May 08, 2012

 

Has Thamel ever noted sources and reasons why he thinks ND will go to the ACC?  I’ve seen plenty of discussions on message boards but don’t recall any details from him.

John Marinatto Resigns as Big East Commissioner – Pete Thamel, NYTimes.com

…“I thought that the basketball and football schools coexisted beautifully up to the point when Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia departed,” Tranghese said Monday in a telephone interview. “At that point, I thought the basketball schools ought to take a real hard look. Whether they’re going to, I don’t know.”

…Neal Pilson, a media consultant and former president of CBS Sports, predicted that the Big East could surpass the deal it turned down last year, which was considered similar in value to the A.C.C.’s $155 million annual deal.

“I think if they stay together and negotiate as a single unit, I think they can come away with a reasonably favorable result,” Pilson said. “Even more than what ESPN offered a year and a half ago. I think the competition will drive it.”

…The next critical Jenga piece is Notre Dame, which would definitely leave if the basketball universities left — and could possibly leave even if they don’t. The A.C.C. is the most likely destination. The Irish’s television contract with NBC, currently under negotiation, will go a long way in determining their future — as will how they fare as a stakeholder in the new college football playoff. That appears to be safe and stable for now.

If Notre Dame leaves for the A.C.C., its only realistic destination, the A.C.C. will take Connecticut or Rutgers to make it a 16-team league. And that would send all the Big East blocks tumbling.

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Maybe “The Dude” has a clue.

Big 12 TV Contract Agreed In Principle – Cory Fravel, Cemetary Hill

Yesterday Cemetery Hill spoke with a Big 12 source regarding the new Big contract that was agreed in principle yesterday. Here is what we are told is expected when signed and finalized Thursday.

– $20 million per team per year with 10 teams

– An automatic escalator clause of $2 million per team added in expansion. This means if the Big 12 goes to 12 teams each team gets $24 million, 14 teams each team gets $28 miilion, 16 teams each team gets $32 million. This opens the door for it to be attractive for other teams to leave their conference and join the Big 12.

– We were told going to 14 teams was the goal for 2013.

…http://twitter.com/#!/thedudeofwv

He’s told us since January that the contract agreed in principle yesterday would be 20 million per team, new grant of rights and an escalator clause. That’s exactly what’s happened.

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I don’t think this guy gets it.  The BE football schools may benefit from the name recognition of the BE but might be better off long term taking Frank’s advice and calling themselves Big Country (IIRC).

Big East needs hoops-first commish or it accepts second-rate status – Matt Norlander, CBSSports.com News

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Will Big 12 expand? – Blair Kerkhoff, Campus Corner

…But with the conference looking more stable, other issues can be addressed, like expansion.

On a day when the Big East fired Commissioner John Marinatto and musical chairs continues in several conferences, expansion rumors continue to involve the Big 12.

But this time, they’re about prospective schools, not those looking to leave.

Louisville is the most often mentioned expansion target, but would the league add one to stand at 11? Other Big East schools like Cincinnati, Rutgers and Connecticut have been associated with other conferences, but although it’s unwise to assume a lid on expansionism the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 have given no indication of further growth.

…While that happens, the rumors will continue to churn. The latest involves Florida State and Clemson in outside-the-box speculation. The reasoning: The Seminoles and Tigers are football-first schools that would be happier in a conference with Texas and Oklahoma than one that just added Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

Bowlsby wasn’t specific about Big 12 expansion possibilities but talked of conferences liked by an “electronic footprint,” as opposed to geographical.
Meaning, expansion can come from anywhere.

The big target would be Notre Dame in an all-in – football included – scenario. The Irish have repeated their desire for football independence but among the issues to be settled with college football headed toward a new postseason is how Notre Dame and Brigham Young, another rumored Big 12 target, would qualify for a playoff.

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Is the WAC going to become a non-football conference?  There doesn’t seem to be any schools interested in switching to the conference or moving up from fcs.

Will the new-look WAC include UVU? – Neil K. Warner, Daily Herald

Last summer when the Western Athletic Conference presidents met to announce expansion plans, they turned down schools like Utah Valley University and Cal-State Bakersfield and instead chose to add Seattle University.

…With Utah State on its way out, UVU believes one of the roadblocks that kept the Wolverines from getting into the conference is gone.

“It definitely creates some space in the WAC for us and it eliminates some opposition that we’ve had,” said UVU Athletic Director Mike Jacobsen. “This is still very important to the president of our university to the university and to me.”

Jacobsen said he’s not heard anything from the WAC, but expects the conference to respond soon with news about its future.

…”I don’t think there’s any way the conference will fold and just go away, there’s too much history. I think the WAC will continue to be a viable conference in the NCAA,” Jacobsen said. “I think we fill every niche they need, but we have not yet been involved (in talks with the conference). I think in the past some of the school presidents were concerned with where our academics have been, but they don’t understand where we are and where we’re going.”

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App. State AD: Time to change strategy in conference realignment – David Scott, NewsObserver.com

…“We’ve mostly talked about our great athletic facilities and success in football and other sports as our main selling points,” said Cobb, whose football program won consecutive FCS titles in 2005-07. “But what I’ve heard is that it seems like the geography is pretty important. We have to answer to the accessibility issue to our campus. It seems like we have to validate that now.”

One potential FBS option went by the boards Friday when Conference USA added Charlotte, Florida International, North Texas, Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana Tech.

C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky said the decision to add those schools was based in part on the size of their media markets. Boone, obviously, doesn’t pack the same kind of television-market punch as Charlotte, Miami or Dallas.

…The Sun Belt could be another possibility for Appalachian State, but it just announced that it would add Georgia State – which is located in Atlanta.

Cobb said the Boone area is served by four large television markets – Charlotte, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Asheville/Greenville, S.C., and Johnson City, Tenn. He also said the roads to Boone now are mostly four-lane and travel time from major airports in Charlotte and Greensboro are about 2 1/2 hours.