BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

But costs also increase. What cost do you attribute to each additional scholarship? And how much more would the coaching staff cost? And travel? And how much better would a 9-2 FSC team draw than a 6-5 BCS team in a non-descript conference. Would the increased revenues cover the costs. I doubt it.

 

I think that differs from school to school. With fast tracked FBS programs like Georgia State, UNC-C and Old Dominion, southern schools are having to deal with a shrinking recruiting base. Seventeen year olds, as a rule, will most always pick the FBS program over the FCS program, increasing the odds that your 9-2 FCS team will become a 6-5 FCS team. A 6-5 FBS team will draw better than a 6-5 team that chooses to remain in the FCS. I'm not sure moving up is a matter of pride, anymore. It's more a matter of survival.

 

It's interesting to go back on these book-size discussion threads and see how they began to develop.
Page 1: Virginia was rumored SEC bound.
That went well.

 

Hey, there's been almost 4,400 responses. It couldn't hlp but evolve. But you're right that some of these threads do take on a life of their own.

 

And the tread is two and a half years old and still active. And I expect conference realignment to be a topic longer than I expect to live so who knows how this thread will look in 10 or 20 years. Though I suppose someone could start an annual thread on the subject.

 

I can see it now...."Conference Expansion Thread, Version 15.0"

 

That would put us in 2024, right after the current long term television deals expire with some of the conferences. I would expect a whole bunch of "Where will the Longhorns land?" discussion at that time.

 

Which would leave an opening for UConn, Rutgers or other Big East school is next to jump off the ship.

 

I can't see Maryland coming up with the $50 million exit fee. The only way they leave is if they intend to fight that tooth and nail. The university president has already said he thinks it's illegal under contract law, when he voted against the increase, so maybe that's the plan. But it's risky.

 

If the Big 10 actually wants to expand and the AAU requirement didn't go out the window with the whole Nebraska situation, then there are only a few schools that make any sense at all to consider and Maryland is one of them. Rutgers and Kansas are really the only other AAU members that seem like a possibility at all, assuming Missouri, UNC, UVA and Duke aren't leaving their current conferences and the Longhorn Network is a deal breaker on both side for Texas.

Iowa State and Pitt are also out there, but they don't give you anything you don't already have.

 

Jake, even if KU (or Iowa State) were a candidate, the grant of rights would make it darn near impossible for the Jayhawks to leave the conference. Can't forfeit anywhere between $20 million and $30 annually until 2025.

So if the Big Ten's going to expand, it would have to be schools like Maryland, Rutgers, Georgia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, etc.