REALIGNMENT MEGGGGAAAA THREAAAD

[GojiraCane]

Without being labeled as a commie sympathizer from all of the ideologues on this forum, it's important to understand the root cause of CFB realignment, because it applies to societies & institutions as well. In the absence of a governing body that provides oversight to uphold parity, rivalries, and traditions, the divide between the haves & have nots becomes so wide that it's not sustainable, and the entire sport ends up imploding. This is once again another cautionary tale, about how the profit motive has no bounds. Texas, is the richest school in college athletics. It's athletic dept. generates upwards of $230 mil in revenue annually. Despite this it wants to make the move to the SEC, to earn even more money, even if that means winning will become harder. Is this not a classic case of misaligned incentives? In the process it only undermines the integrity of the sport. Another way to look at it is, the table is filled with food, and the SEC is full, but it continues to gorge itself anyway, just so everyone else is left with nothing.

I hope I am wrong, but I think we will see CFB that is similar to soccer overseas. A bunch of different levels & leagues, with each competing for its own titles and trying to carve out its own place in the media landscape.

"The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not enough for everyone's greed" -Mahatma Gandhi

Interesting point.

I live in Austin, and I’ve been trying to make the competitive point to my Longhorn alumni friends who are geeked up about the awesome matchups they’ll now get to see. Sure, having Florida, LSU, or Alabama come to Austin will fill up that stadium (at first), but what happens when you cannot beat them? What happens when Texas consistently goes 8-4 (or worse) in the SEC?

To get to the national Championship, all Texas needed to do was to have a good coaching staff and beat OU. Just one team, because the Longhorns have more talent and resources than everyone else. They couldn’t do that in the Big 12 (Miami has more wins than them on the last ten years, as well as the last five). Why should they be MORE competitive in a much more stacked SEC?

So as that string of 4 and 5 loss seasons come, that in turn sets up a revolving door of coaches. Each new regime creates roster turnover and the need to rebuild relationships. It can set programs back.

To sum, it’s possible the Longhorns end up much richer, but in significantly worse shape on the field and eventually with less fans in attendance after the unique nature of an Alabama / Texas game wears off.

 

[Canes1968]

Interesting point.

I live in Austin, and I’ve been trying to make the competitive point to my Longhorn alumni friends who are geeked up about the awesome matchups they’ll now get to see. Sure, having Florida, LSU, or Alabama come to Austin will fill up that stadium (at first), but what happens when you cannot beat them? What happens when Texas consistently goes 8-4 (or worse) in the SEC?

To get to the national Championship, all Texas needed to do was to have a good coaching staff and beat OU. Just one team, because the Longhorns have more talent and resources than everyone else. They couldn’t do that in the Big 12 (Miami has more wins than them on the last ten years, as well as the last five). Why should they be MORE competitive in a much more stacked SEC?

So as that string of 4 and 5 loss seasons come, that in turn sets up a revolving door of coaches. Each new regime creates roster turnover and the need to rebuild relationships. It can set programs back.

To sum, it’s possible the Longhorns end up much richer, but in significantly worse shape on the field and eventually with less fans in attendance after the unique nature of an Alabama / Texas game wears off.

What's really strange is that with all the money at that school, their campus is really, really mediocre. I was actually just there this summer touring around. I expected a beautiful campus and amazing facilities. I was extremely unimpressed!

 

[OriginalCanesCanesCanes]

Interesting point.

I live in Austin, and I’ve been trying to make the competitive point to my Longhorn alumni friends who are geeked up about the awesome matchups they’ll now get to see. Sure, having Florida, LSU, or Alabama come to Austin will fill up that stadium (at first), but what happens when you cannot beat them? What happens when Texas consistently goes 8-4 (or worse) in the SEC?

To get to the national Championship, all Texas needed to do was to have a good coaching staff and beat OU. Just one team, because the Longhorns have more talent and resources than everyone else. They couldn’t do that in the Big 12 (Miami has more wins than them on the last ten years, as well as the last five). Why should they be MORE competitive in a much more stacked SEC?

So as that string of 4 and 5 loss seasons come, that in turn sets up a revolving door of coaches. Each new regime creates roster turnover and the need to rebuild relationships. It can set programs back.

To sum, it’s possible the Longhorns end up much richer, but in significantly worse shape on the field and eventually with less fans in attendance after the unique nature of an Alabama / Texas game wears off.

Not just that, isn’t it possible that the SEC poaches even more Texas players than ever before with even more exposure and more longhorn humiliations? Just a thought.

Lets face it. UT football is soft as baby shlt. Their last coach french kissed players as they left the lockerroom.

 

[GojiraCane]

What's really strange is that with all the money at that school, their campus is really, really mediocre. I was actually just there this summer touring around. I expected a beautiful campus and amazing facilities. I was extremely unimpressed!

Yes, it’s location is unusual. The campus is in the middle of the city. It would be like UM existing in downtown Miami as opposed to Coral Gables.

 

[GojiraCane]

Not just that, isn’t it possible that the SEC poaches even more Texas players than ever before with even more expostre and more longhorn humiliations? Just a thought.

Lets face it. UT football is soft as baby shlt. Their last coach french kissed players as they left the lockerroom.

Under Mack Brown the players got to ride a bus with leather seats for the quarter mile distance to their practice bubble. That was something Charlie Strong eliminated.

That’s a good point on recruiting. It could get even tougher. NILs will help offset a lot of that at UT, but if the Longhorns have an eight year losing streak going to Alabama who would a 5 star player sign with if financial incentives are similar?

Theres strong financial upside in this move, but great risk everywhere else.

 

[423Hurricane]

**Long Post**

Here’s my proposal of a realignment. No more P5 football; it’ll be a P4 CFB.

ACC:
Clemson
Duke
FSU
GT
Maryland
Miami
NCSt
ND
Pitt
Syracuse
VT
UCF
UNC
UVA
WF
WVA
*All teams are along the Atlantic Coastline Area w/ the exception of ND, but since they are already a part time member, and have a rivalry with us, it makes sense keeping them here. Move UCF from a G5 to a P4 since they are the “2017 Nat’l Champions. Maryland was an original ACC school, bring them back, and WVA was an arch nemesis to many teams in the ACC in the old Big East.

B1G:
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Iowa St
KU
KSt
Michigan
MSU
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
O$U
P$U
Purdue
Rutgers
Wisconsin
*All teams are located in the Midwest, with the exception of Rutgers who’s already a B1G member. A lot of natural, old school rivalries will be reignited in this conference.

PAC-16
Arizona
ASU
Baylor
Cal
Colorado
OKSt
Oregon
Oregon St
Stanford
TCU
Texas Tech
UCLA
USC
Utah
UW
WSU
*This one was a little more tricky, but the Texas Schools included in this Pac-12 expansion, all have the Brazos River connection which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, The Gulf of Mexico is technically kin to the Atlantic Ocean, but TX is closer to CA, than to FL (16 hr drive from L.A to Lubbock, TX as opposed to a 23hr drive from Lubbock to Miami), therefore these schools, would find a new home in the PAC. The outlier would be OKSt, but there’s natural rivals here w/ a lot of teams from the old B12.

SEC:
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
L$U
Miss St
Missouri
Ole Pi$$
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tenn
TAMU
Texas
Vandy
*UT & OU gets granted membership into the SEC

-Four 16 team conferences
-8 divisions
-4 championship games
-12 CFP team format

Thoughts?

Logistically, this makes a helluva lot of sense. I’ve mentioned recently logistics should play a large role in any expansion or re-alignment.

 

[CaneSince4Ever]

I can see the SEC dropping Vandy for ND, culturally, ND is more Southern than Midwest...and they have a bigger fan base (than Vandy) and they travel well.

 

[GojiraCane]

What's really strange is that with all the money at that school, their campus is really, really mediocre. I was actually just there this summer touring around. I expected a beautiful campus and amazing facilities. I was extremely unimpressed!

What did you think of the Irwin Center? That has to be the ugliest arena ever built? Literally the design is based off this - “hey, let’s fill a bucket with wet beach sand and turn it upside down!”

That said, it is being torn down soon to make way for a medical expansion. Not entirely certain where it’s replacement will go - there is no room on campus to accommodate a 5K arena, let alone a 15k arena like the Irwin Center.

 

[Canes1968]

What did you think of the Irwin Center? That has to be the ugliest arena ever built? Literally the design is based off this - “hey, let’s fill a bucket with wet beach sand and turn it upside down!”

That said, it is being torn down soon to make way for a medical expansion. Not entirely certain where it’s replacement will go - there is no room on campus to accommodate a 5K arena, let alone a 15k arena like the Irwin Center.

I was extremely unimpressed with every aspect of campus honestly. It seems old, dingy and run down except for the McCombs B-School. If it wasn't such a good school, I could see how prospective students and recruits would be very let down upon their first visit. Throw on top of that the fact that there are homeless people literally EVERYWHERE in Austin. Such a shame!

 

[IndayArtHauz]

View attachment 150454

This is a well done graphic, but they somehow managed to make an SEC East and West that are even more imbalanced than the current iteration.

 

[NJshoreCane]

View attachment 150454

I'd like to see Penn state in the ACC but I know it's not happening.
It's about adding teams from a soon-to-be disbanded Big 12.

As far as divisions go, check out us in the ACC south with Clemson.
Hey, why not? We have to beat them to win the conference anyway.

Also, the SEC south, lol.
More tears from the Gator faithful @RVACane?

 

[GojiraCane]

I was extremely unimpressed with every aspect of campus honestly. It seems old, dingy and run down except for the McCombs B-School. If it wasn't such a good school, I could see how prospective students and recruits would be very let down upon their first visit.

I haven't toured the campus itself with the exception of the Irwin Center and the UT basketball facility (my son when to a couple of camps there when he was younger). That's an interesting take.

I think about it now versus how it was twenty years ago - back then a student could walk around and see the capitol building in the distance, or look south and see a few large buildings. Now if they are to look south, they are in the shadows of numerous fifty story buildings.

Here's one angle - 2010 vs 2017:

Here's another angle - 2005 vs 2017:

 

[Baba Yaga]

View attachment 150454

If this is the direction CFB is going, along with a 12-team playoff, I don't see how it doesn't force ND to join the ACC. With super-conferences I think you'll see fewer out of conference games, particularly against marquee programs.

ND may find itself struggling to fill a playoff-worthy schedule if enough teams tell it to get bent because their super-conference schedule is already difficult enough without adding another blueblood.

It would also be great if the CFP expands to 12 teams and decides to take the top 3 teams from each conference to eliminate conference-bias. Won't happen, but it would be a level playing field from a competitive standpoint.

 

[OBLIVION]

I love all the talk I've seen about bringing in WVU. They bring nothing to the table expect a short trip for some schools. They haven't been relevant since Rich Rod.

The ACC needs to break out the big guns and entice some school that is actually going to bring something to the conference other than being a juco college.
If you can't lure a big name you bring in someone that gives you a market and top shelf recruiting grounds. Houston is the program that gives you both and I bet if they were in the ACC. Their commitment would double towards football. Coaches wouldn't be dipping for better gigs in better conferences.

 

[RedPill Stepdad]

Interesting point.

I live in Austin, and I’ve been trying to make the competitive point to my Longhorn alumni friends who are geeked up about the awesome matchups they’ll now get to see. Sure, having Florida, LSU, or Alabama come to Austin will fill up that stadium (at first), but what happens when you cannot beat them? What happens when Texas consistently goes 8-4 (or worse) in the SEC?

To get to the national Championship, all Texas needed to do was to have a good coaching staff and beat OU. Just one team, because the Longhorns have more talent and resources than everyone else. They couldn’t do that in the Big 12 (Miami has more wins than them on the last ten years, as well as the last five). Why should they be MORE competitive in a much more stacked SEC?

So as that string of 4 and 5 loss seasons come, that in turn sets up a revolving door of coaches. Each new regime creates roster turnover and the need to rebuild relationships. It can set programs back.

To sum, it’s possible the Longhorns end up much richer, but in significantly worse shape on the field and eventually with less fans in attendance after the unique nature of an Alabama / Texas game wears off.

This move isn't about winning. It's like Jerry Jones with the Cowboys, all that matters is the bottom line and if u win along the way then cool.

 

[GojiraCane]

I love all the talk I've seen about bringing in WVU. They bring nothing to the table expect a short trip for some schools. They haven't been relevant since Rich Rod.

The ACC needs to break out the big guns and entice some school that is actually going to bring something to the conference other than being a juco college.
If you can't lure a big name you bring in someone that gives you a market and top shelf recruiting grounds. Houston is the program that gives you both and I bet if they were in the ACC. Their commitment would double towards football. Coaches wouldn't be dipping for better gigs in better conferences.

Houston. Houston. And yes again, Houston.

They're not likely to drop football in the next twenty years, the area is imbued with high school football, and it's a huge city.

It makes me wonder if this was one of Houston's considerations when they hired Dana a couple of years ago - getting set up for a move to one of the larger conferences.

 

[Fluffhead]

Unless there’s a mass exodus, I just don’t see the Tobacco Road bunch bolting for another conference. And as it is today, why would Clemp$on leave? They’ve got **** near an automatic bid to the CFP. All the rest of the teams in the ACC - except for us - would get their asses kicked in the SEC.

Same reason Oklahoma is leaving the Big 12.

 

[OBLIVION]

Houston. Houston. And yes again, Houston.

They're not likely to drop football in the next twenty years, the area is imbued with high school football, and it's a huge city.

It makes me wonder if this was one of Houston's considerations when they hired Dana a couple of years ago - getting set up for a move to one of the larger conferences.

Houston has already shown with the right coach that can compete. They've beaten FSU and beat Oklahoma and had their coaches not been poached by the bigger schools in better conferences they would've had more staying power.

Houston in a big conference would be a dangerous school for everyone they played.

 

[Baba Yaga]

Swafford bent ACC and and each of its member institutions over and helped ESPN slide in with no lube when he negotiated the last media rights deal in 2016, all for the ACC Network.

Jim Phillips needs to be aggressive and find a way to lure ND and yes, likely Houston due to its large media market, and force ESPN to renegotiate the deal so we aren't relegated the ACC Network and ESPN+ while every SEC game is on ESPN/ABC prime time, and the payouts per school are within ****ing range of the SEC and B1G, comparatively. Otherwise every school in the conference will be at a huge financial disadvantage for the next 15 years.

 

[RedPill Stepdad]

Houston. Houston. And yes again, Houston.

They're not likely to drop football in the next twenty years, the area is imbued with high school football, and it's a huge city.

It makes me wonder if this was one of Houston's considerations when they hired Dana a couple of years ago - getting set up for a move to one of the larger conferences.

I mentioned Houston being my second choice behind ND earlier but how do u feel about SMU? Idk about their other sports but they have potential in football.