Conference Realignment

[stech81]

I guess I’m not like most of y’all , I love Tech football I think this coaching staff will bring Tech back to winning and playing in bowl games.
I just don’t see the SEC cares about Tech and I don’t see the Big 10 cares about Tech. Now a few years down the line if we can put together a few 9 plus years of seasons maybe, but now all they see is a college team the can’t fill our stadium.
I’m not sure in a few years there won’t be a big blow up of college football as the money has got to big. Maybe and I know most everyone will disagree but just maybe we need to hope the ACC stays together.

 

[TooTall]

My view is, and it has been expressed nationally and on this board I believe, that you can't have a conference with 10 beasts of a program and 4 also rans. There is a place in the $ec for vandy and Rutgers in the BIG. The lesser football schools are attractive like the girl at midnight at the end of the bar, much better looking than the girl a closing time and still able to serve a purpose. We will end up in one of the 2 and I'm happy with either.

 

[orientalnc]

Mr Wolfe also wrote, "A Man in Full", in which GA Tech was the school with the dumb red neck football coach and GA had the sophisticated intelligent coach. He was the darling of dawgnation after that. He was invited to several buckhead homes after that. Be careful who you praise.

Wrong Mr Wolfe.

 

[gameface]

Wrong Mr Wolfe.

So there are two authors named Thomas Wolfe?

 

[orientalnc]

So there are two authors named Thomas Wolfe?

Tom Wolfe wrote Man in Full and Bonfire of Vanities. That's not Thomas Wolfe.

 

[RonJohn]

So there are two authors named Thomas Wolfe?

Thomas Wolfe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Tom Wolfe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[MidtownJacket]

I like the regional aspect of the SEC or ACC more for every sport outside FB and MBB. Travel across the country would be brutal for smaller revenue sports’s budgets. Even kn the major rev sports I like that students can drive and tailgate at the away games. Familiarity breeds comparison, comparison is the thief of joy, and I want to steal happiness from our in-conference rivals early and often.

I like the academic aspect of the B1G and ACC. Being among quality programs who compete on the field and the classrooms fits our vibe.

I like the money of the B1G and SEC. We can’t keep plunking away as an also ran in the [$̲̅(̲̅100)̲̅$̲̅] department if we want to win big time trophies.

All this to say, there aren’t perfect options in my mind, I just want to understand the logic for why we go somewhere (if anywhere) and how it helps us compete.

 

[Southern psu fan]

I imagine the SEC would get their jimmys rustled if the BIG swept in and got a team in Atlanta.

That would be so sweet if Ga Tech joined the big 10. Tickets sales would be great for Ga Tech. Penn St, Michigan, Ohio St, Wisconsin and Nebraska would be huge games in Atlanta. I also believe it would help Ga Tech in recruiting. Purdue does pretty good but I believe Ga Tech would do better. Atlanta is a great city for young men.

 

[DeepSnap]

Tom Wolfe wrote Man in Full and Bonfire of Vanities. That's not Thomas Wolfe.

Not to mention "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and "The Right Stuff"

 

[TooTall]

The only Wolfe I know of.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Mr Wolfe also wrote, "A Man in Full", in which GA Tech was the school with the dumb red neck football coach and GA had the sophisticated intelligent coach. He was the darling of dawgnation after that. He was invited to several buckhead homes after that. Be careful who you praise.

It's more acknowledgement that he's referenced regularly. Praise is hard to come by from this crowd, though I am impressed with any dwag that reads books.....

 

[UgaBlows]

I completely agree with this and I still don’t believe that the SEC will “block” for the sake of blocking. They will add schools only if it is an improvement to the bottom line. The SEC is not going to decrease revenue over a few recruiting battles. I would love it if they got all nostalgic and worked us into a deal, and if the Big is interested in us, the SEC will surely take a look, but I don’t think we will win out over other candidates that will be a bigger driver of the bottom line.
FWIW, I am becoming of the mindset that there really aren’t many schools left that will move the bottom line for either conference. I’m not down on Tech, I just think expansion target pool is a MUCH smaller sample size than prevailing internet wisdom would have us believe.

Even if we had nothing else in our favor I still firmly believe that the very fact that GT is in Atlanta makes us a top target for the BIG. Nobody else in the ACC is in a market as big, and nobody else in the ACC has as many BIG alumni in their region as Atlanta has. That means a huge $$$ increase in subscription rate for them. We are actually one of the very few schools left that could Potentially actually add enough tv revenue to pay for ourselves. The pattern of their recent adds are big population center driven- Maryland, Rutgers, USC, UCLA. Not to mention that academically and research money-wise we are a tailer-made fit, and you know all those midwest and northeast schools want games down here for the fair weather and recruiting exposure inroads.

 

[UgaBlows]

I guess I’m not like most of y’all , I love Tech football I think this coaching staff will bring Tech back to winning and playing in bowl games.
I just don’t see the SEC cares about Tech and I don’t see the Big 10 cares about Tech. Now a few years down the line if we can put together a few 9 plus years of seasons maybe, but now all they see is a college team the can’t fill our stadium.
I’m not sure in a few years there won’t be a big blow up of college football as the money has got to big. Maybe and I know most everyone will disagree but just maybe we need to hope the ACC stays together.

I agree 100% with your first statement. I also agree that the SEC is not considering us at all, too much bad blood there. But surely the BIG people making these expansion decisions are smart enough to not place much importance on the recent success or failures of a program? I mean hell they've added Rutgers, Maryland, and UCLA in the past few years.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Even if we had nothing else in our favor I still firmly believe that the very fact that GT is in Atlanta makes us a top target for the BIG. Nobody else in the ACC is in a market as big, and nobody else in the ACC has as many BIG alumni in their region as Atlanta has. That means a huge $$$ increase in subscription rate for them. We are actually one of the very few schools left that could Potentially actually add enough tv revenue to pay for ourselves. The pattern of their recent adds are big population center driven- Maryland, Rutgers, USC, UCLA. Not to mention that academically and research money-wise we are a tailer-made fit, and you know all those midwest and northeast schools want games down here for the fair weather and recruiting exposure inroads.

I'm not sure TV market areas drive decisions like they used to. With streaming the norm now, the universities brand is more important than the market share of the universities location. Ohio State, Michigan, and other B1G alums in ATL are likely already subscribing to the B1G network via streaming. The average college football fan in ATL is likely a uga or Bama fan and likely won't subscribe to a B1G network with a GT addition. The SEC and B1G are adding brands, not markets.

 

[stech81]

I agree 100% with your first statement. I also agree that the SEC is not considering us at all, too much bad blood there. But surely the BIG people making these expansion decisions are smart enough to not place much importance on the recent success or failures of a program? I mean hell they've added Rutgers, Maryland, and UCLA in the past few years.

I just feel the the money for college football has peak out, ESPN losing money . Maybe I’m wrong I have be before.

 

[UgaBlows]

I'm not sure TV market areas drive decisions like they used to. With streaming the norm now, the universities brand is more important than the market share of the universities location. Ohio State, Michigan, and other B1G alums in ATL are likely already subscribing to the B1G network via streaming. The average college football fan in ATL is likely a uga or Bama fan and likely won't subscribe to a B1G network with a GT addition. The SEC and B1G are adding brands, not markets.

The new boss (streaming) seems the same as the old boss- just a different way of getting it into your house, and FB game Streaming is still governed by your location just like cable/satellite as far as I can tell. I switched to streaming (utubetv) last fall and had several non-sellout GT games blacked out because of my vicinity to Atlanta. Those streaming services that carry the BIG network servicing Atlanta are not free and are likely subject to the same rate increase in BIG network fees that subscriptions via cable are when a BIG school is in the viewing region. Also there are a LOT of BIG alum (and sidewalk fans from those states) that have relocated to Atlanta, we are one of the top destinations for them in the US- surely those people are still loyal to their Alma-Maters and want to see them play? Idk, Honestly You may be right, all of this is just my opinion.

 

[CEB]

Even if we had nothing else in our favor I still firmly believe that the very fact that GT is in Atlanta makes us a top target for the BIG. Nobody else in the ACC is in a market as big, and nobody else in the ACC has as many BIG alumni in their region as Atlanta has. That means a huge $$$ increase in subscription rate for them. We are actually one of the very few schools left that could Potentially actually add enough tv revenue to pay for ourselves. The pattern of their recent adds are big population center driven- Maryland, Rutgers, USC, UCLA. Not to mention that academically and research money-wise we are a tailer-made fit, and you know all those midwest and northeast schools want games down here for the fair weather and recruiting exposure inroads.

Agree with all of that. There are certainly reasons why we are attractive to BIG and I believe BIG is our best (only) shot at an upward conference move. My recent posts in this thread were replies to say that I don’t believe the SEC has any interest in us regardless of how interested the BIG gets. That may have been before we exchanged replies.
We have a shot at the BIG (even if it’s a long shot) and I personally believe its our best case scenario.

 

[RonJohn]

The new boss (streaming) seems the same as the old boss- just a different way of getting it into your house, and FB game Streaming is still governed by your location just like cable/satellite as far as I can tell. I switched to streaming (utubetv) last fall and had several non-sellout GT games blacked out because of my vicinity to Atlanta. Those streaming services that carry the BIG network servicing Atlanta are not free and are likely subject to the same rate increase in BIG network fees that subscriptions via cable are when a BIG school is in the viewing region. Also there are a LOT of BIG alum (and sidewalk fans from those states) that have relocated to Atlanta, we are one of the top destinations for them in the US- surely those people are still loyal to their Alma-Maters and want to see them play? Idk, Honestly You may be right, all of this is just my opinion.

College football has never blacked out games because of ticket sales. I don't think the NFL even does that any more. The reason you couldn't get the GT games is because Raycom produced games were on the Bally Sports network of stations, which almost no TV carrier carries anymore.

Things are getting very conflated and confused. People who talk about streaming being the future are talking about direct streaming. The idea is that eventually you will purchase Big10 directly from the Big10 and bypass cable/sat/streaming television providers. There are still a lot of issues with that being able to generate the same level of income as going through television providers. At the moment, the SEC, Big10, and ACC all get more money for TV subscribers who are in a region with a conference team than in areas that don't have conference teams. Nobody knows exactly how things will shake out in the future, but most are predicting that direct to consumer streaming will eventually take over. I think we are still at least 10 years away from that actually happening.

 

[UgaBlows]

I just feel the the money for college football has peak out, ESPN losing money . Maybe I’m wrong I have be before.

Maybe but I doubt it. The networks will get theirs one way or the other by forcing more advertising and higher subscription costs onto the consumer.

ESPN needs to streamline and focus on the shows, personalities and major sports that actually make them money

 

[UgaBlows]

College football has never blacked out games because of ticket sales. I don't think the NFL even does that any more. The reason you couldn't get the GT games is because Raycom produced games were on the Bally Sports network of stations, which almost no TV carrier carries anymore.

Yes you are right, I think the games that I couldn’t watch were likely Bally games that i then streamed via the espn app using my youtubeTV login, but they were blacked out for me until I used a VPN and changed my location. I just figured it was because the games were not a sellout, but it was probably an agreement between espn and Bally....