Greg had dinner with his Big Ten Man BTM informant and tweeted about it:


Greg Flugaur ‏@flugempire 3h3 hours ago
"BTM"..."Everybody tied to every kind of Sports Media is waiting on Delany."

"Delany slow roll has turned into a crawl"

BTM..."Nothing new on B12 expansion from a B10 perspective...ESPN interest is also to slow roll and have the expansion not include UCF"

BTM would not change thoughts on B10 perspective who top 3 B12 are looking at...nothing has changed in that regard. But noted ESPN ? UCF.

BTM...."ASU[Arizona State] Hockey decision will be decided not on different TV contracts but the direction they decide helps fill new arena when built"

BTM..."this bolds well for Big Ten chances to obtain ASU Hockey as member of Big Ten Hockey Conference"

BTM...(he says this every time) Big Ten has a huge future demographic issue. It's not solved as of yet"

I asked again about B10 full member expansion plans.

BTM.."There are none. Decision was made and all agreed. Expansion discussion on hold..

...on hold until 2018 leading into "19"

"New B10 TV Contract will contain accessibility to expansion if Conference decides to move forward"

I asked (again) in which direction does he believe...I asked all the schools specifically...who in B10 Expansion. I asked about UCONN...

"BTM..on potential candidates."TV Market is important, and what control of the market school has, but Big Ten can and would help with both"

BTM..."Big Ten can't of course help so much with size of market, but it's tools can provide to generate a greater market share of TV Market"

BTM..."Big Ten looking at Acedemia and Research of course, but another main variable is Alumni base. It size and commitment to school"

BTM.."Big Ten expansion will not include universities that do not have large number of Alumni and large support from its Alumni base"

So I again ask for specifics...asked on specific schools (he's not giving me specifics!)

BTM..."I don't foresee Big Ten future expansion including any schools currently outside of Power 5 until Big 12 loses a few more schools"

BTM..."Oklahoma will not be in the Big 12 at the end of next decade. It will be sitting in the SEC. SEC wants Oklahoma and..."

...."and whatever SEC wants it will get, especially 10 years from now."

BTM..."Delany, or whoever is the Commissioner at the time will need to pivot off of what SEC decides to do in realignment"

BTM..."SEC Network will give each SEC school 13-14 million dollars through this year"

BTM..."If ESPN successfully closes off the state of Virginia from the B10 come 2026 I would put my money on Kansas & UCONN or Kansas & Navy.

BTM..."Big Ten would accept, invite and put down red carpet for Oklahoma. But SEC has its target set on Oklahoma. Big Ten knows this.."

BTM..."Once ACC Network is in motion people will understand why SEC expansion targets won't be from ACC."

BTM..".Big 12 won't dissolve. It will have a change in memberships. Will continue to be Power 5"

Interesting perspective from the BTM; SEC most likely will add OU and ACC will be off limits to all poachers once ACCN is up and running.

So if the SEC added OU, then number 16 would have to come from the Big 12 (again for the fourth time) or the Big Ten or the Big East.

I still think the B12 will add next. BYU seems like the big brand available with Cincinnati, UCF and, for some unknown/illogical reason, Houston and Memphis as mentioned favorites to join. I've been really impressed with Boise State. I think they can be be just as successful as TCU in the B12.

According to an old Notre Dame report, before the B1G invited Nebraska, the top six candidates for the B1G were: Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, Va. Tech, Maryland and West Virginia.
If you look at all of those schools on a map it looks like a big smile. What it is , is a push out from the then B1G territory out an all fronts.
The SEC/ESPN/ACC dodged a bullet when Delany decided to start expansion on the extreme western edge of the smile instead of in the middle with Kentucky. The SEC/ESPN countered with Missouri and then strengthened Kentucky by adding Louisville to the ACC. Everybody SEC/ESPN/ACC gambled that the B1G would never touch West Virginia, but they did have success on the other end of the smile with a cash strapped infiltrated Maryland administration. That leaves Virginia Tech and the B1G is working them over hard (already scheduled home/home with Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rutgers and interestingly West Virginia). Virginia Tech is covering their rears if they were to make a move too. Long term contracts with Old Dominion keeps a presence in the Tidewater and a long term deal with East Carolina gives them long term exposure to North Carolina even without the ACC. This is why it is important to keep the State of Virginia sealed off. The fear is not from the SEC as some posters have suggested but from the B1G. ESPN has shown a willingness to do what's necessary to keep the B1G out of their perceived territory. At some point either the ACC or the SEC will have to take West Virginia and ESPN will have to pony up enough money to prop up the Big 12 or it's successors if they can successfully move Oklahoma and Texas out.
If ESPN/SEC/ACC can secure Va. Tech with a combination of the GOR and an ACCN then the B1G can only move to Kansas, Iowa State or UConn (which the ESPN left available as a face saving market share play for the B1G).
Expansion/realignment all started with a smile.

Smoke and Mirrors. I had a talk with someone too. Except...my talk was had under the condition of me not writing a novel on twitter about it that everyone can see. That Flugaur guy is a joke, that much I can tell you.

(09-26-2015 05:38 AM)XLance Wrote:  According to an old Notre Dame report, before the B1G invited Nebraska, the top six candidates for the B1G were: Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, Va. Tech, Maryland and West Virginia.
If you look at all of those schools on a map it looks like a big smile. What it is , is a push out from the then B1G territory out an all fronts.
The SEC/ESPN/ACC dodged a bullet when Delany decided to start expansion on the extreme western edge of the smile instead of in the middle with Kentucky. The SEC/ESPN countered with Missouri and then strengthened Kentucky by adding Louisville to the ACC. Everybody SEC/ESPN/ACC gambled that the B1G would never touch West Virginia, but they did have success on the other end of the smile with a cash strapped infiltrated Maryland administration. That leaves Virginia Tech and the B1G is working them over hard (already scheduled home/home with Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rutgers and interestingly West Virginia). Virginia Tech is covering their rears if they were to make a move too. Long term contracts with Old Dominion keeps a presence in the Tidewater and a long term deal with East Carolina gives them long term exposure to North Carolina even without the ACC. This is why it is important to keep the State of Virginia sealed off. The fear is not from the SEC as some posters have suggested but from the B1G. ESPN has shown a willingness to do what's necessary to keep the B1G out of their perceived territory. At some point either the ACC or the SEC will have to take West Virginia and ESPN will have to pony up enough money to prop up the Big 12 or it's successors if they can successfully move Oklahoma and Texas out.
If ESPN/SEC/ACC can secure Va. Tech with a combination of the GOR and an ACCN then the B1G can only move to Kansas, Iowa State or UConn (which the ESPN left available as a face saving market share play for the B1G).
Expansion/realignment all started with a smile.

Outside of the fact that Fluguar is a "hit whore" who will post anything to get views the scenario is nothing that hasn't been discussed from the inception of realignment in 2010 and forward. Penn State got that ball rolling in way back when. Nebraska was actually the other "end of the smile" as a second pick, not Maryland.

The SEC would want Oklahoma? Wow! What a revelation!!! Gee, I never have heard that before!!!

ESPN wants to hold onto its property??? I've only been saying since my first post on this board that realignment was simply a corporate takeover of undervalued and disorganized sports property. I'm glad you are finally couching your responses in terms that reflect this reality.

Let's drop the Delany b.S. and the Slive (now Sankey) b.S. and call it what it is. It is a property war between FOX and ESPN which is complicated by the fact that for some time they have actually had to share some properties but as FOX grows that time for sharing is ending, and while it may or may not take a decade, that cooperation is ending abruptly and all of the future realignment will be about acquiring brands.

So spare me the garbage about who the SEC and Big 10 will and won't take. They will take whoever the corporate networks will pay them the most to acquire.

Now you can bet the farm on one thing. FOX will look to stall realignment until the Big 12 GOR expires and ESPN will push for a quicker resolution. Why? The biggest prize is Texas and if FOX gets things to stall until the end of the Big 12 GOR then Texas essentially becomes a free agent. Until that time ESPN has the leverage on the Horns. Oklahoma may as well be a free agent now because their T3 contract with FOX and Kansas's T3 contract with ESPN will both have very little buyout in 4 years.

So 10th if ESPN says to the SEC "we'll get you Oklahoma and pay you enough to take OSU" then that's what happens. I don't think they'll say that but they might if it looks like OU will head North. And XLance if ESPN says to the ACC "you'll take Texas and Texas Tech" then that's what will happen. I just think it will be more likely Texas, T.C.U. and another.

ESPN will push for the SEC and ACC to move to 18. Why? It's the best way they can bust up the Big 12 and end this without major FOX interference. FOX will push to keep a P5. Why? It gives the best chance to land the top 3 prizes from the Big 12 and to add some schools already in the Southeast who could not otherwise find a home in the SEC and ACC and because it puts them into a region that they want.

These are the realities.

I do have a question for XLance however. Do you think that if Virginia Tech ever got serious about leaving the ACC for the Big 10 that ESPN would offer them a SEC slot with improved revenue to keep FOX out of the Tidewater region? If so then I could see OU, VaTech, and two other Big 12 schools to the SEC. And I could see Texas, T.C.U., and two other Big 12 schools to the ACC. If Wake became an ACC member like N.D. (everything but football where they would retain 5 or 6 ACC games) then a 5th Big 12 school could enter the ACC and it would be enough to accomplish dissolution. Even if Va Tech stayed in the ACC the SEC could simply take 4, Wake could seek the new status, and the ACC could add 4 and we're done.

It doesn't really matter if we take a couple of little brothers if that is the cost to ESPN for landing the product they want, and to lock FOX out of the region with the largest markets and highest saturation.

(09-26-2015 10:51 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 05:38 AM)XLance Wrote:  According to an old Notre Dame report, before the B1G invited Nebraska, the top six candidates for the B1G were: Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, Va. Tech, Maryland and West Virginia.
If you look at all of those schools on a map it looks like a big smile. What it is , is a push out from the then B1G territory out an all fronts.
The SEC/ESPN/ACC dodged a bullet when Delany decided to start expansion on the extreme western edge of the smile instead of in the middle with Kentucky. The SEC/ESPN countered with Missouri and then strengthened Kentucky by adding Louisville to the ACC. Everybody SEC/ESPN/ACC gambled that the B1G would never touch West Virginia, but they did have success on the other end of the smile with a cash strapped infiltrated Maryland administration. That leaves Virginia Tech and the B1G is working them over hard (already scheduled home/home with Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rutgers and interestingly West Virginia). Virginia Tech is covering their rears if they were to make a move too. Long term contracts with Old Dominion keeps a presence in the Tidewater and a long term deal with East Carolina gives them long term exposure to North Carolina even without the ACC. This is why it is important to keep the State of Virginia sealed off. The fear is not from the SEC as some posters have suggested but from the B1G. ESPN has shown a willingness to do what's necessary to keep the B1G out of their perceived territory. At some point either the ACC or the SEC will have to take West Virginia and ESPN will have to pony up enough money to prop up the Big 12 or it's successors if they can successfully move Oklahoma and Texas out.
If ESPN/SEC/ACC can secure Va. Tech with a combination of the GOR and an ACCN then the B1G can only move to Kansas, Iowa State or UConn (which the ESPN left available as a face saving market share play for the B1G).
Expansion/realignment all started with a smile.

Outside of the fact that Fluguar is a "hit whore" who will post anything to get views the scenario is nothing that hasn't been discussed from the inception of realignment in 2010 and forward. Penn State got that ball rolling in way back when. Nebraska was actually the other "end of the smile" as a second pick, not Maryland.

The SEC would want Oklahoma? Wow! What a revelation!!! Gee, I never have heard that before!!!

ESPN wants to hold onto its property??? I've only been saying since my first post on this board that realignment was simply a corporate takeover of undervalued and disorganized sports property. I'm glad you are finally couching your responses in terms that reflect this reality.

Let's drop the Delany b.S. and the Slive (now Sankey) b.S. and call it what it is. It is a property war between FOX and ESPN which is complicated by the fact that for some time they have actually had to share some properties but as FOX grows that time for sharing is ending, and while it may or may not take a decade, that cooperation is ending abruptly and all of the future realignment will be about acquiring brands.

So spare me the garbage about who the SEC and Big 10 will and won't take. They will take whoever the corporate networks will pay them the most to acquire.

Now you can bet the farm on one thing. FOX will look to stall realignment until the Big 12 GOR expires and ESPN will push for a quicker resolution. Why? The biggest prize is Texas and if FOX gets things to stall until the end of the Big 12 GOR then Texas essentially becomes a free agent. Until that time ESPN has the leverage on the Horns. Oklahoma may as well be a free agent now because their T3 contract with FOX and Kansas's T3 contract with ESPN will both have very little buyout in 4 years.

So 10th if ESPN says to the SEC "we'll get you Oklahoma and pay you enough to take OSU" then that's what happens. I don't think they'll say that but they might if it looks like OU will head North. And XLance if ESPN says to the ACC "you'll take Texas and Texas Tech" then that's what will happen. I just think it will be more likely Texas, T.C.U. and another.

ESPN will push for the SEC and ACC to move to 18. Why? It's the best way they can bust up the Big 12 and end this without major FOX interference. FOX will push to keep a P5. Why? It gives the best chance to land the top 3 prizes from the Big 12 and to add some schools already in the Southeast who could not otherwise find a home in the SEC and ACC and because it puts them into a region that they want.

These are the realities.

I do have a question for XLance however. Do you think that if Virginia Tech ever got serious about leaving the ACC for the Big 10 that ESPN would offer them a SEC slot with improved revenue to keep FOX out of the Tidewater region? If so then I could see OU, VaTech, and two other Big 12 schools to the SEC. And I could see Texas, T.C.U., and two other Big 12 schools to the ACC. If Wake became an ACC member like N.D. (everything but football where they would retain 5 or 6 ACC games) then a 5th Big 12 school could enter the ACC and it would be enough to accomplish dissolution. Even if Va Tech stayed in the ACC the SEC could simply take 4, Wake could seek the new status, and the ACC could add 4 and we're done.

It doesn't really matter if we take a couple of little brothers if that is the cost to ESPN for landing the product they want, and to lock FOX out of the region with the largest markets and highest saturation.

I think that ESPN will do anything necessary to keep the B1G out of Virginia and North Carolina.

ESPN still has tier 1 rights with The Big Ten. If ESPN is trying to keep anyone out of North Carolina and Virginia, it is the SEC. The ACC is their bread and butter in basketball. If any basketball schools go to the Big Ten then there are still plenty of good match ups. That doesn't happen though if the likes of a Duke or UNC goes to the SEC. Too many bad match ups if that happens thus ESPN is trying to keep the SEC out of North Carolina.

The baby blue t shirt fan mob is doing the job of keeping The Big Ten out of there.

(09-26-2015 07:36 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  

ESPN still has tier 1 rights with The Big Ten. If ESPN is trying to keep anyone out of North Carolina and Virginia, it is the SEC. The ACC is their bread and butter in basketball. If any basketball schools go to the Big Ten then there are still plenty of good match ups. That doesn't happen though if the likes of a Duke or UNC goes to the SEC. Too many bad match ups if that happens thus ESPN is trying to keep the SEC out of North Carolina.

The baby blue t shirt fan mob is doing the job of keeping The Big Ten out of there.

Boy are you reaching these days. I'm not sure you even read the entire post. You are the one who just doesn't get it. ESPN wants a higher % of the profitable material. They have 100% of the ACC. They have all but 1 game a week of the SEC. They aren't selling out the interests of those two conferences for part of 49% of the Big 10. That's pretty much the end of the story. How they use the ACC and SEC to land what they want from the Big 12 is all of the story moving forward, unless they land a % of the PAC which looks very very doubtful, and not really all that profitable even if they did.

For the Big 10 to land two or more of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas they are going to have to stalemate realignment until the Big 12 GOR expires. Good luck with that if the Big 12 doesn't land a playoff spot this year.

(09-26-2015 08:03 AM)He1nousOne Wrote:  Smoke and Mirrors. I had a talk with someone too. Except...my talk was had under the condition of me not writing a novel on twitter about it that everyone can see. That Flugaur guy is a joke, that much I can tell you.

It's not The Dude you're talking to is it?

(09-26-2015 11:09 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 08:03 AM)He1nousOne Wrote:  Smoke and Mirrors. I had a talk with someone too. Except...my talk was had under the condition of me not writing a novel on twitter about it that everyone can see. That Flugaur guy is a joke, that much I can tell you.

It's not The Dude you're talking to is it?

He wishes.

(09-26-2015 08:12 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 07:36 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  

ESPN still has tier 1 rights with The Big Ten. If ESPN is trying to keep anyone out of North Carolina and Virginia, it is the SEC. The ACC is their bread and butter in basketball. If any basketball schools go to the Big Ten then there are still plenty of good match ups. That doesn't happen though if the likes of a Duke or UNC goes to the SEC. Too many bad match ups if that happens thus ESPN is trying to keep the SEC out of North Carolina.

The baby blue t shirt fan mob is doing the job of keeping The Big Ten out of there.

Boy are you reaching these days. I'm not sure you even read the entire post. You are the one who just doesn't get it. ESPN wants a higher % of the profitable material. They have 100% of the ACC. They have all but 1 game a week of the SEC. They aren't selling out the interests of those two conferences for part of 49% of the Big 10. That's pretty much the end of the story. How they use the ACC and SEC to land what they want from the Big 12 is all of the story moving forward, unless they land a % of the PAC which looks very very doubtful, and not really all that profitable even if they did.

For the Big 10 to land two or more of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas they are going to have to stalemate realignment until the Big 12 GOR expires. Good luck with that if the Big 12 doesn't land a playoff spot this year.

You are so stuck in SEC SEC SEC mode that YOU don't get it. We know from UNC emails that they absolutely could have come down to the SEC. They faced zero pressure from boosters about the SEC, in fact they were pretty much told that they should. Yet, what did UNC do? They doubled down on the ACC.

So either it was an internal thing with Admin and academia or ESPN told them not to OR it was both.

You don't have **** but hate and it blinds you every time to what you think the SEC can pull and how much ESPN loves the SEC. The SEC is just the Network's workhorse.

I mean look at you, you cant even comprehend the point about basketball. Just immediately jumping to ad hom's and random talking points. Whatever man, whatever.

(09-26-2015 04:26 PM)XLance Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 10:51 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 05:38 AM)XLance Wrote:  According to an old Notre Dame report, before the B1G invited Nebraska, the top six candidates for the B1G were: Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, Va. Tech, Maryland and West Virginia.
If you look at all of those schools on a map it looks like a big smile. What it is , is a push out from the then B1G territory out an all fronts.
The SEC/ESPN/ACC dodged a bullet when Delany decided to start expansion on the extreme western edge of the smile instead of in the middle with Kentucky. The SEC/ESPN countered with Missouri and then strengthened Kentucky by adding Louisville to the ACC. Everybody SEC/ESPN/ACC gambled that the B1G would never touch West Virginia, but they did have success on the other end of the smile with a cash strapped infiltrated Maryland administration. That leaves Virginia Tech and the B1G is working them over hard (already scheduled home/home with Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rutgers and interestingly West Virginia). Virginia Tech is covering their rears if they were to make a move too. Long term contracts with Old Dominion keeps a presence in the Tidewater and a long term deal with East Carolina gives them long term exposure to North Carolina even without the ACC. This is why it is important to keep the State of Virginia sealed off. The fear is not from the SEC as some posters have suggested but from the B1G. ESPN has shown a willingness to do what's necessary to keep the B1G out of their perceived territory. At some point either the ACC or the SEC will have to take West Virginia and ESPN will have to pony up enough money to prop up the Big 12 or it's successors if they can successfully move Oklahoma and Texas out.
If ESPN/SEC/ACC can secure Va. Tech with a combination of the GOR and an ACCN then the B1G can only move to Kansas, Iowa State or UConn (which the ESPN left available as a face saving market share play for the B1G).
Expansion/realignment all started with a smile.

Outside of the fact that Fluguar is a "hit whore" who will post anything to get views the scenario is nothing that hasn't been discussed from the inception of realignment in 2010 and forward. Penn State got that ball rolling in way back when. Nebraska was actually the other "end of the smile" as a second pick, not Maryland.

The SEC would want Oklahoma? Wow! What a revelation!!! Gee, I never have heard that before!!!

ESPN wants to hold onto its property??? I've only been saying since my first post on this board that realignment was simply a corporate takeover of undervalued and disorganized sports property. I'm glad you are finally couching your responses in terms that reflect this reality.

Let's drop the Delany b.S. and the Slive (now Sankey) b.S. and call it what it is. It is a property war between FOX and ESPN which is complicated by the fact that for some time they have actually had to share some properties but as FOX grows that time for sharing is ending, and while it may or may not take a decade, that cooperation is ending abruptly and all of the future realignment will be about acquiring brands.

So spare me the garbage about who the SEC and Big 10 will and won't take. They will take whoever the corporate networks will pay them the most to acquire.

Now you can bet the farm on one thing. FOX will look to stall realignment until the Big 12 GOR expires and ESPN will push for a quicker resolution. Why? The biggest prize is Texas and if FOX gets things to stall until the end of the Big 12 GOR then Texas essentially becomes a free agent. Until that time ESPN has the leverage on the Horns. Oklahoma may as well be a free agent now because their T3 contract with FOX and Kansas's T3 contract with ESPN will both have very little buyout in 4 years.

So 10th if ESPN says to the SEC "we'll get you Oklahoma and pay you enough to take OSU" then that's what happens. I don't think they'll say that but they might if it looks like OU will head North. And XLance if ESPN says to the ACC "you'll take Texas and Texas Tech" then that's what will happen. I just think it will be more likely Texas, T.C.U. and another.

ESPN will push for the SEC and ACC to move to 18. Why? It's the best way they can bust up the Big 12 and end this without major FOX interference. FOX will push to keep a P5. Why? It gives the best chance to land the top 3 prizes from the Big 12 and to add some schools already in the Southeast who could not otherwise find a home in the SEC and ACC and because it puts them into a region that they want.

These are the realities.

I do have a question for XLance however. Do you think that if Virginia Tech ever got serious about leaving the ACC for the Big 10 that ESPN would offer them a SEC slot with improved revenue to keep FOX out of the Tidewater region? If so then I could see OU, VaTech, and two other Big 12 schools to the SEC. And I could see Texas, T.C.U., and two other Big 12 schools to the ACC. If Wake became an ACC member like N.D. (everything but football where they would retain 5 or 6 ACC games) then a 5th Big 12 school could enter the ACC and it would be enough to accomplish dissolution. Even if Va Tech stayed in the ACC the SEC could simply take 4, Wake could seek the new status, and the ACC could add 4 and we're done.

It doesn't really matter if we take a couple of little brothers if that is the cost to ESPN for landing the product they want, and to lock FOX out of the region with the largest markets and highest saturation.

I think that ESPN will do anything necessary to keep the B1G out of Virginia and North Carolina.

I also believe that the ACC had already explained to ESPN that they don't want the SEC in Virginia or North Carolina either.

(09-27-2015 03:48 PM)XLance Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 04:26 PM)XLance Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 10:51 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 05:38 AM)XLance Wrote:  According to an old Notre Dame report, before the B1G invited Nebraska, the top six candidates for the B1G were: Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, Va. Tech, Maryland and West Virginia.
If you look at all of those schools on a map it looks like a big smile. What it is , is a push out from the then B1G territory out an all fronts.
The SEC/ESPN/ACC dodged a bullet when Delany decided to start expansion on the extreme western edge of the smile instead of in the middle with Kentucky. The SEC/ESPN countered with Missouri and then strengthened Kentucky by adding Louisville to the ACC. Everybody SEC/ESPN/ACC gambled that the B1G would never touch West Virginia, but they did have success on the other end of the smile with a cash strapped infiltrated Maryland administration. That leaves Virginia Tech and the B1G is working them over hard (already scheduled home/home with Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rutgers and interestingly West Virginia). Virginia Tech is covering their rears if they were to make a move too. Long term contracts with Old Dominion keeps a presence in the Tidewater and a long term deal with East Carolina gives them long term exposure to North Carolina even without the ACC. This is why it is important to keep the State of Virginia sealed off. The fear is not from the SEC as some posters have suggested but from the B1G. ESPN has shown a willingness to do what's necessary to keep the B1G out of their perceived territory. At some point either the ACC or the SEC will have to take West Virginia and ESPN will have to pony up enough money to prop up the Big 12 or it's successors if they can successfully move Oklahoma and Texas out.
If ESPN/SEC/ACC can secure Va. Tech with a combination of the GOR and an ACCN then the B1G can only move to Kansas, Iowa State or UConn (which the ESPN left available as a face saving market share play for the B1G).
Expansion/realignment all started with a smile.

Outside of the fact that Fluguar is a "hit whore" who will post anything to get views the scenario is nothing that hasn't been discussed from the inception of realignment in 2010 and forward. Penn State got that ball rolling in way back when. Nebraska was actually the other "end of the smile" as a second pick, not Maryland.

The SEC would want Oklahoma? Wow! What a revelation!!! Gee, I never have heard that before!!!

ESPN wants to hold onto its property??? I've only been saying since my first post on this board that realignment was simply a corporate takeover of undervalued and disorganized sports property. I'm glad you are finally couching your responses in terms that reflect this reality.

Let's drop the Delany b.S. and the Slive (now Sankey) b.S. and call it what it is. It is a property war between FOX and ESPN which is complicated by the fact that for some time they have actually had to share some properties but as FOX grows that time for sharing is ending, and while it may or may not take a decade, that cooperation is ending abruptly and all of the future realignment will be about acquiring brands.

So spare me the garbage about who the SEC and Big 10 will and won't take. They will take whoever the corporate networks will pay them the most to acquire.

Now you can bet the farm on one thing. FOX will look to stall realignment until the Big 12 GOR expires and ESPN will push for a quicker resolution. Why? The biggest prize is Texas and if FOX gets things to stall until the end of the Big 12 GOR then Texas essentially becomes a free agent. Until that time ESPN has the leverage on the Horns. Oklahoma may as well be a free agent now because their T3 contract with FOX and Kansas's T3 contract with ESPN will both have very little buyout in 4 years.

So 10th if ESPN says to the SEC "we'll get you Oklahoma and pay you enough to take OSU" then that's what happens. I don't think they'll say that but they might if it looks like OU will head North. And XLance if ESPN says to the ACC "you'll take Texas and Texas Tech" then that's what will happen. I just think it will be more likely Texas, T.C.U. and another.

ESPN will push for the SEC and ACC to move to 18. Why? It's the best way they can bust up the Big 12 and end this without major FOX interference. FOX will push to keep a P5. Why? It gives the best chance to land the top 3 prizes from the Big 12 and to add some schools already in the Southeast who could not otherwise find a home in the SEC and ACC and because it puts them into a region that they want.

These are the realities.

I do have a question for XLance however. Do you think that if Virginia Tech ever got serious about leaving the ACC for the Big 10 that ESPN would offer them a SEC slot with improved revenue to keep FOX out of the Tidewater region? If so then I could see OU, VaTech, and two other Big 12 schools to the SEC. And I could see Texas, T.C.U., and two other Big 12 schools to the ACC. If Wake became an ACC member like N.D. (everything but football where they would retain 5 or 6 ACC games) then a 5th Big 12 school could enter the ACC and it would be enough to accomplish dissolution. Even if Va Tech stayed in the ACC the SEC could simply take 4, Wake could seek the new status, and the ACC could add 4 and we're done.

It doesn't really matter if we take a couple of little brothers if that is the cost to ESPN for landing the product they want, and to lock FOX out of the region with the largest markets and highest saturation.

I think that ESPN will do anything necessary to keep the B1G out of Virginia and North Carolina.

I also believe that the ACC had already explained to ESPN that they don't want the SEC in Virginia or North Carolina either.

We just need to get this done. You could form a 6 team Western Division with Louisville, Miami, Texas, T.C.U., Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State. The SEC could take Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas State, and West Virginia.

We'll leave Iowa State and Kansas for the Big 10.

ACC North: Boston College, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia Tech

ACC South: Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia

ACC West: Florida State, Miami, Oklahoma State, Texas, T.C.U., Texas Tech

***Wake Forest is independent in football playing 6 ACC games and a full member in everything else.

SEC East: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia
SEC South: Alabama, Auburn, Louisiana State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt
SEC West: Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas A&M

I love how these posts of yours pull aside the curtain to reveal the personal agenda JR.

"We just need to get this done!"

You are scared that the SEC isn't going to look as powerful in realignment as you want everyone, including over at Landthieves, to believe.

(09-27-2015 07:15 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  I love how these posts of yours pull aside the curtain to reveal the personal agenda JR.

"We just need to get this done!"

You are scared that the SEC isn't going to look as powerful in realignment as you want everyone, including over at Landthieves, to believe.

We need to get this done as in it needs to happen because nothing is accomplished by dragging things out for another 10 years or more.

The SEC will be fine no matter what happens despite the Rust Belt colored glasses that some folks have. For that matter, the Big Ten will be fine, but I seriously doubt that league lands all its targets. There are too many varied and competing interests for things to work out perfectly for any league.

(09-27-2015 07:09 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(09-27-2015 03:48 PM)XLance Wrote:  I also believe that the ACC had already explained to ESPN that they don't want the SEC in Virginia or North Carolina either.

We just need to get this done. You could form a 6 team Western Division with Louisville, Miami, Texas, T.C.U., Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State. The SEC could take Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas State, and West Virginia.

We'll leave Iowa State and Kansas for the Big 10.

ACC North: Boston College, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia Tech

ACC South: Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia

ACC West: Florida State, Miami, Oklahoma State, Texas, T.C.U., Texas Tech

***Wake Forest is independent in football playing 6 ACC games and a full member in everything else.

SEC East: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia
SEC South: Alabama, Auburn, Louisiana State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt
SEC West: Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas A&M

I like the plan although I doubt Wake gets demoted to being independent in football. They couldn't survive without the money coming from P5 football.

If Notre Dame joins fully then I think only 3 come from the Big 12 to fill out the league...UT, TCU, and Tech I suppose.

I tend to think we'll end up with OSU one way or the other. Maybe instead of Kansas State in that mix. KU goes to the B1G and we've got our 8 right there. I doubt the B1G takes ISU as it doesn't really help them. I lean towards UConn as the final member for them.

SEC East: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia

SEC Central: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt

SEC West: Texas A&M, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Arkansas

I have concerns for the long term relevance of KSU without Bill Snyder at the helm.

(09-27-2015 07:33 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(09-27-2015 07:15 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  I love how these posts of yours pull aside the curtain to reveal the personal agenda JR.

"We just need to get this done!"

You are scared that the SEC isn't going to look as powerful in realignment as you want everyone, including over at Landthieves, to believe.

We need to get this done as in it needs to happen because nothing is accomplished by dragging things out for another 10 years or more.

The SEC will be fine no matter what happens despite the Rust Belt colored glasses that some folks have. For that matter, the Big Ten will be fine, but I seriously doubt that league lands all its targets. There are too many varied and competing interests for things to work out perfectly for any league.

I agree. But it will boil down to two things: Regionalism (meaning having games close enough for traveling alumni to be excited about going there) and Networks (meaning whether or not those remaining properties opt for ESPN or FOX). Since moving earlier favors ESPN and that is who we are with, and the ACC is with, then it behooves us to work together to acquire those targets. After all we have the advantages of geography and to some extent culture. If ESPN makes it workable from the context of payout then we do have the inside track on many of those schools.

(09-27-2015 07:15 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  I love how these posts of yours pull aside the curtain to reveal the personal agenda JR.

"We just need to get this done!"

You are scared that the SEC isn't going to look as powerful in realignment as you want everyone, including over at Landthieves, to believe.

No H1, I just believe that if the Big 12 has the last prizes in this drama we call realignment then the smartest thing for any conference to do is to make the strike as soon and as efficiently as possible.

In competition for anything in life the timid and the over calculating generally lose while the spoils go to the bold. If we are competing the sooner we sew it up the better. It has nothing to do with how one looks. Appearances are for losers. It's all about what you do or don't do. Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas are match point in the realignment game. Therefore take the kill shot if you have it.

If any hypocrisy exists it exists among those who think they should have a natural right to Texas, Oklahoma or Kansas and assume that all other interested parties are haters instead of practical people who have arrived at the same conclusion that Big 10 folks have. It is, and will be a competition, just like all of life is. If ESPN uses the SEC and ACC to accomplish its agenda then that is simply smart business. If FOX uses the Big 10 to accomplish its agenda then it is merely the same. There is no hate, only self interest. But you seem to think that anyone who envisions the same goals as those you have set out for the Big 10 is somehow doing so out of nefarious motives. You need to think about that.

(09-26-2015 08:03 AM)He1nousOne Wrote:  Smoke and Mirrors. I had a talk with someone too. Except...my talk was had under the condition of me not writing a novel on twitter about it that everyone can see. That Flugaur guy is a joke, that much I can tell you.

I think this is what most people can agree on.

Flugaur just stated alot of stuff that people knew already....and then threw some other BS on as well.

Everyone knows ESPN will try to block the B1G from NC/VA at all costs. That isn't a secret. It has been painfully apparent that they need both the ACC and SEC to survive in Power capacities.

Big 12 is the most likely for implosion. Everyone knew that, just a matter of when and who makes the first move.

Most believe Delany will make the first move, as he has in the past. UCF stuff is pretty common knowledge

The rest of it was likely personal opinion that he dressed up under an "informant".

Most agree KU will be one of the next B1G schools. But as for the other two...I'd put down a sizable chunk of cash that it will not be UCONN or Navy.

Fluguar has pumped the UCONN sunshine for years, it is pretty easy to see through his charade. Navy, great as it may be, will not be the piece that Delany goes after for #16. He is either from Conn, or lived in Conn for awhile. Gopher fan/grad. 0'pher on his predictions so far.

"hit troll" if I have ever seen one.

(09-28-2015 01:57 PM)5thTiger Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 08:03 AM)He1nousOne Wrote:  Smoke and Mirrors. I had a talk with someone too. Except...my talk was had under the condition of me not writing a novel on twitter about it that everyone can see. That Flugaur guy is a joke, that much I can tell you.

I think this is what most people can agree on.

Flugaur just stated alot of stuff that people knew already....and then threw some other BS on as well.

Everyone knows ESPN will try to block the B1G from NC/VA at all costs. That isn't a secret. It has been painfully apparent that they need both the ACC and SEC to survive in Power capacities.

Big 12 is the most likely for implosion. Everyone knew that, just a matter of when and who makes the first move.

Most believe Delany will make the first move, as he has in the past. UCF stuff is pretty common knowledge

The rest of it was likely personal opinion that he dressed up under an "informant".

Most agree KU will be one of the next B1G schools. But as for the other two...I'd put down a sizable chunk of cash that it will not be UCONN or Navy.

Fluguar has pumped the UCONN sunshine for years, it is pretty easy to see through his charade. Navy, great as it may be, will not be the piece that Delany goes after for #16. He is either from Conn, or lived in Conn for awhile. Gopher fan/grad. 0'pher on his predictions so far.

"hit troll" if I have ever seen one.

I totally agree with you about Fluguar. The "tell" for me was the mere mention of Navy. The word out of the service academies is that the commandants have no interest in playing in a P5 conference and for some very good reasons. 1. They give up an average of 80lbs a man on the O & D lines compared to most P5 schools and that raises the injury rate of cadets and midshipmen to numbers they don't want to see. 2. The bowl season added to the playoff kills the regimen for the academies after the first of the year. 3. They rightfully see their mission as that of producing career military officers and truly believe in the student athlete model for sports. Hence it is known in military circles that while they will not back down from scheduling a few P5 rivals they want no part of a consistent P5 schedule and have no desire to pursue membership and they have come to a consensus about this.

Secondly, why on earth would the Big 10 want a second school from Maryland? And that isn't even considering all of the other non fitting elements of a service academy. This told me his posts were totally B.S. if nothing else had, but plenty more told me the same.

There is going to be an all out competition for Texas, Oklahoma and to a lesser extent Kansas. The Big 10 and SEC will just be the pawns utilized to acquire these properties for either FOX or ESPN. That's going to be it.

The only caveat is extremely unlikely and that would be if the PAC offered 6 or more of the Big 12 schools a phenomenal deal. Then perhaps the SEC and Big 10 would once again turn their sights on the ACC.

I give the Big 12 a 90% chance of being the conference that folds their tent and the ACC a 10% chance at this juncture. Two years ago I would have said it was 50/50.