(07-29-2021 06:04 PM)Enviro5609 Wrote:  

(07-29-2021 04:22 PM)Thewavefan Wrote:  

(07-29-2021 04:14 PM)Helicopter Wrote:  

(07-29-2021 04:08 PM)mtmedlin Wrote:  

(07-29-2021 03:51 PM)Helicopter Wrote:  Are you sitting down? Cause I have news for you. Only Football and Basketball matters. And there are some stark tiers, my friend.

That used to be true but in the digital streaming age things are changing.

Then there’s the oddballs. Like uconn women’s basketball. They had their own deal and made good money.
Baseball pulls good numbers on espn+, women’s sports are having more value. It’s not nearly as cut and dry as before.

85% Football; 12% Basketball; 3% Everything else

If that’s the case then how do you explain Rutgers and Maryland to the Big Ten? How do you explain the entire AAC which was mostly put together by markets. It’s all about markets and academics, do not be fooled.

It’s a little of both.

Every power conference has an anchor. Michigan and Ohio State. Alabama and LSU. Oklahoma and Texas. USC/UCLA. Clemson. Etc.

The entire conference is built around those big blue chip programs. Everyone wants to watch them or beat them. They are the product.

The rest of the schools help build up those big chip programs. Be it by adding credibility by academic reputation/national standing, providing a good rivalry, or expanding the geographic map for more TV markets.

So academics and markets is all that matters *as long as you have a power program to use that expanded market or burnish the credibility*. Rutgers and Maryland made sense because the B1G already had Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State as blue blood anchors for the conference. Adding Rutgers and Maryland let the B1G market its big name programs in New York and DC.

The Big XII lost its blue chip programs. Expanding the markets or academic credentials doesn’t matter without anything to actually sell. It’s going to take some time to settle in and get over the shock, but the BigXII are basically on par with the American now, except with an even smaller TV footprint. There is no backfilling UT and OU.