dsa_shea

We're going to form a club but we have no idea what that club actually is and how it will operate.

Decker

The important thing is it still won’t let some people become members.

Red Dog

Can't let the nerds sit at the cool kids table.

Pharoh

Except here it's the nerds, (AAU), not letting the cool kids sit down.


This was, I suppose, inevitable but welcomed nonetheless. The one thing that perplexes me is the ACC ESPN arrangement. Still, I think we can put off any imminent playoff expansion talk.

Red Dog

There's little 'cool' about the remainder of the B12. The remainder of the B12 (and the G5) are the nerds. This AAU thing is pure silliness at this point.

I don't understand what such an alliance means. The ACC is locked into their contract with ESPN for the next 14 years. I suppose it simply means they could vote as a bloc re: playoff expansion. But they all want it, so don't know what the point is unless simply to limit slots per conference.

Sonny Corinthos

Sources: ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 to announce alliance

The Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 are expected to formally announce an alliance between the three leagues in the next seven to 10 days, according to multiple sources involved in the conversations, but the substance of that agreement remains in flux.

A confluence of seismic shifts within the college sports landscape -- including name, image and likeness (NIL), playoff expansion, a Supreme Court ruling that opens the door to antitrust litigation against the NCAA and its membership, and the SEC's addition of Texas and Oklahoma -- has created a desire among the three leagues to find philosophical common ground to chart a path forward.

Sources -- ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 to announce alliance (espn.com)

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out.

Pharoh

The official announcement coming today. I suspect it may still be short on some details, like whether the PAC and B1G move to an 8 game conference schedule so each team can play sides from both other conferences yearly, but the paramount thing is to delay playoff expansion until the current deals runs out so that it goes on the open market, again lessening Disney's control.

Red Dog

That announcement was a whole bunch of nothing.

Sonny Corinthos

BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston considered top candidates for Big 12 expansion, sources confirm.

As the Big 12 continues to consider expansion, four leading candidates have emerged in BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston, sources confirmed to ESPN, as formal invitations could be extended to these schools during the college football season.

A four-person subcommittee featuring two athletic directors and two university presidents from the Big 12 began meeting last week to discuss potential expansion. The conference requires eight of its current 10 members to approve candidate schools for expansion to occur. The Big 12 will have only eight members when Texas and Oklahoma depart for the SEC.

BYU, an FBS independent, is generating the most discussion as an expansion candidate, sources said, while American Athletic Conference powers UCF and Cincinnati also have been on the Big 12's radar. While Houston has been a long-debated expansion candidate in the Texas-centric league, support has recently increased to add the school.

The Big 12 considered all four of these schools and others in 2016 when it explored expansion but ended up remaining at 10 members.

UCF, Cincinnati and Houston would need to give the American 27 months' notice and each pay an exit fee of $10 million to join another conference. In 2019, the American allowed UConn to leave the league earlier but pay a larger exit fee of $17 million.

All of BYU's sports teams except football compete in the West Coast Conference. The school's football team played in the Mountain West from 1999 to 2010 before becoming an FBS independent.

The Athletic first reported on the four schools generating the most attention as potential additions to the Big 12.

BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, Houston considered top candidates for Big 12 expansion, sources confirm (espn.com)

While those four schools would be good picks to add to the conference, I don't think it has the appeal nationwide for a big money tv contract. JMO though.

Decker

Sounds like the Franken-Conference is happening very soon :

Twitter

Red Dog

Hanging on by a thread....and the trickle down will continue. Like - Sonny said - I don't see this moving the needle much when it comes to money. And would this get them invited to the grown-ups table when it comes to the CFP? I doubt it. And what a weird conference footprint.

Now who do AAC poach. It's never-ending. Just hate it all.

I'm resigned to the belief that for all of this money-chasing in football will destroy the thing I care far more about - college basketball. I expect a break-away from the NCAA by this inane 'alliance' and SEC (and force ND to join a conference). Bye bye March Madness that we all know and love.

Decker

Gotta disagree with you there. March Madness is pretty much independent of Conference make-up and not beholden to the demands of any power conference. I can see it continuing unabated no matter what happens to FBS. It's a money maker for all schools involved and as long as the NCAA exists as an entity they hold the cards here and the big boys will have to just play ball.

Red Dog

The NCAA is a joke at this point. And basically has been. They won't drop the hammer on blue bloods in basketball. Certainly not now. Maryland got slammed in the early 90s for basically nothing.

Now you might be right for the current contract with CBS/Turner. It might stay alive for that duration. But I don't know the contract situation with those 4 conferences and the NCAA. I'm fully sure ESPN or FOX would offer those 4 conferences a March Madness tournament.

The only other wrinkle is Title IX. But you really don't need the NCAA to enforce that.

Decker

Mountain West survives as a conference - - but barely

Red Dog

God, this is pure silliness. It's good to see those MWC schools hold together. Not sure what any of them saw in moving to the AAAAAAAAAC.

Though I'm sure Boise would have gone to this new B12 (which I am still skeptical of - they are basically the new AAC in a power 4, for football) given the chance.

Decker

The AAC now planning to kill C-USA

Source: Six schools officially apply to join American Athletic Conference
By Heather Dinich
ESPN
The American Athletic Conference has received applications from six schools hoping to join the conference, and the AAC is expected to send them each a formal letter by the end of the week detailing the terms of expansion, a source with knowledge of the process told ESPN on Tuesday.

Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, North Texas, UTSA, Rice and UAB have each officially requested to join the AAC, a move that was first reported by Yahoo Sports on Monday. It's the first step in the realignment process, which is expected to move quickly this week after the university presidents and their general counsels have time to review the terms.



The AAC's desire to expand comes after Cincinnati, UCF and Houston decided this fall to eventually join the Big 12. UConn also left after the 2019 season. The addition of six more schools would expand the AAC to a 14-team conference in football and basketball while crippling Conference USA, where all of the schools currently call home.

According to the source, the earliest they could join the conference would be the 2023-24 season, but it depends on what the AAC works out with the schools that are leaving. AAC bylaws require schools to give a 27-month notice before they leave and pay a $10 million buyout fee.

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco told ESPN in mid-September that the league would be willing to negotiate an earlier exit fee to accommodate the departures of UCF, Cincinnati and Houston. If those three schools abided by the bylaws, Aresco said, their exit date would be July 1, 2024.

Red Dog

So basically Texas and OU leaving the B12 created a domino effect of killing off a conference. That's super.

Obi-Wanma

Well it was always going to lead to the killing of a conference, people just assumed it was going to be the Big 12 initially.

Bacon

Southern Mississippi . C USA ——> Sun Belt
C USA is good as dead
I could see UTEP going to the Mountain West with La Tech, FIU , Middle Tennessee, and Western Kentucky going to the American or Sun Belt.

will travel

Old Dominion to join SUN BELT Conference in 2023.

https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...ence-july-2023

Bacon

FCS power James Madison joining the Sun Belt and jumping up to FBS in football