USC & UCLA TO JOIN BIG TEN (beginning 2024)!

[hskr4life]

6 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

Or hear me out...

 

All 18 teams play in the tournament.

 

2 games going on at the exact same time.

 

Except instead of the courts parallel to each other, they're intersecting into one another like a giant "+" sign.

 

Imagine the turnovers and chaos that would occur.

 

With this system, all 18 teams get to play. Completed in half the time. And any basket scored in the other game's court would be point reductions for that other team. Win-win-win.

 

Can you imagine... We're up 4 with 20 ticks left and Iowa is tied with the ball.  KT... instead of sealing our game launches a 35 footer into Iowas hoop to put them down 3 causing them to lose and we hold on for a win.  SIGN. ME. UP.

[HuskerFever]

 

[AuroranHusker]

 

 

Wazzu and Univ. of Washington will continue their Apple Cup football series next year at Lumen Field (in Seattle) and then return to on-campus rivalry games for the following 4 seasons (at least). **No agreement for Oregon St. & Oregon has been mentioned as of yet.**

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/washington-and-washington-state-agree-to-continue-annual-apple-cup-game-through-2028-201831537.html

Edited November 20, 2023 by AuroranHusker

[Cazzie22]

3 hours ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

 

Wazzu and Univ. of Washington will continue their Apple Cup football series next year at Lumen Field (in Seattle) and then return to on-campus rivalry games for the following 4 seasons (at least). **No agreement for Oregon St. & Oregon has been mentioned as of yet.**

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/washington-and-washington-state-agree-to-continue-annual-apple-cup-game-through-2028-201831537.html

Washington St has to be scrambling for games. It’s good that they are continuing the rivalry. There has to be some geographic sense enter into scheduling.

[HuskerFever]

1 minute ago, Cazzie22 said:

Washington St has to be scrambling for games. It’s good that they are continuing the rivalry. There has to be some geographic sense enter into scheduling.

 

They're setting up an agreement with the Mountain West for games. So I'd imagine between Oregon State, Washington, and Mountain West, they could scrounge up a season.

[HuskerFever]

Also worth noting that they're waiting for a ruling before Dec. 4 from the Washington Supreme Court on these Pac-12 departures.

[jayschool]

12 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

 

They're setting up an agreement with the Mountain West for games. So I'd imagine between Oregon State, Washington, and Mountain West, they could scrounge up a season.

In football, WSU and OSU will get six games against MWC teams and will play each other. So that's seven games guaranteed for the next couple of years. WSU's Apple Cup game against UW will give them eight guaranteed. 

 

Football won't be a problem.

 

Basketball isn't mentioned in any of the scheduling agreement stories, so that could be an issue over the two-year period of the agreement for both WSU and OSU to put together competitive basketball schedules, especially in January and February when everybody settles into heavy conference rotations.

[cornfed24-7]

2 hours ago, jayschool said:

In football, WSU and OSU will get six games against MWC teams and will play each other. So that's seven games guaranteed for the next couple of years. WSU's Apple Cup game against UW will give them eight guaranteed. 

 

Football won't be a problem.

 

Basketball isn't mentioned in any of the scheduling agreement stories, so that could be an issue over the two-year period of the agreement for both WSU and OSU to put together competitive basketball schedules, especially in January and February when everybody settles into heavy conference rotations.

I have to believe this turns into all sports playing against the MWC. MWC has to be playing at a name change to PAC 12/14.

 

I think OSU and WSU win the court battles for control of the conference. The other teams will get a reduced payout and go on their way semi quietly. Thanking thier lucky stars they didn't lose at college realignment musical chairs.

 

OSU and WSU with the rest of the MWC into a new PAC14 makes too much sense for it not to happen. It's an damn near perfect fit. Geographically *chefs kiss* I love it.

 

Hopefully they don't screw it up by getting stuck on the details of how the new conference structure and power sharing goes. 

 

 

 

 

[jayschool]

1 hour ago, cornfed24-7 said:

I have to believe this turns into all sports playing against the MWC. MWC has to be playing at a name change to PAC 12/14.

My preference is the same, but I wonder if OSU and WSU would rather partner with the 6-8 MWC programs that are most likely to bring value to a new conference (potential viewership, football stadium size, overall athletic performance and number of sports offered) and reconfigure a new Pac-8 or Pac-10 and leaving 4-6 current MWC schools out in the cold or available for AAC, CUSA or Sun Belt membership.

 

The top grossing MWC programs in 2022 and their average home football attendance in 2022, along with market size:

1. Air Force ($76.6 million) 26,926 (Colorado Springs #86)
2. San Diego State ($65.9 million) 29,225 (San Diego #30)
3. UNLV ($64.2 million) 22,112 (Las Vegas #40)
4. CSU ($61.2 million) 26,891 (Denver/Fort Collins #17)
5. Fresno ($54 million) 39,067 (Fresno #52)
6. Boise ($50.6 million) 33,538 (Boise #97)
7. Wyoming ($50.3 million) 19,707 (Cheyenne/Laramie (#196)
8. Hawai'i ($49.4 million) 23,454** (Honolulu #68)
9. Nevada ($47.9 million) 14,905 (Reno #102)
10. New Mexico ($44.9 million) 14,966 (Albuquerque #49)
11. Utah State ($43.2 million) 16,954 (Salt Lake #27)
12. San Jose ($39 million) 16,422 (Bay Area #10)

** Hawai'i average in 2019, the last season at Aloha Stadium. They're building a new stadium and currently playing in a 10,000-seat venue. New 25,000-seat stadium opens in 2028.

 

If WSU and OSU want to be on board with only the strongest programs in the best media markets, they might just take the top six on this list. Wyoming and Hawaii add too few eyeballs (Wyoming) and complicate travel (Hawai'i). Utah State and San Jose are in huge media markets, but are virtually invisible up against BYU/Utah/Jazz and everything in the Bay Area. New Mexico and Nevada add some basketball cachet, but little else.

 

What would happen to Wyoming, New Mexico, Hawai'i, Nevada, San Jose, Tim Miles and Utah State? All could fit somewhere, or a few could be added selectively.

• Hawai'i is already a member of the Big West Conference in everything but football already, so they could go independent, especially with the 13th-game incentive serving as a football scheduling boon for them.
• SJSU doesn't really excel in anything, though I hold out hope that Tim Miles keeps them improving in basketball. In football, they'd be a tough add for any conference given their historical lack of success and dismal attendance.

I'd guess a four-team Mountain Time addition to Conference USA would work best. It will be a 10-team league starting in 2024 with a footprint that reaches from Lynchburg to Las Cruces. Four more Mountain Time schools (Wyo, UNM, Nevada and USU) might work as a 14-team league with two divisions, one with the "MWC Four" plus UTEP, NMSU and Sam Houston State, and a second with the teams located in Virginia (Liberty), Kentucky (WKU), Tennessee (MTSU), Alabama (Jax State), Florida(FIU), Georgia (Kennesaw) and Louisiana (Tech).

 

[aphilso1]

12 minutes ago, jayschool said:

 

11. Utah State ($43.2 million) 16,954 (Salt Lake #27)

 

 

Very interesting data, and I'm glad you compiled it for us.  One correction though -- Utah State plays in Logan which is about 90 miles away from SLC.  Small college town surrounded by farms.  It feels like Kearney with mountains.

Edited November 20, 2023 by aphilso1

[jayschool]

Just now, aphilso1 said:

 

Very interesting data, and I'm glad you compiled it for us.  One correction though -- Utah State plays in Logan which is about 90 miles away from SLC.  Small college town surrounded by farms.  It feels like Kearney with mountains.

Yes. I checked the media markets, though, and it's (a nearly invisible) part of the SLC TV market. "Kearney with mountains"! LOL

[cornfed24-7]

20 minutes ago, jayschool said:

My preference is the same, but I wonder if OSU and WSU would rather partner with the 6-8 MWC programs that are most likely to bring value to a new conference (potential viewership, football stadium size, overall athletic performance and number of sports offered) and reconfigure a new Pac-8 or Pac-10 and leaving 4-6 current MWC schools out in the cold or available for AAC, CUSA or Sun Belt membership.

 

The top grossing MWC programs in 2022 and their average home football attendance in 2022, along with market size:

1. Air Force ($76.6 million) 26,926 (Colorado Springs #86)
2. San Diego State ($65.9 million) 29,225 (San Diego #30)
3. UNLV ($64.2 million) 22,112 (Las Vegas #40)
4. CSU ($61.2 million) 26,891 (Denver/Fort Collins #17)
5. Fresno ($54 million) 39,067 (Fresno #52)
6. Boise ($50.6 million) 33,538 (Boise #97)
7. Wyoming ($50.3 million) 19,707 (Cheyenne/Laramie (#196)
8. Hawai'i ($49.4 million) 23,454** (Honolulu #68)
9. Nevada ($47.9 million) 14,905 (Reno #102)
10. New Mexico ($44.9 million) 14,966 (Albuquerque #49)
11. Utah State ($43.2 million) 16,954 (Salt Lake #27)
12. San Jose ($39 million) 16,422 (Bay Area #10)

** Hawai'i average in 2019, the last season at Aloha Stadium. They're building a new stadium and currently playing in a 10,000-seat venue. New 25,000-seat stadium opens in 2028.

 

If WSU and OSU want to be on board with only the strongest programs in the best media markets, they might just take the top six on this list. Wyoming and Hawaii add too few eyeballs (Wyoming) and complicate travel (Hawai'i). Utah State and San Jose are in huge media markets, but are virtually invisible up against BYU/Utah/Jazz and everything in the Bay Area. New Mexico and Nevada add some basketball cachet, but little else.

 

What would happen to Wyoming, New Mexico, Hawai'i, Nevada, San Jose, Tim Miles and Utah State? All could fit somewhere, or a few could be added selectively.

• Hawai'i is already a member of the Big West Conference in everything but football already, so they could go independent, especially with the 13th-game incentive serving as a football scheduling boon for them.
• SJSU doesn't really excel in anything, though I hold out hope that Tim Miles keeps them improving in basketball. In football, they'd be a tough add for any conference given their historical lack of success and dismal attendance.

I'd guess a four-team Mountain Time addition to Conference USA would work best. It will be a 10-team league starting in 2024 with a footprint that reaches from Lynchburg to Las Cruces. Four more Mountain Time schools (Wyo, UNM, Nevada and USU) might work as a 14-team league with two divisions, one with the "MWC Four" plus UTEP, NMSU and Sam Houston State, and a second with the teams located in Virginia (Liberty), Kentucky (WKU), Tennessee (MTSU), Alabama (Jax State), Florida(FIU), Georgia (Kennesaw) and Louisiana (Tech).

 

I agree with all of this. And the details you outlined could be the  poison pill that screws it all up. I think it all depends on how united the MWC is with the teams you showed that just aren't as competitive as the rest. At a minimum these 2 entities need each other in some fashion. And to have a possibility like this just fall into there lap is astounding. For the caliber that these schools are in sports, thier similar academic missions, and geography...it's damn near perfect. And for OSU and WSU this is a conference they could compete for titles consistently. 

 

*Added-Also I think they'll want to be at at least 12 teams so the can have a Championship game. I think that's still a requirement. 

Edited November 20, 2023 by cornfed24-7

[aphilso1]

1 minute ago, jayschool said:

Yes. I checked the media markets, though, and it's (a nearly invisible) part of the SLC TV market. "Kearney with mountains"! LOL

 

Gotcha.  I know sometimes it can be a subjective line where one metro ends and another begins.  But even by the most liberal definition of SLC metro, I have never seen Logan included.  It's at the far northern end of Cache County, which is four counties away from SLC.   I live two counties away, and Logan is still a full hour (and two county) drive past me.  That being said, Logan UT has more in common with Pullman WA than SLC does, so maybe they would be fitting conference mates.

[jayschool]

10 minutes ago, cornfed24-7 said:

I agree with all of this. And the details you outlined could be the  poison pill that screws it all up. I think it all depends on how united the MWC is with the teams you showed that just aren't as competitive as the rest. At a minimum these 2 entities need each other in some fashion. And to have a possibility like this just fall into there lap is astounding. For the caliber that these schools are in sports, thier similar academic missions, and geography...it's damn near perfect. And for OSU and WSU this is a conference they could compete for titles consistently. 

 

*Added-Also I think they'll want to be at at least 12 teams so the can have a Championship game. I think that's still a requirement. 

Great points.

 

However, the Big XII has had a title football game despite just 10 members the past several seasons. If it's the Pac-10, then, I would guess the top 6 from the list above plus Wyoming and New Mexico to add those states to the list of markets and to keep the I-25 travel corridor intact from Laramie to Albuquerque. UNM and Wyo would have to bump attendance somehow, but the addition to the Pac-10 just might do that automatically.

Edited November 20, 2023 by jayschool

[AuroranHusker]

11 minutes ago, cornfed24-7 said:

I agree with all of this. And the details you outlined could be the  poison pill that screws it all up. I think it all depends on how united the MWC is with the teams you showed that just aren't as competitive as the rest. At a minimum these 2 entities need each other in some fashion. And to have a possibility like this just fall into there lap is astounding. For the caliber that these schools are in sports, thier similar academic missions, and geography...it's damn near perfect. And for OSU and WSU this is a conference they could compete for titles consistently. 

 

*Added-Also I think they'll want to be at at least 12 teams so the can have a Championship game. I think that's still a requirement. 

 

 

10 teams.

[cornfed24-7]

7 minutes ago, jayschool said:

Great points.

 

However, the Big XII has had a title football game despite just 10 members the past several seasons. If it's the Pac-10, then, I would guess the top 6 from the list above plus Wyoming and New Mexico to add those states to the list of markets and to keep the I-25 travel corridor intact from Laramie to Albuquerque. UNM and Wyo would have to bump attendance somehow, but the addition to the Pac-10 just might do that automatically.

Awesome! I couldn't remember if that was still a requirement or not. My preference is ten teams and it goes back to being called the PAC10. Perfection

[cornfed24-7]

15 minutes ago, aphilso1 said:

I live two counties away

I'm in San Diego and I can tell you SDSU is thanking whatever God they pray too with how this is playing out. They really screwed the pooch with their attempt to leave and then their mea culpa and saying "We didn't want to LEAVE leave! We just want to practice leave in case someday we did want to LEAVE leave." 

[AuroranHusker]

13 minutes ago, cornfed24-7 said:

I'm in San Diego and I can tell you SDSU is thanking whatever God they pray too with how this is playing out. They really screwed the pooch with their attempt to leave and then their mea culpa and saying "We didn't want to LEAVE leave! We just want to practice leave in case someday we did want to LEAVE leave." 

 

Yeah, that was nuts how it's played out, in reality, for SDSU. . . sheesh.

 

[jayschool]

49 minutes ago, aphilso1 said:

 

Gotcha.  I know sometimes it can be a subjective line where one metro ends and another begins.  But even by the most liberal definition of SLC metro, I have never seen Logan included.  It's at the far northern end of Cache County, which is four counties away from SLC.   I live two counties away, and Logan is still a full hour (and two county) drive past me.  That being said, Logan UT has more in common with Pullman WA than SLC does, so maybe they would be fitting conference mates.

So do the Utah media or Aggie fans express even the slightest concern that this may not turn out well for USU? 

[aphilso1]

19 hours ago, jayschool said:

So do the Utah media or Aggie fans express even the slightest concern that this may not turn out well for USU? 

The media is very focused on the Utes and BYU, to the point that USU barely ever gets a passing mention.  They get a little more notice than Weber State, but not by much. 

 

Similarly, UofU and BYU are the statewide fanbases.  USU is more of a microregional fanbase (basically just Cache and Box Elder Counties), plus alums.  The only people I know who care about USU are Aggie grads.  Now granted, Aggie games are fairly well attended. They draw a good crowd.  But if you take a straw poll of fans in the crowd, I guarantee that 99% live in the area.  No one from SLC, Park City, etc is driving up to Logan for a football game.  

 

So there's a lot of words to say that I have no clue if the Aggies are sweating about conference realignment.  I listen to local sports radio pretty frequently, but it has never been a topic mentioned.  That would require taking a breath from talking about Cam Rising returning for 2024, or why no one outside of BYU respects BYU, or both schools' move to the Big 12.

 

EDIT: to clarify, they talk conference realignment stuff all the time on local sports radio.  Just not relative to USU.

Edited November 21, 2023 by aphilso1

[HuskerFever]

This thread never dies.

 

 

[HuskerFever]

 

[HuskerFever]

 

[Cazzie22]

1 hour ago, HuskerFever said:

 

It’s only fair. Both of these schools deserve a better fate.

[throwback]

Not too surprising, other than taking only 15 teams to the tourney instead of 16. Not sure the #1 seed needs a bye. (I'm assuming they have 2-15, 3-14, 4-13 games on Wednesday, other four first-round games on Thursday, and then start quarterfinals on Friday with #1 seed joining the fray --- I guess they could also add a 3rd bunny bracket game between 10-15 seeds on Wednesday and keep the double-bye in use now.)

 

I'm not a fan of the 20 league games, but TV money demands it, so no surprise there, although 17 league games would've provided perfect schedule balancing.

Edited January 26 by throwback