For those that have ESPN+ (don't we all by now with the SunBelt deal?), there is a JMU mention in the following article:

Outside-the-box conference realignment scenarios 2023

Fascinating read, if still very much as fantasy consideration. What struck me was all the discussion that we have had on relegation a la the Premier League in soccer, which the writer brings into the discussion.

An excerpt shows where we'd currently stand in an expanded/revamped Big XII conference:

Big 12 football, Tier 1 (based on last year's SP+ rankings)

West: Baylor, Oregon, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah, Washington

East: Cincinnati, Kansas State, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Tulane, UCF

Tier 2

West/South: Boise State, Fresno State, Houston, Kansas, SMU, UTSA

East/North: App State, Iowa State, James Madison, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, West Virginia

Tier 3

West: Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Montana State, San Diego State, Stanford

East(ish): BYU, Colorado, Georgia State, Jackson State, Louisiana, NC A&T


I am super happy with the SunBelt, but the reality is that nothing stays the same forever, so it's also fun to day dream. What's good is that JMU is now increasingly a part (if still only a tiny part) of these discussions.

(06-01-2023 10:55 PM)JMU2K_DukeDawg Wrote:  For those that have ESPN+ (don't we all by now with the SunBelt deal?), there is a JMU mention in the following article:

Outside-the-box conference realignment scenarios 2023

Fascinating read, if still very much as fantasy consideration. What struck me was all the discussion that we have had on relegation a la the Premier League in soccer, which the writer brings into the discussion.

An excerpt shows where we'd currently stand in an expanded/revamped Big XII conference:

Big 12 football, Tier 1 (based on last year's SP+ rankings)

West: Baylor, Oregon, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah, Washington

East: Cincinnati, Kansas State, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Tulane, UCF

Tier 2

West/South: Boise State, Fresno State, Houston, Kansas, SMU, UTSA

East/North: App State, Iowa State, James Madison, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, West Virginia

Tier 3

West: Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Montana State, San Diego State, Stanford

East(ish): BYU, Colorado, Georgia State, Jackson State, Louisiana, NC A&T


I am super happy with the SunBelt, but the reality is that nothing stays the same forever, so it's also fun to day dream. What's good is that JMU is now increasingly a part (if still only a tiny part) of these discussions.

I'm sure WVU would like that tier 2 grouping.

I mean, you are what you record (or SP+ rankings) says you are. And in Tier 3, Coach PrimeTime gets to play a HBCU, exactly what I am sure he would tout as planned progress that he brought to the table by taking the coaching position in Colorado.

I think that tiered play-in approach works for privately owned professional teams, but the impact on state-supported schools would destroy any kind of stable funding for many P5 flagship schools.

Then you have the viewer appeal of the matchups. Wisconsin being demoted to play Sam Houston state, and Georgia playing and an elevated Fresno State sounds like a Saturday slate of mookie stinks to the average viewer.

(06-05-2023 11:06 AM)2Buck Wrote:  I think that tiered play-in approach works for privately owned professional teams, but the impact on state-supported schools would destroy any kind of stable funding for many P5 flagship schools.

Then you have the viewer appeal of the matchups. Wisconsin being demoted to play Sam Houston state, and Georgia playing and an elevated Fresno State sounds like a Saturday slate of mookie stinks to the average viewer.

Yep, a lot of these fantasy realignments will never happen for that reason. State politicians would get involved if they were “demoted”

I'll pretend this wasn't a bats**t crazy idea and pose some reasonable questions to this idea:
-If it is multitiered, how does revenue distribution work among the tiers? There's zero chance those in tier 3 get as much as tier 1.
-How much would a deal be with that many schools? It would have to be astronomical for that many schools to get on board. And then we're also back to the first question.
-Is there any process or plan for moving up or down the tiers? What if a school in tier 2 or 3 absolutely dominates their tier and is doing far better than schools in the first tier. How would that be fair for them to get a lesser distribution than a garbage school from a higher tier.
-Travel costs. How on earth would these tiers reduce travel costs? They wouldn't. The media deals would be heavily relied upon to be able to afford the higher amount of travel. And then we're back to question one. Those in tier 2 and 3 would have less revenue to deal with the increase of travel than those in tier 1.
-What about conference championships? Three champions... one from each tier? So three champions get autobids or does that depend on the tier again?
I get that it was mostly a clickbait article with very little in terms of research or thought.

I think there is only one way to fix conference alignment and it will NEVER happen: start over. Align conferences in their division with schools within their region.
Not gonna happen, but I think it would be amazing for most fans. P5 schools wouldn't be happy about it, which is why it would never happen. But if a conference within our area consisted of: JMU, VT, UVA, WVU, Marshall, App State, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, Duke, ODU and perhaps a few others.... not only would those schools save money on travel, but they would build regional rivalries which would be incredible.
But like I said.... never gonna happen.
Just like having multiple tiers for a conference.

(06-05-2023 11:57 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I'll pretend this wasn't a bats**t crazy idea and pose some reasonable questions to this idea:

Thanks for playing along - just trying to get through the offseason, ya know!

(06-05-2023 11:57 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I think there is only one way to fix conference alignment and it will NEVER happen: start over. Align conferences in their division with schools within their region.

100% agree. At the same time, I would go a step further a separate the public and private schools. There are some large outliers, but for the most part Public = BIG and Private = SMALL, and I think the conferences would make more sense that way.

Reality is this is all just a silly game of conjecture to pass the time. However, you have to admit the SunBelt is closer to some of those "crazy conversations" we've had for the past 2-3 decades than many probably expected even just a short 3-4 years ago...

(06-07-2023 05:39 AM)JMU2K_DukeDawg Wrote:  

(06-05-2023 11:57 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I'll pretend this wasn't a bats**t crazy idea and pose some reasonable questions to this idea:

Thanks for playing along - just trying to get through the offseason, ya know!

(06-05-2023 11:57 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  I think there is only one way to fix conference alignment and it will NEVER happen: start over. Align conferences in their division with schools within their region.

100% agree. At the same time, I would go a step further a separate the public and private schools. There are some large outliers, but for the most part Public = BIG and Private = SMALL, and I think the conferences would make more sense that way.

Reality is this is all just a silly game of conjecture to pass the time. However, you have to admit the SunBelt is closer to some of those "crazy conversations" we've had for the past 2-3 decades than many probably expected even just a short 3-4 years ago...

The irritating part is that article got eyes on it by the millions. I'm pretty sure anyone here could have written a better or more reasonable idea. There will be people that will read that article and actually think it's an idea that could work.
The questions I posed were immediate to the article and took little to no time to come up with.
There are so many other ideas out there that are crazy but are 100 times more possible.
Wasn't there another idea in there for a 100 team PAC 12? I mean, come ON.
At least have a little reason behind it. Let's just put everyone in Div III and make everyone earn their way back up. That makes just as much sense to me.
I think ESPN just got their next article.