I kinda wished the Realignment thing would chill out a little but it is what it is tho.

Kinda stinks that a potential rival in Maryland is as good as gone.

So who do yinz want to see the ACC add to get back to 14 if ND doesn't join as a full member.

I pick Louisville.

Louisville would be high on my list. Everyone seems to be sayin Uclown. I am so sick of playing them.

Anyone think in this whole atmosphere of constant realignment that perhaps the ACC get off their high and mighty academia horse and admit WVU for football sake?

I agree w/ that... good luck pulling WVU tho

(11-17-2012 06:50 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  I kinda wished the Realignment thing would chill out a little but it is what it is tho.

Kinda stinks that a potential rival in Maryland is as good as gone.

So who do yinz want to see the ACC add to get back to 14 if ND doesn't join as a full member.

I pick Louisville.

#1 Cards and #2 UConn but I think it will be UConn.

I can see from UMd's perspective that they need the money and move but I just don't see from the Big 10's perspective how this will work?

They already make like $25 million per year which is going to go up (to $30 or more?) with the new BCS bowl agreements. They already have a championship game. Big 10 FB games are already shown in NYC, DC, and Baltimore on ABC.

If this is for the Big 10 network, please note that the Big 10 only gets ~ 50% of the revenue from subsriber fees. So, even if we assume that NYC, DC, and Baltimore gets you $80 million in subscribers , that's only $40 million to the Big 10. Where does the rest of the money come from? Am I missing something?

I dunno good question... Maybe MattSarz could offer a little insight into that.

The purpose of UMD and Rutgers joining the B1G is to get the extra $1.00/subscriber for the BTN because MD and NJ would be B1G states as opposed to the $0.10/subscriber that they get from non-B1G states. Assuming this comes to pass, I hope we go to a true ala carte system just so that the current paradigm for the BTN network is blown to bits.

But I'll say this. This may actually be a net win for the university over the long haul. By diminishing the athletics, it may refocus the school to be more in tuned with the academics - analogous to what the ivies did when they were on top of the football world back in the day. Of course, I believe that a school can accomplish both good academics and good athletics. But as an alumnus, I'm not going to lose sleep over Pitt being in a diminished athletic conference. Because at the end of the day, my degree is not affected by Pitt FB and BB and the impact Pitt has on WPA as a center of innovation to the regional economy is not affected by Pitt athletics.

I'm not sure that I buy this. The B1G has been very methodical about their expansion thus far - I'm not sure that I see the benefit at this point for them.

Either way, it is what it is. We're always the second woman asked to dance, so to speak. That's our lot in life as Pitt fans.

I forgot that the Big 10's TV contract is up in 2-3 years. With the way tv rights are going, they will get a very nice increase.

CrazyPaco posted on the GT scout board that his connections are saying it's a done deal and even saw a press conference for 4 PM on Monday. He hopes he is wrong (I think all of us feel the same) and that somehow the UM alumns, boosters, etc. can stop it. Online polls as of last night in DC and Baltimore are showing 2:1 against the move.

Also, a very very good poster on the GT scout board (EPSNjacket) said the following:

- The "don't bring the X market" stuff is irrelevant. The Big Ten Network makes money primarily from subscription fees. They get about $.80/sub in states with a team and about $.08/sub in states without a team.

- Conference expansion is about expanding geography, not about adding schools with a good football team at the moment.

- Fox may be acquiring a portion of the YES Network (the Yankees station, link). Having the ability to package the BTN with the YES Network would be an extremely powerful tool that would increase the value of Rutgers to the BTN.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/20...s-network/

** We already knew about the first two points.
*** The part about FOX and YES is interesting



Why couldn't Swofford's kid work for Fox instead of Raycom?

The replacement CANNOT be Uconn. If it is the people at FSU and Clemson will lose their minds and will be looking for any reason to get out and join the Big12. I would tend to think the Louisville is the most logical choice.

(11-17-2012 06:50 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  I kinda wished the Realignment thing would chill out a little but it is what it is tho.

Kinda stinks that a potential rival in Maryland is as good as gone.

So who do yinz want to see the ACC add to get back to 14 if ND doesn't join as a full member.

I pick Louisville.

I don't even know what to say as we first interacted on this very topic probably several years ago, and I have never been enthusiastic about the ACC option for reasons now apparent. The objective in this game is to get into a protected football conference. Basketball is almost an irrelevance in this game. The ACC could not provide this protection.

The ACC was all potential and likely will not ever have the chance to fulfill that potential. It's a weak conference with too much obsession on basketball. It's eastern strategy was just hijacked by the B1G in the past 48 hours.

There are only 2 options, WV or Louisville. Only one. Any move to add UConn will be met with a race for the exits. Nothing personal against Connecticut either. No one in the ACC wants to be labeled as the new BE. At least not the old guard. I don't blame them and Pitt really shouldn't have any fond memories of the BE either to be honest.

From a strictly Machiavellian point of view, I'd just as soon see the ACC collapse from this and Pitt possibly see a Big XII life line, or see Nordenberg show his hand and quit on the program by allowing it to fall back to the BE (the losers conference) and football reclassification for all intents and purposes. I've always thought the guy a bit of a bad actor in terms of aggressive support for the team anyway. We can all go our separate ways. Otherwise, the ACC becomes the next BE circa 2003, and it's death by a thousand cuts as it goes through the same feeder process the BE provided for the other leagues.

UMD press conference Monday and RU on Tuesday. Happy Thanksgiving!

Might be the worst crisis for Pitt football since Miami left.

rc79

I 100% agree with most of what you said. Our best bet is trying our hardest to get into the B1G or working with Syracuse, ND, and BC to get into the Pac 12. We'd be an interesting quad/division but its probably our best bet. I don't view the Big XII as a protected landing spot. They're one minute away from Texas being pissed about something and jumping ship. Hell if push came to shove I'd approach the SEC like right f'n now.

I'm not fond of deemphasizing football. If that was to happen, I'll go to my football roots and become an FSU fan again. I don't feel like watching MAC level football or supporting it. I want to see Pitt playing in the best league possible and not stepping down.

(11-18-2012 07:56 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  rc79

I 100% agree with most of what you said. Our best bet is trying our hardest to get into the B1G or working with Syracuse, ND, and BC to get into the Pac 12. We'd be an interesting quad/division but its probably our best bet. I don't view the Big XII as a protected landing spot. They're one minute away from Texas being pissed about something and jumping ship. Hell if push came to shove I'd approach the SEC like right f'n now.

I'm not fond of deemphasizing football. If that was to happen, I'll go to my football roots and become an FSU fan again. I don't feel like watching MAC level football or supporting it. I want to see Pitt playing in the best league possible and not stepping down.

I blame this whole thing on the following: Steve P., not having an on campus stadium, lack of Pitt script, etc.



Ok, seriously now, I was completely enthusiastic about going to the ACC. I only liked a move to the Big 10 if it was to 16 with some combo of ND, SU, RU, BC, and ironically Maryland.

Pitt isn't going to the Big 10 without ND having some sort of input into a partner and if somehow expansion is beyond 16 (see JRSEC's posts). I don't believe that will happen but never say never.

I can say though that the Pac 16 option will never happen (and yes, I just wrote 'never say never').


This is a few pictures describing Maryland's Athletic Department

(11-18-2012 07:56 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  rc79

I 100% agree with most of what you said. Our best bet is trying our hardest to get into the B1G or working with Syracuse, ND, and BC to get into the Pac 12. We'd be an interesting quad/division but its probably our best bet. I don't view the Big XII as a protected landing spot. They're one minute away from Texas being pissed about something and jumping ship. Hell if push came to shove I'd approach the SEC like right f'n now.

I'm not fond of deemphasizing football. If that was to happen, I'll go to my football roots and become an FSU fan again. I don't feel like watching MAC level football or supporting it. I want to see Pitt playing in the best league possible and not stepping down.

Ha! That would be wild if that would come to pass considering it was one of my threads on the realignment forum awhile back.

Delaney essentially gave crack to a crack addict.... (He gave a blank check to Maryland).

Wasn't to hard to smell the blood in the water of the ACC's weakest pitiful institution and lure them away with candy and goodies. The question will be whether or not he can pull it off with more financially stable institutions? That part I honestly don't know? One thing is clear; he is out to destroy the ACC. In past that past ALL his decisions have been calculated and unemotional, this is not as much. Good business sure, but did not strengthen this brand, we'll see if he is truly Teflon?