CSNbbs

What conferences do you think those schools would have went to

I’ll take a crack. I think Pitt and Louisville are in the Big 12 with Cincy and WVU. BYU may have been added too with TCU for a 14 team Big 12. Syracuse is added to the Big Ten taking Rutger’s spot. Rutgers probably joins the ACC to replace Maryland.

(01-13-2022 11:53 PM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote: [ -> ]I’ll take a crack. I think Pitt and Louisville are in the Big 12 with Cincy and WVU. BYU may have been added too with TCU for a 14 team Big 12. Syracuse is added to the Big Ten taking Rutger’s spot. Rutgers probably joins the ACC to replace Maryland.

Very reasonable guesses.

I know Pitt had a Big 12 offer in hand when it opted for the ACC.

The answers to this depend heavily upon the reasons why the ACC wouldn't have added these schools. For instance, would it have been because another conference already took them? Or should we assume that the schools were available to the ACC, but they simply opted not to add them?

Assuming the latter, I believe the ACC added Pitt and Syracuse because ESPN told them to, so if that doesn't happen, I think it's likely the Big 12 would have taken them along with TCU and WVU. Alternately, Pitt and Louisville are picked up by the Big 12, and Syracuse is stranded.

The ACC added Louisville specifically to replace Maryland, so I'm not sure if in this scenario we should assume Maryland doesn't leave for the Big Ten. Regardless of what the ACC does though, I think the Big Ten would still go after Rutgers and Maryland. So if the ACC doesn't opt for Louisville or even have them available to replace Maryland, then I suppose it's Cincinnati. Although if Syracuse were available, I don't see why the ACC wouldn't have taken them over Cincinnati.

In any case, the Big Ten probably wouldn't pursue Syracuse, as they had voluntarily dropped out of the AAU in 2011. So if neither the ACC nor the Big 12 were to add Syracuse, they would have remained in the Big East at least up until the point where the C7 split off in our timeline. Some have said the loss of Syracuse was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of a Big East FB/BB breakup, but I think even with Syracuse present, we still see that breakup. However, in this case, Syracuse's non-FB sports are invited to the new Big East, while their FB goes independent. This might have inspired UConn to do something similar. So the new Big East may have only needed to add, say, Xavier to get to 10 members.

Instead of Syracuse FB (and possibly UConn FB) going indy, the new Big East could have brokered a deal with the AAC to have them continue as FB-only affiliates, though I'm not sure if that would have been better or worse than FBS independence.

Pitt would have remained in Pennsylvania, Louisville in Kentucky, and Syracuse in New York.

(01-14-2022 10:42 AM)colohank Wrote: [ -> ]Pitt would have remained in Pennsylvania, Louisville in Kentucky, and Syracuse in New York.

But where within those states?

(01-13-2022 11:53 PM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote: [ -> ]I’ll take a crack. I think Pitt and Louisville are in the Big 12 with Cincy and WVU. BYU may have been added too with TCU for a 14 team Big 12. Syracuse is added to the Big Ten taking Rutger’s spot. Rutgers probably joins the ACC to replace Maryland.

This sounds very plausible, although as Nerdlinger has pointed out Syracuse left the AAU in 2011. That would have been an interesting choice for the B1G, do they take AAU Rutgers or the athletically far superior (but no longer AAU) Syracuse?

(01-14-2022 10:56 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-14-2022 10:42 AM)colohank Wrote: [ -> ]Pitt would have remained in Pennsylvania, Louisville in Kentucky, and Syracuse in New York.

But where within those states?

30 feet to the right

(01-14-2022 11:20 AM)Gamenole Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-13-2022 11:53 PM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote: [ -> ]I’ll take a crack. I think Pitt and Louisville are in the Big 12 with Cincy and WVU. BYU may have been added too with TCU for a 14 team Big 12. Syracuse is added to the Big Ten taking Rutger’s spot. Rutgers probably joins the ACC to replace Maryland.

This sounds very plausible, although as Nerdlinger has pointed out Syracuse left the AAU in 2011. That would have been an interesting choice for the B1G, do they take AAU Rutgers or the athletically far superior (but no longer AAU) Syracuse?

Cuse could have been stranded but being located in a state with 20 million people and millions of cable boxes an exception might have made. Notre Dame isn't AAU either.

IMHO Cuse fits in the ACC over the B1G....similar institutions

(01-14-2022 11:29 AM)TexanMark Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-14-2022 11:20 AM)Gamenole Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-13-2022 11:53 PM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote: [ -> ]I’ll take a crack. I think Pitt and Louisville are in the Big 12 with Cincy and WVU. BYU may have been added too with TCU for a 14 team Big 12. Syracuse is added to the Big Ten taking Rutger’s spot. Rutgers probably joins the ACC to replace Maryland.

This sounds very plausible, although as Nerdlinger has pointed out Syracuse left the AAU in 2011. That would have been an interesting choice for the B1G, do they take AAU Rutgers or the athletically far superior (but no longer AAU) Syracuse?

Cuse could have been stranded but being located in a state with 20 million people and millions of cable boxes an exception might have made. Notre Dame isn't AAU either.

You're probably right on the exception, just like there was no move to expel Nebraska from the B1G when they were expelled from the AAU. I could see the B1G similarly saying that Syracuse had recently been AAU, so still met their criteria.

We need some more context. Is the Big 10 still adding Maryland and Rutgers? If the Big 10 and ACC are both going to stay at 12 through the 2010s then:

2011 WVU leaves BE for Big 12 (with TCU)

At that point, Temple, UCF, Houston, and SMU join the Big East as full members, and Navy as a football only. The Big East avoids a split.

2021 gets blown wide open as the SEC going to 16 could trigger all sorts of movement among the ACC, Big 10, and Big 12.