Future Collegiate Conference Realignment

[adkindo]

the projected new map would be....

[Chip R]

Is Texas the most overrated football program in history?

[Rojo Rijo]

Is Texas the most overrated football program in history?

Notre Dame gets my vote

[Chip R]

Notre Dame gets my vote

I can see that. They have been coasting on their history for the past 20 years or so but at least they have won some nattys all throughout their history. They won them in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Texas has won 2 in the 60s, 1 in the early 70s and one in 2005.

[bucksfan2]

just my opinion....no better or worse than anyone else's...

- I have doubts about the Big10 not being interested in Oklahoma and Texas. Just these are two massive historical brands that would have helped close the gap (maybe completely) between the Big10 and SEC.

- I agree Clemson could diminish in brand with a few bad decisions...but have you looked around the ACC? Clemson has a pretty high floor in the ACC and I do not see them dropping to the middle of the ACC. The were probably the 2nd or 3rd best football brand in the ACC before Dabo took over. The ACC has some great schools and brands like UVa and UNC....but in actual quality on the field they were behind the Big12 in recent years.

- Clemson would bounce to the ACC because money is more important than glory for most of these decision makers. I do not mean this to come off as condescending, but you have to take off "The Ohio State University" glasses and view it from Clemson's perspective. Clemson has a very different mission than OSU, does not have the history of excellence as an institution or nearly the financial stability as Ohio State (OSU endowment over $5 Billion....Clemson endowment less than $800 Million). I am just saying that Ohio State has the ability and stability to take positions related to history, academics, etc. that it is often unfair to expect other Universities to take similar positions. None of that is to bash Clemson, they are fine public university that have strong academics and history....just not on the level of Ohio State. Maybe I am a little sensitive when people view WVU in a negative light because of metrics without understanding those numbers can only improve slightly because the mission of the University is very different than Ohio State and even Clemson. WVU simply could never be a Top 100 university without totally redoing the school mission.....but the mission of a public university has to be in the interest of the community it serves, and WV needs WVU and Marshall (their two "major" universities) to have high acceptance rates, etc. Again, none of this is to suggest I do not understand why conferences like the Big10 demand specific academic requirements because there are billions of dollars moving behind the scenes related to research sharing, etc. So while I understand fully why WVU does not belong in the Big10, it annoys me when some Big10 supporters look down on schools like WVU as if the schools are competing in the same environment with similar missions. Sorry about the rabbit hole rant.

Just a rumor I saw about OU and Texas. I don't know what to think about it, I think the B1G would take Texas in a heartbeat and I think its somewhat odd that Texas and OU would prefer the SEC to the B1G. Texas academically fits better in the B1G, the path to success is far easier in the B1G than it is in the SEC, and they would be big fish #2 in the B1G pond. I will be interested to see what Texas does once Saban leaves Alabama. There has been some interesting discussion on an OSU podcast I listen to about the power brokers in the SEC. Basically the idea is Bama is powerful mainly because Saban is the best coach in the history of football. If Saban leaves, Bama will still hold some sway, but won't be as powerful as they are now. Will Texas begin to throw their weight around?

Prior to these past 7 years or so, Clemson was MSU. One championship years ago, a team that has had some good teams, had a quality following, but mainly played second fiddle in state as well as in their conference. In a decade it wouldn't surprise me if Miami and FSU are the dominant teams in the ACC and Clemson isn't one of them. It also wouldn't surprise me if Clemson remains the top team. Actually, I am not so sure that Clemson isn't Va Tech. Where the fortunes are tied to Beamer and Bud Norris. Crazy thing with Clemson is they haven't recruited to the level of their peers but are winning despite of it. Its been QB and a Venables defense that has kept Clemson dominate over their current run. Is it sustainable going forward, especially in a tougher conference.

Taking off my "Scarlet" colored glasses, if I am Clemson I stay in the ACC. I am not jumping to a tougher conference and am embracing the current state of the ACC. They have it great right now, are the power in the ACC, recruit the same areas as they would in the SEC, why toughen up the competition. From a SEC perspective, what does Clemson bring that they already don't have?

I was in a debate years ago with a buddy of mine about the best team in the entire conference realignment and he made a good argument that WVU was that team. WVU's issue is geography and pretty much that is all. They don't add anything of substance when it comes to what another conference is looking for. I could make an argument that adding Pitt would bring everything that WVU does, and also brings a far bigger market. As a fan, I would much rather see WVU play UC, UL, Pitt, and Va Tech than who they currently play.

FWIW, I think the AAU is a front the B1G is using to be very selective in the schools they choose. I don't think its the end all be all, but they want more of a culture fit.

[adkindo]

FWIW, I think the AAU is a front the B1G is using to be very selective in the schools they choose. I don't think its the end all be all, but they want more of a culture fit.

I do not know the details or even the accuracy....but someone explained it to me that the Big10 athletic conference also serves as an academic and research alliance that in total gets I think Billions of dollars a year in funding for research. Many of the schools work together and share data/research....but much of that money comes via competitive application processes that is often going again Ivy League alliances....top tier Tech school alliances, etc. So they have to ensure the associated schools are of the highest academic standing or there is a chance they could lose out on some of that funding. Again, how accurate that is, I do not know....but it at least made sense.

[adkindo]

Notre Dame gets my vote

I recall a couple years ago, one of the sports media sites did an analysis....mostly based on where a team was ranked in week 1, and where they finished in rankings. I recall Notre Dame was the most over ranked team by a big margin.

[Assembly Hall]

Is Texas the most overrated football program in history?

Yes.

- - - Updated - - -

Notre Dame gets my vote

And your vote would be wrong.

[Assembly Hall]

I recall a couple years ago, one of the sports media sites did an analysis....mostly based on where a team was ranked in week 1, and where they finished in rankings. I recall Notre Dame was the most over ranked team by a big margin.

Meh. Notre Dame is the Duke of college football. Duke, titles aside, has pissed away a lot of #1 seeds.

[adkindo]

Meh. Notre Dame is the Duke of college football. Duke, titles aside, has pissed away a lot of #1 seeds.

I am not really a hater of either...but after Holtz era, Notre Dame had many years of mediocrity....but there have been very few years that we can really call Duke basketball mediocre. The last national title that Notre Dame stole...I mean was awarded was after the 1988 season. Duke basketball has 5 National Championships and 10 Final 4's since the 1988 season.

[adkindo]

fwiw, some Kansas "insiders" are claiming an announcement of KU to the Big10 is within weeks....

Mike Vernon
@M_Vernon

“I am hearing from some people I consider to be pretty reliable that this thing is imminent… I’m not ready to say it for sure, but there’s some smoke coming out of Lawrence right now.”

6:03 PM · Aug 3, 2021

https://twitter.com/M_Vernon/status/1422679607468171265

[WVRed]

Texas was the driving force in the Big 12. They didn't want expansion beyond 10 and thus Big 12 never expanded, at least that was the main rumor. Oklahoma is following because they knew what was coming, I'm in awe that the commish got caught with his pants down this badly. Many WVU fans knew this wasn't a long term solution but it was better than getting stuck in the AAC and praying the next round went better. The only real shocking thing for me at least was the SEC were the ones to pull the trigger, I figured the Pac 20 would get the job done with Texas and Oklahoma plus little sisters.

My understanding is Oklahoma is driving the bus this time. They are fed up with the Big 12s deal with Fox (which ironically is the same as the B1Gs) which involves the “Big Noon” game where kickoffs in Norman are starting at 11 am eastern. Not exactly a good selling point for recruiting.

Texas is leaving because they can. WVU is basically an opportunist. Everything is a chess match at this point.

[Boston Red]

The kickoffs are 12 Eastern but 11 local (Central) time. It does kind of suck to go to one of those games with an 11 am local start time. It requires quite the early start. 7am for me if I'm going to Manhattan for a K-State game, for example.

[adkindo]

My understanding is Oklahoma is driving the bus this time. They are fed up with the Big 12s deal with Fox (which ironically is the same as the B1Gs) which involves the “Big Noon” game where kickoffs in Norman are starting at 11 am eastern. Not exactly a good selling point for recruiting.

Texas is leaving because they can. WVU is basically an opportunist. Everything is a chess match at this point.

The original reporting was OK was the initiator....but recent reporting has flipped that to Texas having discussions and bringing OK in later. I am not telling you that is accurate, only the change in narrative that I have been reading/hearing.

[adkindo]

The kickoffs are 12 Eastern but 11 local (Central) time. It does kind of suck to go to one of those games with an 11 am local start time. It requires quite the early start. 7am for me if I'm going to Manhattan for a K-State game, for example.

Noon games suck....but none of this was a surprise to them as that is the contract they negotiated. It is not like FOX did a bait and switch.