Conference Realignment

CEB

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Honest question. At any point last year, even before the Kentucky loss, did you think Louisville was a really good team that could go toe to toe with UGA, Bama, Ohio State, or Texas on any given day?
They throttled the ND team that went toe to toe with OSU a couple weeks prior.
No, there is not transitive property, but yes, they looked like they belonged for a while. If they hadn’t lost to UK, that ACCCG would’ve been huge
 

WreckinGT

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They throttled the ND team that went toe to toe with OSU a couple weeks prior.
No, there is not transitive property, but yes, they looked like they belonged for a while. If they hadn’t lost to UK, that ACCCG would’ve been huge
And then they lost by 17 to a 3 win Pitt team the next week. Even aside from the results, there was nothing about Louisville that screamed this is a nationally relevant team that could win the National Championship. Their highest draft pick was in the 4th round. Their average recruiting rankings for the 4 prior years was 40th in the nation. They were a pretty good team that was punching above their weight, thanks to a good coaching staff but they were never a team that could be considered a true contender. Had they beaten Kentucky and FSU in the ACC title game, they would have been a 2-3 TD underdog against UGA in the Orange Bowl.
 

CEB

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And then they lost by 17 to a 3 win Pitt team the next week. Even aside from the results, there was nothing about Louisville that screamed this is a nationally relevant team that could win the National Championship. Their highest draft pick was in the 4th round. Their average recruiting rankings for the 4 prior years was 40th in the nation. They were a pretty good team that was punching above their weight, thanks to a good coaching staff but they were never a team that could be considered a true contender. Had they beaten Kentucky and FSU in the ACC title game, they would have been a 2-3 TD underdog against UGA in the Orange Bowl.
Moved the goalposts there didn’t ya?
Could they go toe to toe? yeah it looked like it. Would they have gotten the shot? Obviously no, the way things turned out.
Good news is that now, winning the conference makes you relevant. Even winning the “lowly” ACC likely gets you a shot, regardless of the name on the jersey
 

Techster

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Both of them voted? Good for them.

IMO, they should have done what the Big 12 did. Up and coming schools with good programs in big markets or big fanbases. Big 12 went after UCF, Cincy, Houston, BYU, etc. Those are all high ceiling programs given their markets and/or fanbases.

There's not many of those schools left. USouth Florida is one, but they are on the opposite side of the country. PAC 12 would need to add schools East of the Mississippi to make that work. GA State would be a good program for market, but GSU needs to invest more into their program to even be at the San Diego/Fresno State/Boise State level, and their fanbase is tepid at best.

Regardless, PAC 12 is now a G6 conference looking up at the P4.
 

iceeater1969

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IMO, they should have done what the Big 12 did. Up and coming schools with good programs in big markets or big fanbases. Big 12 went after UCF, Cincy, Houston, BYU, etc. Those are all high ceiling programs given their markets and/or fanbases.

There's not many of those schools left. USouth Florida is one, but they are on the opposite side of the country. PAC 12 would need to add schools East of the Mississippi to make that work. GA State would be a good program for market, but GSU needs to invest more into their program to even be at the San Diego/Fresno State/Boise State level, and their fanbase is tepid at best.

Regardless, PAC 12 is now a G6 conference looking up at the P4.
Will the "left over" ACC teams just wait around as less "tepid" fanbase schools "make moves"?
Who kmows?
 

Vespidae

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Fun facts …

I went to a breakfast meeting and heard from a D1 staff employee who Is also a former D1 player and has 31 years experience in recruiting, player personnel and as NFL player liaison. Random thoughts …

They (SEC school) recruit from 2,853 high schools across 4 states. Ten position coaches manage the workload because head coaches can now only visit once a year in Jan.

SEC is capping the ceiling for revenue distribution. So say School A has a budget of $200M and School B has a budget of $103M. Both will be capped at $100M for purposes of revenue distribution so that they are on an equal footing. Total distribution is 22%, or $22 million.

Football gets 75%, basketball gets 15%, women‘s basketball gets 5%, all other sports get the rest. Each school decides how much a particular player gets.

The number one thing players want is money. There’s probably 20-30 players a week asking for more money. (The answer is no.) With teams moving down from 120 to a roster of 105, no one knows if that will be all scholly or 85 scholly and 20 walk on, etc.

It's really hard to recruit to smaller schools. They operate on the same rules as everyone else … 1 visit. So schools that are larger, easier to get to, have built in advantages.

There is no player in high school today that is not known to their recruiters. Six full time analysts watch film, divided by position. That gets catalogued and evaluated. Most get screened out based on size, weight, speed, agility.

Star ratings are considered irrelevant. They are not generated by coaches, but media people based on who is being recruited by whom. Players being recruited by Top Ten schools score higher stars but if they sign with a Second Ten team, their star rating goes down. Overall, useful to know but stats are better.

Coaches today don’t have time to build networks. They post to social media and hope for the best. The winners are personally picking up the phone and calling high school head coaches every day.

NFL scouts are present every Monday and Tuesday. So everyone knows the feedback and who is going to the League and most likely, what round. Very useful for player retention, development and managing expectations.

Really interesting stuff.
 

jgtengineer

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Something tells me they add 2 more befor eits said and done. Im guessing they will add Hawaii. And probably Idaho. if they expand to 10 i could see Nevada and New Mexico.
 

Techster

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Something tells me they add 2 more befor eits said and done. Im guessing they will add Hawaii. And probably Idaho. if they expand to 10 i could see Nevada and New Mexico.

Nevada or UNLV would be a smart move considering how big of a sports mecca Las Vegas is becoming, and how much of an explosion in population that state is going through.

PAC 12 also needs to add some more schools to meet the minimum threshold of an "official conference" I believe.
 

jgtengineer

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Nevada or UNLV would be a smart move considering how big of a sports mecca Las Vegas is becoming, and how much of an explosion in population that state is going through.

PAC 12 also needs to add some more schools to meet the minimum threshold of an "official conference" I believe.

Adding UNLV and Utah State would sorta cement that area and brign them back to 12 teams so they would actually be the pac 12
 

billga99

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Something tells me they add 2 more befor eits said and done. Im guessing they will add Hawaii. And probably Idaho. if they expand to 10 i could see Nevada and New Mexico.
Looks like you need minimum of 8 for FBS

FBS conferences​

FBS conferences must meet a more stringent set of requirements for NCAA recognition than other conferences:
  • A total of at least eight active FBS members.
  • To be counted toward this total, a school must participate in conference play in at least six men's and eight women's sports, including men's and women's basketball, football, and at least two other women's team sports.
    • Each school may count one men's and one women's sport not sponsored by its primary conference toward the above limits, as long as that sport competes in another Division I conference. The men's and women's sports so counted need not be the same sport.
 

TooTall

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Something tells me they add 2 more befor eits said and done. Im guessing they will add Hawaii. And probably Idaho. if they expand to 10 i could see Nevada and New Mexico.
I agree with Hawaii (but they need a stadium, but they need a conference...) and UNLV or Nevada....long shot would be Montana St (great stadium and program) but they my get gobbled up to Mountain West in order to baby step up.
 

ThatGuy

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Don't call it a comeback...


Well, this at least explains all the headlines about future scheduling between the Mountain West and the 2Pac breaking down over the past week....

Glad to see it. I hope they grab another 2 schools and get to the 8 team threshold. (No chance they can swipe our west coast schools, right? ...Right??)
 

LT 1967

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IMO, they should have done what the Big 12 did. Up and coming schools with good programs in big markets or big fanbases. Big 12 went after UCF, Cincy, Houston, BYU, etc. Those are all high ceiling programs given their markets and/or fanbases.

There's not many of those schools left. USouth Florida is one, but they are on the opposite side of the country. PAC 12 would need to add schools East of the Mississippi to make that work. GA State would be a good program for market, but GSU needs to invest more into their program to even be at the San Diego/Fresno State/Boise State level, and their fanbase is tepid at best.

Regardless, PAC 12 is now a G6 conference looking up at the P4.

I get the impression that the PAC 2 thinks this move may catapult them back to P5 status after finding two more teams for a total of 8 (To meet NCAA Requirement). The USA Today article below demonstrates what a meaningless move this is. As you say, they will be the new G6 conference.

 

Techster

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I get the impression that the PAC 2 thinks this move may catapult them back to P5 status after finding two more teams for a total of 8 (To meet NCAA Requirement). The USA Today article below demonstrates what a meaningless move this is. As you say, they will be the new G6 conference.


They will not get P4 money.
 
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