Is the break off from the G-5 about to happen? I don’t no the answer, grabbing a basketball, just seems very odd

Gonzaga would only receive a partial share. Hence the "negotiation".

tournament, and pay the sweet 16 more like the coming 12 team college playoff. Remember 85% of the NCAA basketball tournament money is paid out to the NCAA, and then is distributed to pay for other sports than football or basketball throughout the NCAA.

Why share any of the money, if they don't have to? Like you say, the NCAA controls who gets the NCAA tourney money. But the P4 probably want control of that money. If it paid out like the CFP, the P4 would get a much bigger share. So, I would not be surprised to see a few men's basketball moves to position for that, hence Gonzaga and UConn rumors.

basketball schools are on deck. There is talk of expanding the NCAA field for more money, and there are rumblings about changing the payout as well. Do not underestimate basketball just because it's currently in the shadow of football. If basketball rights are set apart from football, it's a new ballgame. The current trend is toward mega conferences, and there are several basketball schools out there that bring national attention. Zags, Nova, UConn, Georgetown, and a could of others that could be considered brands.

their off-brand post-season hoops tourney. Basketball content is less expensive than football and it isn't compressed into 15 Saturdays. If the next add is UConn, that would track with Yormark's interest in the NYC, Philly, New England basketball scene. Fox currently holds the Big East media contract but UConn was a late add for them. Maybe they have designs on more Big East talent. Fox paid lots of pro rata for the 4 corners schools because they needed those moves before they could extract Oregon/Washington. They weren't obligated to pay it, so this could be their dividend.

I still don’t see basketball catching up money wise, unless the NCAA basketball tournament is expanded, and they pay the Sweet 16 more like the college football playoff. Maybe they think that happens sooner rather than later. ** Edited by Stech at 10/10/2023, 2:04:03 PM

the NCAA contract (2032). But major MBB programs still make money. Collecting the money-making programs into Fox conferences is the strategy. Only five or six MBB teams get better TV viewership than Gonzaga.

Current expansion, for Big 12 made sense (however, I wonder if big 12, had hindsight, delayed the expansion of houston, cincinnati BYU and CFU, if they had any anticipation that the Pac 12 would fold

have all but been picked over. Are there a few schools in the ACC hiding behind the GOR? Sure, but when they are picked off, then what? Many on this board are clinging to the concept of the ACC being a power football conference. While I understand that, the writing is on the wall. Yourmark believes the basketball TV rights will be separated from the football rights in the next round of contracts. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. The B12 can still position itself as the P1 in basketball negotiations, and there will be a LOT of schools that will want to be a part of that. Very competitive football that will make noise in the playoffs, and the perineal favorite to win the basketball national championship year after year? As a fan the way things are today? I'm good with that. When march Madness is negotiated, the money will be too much to ignore, and no one will be able to ignore the B12 if that happens.

they get from the network contracts. The teams they have been adding don't really add much value, do they? Monetary value that is? What kind of tv deal would they conceivably receive when it's time to renegotiate if they have 17, 18 or 20 teams? Per school amount would probably not increase I wouldn't think. There aren't any "big names" left to add? ** Edited by hoodat at 10/9/2023, 7:25:34 PM

I think their primary objective is survival through mass.

Their FB joins only in case of emergency, of course. But in BB, UConn is a blue blood.

We will probably ignore UConn (but no FB), too. Maybe the B12 will get them. Sigh.

Big XII to expand to 17 football members for scheduling reasons. Mathematically odd numbers tend to make it more difficult to come up with a future conference schedule rotation and it can become an even bigger challenge if the Big XII has to factor in protected conference games.

survival, and the ability to compete. If you want to hang on to the past, then you may not be part of the future.

though. Why create a bigger headache for yourself when you don't have to because there are other options available? If you really want to add UConn, then find another football school to add to balance out UConn and another non-football school to balance out Gonzaga to bring the total membership to either 19+1 football only member or 20 members.

happening, even if the ACC loses their top brands, the ACC should be good. There are nationally branded and blue blood basketball programs out there for the taking. The 4 corners was an unexpected nice get for football, but the prize was Arizona basketball. It doesn't take long to google ESPN and FOX ratings for basketball. There are a lot of eyeballs for those regular season games. It's not football, but that is the point.

additional problems for itself because it will have to deal with enough problems trying to appease all those members. Remember conference scheduling for football is very limited compared to the other sports (including basketball). If a conference wants to expand beyond 16 football members, then it will only do so in even numbers because even numbers are much more schedule friendly in a conference that large. Whereas having odd number of members can still work for basketball and the other non-football sports. Remember at one point the Big East had 19 non-football members prior to the basketball-football divorce. It may help explain why the Big XII has resumed talks with Gonzaga, but we are not seeing any reports about the Big XII having any discussions with UConn because as you say the conference has not identified anyone to be UConn's partner even as a football-only member. If the Big XII does have any future discussions with UConn, then you should see the conference have similar discussions with at least 1 other football school (i.e. Temple, USF, Memphis, etc.) to maintain an even number of football schools. The exception should be if the conference starts to lose football members and UConn is added to fill 1 of those slots.

additional value in football. The value out there is in basketball, and scheduling basketball and olympic sports is much different than football. I don't think you should put a number on a conference. Does a school bring more basketball money or not? That is the B12 question. The ACC is still trying to retain their football brands, the B12 has moved on.

because UConn won't join a conference that sponsors football unless its football program can join too. If the Big XII was willing to have an odd number of football schools, then we would be hearing talk of discussions going on between the Big XII and UConn by now. However, all is quiet on that front and I firmly believe that is because of football.

they would hold their own. I would be OK with that from a B12 perspective. NY and North is basketball country, and there are a lot of eyeballs there. Keep in mind, the B12 will never overshadow the Ohio States of the world in football, but they could dominate January, February, and March. Yormark has stated that he believes basketball is extremely underrated in these media contracts. The B12 lost the football arms race, but they have the eyeballs to be competitive in football. Looking at the numbers in basketball, and the amount of games, the B12 will be able to compete with the SEC and Big 10 if they get the basketball schools, including NOVA, Georgetown, and other "national" brands.

But right now, their FB is radioactively bad. When they were in the Big East P6 FB conference, they were as good as any of those teams, Pitt, WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Syracuse, etc.

could still exist regarding the football issue. UConn could still want a home for its football program and the Big XII is still not willing to have an odd number of football members. BTW Georgetown sponsors football too and currently competes as a football-only member in the Patriot League. While Villanova is currently a football-only member of the CAA. The reason I mention this is because the NCAA's reorg may be a wild card in these types of discussions. Depending on how the dusts settles from the decisions the schools make regarding the reorg, it could have great influence on what decisions conferences make in the future. For example, if the schools decide that DI football should no longer have 2 subdivisions, then that could influence schools to decide to no longer compete at the DI level for financial reasons. Likewise, if the schools decide that DI football should have more than 2 subdivisions because it is the only sport that offers that many athletic scholarships, then there will be fallout from that decision. It is even possible that the schools could decide the division level requirements be more sports driven to give schools more flexibility on which division level(s) to compete at. VT could be DI for some sports, DII for other sports, DIII for a sport, DIV for a sport, and DV for the remaining sports.

will take any offer that pays them more than the Big East if football is included. Not like SMU, but pretty darn close. ND in the ACC gets what, $17M from the ACC? You can argue that football is a pretty good chunk of that, but how much is basketball? The current media deals do not break out the basketball. If basketball is seperated, it has been estimated to be 10% to 33 1/3% of the media deals - depending on who you read. We don't know exactly where the money lands, but would UConn join for 25% of the B12 media deal, and share in the basketball payouts from the NCAA units? Would Gonzaga? St. John's? It's a pretty compelling argument when looking at March Madness being renegotiated, and future media deals. Either the media companies are paying too much for the football rights, or they are paying too little for the basketball rights. When you have nothing (B12), you have nothing to lose. A P1 in basketball may be the ticket to relevancy.

could be made for USF being a good travel partner for UCF. One could even argument that FL is a more valuable state than WA. However, if you are correct that the Big XII is done with football, then that should take UConn, Wazzou, and USF off the table because all 3 sponsor football. As you stated in a response in another thread (paraphrasing) "If you want to add UConn, then you have to take its football program too." Plus, if the Big XII were to consider adding Wazzou, then Oregon State might be a better choice than UConn because they would give Wazzou a travel partner for football (and all other sports) and be another travel partner for Gonzaga. While UConn could end up in the same boat as UCF and Wazzou for football. I do wonder if at some point the Big XII will decide to either give UCF a travel partner or add new members to help fill in the gap since Cincy, Houston, and WVU are UCF's closest conference members.

partners the same way that VT and Ga Tech would make good travel partners. Maybe I don't understand your idea of a travel partner.

is possible that the Big XII could treat Oregon St and Wazzou as travel partners when you look at how some of the pro leagues (i.e. MLB, NBA, and NHL) schedule their "road trips." For example, the Calgary Flames play at Pittsburgh on Oct 14, at Washington on Oct 16, at Buffalo on Oct 19, at Columbus on Oct 20, and at Detroit on Oct 22 before return home for a game against NY Rangers on Oct 24. Also, when the Caps are scheduled to play at Winnipeg, at Calgary, at Edmonton, and at Vancouver, then their schedule will be structured so they play 3-4 of those teams away on the same trip. Sometimes Winnipeg will be included in road trips involving Chicago, Minnesota, and St. Louis. Given that Big XII teams will have to fly (for the most part) to play their various conference opponents, the Big XII could adopt a similar scheduling structure to minimize the number of times UCF, WVU, Cincy, maybe Iowa St, maybe Kansas, and maybe Kansas State have to travel to the west coast to play a conference game. Particularly when you factor in what time the teams would be returning home after the game/series because they will be losing time on the return trip. It may even offer the conference more scheduling flexibility for the sports that will play conference games/series during the week.

the table. Adding basketball schools may or may not be accretive, but what I do know is that there are no football brands available to move the needle. Gonzaga, at least for now, is a very powerful national brand, and as you said, an uneven number of football programs if UConn is ever invited is untenable. So ya, looking at the non revs, and their travel schedule, WSU would make sense if UConn is invited. UCF could very much use a travel partner, but if you look as USF's basketball history, they don't fit the mold if basketball is where the B12 is going. I don't have an answer for UCF's travel partner without looking at the ACC, but let's just say that is off the board, especially on this board. FSU, with their academics would be a good fit in the ACC should they lose their Florida schools - but that is a different discussion. UConn from my perspective is a no brainer for the ACC, but you guys are still holding out for a power football conference in the mold of the Big 10 or SEC. I just don't see that in the cards unless ND joins, and that has been litigated to death on this board. The ACC before FSU and the Big East teams, was a basketball conference hands down. If they lose that identity, and the top football programs, it will be very difficult for them to compete after 2036 (or when that dike breaks).

(read as sense) for the Big XII to pursue them. Also, I get why the Big XII would be interested in UConn for basketball too. I'm not sure UConn is willing to separate the two unless the NCAA reorg allows the schools to compete at various division levels depending on the sport. If that happens, then schools like UConn could compete at a lower division level for football (think the new DII would be equal to what DI-FCS is now) and DI for basketball. Thus allowing the Big XII to add UConn for basketball and not for football. UConn might be open to that scenario because there would be new requirements for a school to compete at the DI level in football because it couldn't financially meet the new requirements (i.e. stadium size of 60k, paying the football players a fixed salary in lieu of athletic scholarships, or any other new requirements the schools come up with to define the various division levels). It might even open the door for the Big XII to lure Georgetown or Villanova away from the Big East. As far as the ACC goes, I think most people agree the ACC is a dead man walking. It is just a question of whether the execution date occurs on June 30, 2036 or sooner. I do think it is possible the ACC could exist in some form or another. If it does still exist on July 1, 2036, then it will be in the same boat as the Big East (aka the SS Former Power Conference). It is why I think the NCAA reorg could still be a wild card in all of this chaos. Depending on how the dust settles for that could influence what directions the conferences go in. Even if the Big Ten and SEC expand to 30 or 40 members, you could see the 2 conferences break up into regional divisions or smaller regional conferences because the large super conferences were serving as a means to an end to make it easier to break away from the DI schools without ruffling too many political feathers. The new DI could be made up of essentially Big Ten and SEC schools even if it took the form of 6-10 regional conferences. While the new DII could be the Big XII and other former DI conferences. The new DIII could be the smaller former DI conferences and DII conferences. And so on. I think most people agree that something has to give concerning collegiate athletics. I do believe the decisions made in the reorg will be on par to the decision the schools made in 1971 when the schools decision to create the three division levels in the NCAA. It is also the opportune time to make the DI requirements more strict to reduce the number of schools who financially benefit from the two DI revenue sports without putting the health of the non-revenue sports at risk.

should they. If they recruited at the P5 level, I think they would be as competitive as BC or Cuse. Would people attend their games? I don't know, but KU is selling out because they have a competitive team, and Duke is drawing good crowds as well, so I think they would be a good add with their basketball in the ACC or B12. When you look up the TV ratings for FOX, ESPN, CBS, and others with college basketball, they are averaging close to 1M viewers per game, with the key matchups garnering 1.5M viewers +. Now that does not compare to the Ohio State ND games in football, but there are 3 times as many games. VT got 3.02 viewers against FSU last saturday. 3 UConn basketball games on a similar network get pretty close to the same numbers. I think we are going to find out just how much basketball ratings are worth when this all shakes out. On your other point, these conferences are shaking out to be associations. The old school view of what a conference is, has been thrown out with the bathwater.

it doesn't exist anymore. We essentially live in a P2 world because the Big Ten and SEC will eventually want to do their own thing and leave everyone else behind including the Big XII. If other conferences want a seat at the table, then doing division level membership by sport may be the only way to salvage a seat because the Big Ten and SEC will want to protect their non-revenue sports too particularly the sports where the majority of participating schools are not from a power conference.

be competitive in basketball, and the P1(basketball) will be competitive in football.

other existing DI conferences. However, it may not matter if the Big Ten and SEC (aka the P2s) decide they want to do their own thing. If the P2s make that decision, then people will find out just how committed the networks truly are to funneling money towards the non-P2s given they are already in bed with the P2s. At this point it wouldn't surprise me to learn the only reason basketball is able to generate that kind of money is because the P2s are still apart of the group. That mindset already exists now in football and should continue as the gap between the P2s and the rest of the DI football conferences (FBS and FCS) continues to grow wider. Eventually that same mindset will make its way into the other revenue sport (aka basketball) if it isn't already there.

“We now know which university president took a $50 million per school valuation from a university professor - Taylor Randall at Utah.” Video: 10 minutes

“A decision on whether to add Gonzaga could come quickly, within two weeks even, McMurphy reported. McMurphy also reported that an important negotiating point at this juncture is whether Gonzaga would be willing to accept less revenue during its first few years in the Big 12 — similar to what SMU did in order to join the ACC. The Bulldogs would eventually receive full basketball revenue shares, McMurphy reported.”

Amid College Football Conference Realignment Chaos. by Colton Pool “On the same day SMU was accepted into the ACC, news broke that the American Athletic Conference was no longer exploring the possibility of adding Washington State or Oregon State. Instead, the AAC could be looking to Army as the next team to join the league. Here’s a look at what that means for Army, the AAC, and college football at the Division I level.”