BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

The PAC 2 are on the hook for $43m in punitive fees for pirating the four MWC teams. Each team owes a $17m exit fee, although reportedly the Pac will pick up some portion of those. Reputedly the President of the Pac 2 set aside $65m to help rebuild the conference. That much money makes me think that they already have a tentative TV dollar amount agreed to, one that offsets at least a chunk of that.

I'd think that a team from the Pac would have a decent chance at being one of the conference champions with the best record and a slot in the playoff. Maybe not every year, but regularly.

 

A thing I thought about with this, and it isn't going to be quite on the same level because you are going to be dealing with all sports and no one can compete with the SEC and to a lesser extent the Big Ten in football magnitude, but if done right this could kind of end up being like the Big East redo in basketball.

Creighton was always good but was never a real national name or outside contender before joining that and now is almost annually. While this conference isn't going to come close to the sheer dollars of the real power outlets, again, if done right, it could likely give a decent boost to some of these schools. But there is a lot to be seen if they can make it work like that.

 

No one "pirated" anyone. Invitations were offered and accepted. Fresno, Boise, CSU and SDSU left of their own free will.

In a two-party negotiation last year, the MWC set a price for the Pac-12 to offer membership to a team. The Pac-12 agreed to the valuation, and now will pay it.

College athletics are a business deal. No different than buying a car, or a commodity at the grocery store. The dealer/store owner sets a price, and the consumer decides whether or not he/she will pay it.

 

Yeah, yeah. Sloppy terminology, but the contract was designed to punish them if they joined the MWC in their distress and then recruited from it. They did and they took a financial punishment as a result.

 

It was business when the other 10 teams left the PAC too, but I seem to recall much gnashing of teeth.

 

You want to dump on the MWC 4, that's fine. The Pac-2 didn't leave anyone behind.

Pretty good Oregonian column, with a great "Godfather II" reference.

Bill Oram: No, the blood of the Mountain West is not on Oregon State’s hands - oregonlive.com

 

So, I'm guessing ESPN or Fox is going to be all over the "new" Pac-12 now, yes?

 

That roster of schools is a lot more Ion than ESPN.

 

The blood is never on anyone's hands in these deals. But but schools with smaller television followings are inevitably bloodied in these deals. When all this is said in done I don't think the schools in small television markets like Wyoming are are going yo fare well.

 

Might be wrong, but I had the impression that Wyoming has an outsized share of expatriates in other states, which could provide more of a ratings boost than you might think otherwise. At any rate, I think they’re a better draw than teams like San Jose State, Utah State and Nevada. But as you say, that might still not be enough to stave off the Turk.

 

Is there some sort of birthright that calls for all schools to be paid millions for football regardless of how little their fanbase is or how lacking of support their programs have traditionally received? I mean for example I used to live 10 minutes from UNM and could drive past the stadium shortly before kickoff and not be interrupted. Their game day experience makes Vandy’s look downright Neylandesque. Who cares if the MWC melts like the Rockies snowpack?