2020-21 College Basketball thread

As an old assistant coach at Northern Arizona once told me, "We all cheat, some of us just do it more quietly than others."

 

Same old thing at Loserville.

 

How did I miss this story? Former Army and Louisville assistant, Wake Forest HC and ESPN analyst charged federally? Guessing ESPN didn't "blow it out."

Louisville suspends Mack six games without pay

 

Had I at some point referred to NIL as the Wild West?

I bet none of them were smart enough to ask for a gold Trans-Am.

Five Ohio State Football Players Get New Cars for 2021 Season in Partnership with Local Car Dealer

 

The crap about Dino Gaudio came out around the end of the men's college basketball season.

The crap about Louisville never seems to end.

 

I watched an interview LeBatard did with John Skipper about conference realignment. During the interview he pointed out that the a school or conference has no obligation to send representative(s) to the NCAA tournament. Much of the money from the tournament funds the NCAA bureaucracy.

If the Power Four conferences, which will have 57 members when Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC, combine with the 11 schools of the Big East (added because of the television markets they bring), they could have a tournament where all 68 schools are invited. I would think the schools could make more money in this smaller tournament because the pie would be split in fewer pieces.

This idea would mean that much of the charm of March Madness, where a UMBC can beat a Virginia, would be lost and it would be unfair to a school like Gonzaga tucked in a sparsely populated corner of the country. But these factors are already irrelevant in the decision making process of Division One athletics.

Will this happen? If not, why not?

 

If I understand this correctly, the Big 12 wouldn’t be involved, so KU wouldn’t be eligible to participate? Oklahoma State? West Virginia? Yet Butler (with all due respect to Hinkle Fieldhouse) gets a golden ticket?

Would show companies such as adidas (Kansas) and Nike (Gonzaga) lobby for changes based on teams that would stand to be excluded?

I can see the business partners of the schools involved running interference. I can see states whose schools would be shut out (Kansas, again, Nevada, Dakotas, etc.) running interference. Those things would certainly force discussions before a tournament like that could ever happen.

 

I agree a separate tournament would be horribly unfair. A school with a non-existent basketball tradition like Nebraska would be eligible and a school Kansas would not.

I am quite sure that the schools that would be left out would complain vociferously. But Skipper's point was a proposal such as mine that it is currently OK under NCAA rules. If the NCAA tried to change the rules that could lead to the Power Four leagues seceding. And there is already talk of the Power Four seceding from the NCAA in order to cut the other schools out of football money.

The schools that were left out could try to somehow get relief would be through state legislatures or Congress. And so far legislative bodies have not stopped the move to the Power Four conferences.

And if some version of a tournament limited to the Power Four conferences appeared I think sponsors could be found to replace anyone company that drops out. And the schools would make a lot more on television money and from the ticket sales because of the need to split the pot fewer ways.

I think we are at the point where the Power Four conferences could make more money outside the NCAA than inside it. And the chance to make more money is the ultimate motivator in the business of college sports.

And as an aside Skipper said that about 80% of the value of the television contracts is in football and 20% in basketball. He said the exception is the ACC where the football/basketball split would be about 65/35. He said that is why if the ACC expands Kansas would be a great candidate because it would strengthen the basketball package. But KU does not add much economically to the Big 10 because of the struggles of the football team and the relatively smaller population of the state of Kansas and the Kansas City metro area.

Skipper also said that he thinks the ACC will not expand unless Notre Dame decides to join the conference for football. The ACC is OK with 14 in football but would really like the Irish to join. If Notre Dame did then the ACC would probably take on a 16th member.

 

KU generates more revenue than four or five (forgot which number) Big Ten programs despite that albatross of a football program and the Big Ten’s superior TV contracts, so if it ever morphs into a regular 4-8 or 7-5 team, the athletic department will be just fine. They’re renovating the stadium again, which will help.

KC Metro market isn’t exactly Little Rock. There are two pro sports teams there, and KU drives that market among the colleges. And if we’re talking streaming audiences and the ability to attract eyeballs, KU basketball is far bigger than the KC market; it’s a national draw.

I get what Skipper is saying, and I listened to the interview. I just don’t think it would be easy to pull off with so many moving parts and competing business interests. It might happen someday, but the rest of the conference realignment shakeout needs to happen first, and I’m not sure we’re there yet.

There is also the matter of the Big 12 having autonomy in the P5 right now. Say it adds BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston. Maybe it even goes to 16 teams with Colorado State, San Diego State, Boise State, and Memphis. Yes, the money won’t be the same without Oklahoma and Texas, but do they lose P5 status? If not, then the Big 12 makes that cut with football in California, Texas, Ohio and Florida.

 

I think the B12's Power status got lost when the Alliance left them standing in the station. There will be a P4, then the B12 with teams getting $5-9 million more than the AAC, then the AAC. B12 picks up two to four soonish. Most likely the B12 loses two to four teams over time as they negotiate a landing spot and then the league raids more off of the AAC. B12 members take the UT/Ou exit fees and the entrance fees. Fully left behind B12 teams get all the fees.

 

The calculation that conferences makes when expanding is if the new school can attract enough money to offset the dilution of the shared revenues. The Big Ten has shared revenues of more than 50 million dollars a year per school. The Pac 10 revenues per school are just over 30 million dollars. The revenues of the Big 12 are estimated to be about 15 million per school after Oklahoma and Texas leave.

It is my belief than any of the remaining schools in the Big Eight would join the Pac 12 if they could because they could make a lot more money. But the Pac 12 just came out and said they were interested in picking any of the remaining Big 12 schools up. If the Pac 12 does not believe that adding Kansas will make them richer I am pretty sure the Big 10 has reached the same conclusion.

Is that fair? Nope.