forums

MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread: Stories, Tales, Lies, and Exaggerations

Hold My Beer said:
Don't doubt your correct as usual on this one EC.

But what could UM do if Vandy's leadership makes up its mind to move full speed ahead with such a plan?

Vanderbilt's academic reputation is well beyond anything a university in this state can match — and not to mention Nashville is an extremely attractive location for wealthy PBC types open to leaving Florida for college
Click to expand...
IF Vandy establishes a Business School presence in Palm Beach as I've heard the intend to do, and Miami does not, and think that is a major body blow to Miami's prestige and sets a harder cap on their celing.

Could it be busted through? Sure, but why make it harder right!?

Then again, what do I know?

🤣🤣

I'll NEVER defend UF or FSU, bit I would say Miami's Med School exceeds Vandy (no matter ranking), Marine Science no question.

UF is racing up the charts very fast and so is FSU. There is a concerted efforts with BILLIONS in public funds backingbit to create an "MIT of Florida". I know this for fact because I've taken the briefing with the Guv Guv.
 
Advertisement
Empirical Cane said:
Stanford isn't trying to be elite in de futból. I would argue neither is Cal.
Click to expand...

Good thing for those two is they don't need to be.

They're right up their with the most prestigious academic schools in the country. The B1G presidents will be more than happy to bring them aboard for that reason alone.

So will the AD's as it provides two likely W's in the revenue sports while also making West Coast travel less frequent in the money-losing sports.

It's mostly irrelevant for the TV folks perpetually zeroed in on the traditional B1G powerhouses and now USC and likely UM and Notre Dame by 2027. The conference also-rans — whoever they may be — are gonna be relegated to Peacock, Paramount Plus and the new FOX ONE streaming app much of the time
 
Empirical Cane said:
UF is racing up the charts very fast and so is FSU. There is a concerted efforts with BILLIONS in public funds backingbit to create an "MIT of Florida". I know this for fact because I've taken the briefing with the Guv Guv.
Click to expand...

Good information. Isn't there an FIT around Orlando or Tampa somewhere?

According to USNWR's rankings for 2025:

30 (tie). UF
54 (tie), FSU
63 (tie). UM
91 (tie) USF
98 (tie) FIU
121 (tie) UCF
189 (tie) FAU

Lake City Junior College wasn't ranked for some reason 😕
 
Empirical Cane said:
UCF is the largest university in US.

If they were to ever get their act together in football...
Click to expand...
Spring-Game-83.0.0.jpg
 
Hold My Beer said:
Good information. Isn't there an FIT around Orlando or Tampa somewhere?

According to USNWR's rankings for 2025:

30 (tie). UF
54 (tie), FSU
63 (tie). UM
91 (tie) USF
98 (tie) FIU
121 (tie) UCF
189 (tie) FAU

Lake City Junior College wasn't ranked for some reason 😕
Click to expand...
Florida Polytechnic University and Florida Institute of Technology...

BOTH have big dreams and big $$$$$$ trying to create the MIT and Stanford of Florida over the coming decades.
 
Last edited:
Hold My Beer said:
Good thing for those two is they don't need to be.

They're right up their with the most prestigious academic schools in the country. The B1G presidents will be more than happy to bring them aboard for that reason alone.

So will the AD's as it provides two likely W's in the revenue sports while also making West Coast travel less frequent in the money-losing sports.

It's mostly irrelevant for the TV folks perpetually zeroed in on the traditional B1G powerhouses and now USC and likely UM and Notre Dame by 2027. The conference also-rans — whoever they may be — are gonna be relegated to Peacock, Paramount Plus and the new FOX ONE streaming app much of the time
Click to expand...
I will also say this:

It is MUCH EASIER, given time and funding, for the Bama, UGA, and other large institutions to catch Stanford and other "elite" academic programs than it is for those nerds to ever field a CFPO caliber team, let alone hoist the Natty.
 
Advertisement
Ledmonster1 said:
I know most think this guy doesn’t know jack, but thought I would share.
Click to expand...
"The situation is fluid" is reality. A lot of schools are in conversations with multiple conferences regarding what happens over the next 5 years in realignment. There ARE some people with legit B10 contacts and one of those is a guy on The B12 Mafia ... who has contacts at a couple of B10 programs. They just did a podcast with TIER RATINGS for a group of schools that are either interested in B10 membership OR are targets or potential targets of the B10 for the next realignment wave.

They did a TIER RANKING broken down by
1. MUST HAVE TARGET
2. PRIMARY TARGET
3. HIGH VALUE FALLBACK
4. STRATEGIC ADD
5. LAST RESORT

The guy with B10 contacts began by stating:
-The B10 is currently IN conversations with 4 short list schools.
-Miami is not one of the 4 schools on that short list during these current discussions.
-Wisconsin is a huge influencer in the B10 and they are CURRENTLY blocking Miami.
-Duke is cozying up to Michigan and "may have sweetened the pot" (ie, willing to join
with either a very small or NO media payout for the next contract).

TIER RANKINGS:
1. MUST HAVE: ND (Fox/CBS/NBC have stated that ND is worth $400million to the B10 ... enough to cover
the media payout to ND +3 other programs).

2. PRIMARY TARGET: UNC, MIAMI, FSU (Board of Governors is a problem), Clemson

3. HIGH VALUE FALLBACK: Stanford, Duke, Ga Tech

4. STRATEGIC ADDS: Kansas, AZ State, Virginia

5. LAST RESORT: Cal, Utah, Va Tech, Colorado

The TIER RANKINGS are presented as the B10 evaluation of WHO they would like .... THEN the B12 Mafia panel discussed their opinions of the realistic chances of what might actually happen, due to the SEC potentially grabbing 4 or more programs.

-SEC potential: UNC, FSU, UVA, +1
-ACC potential: ND, Clemson, Miami, Ga Tech (or Duke)

They have heard that ND is lobbying strongly for Clemson and ND carries weight with the B10 presidents ... whether they join now or potentially later on as an eventual requirement to have access to the CFP.

One of the B12 Mafia panelists is into "statistics" and had a media evaluation that was done by a network 3 years ago that used a variety of metrics to establish a TIER RATING of B10 expansion candidates at that time:

Tier 1. ND
Tier 2. UNC, OR, FSU, WA
Tier 3. Clemson, Miami, UT, Stanford Cal
Tier 4, 5 not listed

Reportedly the B10 presidents in general are NOT really comfortable with FSU due to it being a public university at the whim of the Board of Governors. In general they feel more comfortable with Miami, a private university, with a great airport, tremendous hotel and tourist infrastructure, and large market (with the caveat that Wisconsin is currently an issue with Miami).

Neither UCF or USF appear on ANY list for the next wave of P2 expansion.
 
Rickd said:
"The situation is fluid" is reality. A lot of schools are in conversations with multiple conferences regarding what happens over the next 5 years in realignment. There ARE some people with legit B10 contacts and one of those is a guy on The B12 Mafia ... who has contacts at a couple of B10 programs. They just did a podcast with TIER RATINGS for a group of schools that are either interested in B10 membership OR are targets or potential targets of the B10 for the next realignment wave.

They did a TIER RANKING broken down by
1. MUST HAVE TARGET
2. PRIMARY TARGET
3. HIGH VALUE FALLBACK
4. STRATEGIC ADD
5. LAST RESORT

The guy with B10 contacts began by stating:
-The B10 is currently IN conversations with 4 short list schools.
-Miami is not one of the 4 schools on that short list during these current discussions.
-Wisconsin is a huge influencer in the B10 and they are CURRENTLY blocking Miami.
-Duke is cozying up to Michigan and "may have sweetened the pot" (ie, willing to join
with either a very small or NO media payout for the next contract).

TIER RANKINGS:
1. MUST HAVE: ND (Fox/CBS/NBC have stated that ND is worth $400million to the B10 ... enough to cover
the media payout to ND +3 other programs).

2. PRIMARY TARGET: UNC, MIAMI, FSU (Board of Governors is a problem), Clemson

3. HIGH VALUE FALLBACK: Stanford, Duke, Ga Tech

4. STRATEGIC ADDS: Kansas, AZ State, Virginia

5. LAST RESORT: Cal, Utah, Va Tech, Colorado

The TIER RANKINGS are presented as the B10 evaluation of WHO they would like .... THEN the B12 Mafia panel discussed their opinions of the realistic chances of what might actually happen, due to the SEC potentially grabbing 4 or more programs.

-SEC potential: UNC, FSU, UVA, +1
-ACC potential: ND, Clemson, Miami, Ga Tech (or Duke)

They have heard that ND is lobbying strongly for Clemson and ND carries weight with the B10 presidents ... whether they join now or potentially later on as an eventual requirement to have access to the CFP.

One of the B12 Mafia panelists is into "statistics" and had a media evaluation that was done by a network 3 years ago that used a variety of metrics to establish a TIER RATING of B10 expansion candidates at that time:

Tier 1. ND
Tier 2. UNC, OR, FSU, WA
Tier 3. Clemson, Miami, UT, Stanford Cal
Tier 4, 5 not listed

Reportedly the B10 presidents in general are NOT really comfortable with FSU due to it being a public university at the whim of the Board of Governors. In general they feel more comfortable with Miami, a private university, with a great airport, tremendous hotel and tourist infrastructure, and large market (with the caveat that Wisconsin is currently an issue with Miami).

Neither UCF or USF appear on ANY list for the next wave of P2 expansion.
Click to expand...

So we ****ed off a power player for a 3 star CB?

♟️
 
Angry Ibis said:
So we ****ed off a power player for a 3 star CB?

♟️
Click to expand...
No. Sometimes lawsuits are just a means to an end in business. Trust me. I worked in a Fortune 50 legal department and you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff I’ve seen. We’d draft a stack of ceast and desist letters against one of our biggest competitors one day and then hand them our pricing structure the next. It’s not that deep, as the kids say.

If the networks and the conference think Miami brings the value, then it won’t be an issue. Miami is just collateral damage in the lawsuit, and I have no doubt that we will handle it professionally and gracefully.
 
Rickd said:
"The situation is fluid" is reality. A lot of schools are in conversations with multiple conferences regarding what happens over the next 5 years in realignment. There ARE some people with legit B10 contacts and one of those is a guy on The B12 Mafia ... who has contacts at a couple of B10 programs. They just did a podcast with TIER RATINGS for a group of schools that are either interested in B10 membership OR are targets or potential targets of the B10 for the next realignment wave.

They did a TIER RANKING broken down by
1. MUST HAVE TARGET
2. PRIMARY TARGET
3. HIGH VALUE FALLBACK
4. STRATEGIC ADD
5. LAST RESORT

The guy with B10 contacts began by stating:
-The B10 is currently IN conversations with 4 short list schools.
-Miami is not one of the 4 schools on that short list during these current discussions.
-Wisconsin is a huge influencer in the B10 and they are CURRENTLY blocking Miami.
-Duke is cozying up to Michigan and "may have sweetened the pot" (ie, willing to join
with either a very small or NO media payout for the next contract).

TIER RANKINGS:
1. MUST HAVE: ND (Fox/CBS/NBC have stated that ND is worth $400million to the B10 ... enough to cover
the media payout to ND +3 other programs).

2. PRIMARY TARGET: UNC, MIAMI, FSU (Board of Governors is a problem), Clemson

3. HIGH VALUE FALLBACK: Stanford, Duke, Ga Tech

4. STRATEGIC ADDS: Kansas, AZ State, Virginia

5. LAST RESORT: Cal, Utah, Va Tech, Colorado

The TIER RANKINGS are presented as the B10 evaluation of WHO they would like .... THEN the B12 Mafia panel discussed their opinions of the realistic chances of what might actually happen, due to the SEC potentially grabbing 4 or more programs.

-SEC potential: UNC, FSU, UVA, +1
-ACC potential: ND, Clemson, Miami, Ga Tech (or Duke)

They have heard that ND is lobbying strongly for Clemson and ND carries weight with the B10 presidents ... whether they join now or potentially later on as an eventual requirement to have access to the CFP.

One of the B12 Mafia panelists is into "statistics" and had a media evaluation that was done by a network 3 years ago that used a variety of metrics to establish a TIER RATING of B10 expansion candidates at that time:

Tier 1. ND
Tier 2. UNC, OR, FSU, WA
Tier 3. Clemson, Miami, UT, Stanford Cal
Tier 4, 5 not listed

Reportedly the B10 presidents in general are NOT really comfortable with FSU due to it being a public university at the whim of the Board of Governors. In general they feel more comfortable with Miami, a private university, with a great airport, tremendous hotel and tourist infrastructure, and large market (with the caveat that Wisconsin is currently an issue with Miami).

Neither UCF or USF appear on ANY list for the next wave of P2 expansion.
Click to expand...

I would hope decision makers recognize the fluidity of media value and that FSU has dropped dramatically over the last 3 years.

To me out of that list, ND, UNC, Clemson and Miami are more legit. OR and WA already moved. UT smaller market less storied tradition. Stanford and Cal don't have the same level of commitment to football. I just wish we weren't 4th or at best 3rd among those. Hope UNC and Clemson go SEC, then we'd be the obvious pairing with the BiG.

Part of what's influencing this has to be the hot hand. Which is why I hope we keep overinvesting in NIL to get our teams into post season playoffs across the money sports, particularly football and basketball. It's worth losing money now off-book to get into one of those conferences, ideally the BiG.
 
caneingville said:
No. Sometimes lawsuits are just a means to an end in business. Trust me. I worked in a Fortune 50 legal department and you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff I’ve seen. We’d draft a stack of ceast and desist letters against one of our biggest competitors one day and then hand them our pricing structure the next. It’s not that deep, as the kids say.

If the networks and the conference think Miami brings the value, then it won’t be an issue. Miami is just collateral damage in the lawsuit, and I have no doubt that we will handle it professionally and gracefully.
Click to expand...

Why is Wisconsin blocking Miami?
 
Angry Ibis said:
Why is Wisconsin blocking Miami?
Click to expand...
They aren’t “blocking” Miami. There isn’t anything to block yet. And even if there was, they could easily be overruled.

They are currently at issue with Miami, nothing more. But like I said, there is no vote to be had yet. By the time there is a vote, the suit could be settled or be in a different disposition.
 
Angry Ibis said:
Why is Wisconsin blocking Miami?
Click to expand...

Know nothing. But from a distance it appears more a flex than a block - i.e. stiff arm us in talks for now to assert power. When the real negotiations start, we'll be back in the room.

Best outcome is for SEC to take a couple more of those competitor ACC programs off the board, and the BiG recognizes we're the better Florida program and they need our media market.
 
Advertisement
Look y’all, the idea that Wisconsin is “blocking”Miami is akin to everyone saying Texas A&M was “blocking” Texas before Texas joined the SEC. It’s ridiculous for so many reasons.

1. It’s incredibly premature to say any school can be blocking anyone, given the timeline and the fact that it’s only August 2025.

2. One single school cannot block another, because they will be overruled.

3. The networks have more power than they ever have before.

4. We need to take ALL of these rumors with a grain of salt. A huge grain of salt.

Obviously, I cannot predict the future, so I am not saying that things cannot change. BUT what I am saying is that as things stand TODAY, if the Big 10 decides that they want us, AND we continue to remain professional as we always have with these things, I do not believe the lawsuit will prevent us from entry into the conference.
 
caneingville said:
They aren’t “blocking” Miami. There isn’t anything to block yet. And even if there was, they could easily be overruled.

They are currently at issue with Miami, nothing more. But like I said, there is no vote to be had yet. By the time there is a vote, the suit could be settled or be in a different disposition.
Click to expand...
Agree. The only reasons the B1G and SEC want to expand are $$$$ and more playoff teams. If Miami continues to compete, someone will want us if for no other reason than to prevent the other from having us. The B1G is still married to the concept of taking AAU schools, and we are one with a good football pedigree. Genetics is basically full of **** and will change his opinion and pretend he was right all along whenever real information gets leaked by people who do know what the B1G is doing. And the Wisconsin issue can be solved in about 5 minutes once the lawsuit dies with an agreement that the Canes play at Wisconsin as their B1G opener.
 
Angry Ibis said:
Why is Wisconsin blocking Miami?
Click to expand...
Wisconsin filed a legal action against Miami over the DB that Miami grabbed. Currently is a ****ing match. There is CURRENTLY bad blood between the programs until the issue is settled. However, as has been alluded to in comments above, once it comes time to actually make a CONFERENCE DECISION ... thinking in a time frame of 20 - 30 or more years of new conference structure ... the value of UM to the B10 definitely supersedes a momentary squabble.
 
Back
Top