(04-23-2023 10:41 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(04-23-2023 09:56 PM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  If the schools involved (the 4 Corners, the PAC in general, the Big 12, SDSU and SMU) approached things more like the Sun Belt strategy of creating good matchups, regional coherence, etc. and money wasn't the overarching factor, would that help say Arizona decide to take their basketball to the Big 12 for matchups with KU, Baylor, etc. or would cultural POV keep them in the PAC?

I hope that question makes sense.

Money is the ONLY reason why Arizona would ever consider to move to the Big 12 (assuming that Big 12 ends up with a money advantage).

All of the “Sun Belt strategy” factors of geographic coherence and rivalries would point to Arizona and all other Pac-12 schools staying right where they are (in additional to cultural point of view and academics). The only part of the Big 12 that has regional coherence is the Texas portion and the old Big 8 schools. Otherwise, it’s a total geographic mishmash (much more like an AAC strategy, albeit with MUCH better brands, than a Sun Belt strategy).

Agreed!

(04-24-2023 06:54 AM)ExpertAd991 Wrote:  Not tryna hate on the SBC adding JMU but why didn't they add Liberty? They have a more established brand than the dukes. Also would've fit in perfectly geographically as they are more down south in the state when compared to JMU.

Liberty is a private institution and that doesn’t fit with the rest of the Sun Belt membership.

(04-24-2023 06:54 AM)ExpertAd991 Wrote:  Not tryna hate on the SBC adding JMU but why didn't they add Liberty? They have a more established brand than the dukes. Also would've fit in perfectly geographically as they are more down south in the state when compared to JMU.

Liberty is a Private school. The SBC is all public schools, and some members (at least the 3 from the SoCon, and probably the 3 from the CAA) don't have the best memories sharing a conference with Private schools.

App's message board back in the FCS days would say there were disagreements in the SoCon between the Publics and the Privates. The Publics would want to go one direction, and the Privates would want to go the other direction. People would leave meetings unhappy.

And yes, I know Denver is a Private school that was once in the SBC, but they were gone before any of the 6 I am referring to joined.

(04-24-2023 06:42 AM)CenterSquarEd Wrote:  

(04-23-2023 10:41 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(04-23-2023 09:56 PM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  If the schools involved (the 4 Corners, the PAC in general, the Big 12, SDSU and SMU) approached things more like the Sun Belt strategy of creating good matchups, regional coherence, etc. and money wasn't the overarching factor, would that help say Arizona decide to take their basketball to the Big 12 for matchups with KU, Baylor, etc. or would cultural POV keep them in the PAC?

I hope that question makes sense.

Money is the ONLY reason why Arizona would ever consider to move to the Big 12 (assuming that Big 12 ends up with a money advantage).

All of the “Sun Belt strategy” factors of geographic coherence and rivalries would point to Arizona and all other Pac-12 schools staying right where they are (in additional to cultural point of view and academics). The only part of the Big 12 that has regional coherence is the Texas portion and the old Big 8 schools. Otherwise, it’s a total geographic mishmash (much more like an AAC strategy, albeit with MUCH better brands, than a Sun Belt strategy).

I mean, the “Sun Belt strategy” was about money too though, right? But instead of maximizing revenue, it minimized cost. No more trips to El Paso or South Florida.

The only Sun Belt member that USM played ten times or more, ever, is Louisiana.

Adding James Madison at least gave Old Dominion a rival, but neither of them have much history with anybody else (gotta go deep into realignmentology to remember Georgia State’s CAA membership).

Don’t get me wrong, the Sun Belt has some new shared interests that could grow into compelling matchups—Marshall or JMU against App State, for example—but I’m not sure how much inspiration the Big 12 could get from this.

The SBC gained money from ESPN while also minimizing costs. USM might not have played SBC teams too often in football, but there are only so many OOC games you can have in a year. Check USM’s other sports and they’ve played a bit more. But even still they’ll never play as much as they’ll play conference mates so that’s a bit of a misleading point.

The PAC schools aren’t geographically close to the B12.

If you wanted a geographically tight conference with a lot of historic matchups it would look like:
NW:
- Cal
- Stanford
- Oregon
- Oregon St
- Washington
- Washington St
- Boise St
SW:
- SDSU
- UNLV
- AZ
- ASU
- BYU
- UU
- USU
MTN
- WYO
- CSU
- AFA
- CU
- UNM
- NMSt
- UTEP

(04-24-2023 07:50 AM)PeteTheChop Wrote:  

(04-24-2023 07:28 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote:  Believe it or not, it's actually faster to get between ODU/Marshall and JMU than ODU/Marshall and Liberty (as JMU does have the interstate going straight thru their campus)

Next time you head to a ballgame at Marshall and aren't in a hurry, take the scenic route through McDowell County, W.Va.

Been hard times for a long time, but man that area is beautiful and folks are salt of the earth

McDowell County WV... another country, this is a great episode by Anthony Bourdaine.

(04-24-2023 02:27 PM)SMUstang Wrote:  

(04-24-2023 02:22 PM)GreenBison Wrote:  

(04-24-2023 07:50 AM)PeteTheChop Wrote:  

(04-24-2023 07:28 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote:  Believe it or not, it's actually faster to get between ODU/Marshall and JMU than ODU/Marshall and Liberty (as JMU does have the interstate going straight thru their campus)

Next time you head to a ballgame at Marshall and aren't in a hurry, take the scenic route through McDowell County, W.Va.

Been hard times for a long time, but man that area is beautiful and folks are salt of the earth

McDowell County WV... another country, this is a great episode by Anthony Bourdaine.

Guess what - no one cares SMDH

I know they don't, no one ever cares about my state. So you're cute comment isn't anything I haven't heard my entire life.

(04-23-2023 09:56 PM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  If the schools involved (the 4 Corners, the PAC in general, the Big 12, SDSU and SMU) approached things more like the Sun Belt strategy of creating good matchups, regional coherence, etc. and money wasn't the overarching factor, would that help say Arizona decide to take their basketball to the Big 12 for matchups with KU, Baylor, etc. or would cultural POV keep them in the PAC?

I hope that question makes sense.

Well the Big 12 is doing both if they add the 4C schools. It would bring longstanding rivalries or revived rivalries. Any eastward expansion would be similar in reviving some AAC rivalries, Big East rivalries, and/or some ACC rivalries.

(04-24-2023 02:22 PM)GreenBison Wrote:  McDowell County WV... another country, this is a great episode by Anthony Bourdaine.

Wow ... Look forward to checking it out!

Thanks for sharing GB!

(04-24-2023 02:42 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(04-24-2023 02:31 PM)GreenBison Wrote:  

(04-24-2023 02:27 PM)SMUstang Wrote:  

(04-24-2023 02:22 PM)GreenBison Wrote:  

(04-24-2023 07:50 AM)PeteTheChop Wrote:  Next time you head to a ballgame at Marshall and aren't in a hurry, take the scenic route through McDowell County, W.Va.

Been hard times for a long time, but man that area is beautiful and folks are salt of the earth

McDowell County WV... another country, this is a great episode by Anthony Bourdaine.

Guess what - no one cares SMDH

I know they don't, no one ever cares about my state. So you're cute comment isn't anything I haven't heard my entire life.

West Virginia is a very beautiful state. Let the haters hate. They don't know.

Thanks, I know what he's referring to, it's a recent post I made in this thread. He should have read it more carefully, because my post was taking his side.

There would be a ton of synergy to have Utah, BYU, ASU, Arizona, and SDSU in the same conference, especially with USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten. Proximity, history, interaction among the fan bases, etc.

The merger of the remaining PAC 12 schools and the remaining legacy Big 12 schools minus WVU plus Houston, BYU, and SDSU makes a lot of sense.

- Washington, WSU, Oregon, OSU, Stanford, Cal
- SDSU, Arizona, ASU, BYU, Utah, Colorado
- Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State
- Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor, Houston

Works if WVU, Cincinnati, and UCF were able to move to the ACC...or, if the Eastern flank adds a handful of schools, such as Pitt, Louisville, and Syracuse.

Thread Closed! To the two posters SMUstang and Bearcat1970: The next time either of you carries your personal feud to this board your getting banned! To the others who joined in bringing a schools religious affiliation to a sports board, when I see this again your getting banned, and I don't care if you are another Mod from another forum or not.

Anytime you see this get started report the post! Do not reply!

I could issue warnings for flaming or derailing the OP (which happened the instant religion was brought into a sports thread).

And I could have banned or issued a warning for an allegation made which had no connection to the topic and which unsubstantiated could leave this site open to a damages suit.

I'm not fooling around with this behavior anymore!