(12-27-2017 01:55 PM)doss2 Wrote: (12-27-2017 11:56 AM)rosewater Wrote: (12-27-2017 11:44 AM)doss2 Wrote: 2023-24 will be the next shuffling and I fear we will still be on the outside looking in. All dressed up and no place to go.
It is our fate. Learn to be happy with who we are.
Why? I think that we have a higher trajectory in the combination of sports that matter and academics.
I fear no matter what we do we will be ignored. I have read many articles where they mention UConn, USF, UCF, UH, CSU, Boise, BYU but not UC.
I think we are light-years ahead of USF. USF's whole schtick right now is Charlie Strong. Seriously, before he set foot on their sideline, they were deader-than-dead in the realignment talk.
UCF is the hot property at the moment, but everything hinges on their success after Scott Frost. Both USF and UCF are only in the sweepstakes because they are in Florida...but UCF fits the "traditional" university vibe better than USF.
Boise is only on "DavidSt"'s list. And that should be all you need to know. But they are academically a joke so the PAC won't take them, they are too far west so the Big XII won't take them, and they are a gimmick program because of the "Smurf-turf."
BYU has to be a factor, but their LDS affiliation leaves them hamstrung.
Houston? I have always thought Houston suffers from A LOT of what UC suffers from: historically they were a "commuter" school, they live in a market dominated...not by one, but TWO...major university brands (Texas and TA&MU), pro-sports, yada...yada...yada. I can only see them being a "must get" if Texas and Texas Tech both departed for the PAC.
Colorado State has several things going in their favor... New, reportedly amazing stadium; only one competitor in their market...Colorado. But Denver (I grew up there) is a PRO city: Broncos #1, Rockies #2, Avalanche and Nuggets #3. The Buff's own the Colorado university market...CSU is a distant #2. Plus, historically, Fort Collins was NOT in the "Denver" market; but Denver now has grown to encompass Fort Collins 60 miles to the north, almost to be contiguous with Colorado Springs 90 miles to the South. (The Palmer Divide and the Academy will stop the two cities from ever really merging...) But Denver now sprawls almost 100 miles north-to-south and almost 30 miles deep from west-to-east. (Where I grew up used to be on the extreme east of the metro...nothing but prairie behind the house I grew up in. Now, the city of Aurora goes another 15 miles to the east from where I was a kid...)
Ultimately, who knows how the cards all fall out.