Is D1 Split Coming Soon?

MCMLXXX · June 24

untphd · June 24

Welcome to the NIL Semi-pros.

Wag Tag · June 24

What the G5’s never had the balls to do, will now be forced to do. Our own playoffs and championship game.

SUMG · June 24

I hope so. This current path, of us trying to "keep up with the Joneses".....isn't sustainable.

untjim1995 · June 24

10 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

What the G5’s never had the balls to do, will now be forced to do. Our own playoffs and championship game.

Its the best thing that could ever happen for fans, players, and coaches of G5 schools. It remains the only level of football, from pee wee to the NFL, that doesn't ever have a championship team. Its blatantly unfair...

NT80 · June 24

Technically, it’s been split since the P5-G5 labeling. I don’t think there will be much change.

KingDL1 · June 24

I think they are trying to perfect the best technique to destroy college sports completely.

Wag Tag · June 24

20 minutes ago, KingDL1 said:

I think they are trying to perfect the best technique to destroy college sports completely.

It is coming to HS. It already has in Ca.

jtm0097 · June 24

I mean it's pretty much a given that college football is going to have a break up between the P4 and G5 schools. We're already trending to being the development/minor leagues for the P4 schools.

It's not really going to impact us that much. Our students, almuni, and the citizens of Denton are already apathetic to UNT Athletics. What's going to change after this split?

Edited June 24 by jtm0097

wardly · June 24

3 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

Its the best thing that could ever happen for fans, players, and coaches of G5 schools. It remains the only level of football, from pee wee to the NFL, that doesn't ever have a championship team. Its blatantly unfair...

This

NorthTexasWeLove · June 24

5 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

Its the best thing that could ever happen for fans, players, and coaches of G5 schools. It remains the only level of football, from pee wee to the NFL, that doesn't ever have a championship team. Its blatantly unfair...

1 hour ago, wardly said:

This

I can't just agree with this. Your points are easy to follow. They have logic and sense. I still can't just rollover to it. The cat is already out of the bag, but when tv contracts started to balloon in the 90s, what is now referenced as G5 programs should have done everything in their power to bow their backs and put their foot down. If individual players can bring the lack of payment to the courts during an obvious time of amateurism, how could 65 universities not collectively come together and push anti-trust suits into the courts and not dictate financial fairness?

The answer: The beta males that were the AD/HCs didn't care. It wasn't of their interest because there is nothing to financially gain for them in doing that. If anything, only negative consequences would come their way in acting. They balked. Fast forward a generation and they continue to balk in the name of self interest. They put themselves over the university in which overpays them.

DentonStang · June 25

Will P4 teams still be allowed to play lower division conference schools like AAC or SWAC?

UNTLifer · June 25

1 hour ago, DentonStang said:

Will P4 teams still be allowed to play lower division conference schools like AAC or SWAC?

Or the ACC?

untjim1995 · June 25

3 hours ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

I can't just agree with this. Your points are easy to follow. They have logic and sense. I still can't just rollover to it. The cat is already out of the bag, but when tv contracts started to balloon in the 90s, what is now referenced as G5 programs should have done everything in their power to bow their backs and put their foot down. If individual players can bring the lack of payment to the courts during an obvious time of amateurism, how could 65 universities not collectively come together and push anti-trust suits into the courts and not dictate financial fairness?

The answer: The beta males that were the AD/HCs didn't care. It wasn't of their interest because there is nothing to financially gain for them in doing that. If anything, only negative consequences would come their way in acting. They balked. Fast forward a generation and they continue to balk in the name of self interest. They put themselves over the university in which overpays them.

You’ve said this before, but those ADs and coaches are always looking for their next gig up the totem pole of college athletics. Disturb that apple cart and you never get to have the chance to eat the apples. And that’s exactly why the division ended up happening.

All of this has made me think that the places that have cared about sports and funding it, only to watch people bigger than them leave, are the biggest losers in all of this. Say that you’re a Tech alum or you went to Baylor. You’ve been ranked in the top 5 in football and basketball (men’s and women’s), as well as making trips to Omaha. You built up a program that often surpassed the Texas, Oklahoma, and Aggie triumvirate. And it meant nothing because those schools have all the money, t-shirt fans, and TV markets covered. Sure, they benefitted greatly from getting to play them in the first place, but their political strength and appreciation of sports got them there to the SWC/Big 12. And now, they both might be left behind.

We got what we deserved for never caring about sports enough and for not using our location and size to make us better. We went arts and music and cheap tuition and got hundreds of thousands of alumni who won’t give back or go back to Denton. This Split should help us to at least stay even with a lot of teams and programs we should always be peers with, even if most of them have zero interest in being associated with us. If we get left behind again after this is done, somehow being stuck behind SMU, TCU, and UH, amongst others, I then think it’s time to close up shop. But I just don’t see that scenario happening again.

wardly · June 25

2 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Or the ACC?

Sure. They still need "W's" to be bowl eligible, and the lower divisions need the big paycheck.

SMU2006 · June 25

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.

SMU2006 · June 25

10 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

You’ve said this before, but those ADs and coaches are always looking for their next gig up the totem pole of college athletics. Disturb that apple cart and you never get to have the chance to eat the apples. And that’s exactly why the division ended up happening.

All of this has made me think that the places that have cared about sports and funding it, only to watch people bigger than them leave, are the biggest losers in all of this. Say that you’re a Tech alum or you went to Baylor. You’ve been ranked in the top 5 in football and basketball (men’s and women’s), as well as making trips to Omaha. You built up a program that often surpassed the Texas, Oklahoma, and Aggie triumvirate. And it meant nothing because those schools have all the money, t-shirt fans, and TV markets covered. Sure, they benefitted greatly from getting to play them in the first place, but their political strength and appreciation of sports got them there to the SWC/Big 12. And now, they both might be left behind.

We got what we deserved for never caring about sports enough and for not using our location and size to make us better. We went arts and music and cheap tuition and got hundreds of thousands of alumni who won’t give back or go back to Denton. This Split should help us to at least stay even with a lot of teams and programs we should always be peers with, even if most of them have zero interest in being associated with us. If we get left behind again after this is done, somehow being stuck behind SMU, TCU, and UH, amongst others, I then think it’s time to close up shop. But I just don’t see that scenario happening again.

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.

cousin oliver · June 25

Seems to me that the the only power conferences are the SEC and after that the B10. Everything under that is really at a lower level. If we split off, I worry that it will further minimize the amount of support we already battle against.

RBP79 · June 25

I've said in another thread...G5's can stop this sh_t. But the initial pain and getting all G5's to stay the course is near impossible.

NT80 · June 25

4 minutes ago, RBP79 said:

I've said in another thread...G5's can stop this sh_t. But the initial pain and getting all G5's to stay the course is near impossible.

You will never get all G5's to all agree to do the same thing continually. You can't even get 12 schools in a conference to agree and stay together for very long now.

SMU2006 · June 25

One caveat I could see is a formalizing of the PAC as a "best of the rest" conference still maintaining access above the split line. A reconstituted PAC made up of Wazzu/Oregon State/MWC/AAC might work if you could do an East-West divisional split

West - Wazzu, Oregon State, Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, CO State, Air Force

East - North Texas, UTSA, Tulane, Memphis, USF, Navy, Army

NT80 · June 25

26 minutes ago, SMU2006 said:

One caveat I could see is a formalizing of the PAC as a "best of the rest" conference still maintaining access above the split line. A reconstituted PAC made up of Wazzu/Oregon State/MWC/AAC might work if you could do an East-West divisional split

West - Wazzu, Oregon State, Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, CO State, Air Force

East - North Texas, UTSA, Tulane, Memphis, USF, Navy, Army

I would be in for that!

TIgreen01 · June 25

After the "deal" that the A5 schools negotiated where we pay for all of their past NIL damages, I have no earthly idea why we would ever consider granting them MORE POWER! What a bunch of spineless sacks of empty poo we are if we vote for and approve this.

untjim1995 · June 25

There is no way you are convincing Texas, A&M, Alabama, Ohio State, North Carolina, USC, Notre Dame, or Michigan, as well as their media, to accept playing teams like SMU, Washington State, Boston College, Baylor, or other schools that are just not big enough to match their eyeballs.

When they whittle this down, it's gonna be about 48 schools, max. Maybe as few as 36 schools. The B1G and SEC, along with main parts of the ACC and Big 12 will move on, leaving the rest behind.

It will be one of my absolute favorite parts of that schism occurring when SMU has to play teams that they are meant to be playing, not any power conference that let them pay their way in for a few years.