Superconferences

untjim1995 · September 16, 2011

The more I read about this super conference realignment, the sicker it makes me. Not just for UNT, but for college athletics. I was reading an article about Kansas and K-State and how they probably will get left behind, just like Baylor and Iowa State, most likely and it just made me realize how disgusting this is truly going to be. All because their football teams and their TV markets aren't attractive enough--never mind those great TV markets of Starkville, MS and Pullman, WA or those football powerhouses at Duke and Vanderbilt. Basically, we will get 64 teams who will form the NFL's unofficial minor leagues (Alabama will be Atlanta's AAA team, Georgia Tech will be AA, etc..) and eventually separate from the NCAA. Its just amazing in its audacity--and there is almost nothing that can be done about it. I anticipate ESPN and other outlets basically paying out to these big schools to get them as their own. That wonderful NCAA Tournament that everyone loves? How about the BCS Tournament--because that's the plan. That beautiful College World Series? How about the BCS World Series--just awful.

Here is what bothers me most about this all for our alma mater. I have said it before and I will say it again. The beautiful Apogee Stadium saved our football program here, but playing in a level of sports below the highest level really makes me worry about the backlash the anti-athletics folks are going to spew at our leaders for building this stadium, if we are not at the FBS level. God help us if we are still playing SBC-type teams as conference mates in the future in this scenario.

Maybe the silver lining in all of this would be that this would be the final push that would convince the leftover Texas schools to reduce costs and increase attendance. But if this finally happened, because we are all now in a new I-AA, would a game between UNT and SMU still get attended and covered well? Would TCU-SMU still get attended/covered well? I know that we are all already after-thoughts as compared to the current Big XII schools, but imagine how it will be if the superconfernces get put into place? How many of these left-over schools might just give it up because they don't want to participate at a level below the Superconferneces? Again, it just sickens me that this is the direction that we are headed. You can say that Texas, OU, USC, Ohio State, ND, etc...all developed their fanbases and followings to substantiate this superconference thing, while the rest of us didn't, but it doesn't make it right for what is happening now--not in the least.

MDH · September 16, 2011

Fortunately this won't happen in basketball, this is a great time for our bball program to be rising.

untjim1995 · September 16, 2011

Fortunately this won't happen in basketball, this is a great time for our bball program to be rising.

If the NCAA loses those schools, we will surely be in a version of the NCAA Tournament, I just can see it being a version that is covered about as well as the current NIT. That proposed superconference league will have all of the media and limelight, no matter what the sport.

ColoradoEagle · September 16, 2011

This will never happen.

untjim1995 · September 16, 2011

This will never happen.

Why do you think that it won't? Its already starting and the Superconference model is what everyone is planning for.

UNT90 · September 16, 2011

This will never happen.

Ok, Neville

ColoradoEagle · September 16, 2011

Why do you think that it won't? Its already starting and the Superconference model is what everyone is planning for.

Even if you have 16 team conferences, it's not going to force the others out. It might even create a situation where the non-AQ conferences combine and get a better seat at the table.

If the 'superconferences' really do separate from the NCAA, expect them to lose tax exempt status and they will no longer be able to play NCAA teams, so they'll end up beating up on each other. Now imagine MLB, except with far more teams on the Kansas City Royals end than the Yankees or Red Sox end which isn't too appetizing for programs that no longer have the little guy to pick on. You'd have half a dozen programs controlling 'college football'.

Is it possible? I guess anything is possible. It's not probable, though. Not even close.

Edited September 16, 2011 by ColoradoEagle

eppy4life · September 16, 2011

Even if you have 16 team conferences, it's not going to force the others out. It might even create a situation where the non-AQ conferences combine and get a better seat at the table.

I agree. I don't like the idea of super conferences but I don't see it as being the end of our program as suggested.

untjim1995 · September 16, 2011

Even if you have 16 team conferences, it's not going to force the others out. It might even create a situation where the non-AQ conferences combine and get a better seat at the table.

If the 'superconferences' really do separate from the NCAA, expect them to lose tax exempt status and they will no longer be able to play NCAA teams, so they'll end up beating up on each other. Now imagine MLB, except with far more teams on the Kansas City Royals end than the Yankees or Red Sox end which isn't too appetizing for programs that no longer have the little guy to pick on. You'd have half a dozen programs controlling 'college football'.

Is it possible? I guess anything is possible. It's not probable, though. Not even close.

I appreciate the views.

It just seems to me that a college football playoff and the OOC games that could then be scheduled would look drastically different from today. Oklahoma could play Alabama in a non-conference game early on if a loss didn't keep OU from going to a playoff, unlike today, which actually encourages Alabama to buy off a win with North Texas.

I can't see how this all doesn't end up going this route, unless of course, it turns into 4 18 or 20 team conferences. That's could be a possibility that could open the door a bit more, but even that may be worse for us. Imagine if 80 teams got into 4 superconferences. The you have the entire AQ-BCS + BYU = 70 and then see the top ten current non-AQs get added (UH, UCF, Boise St., Fresno State, etc..). Imagine if that somehow included SMU, TCU, and UH? THe worst nightmare for our AD and BOR has to be this when it comes to our athletic future.

ColoradoEagle · September 16, 2011

It just seems to me that a college football playoff and the OOC games that could then be scheduled would look drastically different from today. Oklahoma could play Alabama in a non-conference game early on if a loss didn't keep OU from going to a playoff, unlike today, which actually encourages Alabama to buy off a win with North Texas.

Yeah, but in that new system, Alabama could be the equivalent of North Texas because hypothetically they can't recruit or even afford the best athletes the way OU or UT-Austin can. It's like prison...you can have someone who's a real bad ass when mixed in with normal society. Put all the bad asses together, and all of the sudden some aren't such bad asses anymore.

CMJ · September 16, 2011

That's not true, because all those conferences would be swimming in cash. Alabama wouldn't be hurting, trust me.

ColoradoEagle · September 16, 2011

That's not true, because all those conferences would be swimming in cash. Alabama wouldn't be hurting, trust me.

Well, I'm not necessarily saying Alabama, just used them as an example. If you think all 64 would remain 'haves' in a new system...no way. If that were the way it worked, every MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL team would be swimming in cash.

The difference would probably come down to stadium size. Those with 100,000+ can afford a certain level of athlete, 75,000+ another, etc.

Edited September 16, 2011 by ColoradoEagle

GrandGreen · September 16, 2011

Actually you already have the super conferences. The deck couldn't be much more stacked then it is now for the non-AQ schools. A farther reshuffling might well relegate more teams to the second tier but I doubt it will do more than that. What would be served by the so called super conferences forming their own association? More money maybe, but they already have most of that; more competition, I doubt they want that, more legal issues, know they don't want that.

Edited September 17, 2011 by GrandGreen

NM Green · September 16, 2011

Passing through albuquerque last night the talk show hosts were saying that this would be good for UNM so they could gain an identity playing lower competition. The fanline was blowing up though. They were not happy about it.

Crazy how everybody all of sudden wants to go to where we have been banished to for my entire UNT fandom career. Programs want to break rivalries, we want rivalries. Schools want to fly all over the country, we want a regional league. Programs want to lessen the competition to gain respect, we want to get better fast to make the super conference cut.

If we do go 1AA again which is essentially what the new league would be I hope we are the Montana or Grand Valley State, or Boise or Georgia Southern or Appalachian State. College football is becoming very seedy and boring, like the NFL IMHO.

Big 12 stays together I bet because Texas wants to be a big dog and it is either where they are or in the ACC.

GMG

If it breaks lets get a strong midwestern league:

Houston

Iowa State

Baylor

North Texas

SMU

UTEP

Tulsa

Rice

Middle Tennessee

Southern Miss

Troy

Memphis

GMG

Green Mean · September 16, 2011

I highly doubt Kansas, KSU, and ISU will get left out. Kansas with just their basketball program will be swept up. KSU and and ISU I think will get swept up also to fill in the super conferences. Now if and only if all three of them and Baylor get left out they can all join forces with powers of the MWC and CUSA and create a conference that could very well BCS worthy and a super conference type. That would not be a bad proposition should they get left out.

GreenGuy123 · September 17, 2011

If super-conferences actually formed, I wouldn't mind it as much if there was a system in place that allowed lower level teams the opportunity to move up. Most of the world's soccer leagues have a system like this in place. I guess the only tricky part would be that regional conferences don't really matter anymore. However, if there was a way around it (which I'm sure there is, just don't want to spend the time to think about it), I think it would be a good idea. For example, if the "Southland" conference fed into the "Southwest" conference, the first place Southland team could swap with the last place Southwest team. Or to make it even better, have the two teams play and call them "Survival Bowls" that go on before the super conference championship bowls.Either way, I don't think we will get left out....at least I hope not.

Mean Green 93-98 · September 17, 2011

If it breaks lets get a strong midwestern league:

Houston
Iowa State
Baylor
North Texas
SMU
UTEP
Tulsa
Rice
Middle Tennessee
Southern Miss
Troy
Memphis

Good post, but only one of those schools is midwestern

The Midwest

UNT90 · September 17, 2011

The scary thing is what a BCS split from the NCAA will do to the basketball tournament. Like Jim said, the NCAA will be relegated to a status probably a step below the NIT (because the BCS teams that don't make the BCS tournament will go to the NIT, not the NCAAs). This is the reason that I think the NCAA will whore themselves out to the BCS for football, hoping to hold together a failing system (at least for schools like UNT) for the sake of the money maker that is the NCAA tournament.

It's amazing how inside one organization they can get one sport so right on and another so F'd up.

Green Mean · September 17, 2011

Passing through albuquerque last night the talk show hosts were saying that this would be good for UNM so they could gain an identity playing lower competition. The fanline was blowing up though. They were not happy about it.

Crazy how everybody all of sudden wants to go to where we have been banished to for my entire UNT fandom career. Programs want to break rivalries, we want rivalries. Schools want to fly all over the country, we want a regional league. Programs want to lessen the competition to gain respect, we want to get better fast to make the super conference cut.

If we do go 1AA again which is essentially what the new league would be I hope we are the Montana or Grand Valley State, or Boise or Georgia Southern or Appalachian State. College football is becoming very seedy and boring, like the NFL IMHO.

Big 12 stays together I bet because Texas wants to be a big dog and it is either where they are or in the ACC.

GMG

If it breaks lets get a strong midwestern league:

Houston
Iowa State
Baylor
North Texas
SMU
UTEP
Tulsa
Rice
Middle Tennessee
Southern Miss
Troy
Memphis

GMG

Ideally this conference should look something like this

Iowa State

Kansas State

Kansas

Baylor

Boise State

SDSU

Houston

Nevada

Fresno

Hawaii

Colorado State

These 11 teams should probably be the guarantee and if they want to make it 12-16 teams then you can look at a UTEP, UNM, NMSU, Southern Miss, SMU, UNT, Wyoming, Air Force etc etc.

This setup has not only good football teams but has very good basketball programs as well...Again I know football drives the bus but if you can get good basketball programs on top of that then that is even more attractive.

Edited September 17, 2011 by Green Mean

wardly · September 17, 2011

i think we need to look at this as a natural evolution in the growth of major college football. just as division 1aa was established, so will a division 1a+, with unt in 1a. think of high school football with classes 3a,4a,and 5a. it doesn't make sense for ut with athletic budget of $100 million to be in the same classification as ulm with a $10 million budget. just an old man's opinion.