Big Move For Cu ? Pac 10 Considering Expanaion ?

[MeanGreen61]

Denver Post article

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_14367217?source=rss

ESPN

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/19470/pac-10-expansion-will-get-earnest-consideration

Edited February 10, 2010 by MeanGreen61

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Maybe I am missing something, but I don't really see a benefit to Colorado leaving the Big 12 to go to the Pac 10.

If I was the Pac 10, I would add teams such as BYU and UTAH or Boise State.

Edited February 10, 2010 by GoMeanGreen1999

[GreenStreet]

Well I guess CU would see more TV as they would not have to compete with TEX/OU etc. But clearly the media market will be subject to the West coast only. So, more money from Fox Sports, but less talent might arrive to the school.

[UNTLifer]

By picking up CU they aren't adding to the number of teams in a BcS conference, thus the piece of the $$$ pie stays the same. Then again, the Big XII would either poach another conference or pick up a BcS "outsider," and if not the Big XII then some other conference.

[VideoEagle]

I always take Pac 10 expansion talk with a large grain of salt. As the Pac 10 commissioner said, "the primary factor in the decision will be finding schools that fit into the conference culturally and academically." That is a big challenge as the Pac 10 considers its academics to be extremely high. I don't know enough about CU to say if they fit. The cultural part of the equation is where BYU and to a lesser degree Utah have problems.

Something that was not mentioned in the article that was an issue in the past was the need to split into two divisions. This means everyone won't play UCLA and USC every year in football. I remember in the past that was an issue with several of the schools including both Washington's and Oregon's.

As the WACy folks found out, the pickings out west are pretty slim.

[VideoEagle]

If I was the Pac 10, I would add teams such as BYU and UTAH or Boise State.

There is a big issue with BYU going to the PAC 10. The cultures are near opposites. BYU won't play games on Sundays and the Pac 10 needs to for the schedules to work. Behaviors that are the norm in California are honor code violations at BYU and grounds for dismissal. BYU's honor code is far more specific and stringent than Baylor's.

[UNTLifer]

The PAC 10 plays football on Sundays? Or were you referring to basketball and the other sports.

[KRAM1]

There is a big issue with BYU going to the PAC 10. The cultures are near opposites. BYU won't play games on Sundays and the Pac 10 needs to for the schedules to work. behaviors that are the norm in California are honor code violations at BYU and grounds for dismissal. BYU's honor code is far more specific and stringent than Baylor's.

Funny, I recall a friend of mine who played football at BUY during the Lavell Edwards days, telling me that after wins the players would be "surrounded" by co-eds who would stay with them and party all night...even going so far as to "do the dance" through out the weekend. Then when Monday came along, the same co-eds, if they should pass the players walking across campus, would act like they had no clue who they were. Happened after each win and included plenty of booze. Yep, that BYU culture would never work in the PAC 10! And, that honor code thing will get you turned out of campus really quick for "stuff" like happens in the PAC 10 schools.

On the other hand, my daughter lived in Provo for awhile (still lives in Lehi, Utah) and while on a business trip I stopped by Provo to take her to dinner. We went to a Mexican food place (yuck...in Provo no less) because it was the only place at the time where she knew they had beer....I do love a good cold beer...I ordered a Miller Lite (I thought the kid waiter would know what that was), and the kid brought me a Miller MG Draft! He didn't even know what a Miller Lite was even though they served it in the restaurant where he was working.

I think that waiter kid needed to meet some of the BYU co-eds partying after the football team wins!!!!

I do think CU would be well served to stay with the Big XII.

[VideoEagle]

The PAC 10 plays football on Sundays? Or were you referring to basketball and the other sports.

Other sports and especially championships in other sports. I can't remember the details right now.

[buff64]

Last time they talked expansion they were favoring Colorado and Texas.

[Arkstfan]

Boise is a small TV market, it only has 30,000 more households for TV purposes than Lafayette, it is less than half the size of the Tulsa TV market.

The Pac-10 has hired Weinberg the former Big XII commissioner who was running the Big 10 Network. I would suspect they want to add their own TV network. Denver is the #16 market so they will go hard after CU. I'm not sure they would accept.

I don't think there is any chance they will take BYU. The backlash from students at the 8 west coast schools would be intense. The honor code makes any display of affection among homosexuals grounds for expulsion.

Utah is probably a lock to get in.

The question left if CU says no is do they go with UNLV (close and a decent TV market) or Colorado State in hope of getting some traction in Denver or do they just say forget about it.

Edited February 11, 2010 by Arkstfan

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

CU to Pac10, TCU to Big12, Boise to Mountain West, UNT to WAC.

Do it! Do it!

[UNTFan23]

CU to Pac10, TCU to Big12, Boise to Mountain West. UNT to WAC

Do it! Do it!

Fixed.

[NT91]

TCU could take CU's place in the Big 12!

No to NT in the WAC!!!!

Edited February 11, 2010 by NT91

[NT80]

Here are two conference maps to help see the geography of potential moves:

http://southerncollegesports.com/football_location_map2.html

If Utah and Colorado were added to the PAC 10(12), then logical divisions would be north and south, 5 games in division. Add in 3 cross-division games each season and 4 OOC games to make 12.:

north: wa, wa st, ore, ore st, utah, colo

south: cal, stan, usc, ucla, az, az st.

If that actually happened then the MWC might re-fill with Boise to stay at 9 schools or possibly Boise, Fresno, Nevada, and Houston to make 12? The Big12 would counter the loss of Colorado by first asking Arkansas, then resort to either Iowa, Illinois, BYU, Louisville, or perhaps TCU.

[Side Show Joe]

Here are two conference maps to help see the geography of potential moves:

http://southerncollegesports.com/football_location_map2.html

If Utah and Colorado were added to the PAC 10(12), then logical divisions would be north and south, 5 games in division. Add in 3 cross-division games each season and 4 OOC games to make 12.:

north: wa, wa st, ore, ore st, utah, colo

south: cal, stan, usc, ucla, az, az st.

If that actually happened then the MWC might re-fill with Boise to stay at 9 schools or possibly Boise, Fresno, Nevada, and Houston to make 12? The Big12 would counter the loss of Colorado by first asking Arkansas, then resort to either Iowa, Illinois, BYU, Louisville, or perhaps TCU.

I can't see TCU every getting into the Big 12. They got Baylor, and I bet they won't add another private school. I can't see them stealing a team from the SEC or Big 10, especially with them in the middle of expansion. What large public FBS schools with large media markets are left in the Big 12's region?

Houston and North Texas.

Houston would join the South, and Texas Tech would move to the North.

Lets hope the Big 10 steals Missouri, and we can raise our academics a bit mlore.

Edited February 11, 2010 by Side Show Joe

[GrayEagle]

Here are two conference maps to help see the geography of potential moves:

http://southerncollegesports.com/football_location_map2.html

If Utah and Colorado were added to the PAC 10(12), then logical divisions would be north and south, 5 games in division. Add in 3 cross-division games each season and 4 OOC games to make 12.:

north: wa, wa st, ore, ore st, utah, colo

south: cal, stan, usc, ucla, az, az st.

If that actually happened then the MWC might re-fill with Boise to stay at 9 schools or possibly Boise, Fresno, Nevada, and Houston to make 12? The Big12 would counter the loss of Colorado by first asking Arkansas, then resort to either Iowa, Illinois, BYU, Louisville, or perhaps TCU.

The Big 12 footprint is large, state schools. If Arkansas won't switch (and I'm fairly certain that they won't) then I'd think that Houston would be the next member.

I do, however, believe that the MWC must go to 12 to attain AQ status. To do that they would either take four from the WAC or three and UTEP.

[Arkstfan]

Why would Arkansas, Iowa, or Illinois leave one of the two wealthiest conferences to move to a league that makes significantly less money?

[VideoEagle]

I do, however, believe that the MWC must go to 12 to attain AQ status. To do that they would either take four from the WAC or three and UTEP.

Not sure they need 12 to get AQ status. The Big East only has 8. Plus not sure a majority of the current MWC schools would want to go to 12. Remember the conference was founded because of anger over not playing each other every year in football. They actually started out with less TV money to allow the schools to play each other every year. I'm not saying taking less money makes any sense, but for those schools annual games was more important than the money.

Edited February 11, 2010 by VideoEagle

[MeanGreen61]

ESPN 1420 Radio Blog...........The dreaded "E" word.

http://www.espn1420.com/SportsBlogs/tabid/3710/EntryID/7732/Default.aspx

The only way that CUSA gets affacted by the Pac-10 is if UTEP is an attractive candidate to the Mountain West. Should that happen, the pressure would still be to add an eastern school. But if CUSA looks west, North Texas becomes the most attractive candidate. With the periphery of the Dallas market and a brand new football stadium on the way, the Mean Green would certainly be on CUSA's radar.

Edited February 11, 2010 by MeanGreen61

[Eagle1855]

The Big 12 footprint is large, state schools. If Arkansas won't switch (and I'm fairly certain that they won't) then I'd think that Houston would be the next member.

Should, perhaps. But Houston will NEVER be in the Big 12 as long as Texas and Texas A&M are there. I doubt Texas Tech would support it either. They are already competing for recruits and UH is in C-USA. Give them AQ status and they'd surpass Tech in a heartbeat.

Same goes for UNT. UNT's best bet at AQ status is the MWC or some fluke with a BCS conference that wants a foot in Texas that can't sway any of the current members in the Big 12.

[NT80]

Why would Arkansas, Iowa, or Illinois leave one of the two wealthiest conferences to move to a league that makes significantly less money?

Arkansas and Iowa both have large fan bases in Texas. Iowa and Iowa State, already intense rivals, would become conference and travel mates. Arkansas has history with some of the Big12 schools. They would be more centrally located in the Big12 rather than on the far western front of the SEC...being on the fringe of conference geography is a situation many UNT fans do not like about the SBC.

[untjim1995]

Arkansas and Iowa both have large fan bases in Texas. Iowa and Iowa State, already intense rivals, would become conference and travel mates. Arkansas has history with some of the Big12 schools. They would be more centrally located in the Big12 rather than on the far western front of the SEC...being on the fringe of conference geography is a situation many UNT fans do not like about the SBC.

Right now, Arky gets about 10-11 million more every year just from TV for being in the SEC than any Big XII school becasue of the XII's terrible TV package. The Big Ten, Big XII, and the Pac-10 are interested in one big thing--TV markets. Iowa State brings zilch to the Big Ten on that side. The Big Ten would take any of these three schools to fit their target--Rutgers, Mizzou, or Pittsburgh--although they probably already feel that the Pitt market is covered by Penn State sufficiently. Its very similar to why the Big XII will never take another Texas school as long as it has UT and A&M. All of the big Texas TV markets are covered quite sufficiently by the South's teams, especially with Texas and A&M in Houston and San Antonio and with both plus Tech and the Oklahoma schools in DFW.

If the Big Ten expands, I think they will get either Pitt or Rutgers, with Rutgers leading the pack. I then believe that the Big East will either replace Rutgers with Memphis alone, or Memphis and UCF to get to nine teams in football for their league. The wild card with each of these leagues is Notre Dame--if they ever say yes to either league, it will be done right there. But assuming ND stays independent in football, I think that CUSA will lose either one or two teams. I then think CUSA will replace Memphis with MTSU to get the Nashville market and if UCF leaves, then I believe FAU would be the next team they choose to get exposure in Miami. The eastern CUSA teams are just not interested in getting another Texas/Louisiana school, which is bad news for UNT and La Tech. The SBC would then have USA moving up to take back one spot and then the league would probably look at UTSA as the next team to move up. Our league would then look like this: UNT, ASU, ULL, ULM, USA, UTSA, WKU, FIU, and Troy.

[Eagle1855]

the Big East will either replace Rutgers with Memphis alone, or Memphis and UCF

Looking less likely for the latter with the news of UCF's probation. Conference alignments generally don't favor those in the doghouse (look at Houston & SMU circa 1996).

Otherwise, I mostly agree with the rest of your assessment.

I still think MWC is our best bet for the future, however unlikely. I'd really just like to capitalize on the situation we've got. We're in a league that people generally look to be weak (like the WAC) and play only one or two "body bag" games a year. If we could go back to running the table in the SBC then start winning these games vs middle-of-the-road BCS schools (ie, K-State) and knock off an occasional "big dog" (Clemson), we'd slowly garner national attention, a la Boise. Of course, this is probably the same thing being discussed on every fan board of every program in the WAC, MAC, and SBC, at present.

[Mean Green Doc]

A friend who is a big financial supporter of UT was saying North Texas would fit quite nicely into the Big 12. Our commitment to improving the athletic facilities and the DFW market we would bring to the table helps, but our medical school, the future law school, and physical therapy school starting this year shows we can bring good academics to the table also. If we were Tier 1, we would look even more attractive to another conference.