College Football--Big Ten Expansion

[Anonymous]

I know the Notre Dame/USC football rivalry goes back many decades. Seems like ND’s “rivalry” with Stanford is fairly recent & isn’t based on much except ND’s desire to be associated with a top academic institution. Why is everyone so certain admitting Stanford to the B1G would get ND to follow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know the Notre Dame/USC football rivalry goes back many decades. Seems like ND’s “rivalry” with Stanford is fairly recent & isn’t based on much except ND’s desire to be associated with a top academic institution. Why is everyone so certain admitting Stanford to the B1G would get ND to follow?

It would not. It might help however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know the Notre Dame/USC football rivalry goes back many decades. Seems like ND’s “rivalry” with Stanford is fairly recent & isn’t based on much except ND’s desire to be associated with a top academic institution. Why is everyone so certain admitting Stanford to the B1G would get ND to follow?

I think that the play is to acquire another rival of Notre Dame and mandate a certain number of in conference opponent games so that ND has trouble scheduling meaningful opponents.

[Anonymous]

The vultures are already circling the ACC:

https://rolltidewire.usatoday.com/lists/sec-college-football-ranking-acc-football-teams-by-attractiveness-in-conference-expansion-realignment/

ACC football teams ranked by attractiveness to the SEC:

1) Clemson
2) FSU
3) UNC
4) U Miami
5) Duke
6) Virginia
7) Georgia Tech
8) Virginia Tech
9) NC State
10) Wake Forest (WFU)
11) Louisville
12) U Pittsburgh
13) Syracuse
14) Boston College

(OP here)

From the above list, I have difficulty imagining any schools but Clemson, FSU, Virginia Tech, & NC State in the SEC. And, if the ACC disbands, will the states of North Carolina and Virginia permit their respective teams to be in two different conferences ?

Why would the SEC want Virginia & UNC ? Primarily to block the Big Ten Conference from entering into SEC recruiting territory in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

The B1G already recruits in Florida Georgia, Texas and the Carolinas. Whether teams from the conference are in that footprint is mostly irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

To better understand the magnitude of what is currently happening in college football expansion through realignment, examine this map showing locations of Big Ten Conference schools:

https://sbnation.com/college-football/2023/8/4/23820702/new-big-ten-map-pac-12-oregon-washington-travel-college-football

(it takes a full minute or a bit more for the map to appear in the body of the article)

This map may be Stanford & UCal-Berkeley's best argument for reconsideration of Big Ten Conference membership in order to alleviate travel fatigue for the West Coast Big Ten Conference member schools.

The map also shows why adding Virginia & UNC to the Big Ten Conference would make sense from a geographic standpoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The B1G already recruits in Florida Georgia, Texas and the Carolinas. Whether teams from the conference are in that footprint is mostly irrelevant.

Yes, but the top recruits from those states still remain in the region. Remember, these are high school kids who want their family and friends to be close enough to attend games in person. If the Big Ten Conference has a team in a recruit's home state, then the recruit will consider the opportunity to play at least one game a year or 6 games per year in their home state. Geography often makes a significant difference in recruiting athletes.

[Anonymous]

U Miami has membership in the AAU--which the Big Ten Conference prefers. As do Virginia and North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

FSU was recently rejected by the AAU for membership.

If the ACC dissolves, the Big Ten Conference would almost be certain to expand to 24 teams from its now 18 team membership. In my view, the optimal additional 6 teams to become Big Ten Conference members would be:

UNC, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Notre Dame, plus two others from this group of schools: NC State and Virginia Tech if the state governments required the in-state teams to be in the same conference or U Miami & FSU. Not good news for Stanford, UCal-Berkeley, & Duke.

[Anonymous]

Notre Dame, despite its repeated commitment to remaining independent, understands that conference membership is in its future.

Essentially, with the development of at least one nationwide college football conference along with NIL (name,image, likeness) money for college athletes, we are witness to the professionalization of college football. NIL offers are now an important part of college recruiting.

[Anonymous]

I need to restate the sentence about "NIL offers" and recruiting:

NIL is now an important factor in the minds of the top high school football prospects. NIL offers are prohibited during the recruiting process, but recruits are aware.

[Anonymous]

Nothing happens with the ACC grant of rights. The Big Ten has trapped the SEC into the southeast while it has East and the Atlantic, North and the Great Lakes region and West SW and the Pacific. The SEC will be adding teams from the ACC in 2036.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing happens with the ACC grant of rights. The Big Ten has trapped the SEC into the southeast while it has East and the Atlantic, North and the Great Lakes region and West SW and the Pacific. The SEC will be adding teams from the ACC in 2036.

The SEC has not shown any interest in expanding beyond the Southeast and Texas/Oklahoma.

Regarding 2036, it seems doubtful that the ACC will last that long under the current payment structure. Too many teams want to get out of the ACC contract. The ACC either needs to restructure payments or to expand and get a renegotiated contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing happens with the ACC grant of rights. The Big Ten has trapped the SEC into the southeast while it has East and the Atlantic, North and the Great Lakes region and West SW and the Pacific. The SEC will be adding teams from the ACC in 2036.

The SEC has not shown any interest in expanding beyond the Southeast and Texas/Oklahoma.

Regarding 2036, it seems doubtful that the ACC will last that long under the current payment structure. Too many teams want to get out of the ACC contract. The ACC either needs to restructure payments or to expand and get a renegotiated contract.

They can’t get out without writing a huge unaffordable check.

This is the best breakdown I’ve seen.


https://www.tiktok.com/@ricoknows/video/7263626417080978734?_t=8eacyTmPgnG&_r=1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I need to restate the sentence about "NIL offers" and recruiting:

NIL is now an important factor in the minds of the top high school football prospects. NIL offers are prohibited during the recruiting process, but recruits are aware.

The NCAA is zero ability to police NIL. Offers are made during recruiting and are the basis for commitments all the time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing happens with the ACC grant of rights. The Big Ten has trapped the SEC into the southeast while it has East and the Atlantic, North and the Great Lakes region and West SW and the Pacific. The SEC will be adding teams from the ACC in 2036.

The SEC has not shown any interest in expanding beyond the Southeast and Texas/Oklahoma.

Regarding 2036, it seems doubtful that the ACC will last that long under the current payment structure. Too many teams want to get out of the ACC contract. The ACC either needs to restructure payments or to expand and get a renegotiated contract.

Renegotiating opens the door to schools leaving or getting unequal payments. FSU blusters every year, but they have no way out. If there was a way to break the GoR, it would already be broken. The teams wanting to get out are going to take a long look at what happened to Cal and Stanford and wonder why they would be treated any differently.