1G Big Noon game on Fox, a national CBS game with all the bells and whistles that network currently uses on the SEC, another Fox game in primetime, and then B1G After Dark on ESPN featuring whichever LA team is home that week. Big Ten football will be in a featured slot from noon Eastern to 10 p.m. Pacific.

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

18. What do you think they're thinking at BYU today? The Cougars were stoked for life in the Big 12 until around 11:30 local time, when Jon Wilner's tweet went live. BYU had always been persona non grata to the Pac-12 due to ideological reasons, but can that league be so picky now without the LA schools? No one other school west of the Rockies even approaches BYU's brand power and football prowess. If presented an opportunity to play in the same conference as Utah again and not travel to Morgantown and Cincinnati on the regular, what do you think the Cougars choose?

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

22. I realize everyone lionizes the conference alignment of their youth but, if it was up to me, every school would go back to where they were in 2009-ish. I miss the original Big 12. I yearn for a strong Big East. I believe the Mountain West could have grown into a power league with TCU, BYU, Utah, Boise State and San Diego State. I want USC and Arizona in the same conference, not USC and Maryland.

23. Who else is counting the days until the first UCLA-Indiana Big Ten game?

 

[Wexahu]

Honestly, even if it is a separate sub-division that doesn't play in the big boy post-season, if all of those schools are in it I'd still be happy. TCU would still be playing meaningful football games that are worth watching/attending, and could play historical rivals and win championships at their level. The only thing I'm afraid of is being the last one out of a 60-school arrangement where we don't get to play Baylor, Tech, Oklahoma State, West Va., etc. That would suck. If the 40 biggest money programs want to do their own thing without the next 20-30, I can live with that.

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 Ain't Chopped Liver]

Yesterday, those brainy PAC and BIG Ten AAU university presidents decided that the urgency of global warming be damned. We are hypocrites. We will travel long and far.

I foolishly thought that the PAC 12 presidents would consider travel and global warming and the best interest of their student athletes and hold with the pride and camaraderie of their conference. But they sold out too. It is messaging, walk the talk for us lesser people, but nope. They let me down, disappointed.

 

[Froggish]

I got to think that the ACC is the next to get smashed. If they lose 3-5 brands in this doesn't that put the B12 in a power position? A savvy commish could have his pick of brands on either coast.

 

[SuperBarrFrog]

I got to think that the ACC is the next to get smashed. If they lose 3-5 brands in this doesn't that put the B12 in a power position? A savvy commish could have his pick of brands on either coast.

ACC gonna slow things down since they have like 13 years left on their grant of rights and tv deal. I heard schools would have to pay over 150mm each to leave.

 

[Froggish]

ACC gonna slow things down since they have like 13 years left on their grant of rights and tv deal. I heard schools would have to pay over 150mm each to leave.

That's a ton of money.BUT..That GOR is connected with ESPN and so is the SEC. If the 100M annually per school is legit than its really only a 2-3 year shortfall. Big brands like Clemson and a few others could absolutely endure that.

 

[LVH]

Honestly, even if it is a separate sub-division that doesn't play in the big boy post-season, if all of those schools are in it I'd still be happy. TCU would still be playing meaningful football games that are worth watching/attending, and could play historical rivals and win championships at their level. The only thing I'm afraid of is being the last one out of a 60-school arrangement where we don't get to play Baylor, Tech, Oklahoma State, West Va., etc. That would suck. If the 40 biggest money programs want to do their own thing without the next 20-30, I can live with that.

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?

 

[Froggish]

Also....Sankey now going to get exactly what he wanted in playoff expansion. 12 teams with only 3-4 auto bids..SEC and BIG are going to have 8 teams combined in the playoff every year.

 

[LVH]

I got to think that the ACC is the next to get smashed. If they lose 3-5 brands in this doesn't that put the B12 in a power position? A savvy commish could have his pick of brands on either coast.

It would only be a power position if the Big 12 has a seat at the national level, which they won't. I think too many posters on this board are still operating from the assumption that leagues not named the Big 10 or SEC will be considered major college football once the Big 10/SEC are done picking off the obvious candidates from the ACC/Pac 12 like Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington.

 

[LVH]

Also....Sankey now going to get exactly what he wanted in playoff expansion. 12 teams with only 3-4 auto bids..SEC and BIG are going to have 8 teams combined in the playoff every year.

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.

 

[KTown Frog]

If/whenever the big 2 now (SEC and BIG10) pull the rest that they want, there will still be quality teams left. Yes we (if we don’t get pulled in) will lose some games that would be big draws moneywise but we would still have some decent rivalry type games. Will it suck not getting a shot, yes. But it was going to be a slim shot to get a shot anyways at in the current CFP system.

 

[HornyWartyToad]

I long ago stopped watching pretty much all pro sports, college ball was always much more exciting to me. We are fast approaching a world where the only sports about which I give a scheiss are fishing and hunting, and whatever school sport my kid may be playing, plus maybe heading over to campus now and then for a Frog game. Beyond that, I suspect I'm about to be done with it all in pretty short order.

 

[Dman890]

Slow motion train wreck that has us irrelevant in the near future