to stop coming with the big money for some PAC teams. 30 million was polite, but no way that was going to hold that conference together and they knew it. I think we end up with 2 tier 1 Conferences with 24 in each and I think we end up with 1 tier 2 conference with probably the same 24, The one thing all three conferences will have in common is that they are Football first conferences. Why? For the same reason Willie Sutton robbed the banks, "that's where the money is!" :-)

schools overvalued themselves out of existence. They really though they were worth $50M or more, and based on the BIG contract, they thought they could get it. A complete miscalculation putting their rights out to bid in the open market, and they paid a big price. The BIG has not returned an ROI on their media numbers yet, and will be interesting the next time their contract comes up for renewal. They are not the NFL, and while they have national appeal, I'm not convinced they will be a "national" conference either. College ball's fans may watch some of the games, but their team and conference games supersede any big national conference game the BIG will throw out there. Will you turn off a competitive VT game, so you can watch Michigan USC? Will most of Virginia? They will get good ratings because of the networks they are on, or the time slots, but I'm not convinced the ratings will go up significantly. They may have overpaid the BIG.

line and sinker. They will all be okay IMHO, but it will be in another Conference. I have a good friend that went to Oregon State, and I keep telling him if you guys go to the MWC, you will have a great chance of winning the Conference and being in the top 6 of the Conference Champions to make the playoff. Then don’t worry, the money will flow in, especially if you do it consistently.