BCS leagues expanding - yeah?

When the Big 12 was on the verge of imploding a time or two in the past and 15 years or so, I wondered if the Big 12 and Pac-12 would form a merger of sorts.

Now I wonder that, only now sub in the ACC, or what would be left of it. You could create some decent pods in the Northeast (Pitt, WVU, Cincy, Syracuse, etc), Southeast (Duke, NC State, Georgia Tech, UCF, etc), Midwest (old Big 8), Texas, and out West (old Pac-12, including Oregon State and Washington State). Think best of the rest when it comes to the current so-called power schools.

I know TV money would have to be there to make it work, but any conference that helps preserve regional rivalries while also allowing for national matchups by rotating pods through schedules (like the NFL) wouldn’t be terrible. And maybe it helps counter the Big Ten/SEC Death Star that’s hellbent on trying to destroy so much of what we currently love about college athletics.

 

The Athletic raised a good point in one of its stories. If Clemson wins its suit, then schools can theoretically become free agents every year, hopping from one conference to another. How do you get a long-term rights deal in that environment?

 

You don't. The NFL got an antitrust exemption in 1961 to bargain television rights collectively. This allowed Green bay and the Giants to remain competitive with each other and also lead to the NFL making a hell of a lot more money.

Right now schools in each league are generally, but not always, treated equally. It is also hard to push a member out of a league. In a world where conferences can not effectively negotiate deals collectively the less institutions with less value to media companies would be out of luck. I think we would see schools like Wake Forest and Mississippi State get crushed just like Oregon State and Washington State.

 

In other news former Tulane AD Troy Dannen to Nebraska after six months at Washington. His house in New Orleans is still on the market.

 

Sure Mike Hopkins feels great about now. Honestly, same conference, better living in Washington. My guess is that it wasn't a fit.

 

Dannen's from Iowa, so yes.

 

Nerd fight! Nerd fight!

 

Pac-2, departing teams reach final agreement; $65 million in parting gifts for OSU, WSU, plus no claim to any future revenue.

Oregon State, Washington State finalize financial agreement with Pac-12′s departing schools - oregonlive.com

 

Click on link for full effect.

 

Oh dear ... what is that? Is that the inevitable consequences for UCLA's actions?

 

It's already being called "Calimony."

 

Hey, those Cal sculls aren't going to row themselves.