(06-04-2013 01:44 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(06-04-2013 01:13 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  I think your analysis is pretty good BBB but there is one exception to the rules.

If the Networks decide sooner rather than later to push for conference playoffs. Those playoffs will be huge draws and big time money makers for the Networks. At this point with the ACC in tact, in order for the Networks to get their new toys, conferences like the SEC will have to dig a little deeper into the pool of Universities. That means the Networks will have to pay them Big money to entice them to do such.

IF that were to happen then schools like ECU, SMU and even Boise out west could possibly get looked at. The PAC could easily form a susidiary level of membership in the conference that has to do with lacking academics. That problem is hyped up more than it really is once enough money is involved.

The SEC is seriously lacking in possibilities in the East should this come to pass. I have no idea if they could come to terms with the Big 12 in order to get them to let WVU out of the GoR but other than that, ECU is the SEC's best option out East. Even if they DO get WVU they still might be better off getting ECU instead of anyone else in order to get into North Carolina and to allow Missouri to be better positioned in a division.

ECU has a slim chance but I don't think it will ever have anything to do with them increasing their academics and what not. There just isn't enough time for that and I don't see them ever changing their name. They would have a serious issue with many of their alumni if they ever did that.

He1nous it would profit the networks not to take smaller schools for that kind of money. If they pony up it will be to secure established brands, and if they pony up for the Big 10 or SEC it will be to get regional and national brands. I could see Fox pushing for Kansas and Oklahoma to the Big 10 and ESPN pushing for Texas and West Virginia to the SEC or ACC. And yes there are more than a few variables of combinations that would work. I think when this deal gets done the Big 10, SEC, and ACC all move to 16. Then the PAC decides who they want to get there as well.

Look, I agree that your idea would be the favored one. I was not attempting to illustrate a most favorable situation.

If any of the majors cannot be penetrated then a secondary plan will have to be enacted. When that happens then the range of availabilities will drastically decrease. In that situation the schools taken do not necessarily have to be the brands that drive the system. Their Locations will matter. For ECU, being the only decent draw for football left in the State of North Carolina, they will get looked at. Hell, they draw better than any other program in the State in terms of attendance. They would be a decent pick to round out a four team division in the SEC. They won't be a threat to Florida or Georgia and South Carolina probably wont be all that worried right away either yet it gets all of them into North Carolina regularly.

That would allow Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and either West Virginia or Vanderbilt to form up a division that will help maintain the viability of those programs in the "most competitive" conference in college football. An ECU pick up helps that cause as well.