SMU2006

They are formalizing a 70 team split. Yes there will be a psuedo "Power 2" of Big 10/SEC but the ACC and Big 12 will continue to have access. Everyone else gets relegated to D1AA equivalent.

Yes it is coming. 2026 is the year most have circled to formalize the split. Scheduling could be problematic but I would imagine the P4 will allow for one non-conference game against a G5.

Well if we're using the endowment comparison, Stanford's is 5x of Rice (which is absolutely wild). Endowment as a proxy for commitment to athletics is a stupid metric. It really comes down to how active the alumni are in giving to various programs and Rice simply does not have many alums that are willing to commit the financial resources needed to compete at a higher level.

what does "remain in the picture" mean for Rice? Middle of the pack in the AAC when they could easily be the best G5 program in the country given their location, resources, etc. Rice has chosen their path but they could've easily been Stanford or Northwestern. Oh well.

You can commit to both high level athletics and academics. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive and Rice has the means to do it. Rice has chosen not to do it for whatever reason.

Totally agree with you however they have chosen to allocate those resources elsewhere. Nerds gonna nerd.

I genuinely don't know what they're thinking at Rice. It feels like they are just continuing the program until the gas tank finally gets to empty.

Needing media revenue is for poverty programs...

QuikTrip = Big 12 with all the truck stop destinations

Rice made the decision years ago that they were not going to be financially competitive at football. They have routinely been among the bottom in coaches salaries, facilities, recruiting budgets, etc. I agree I don't think there is much of a future for them in the future landscape of college football.

Yes this will certainly be happening in the future, but at least the conference and networks will be ones to dictate the outcome as opposed to private equity. The PE guys are going to squeeze every ounce of water out of the Big 12 stone that they can and if you're an underperforming asset they are going to treat you like one. What's going to happen when the PE guys go to Iowa State, UCF, Baylor, UH or whoever and tell them "hey you guys have nowhere else to go. You want to stay in the P4? Prove it. No revenue unless you earn it on the field." Those sort of things will happen with PE if not far worse.

Private equity is going to carve the Big 12 to pieces, hollow out anything and everything that doesn't add "value", and inject themselves daily into the operations of the league. Should be some fun Monday morning calls with the CVC Managing Partner "yeah we've been seeing the TV numbers from last week's Cincinnati-Baylor game and well, we have some questions" They are going to institute unequal revenue sharing as well as a litany of other caveats we can't even fathom yet. Also, funny how Yormark can make this deal now but when the bill comes due on that return on invested capital he will be long gone from the Big 12. Please, please, please let this happen!

If he does stay healthy it'll be the first time since he was a Highland Park Scot.

We were just a few decades ahead of the curve. Trailblazers!

Its not going to be limited to 48. The mother of all antitrust lawsuits would be coming down the pike not to mention certain schools are tethered politically to some that would potentially be left out of your scenario. For example, the state of North Carolina just passed legislation that UNC and NC State are all but bound together at the hip and any attempt by UNC to leave NC State in the lurch could result in the loss of state funds. NC state politics are wild. You'll see similar bills passed into law in other states with potentially vulnerable schools. The split will be the P4 from the G5. The only question is whether or not any of the top G5's are going to get the last call up. The problem for them is SMU has set the bar for entry at a financial level no school in the G5 can offer. That will be the opening asking price for any G5 to move up. Rice could do it if they cared about athletics (they don't). USF is intriguing b/c of AAU status and being in Tampa. SDSU is in a huge market but doesn't seem to have the financial commitment. Memphis is an academic dumpster fire but actually fits nicely into the Big 12 if they choose to expand.

Yes b/c money has never been able to accomplish an otherwise unlikely goal.....

There's going to be a split coming in the next 4-5 years. The only G5's that might get a life boat are Tulane, USF, San Diego State, and Memphis (maybe).

zero

Ah yes assigning value to a bowl game played on a baseball field without our starting QB. Enjoy the inevitable split that's coming.

Its better than the $50 gift card to Blockbuster Video that we were getting in the AAC.

Weird comment since a super majority of ACC schools voted SMU into the league.

The difference is SMU is the rich guy who can buy his way to a life boat while UNT drowns down in steerage.

LOL. Locked On Big 12 has a new "ACC is dying!" video every day. Each one more absurd than the one before it. FSU and Clemson are going to lose in court especially now that North Carolina takes precedent over the Florida and South Carolina suits. This is all about pandering to their fans that are mad about not having an invite to the Big 10/SEC and are locked into the ACC for the next 12 years.

If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'. Only a fool would be so naïve as to to think NIL has legalized cheating. Every program that's actually trying to win has been skirting (or outright ignoring) rules for decades.