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AAC/ BE poach - version 4.0 - CR talk

So I guess this is Aresco's new meaning for Power 6, LOL!



PS - Houston, UCF and Cincy are officially out for an $18 mil exit fee while staying in the AAC for 2 seasons (Uconn paid $17 mil for a 12 month exit)

 
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THANK YOU.... Dave Benedict, he got Uconn out of the AAC just in time !
Nothing says P-6 hoops (not !) like this motley crew of C-USA cast-offs that Aresco is piecing together. Seriously what is he thinking?
Well looks like Aresco is still bleeding schools, first Uconn, then Houston, UCF and Cincy, now looks like SMU is out the door before his " 2023 expansion" even happens.......As was mentioned in 2021: The Dallas Mornings News says- SMU, as well as Memphis are both angling to get out too. ” SMU President Gerald R. Turner and Athletic Director Rick Hart wrote in part of a joint statement. “However, this change is only one phase in the ongoing restructuring of the intercollegiate landscape.”......I feel bad for Temple like Rothstein has tweeted in the past.


 
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Long before CR, Temple was kicked out of the Big East after 10 failed seasons:
 
Long before CR, Temple was kicked out of the Big East after 10 failed seasons:
As a Football only member, Nova always pressured to keep out their Philly neighbor for hoops.

Looking back having all sports member like them was probably the only thing that would have kept the original BE with BC, Miami, Va Tech, Cuse, Pitt, Rutgers, WVU, etc. together with Uconn. And it would've been the BE poaching ACC schools. But as the Catholics hoopsters showed later they left anyway too. Should have kicked the small Catholic hoopsters out proactively and Uconn would still be a P-5.

PS . The Big East all sport schools wanted Penn St. too and they wanted in, but it was the little Catholics who voted against them...SMH
 
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SO....I guess it's CR news cycle time again... announced today was an early departure by TX and OK... Now where does the Big 12 go or more importantly who can they afford to poach next if “aggressively pursue (ing) ” further expansion is their plan ? It obviously won't be an SEC or B1G school... but ?.... Could they afford/ or have the TV partner backing ( $ ) to make a run on any ACC teams ?

New Big 12 in 2023-
Expansion-2021-Big-12-Member.jpg

 
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Nothing we haven't seen or discussed for going on 20 years on this board.....but as Richie ( on the home page) says it's that time of year when the CR rumors heat up. ( heading into JULY 1st new years date in College sports)

Yeah... Big 12 talk again after they poached Cincy, Houston and UCF, then added BYU for this year. With TEX and OKLA moving out in 2024. Now the Big 12 is vying for more members to be #1 in line after the Power 2 ( B1G/ SEC) and "The less Power 3" . The new rumor is certain ACC schools (we know who - list starts w/ Clemson- FSU ) are not so happy with their long term ESPN deal and continuing to have to pay the bottom feeders ( yes you BC for starters).... but now looking to make moves to change things... ( including uneven conference payouts by team)

Big 12 for Uconn ??? Kinda like back to the future again regarding some of these schools. Cincy, WVU, UCF, Houston who we've already been in conferences with. Husky Football actually won 2 BE championships in the 1st 10 years of FBS, while competing with Cincy/ WVU, (Cuse, Ville Pitt, Rutgers, etc in the old BE). And Hoops NC's while competing in conferences vs. all 4 of them...so nothing the Huskies couldn't handle in that new Big 12 conference or dominate...:)

I'd say if it was ever to happen the biggest winner at Uconn would be Jim Penders and his top 20 every year baseball team, since BE baseball sucks...

I certainly like the BE hoops/ Indy FB set-up as is, but we know how this goes. TV money is king and if it makes sense for a school and conference ....sh#t happens...

 
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About the BIG 12 CR from Sports Illustrated-

"Other targets are from a variety of leagues: San Diego State and UNLV from the Mountain West; UConn, which is independent in football and in the Big East in basketball.......UConn, the reigning men’s basketball champions, is a play for a foothold in the Northeast as well as adding another basketball powerhouse to what currently is the best hoops league in the country....(debatable, ask DH)


and even the guy who's had plenty to say on CR but is usually dismissive regarding Uconn...Amazing what another recent NC does in these guys minds....LOL!

 
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On the phone with Uconn and in salvage mode...ASAP
So now that BC has had its ass kicked in football and basketball in the ACC with regularity for 18 or so years, it's going to kiss and make up with UConn and try to forge some new conference????????

I do not understand where CR is ultimately headed. I understand that football is driving the bus on CR and that all the high level football teams want to be in the SEC or Big 10, but there is something that does not add up in my head on this. Which is that there will be winners and losers in every conference, no matter what. It's basic math. The perpetual losers in one or two mega conferences will get more TV money, yes, but they will still be losers and not playing in the post season. Will the boosters accept that over time? The bigger schools need someone to beat, and some teams may not want to take the beatings for them year after year.
 
So now that BC has had its ass kicked in football and basketball in the ACC with regularity for 18 or so years, it's going to kiss and make up with UConn and try to forge some new conference????????

It's basic math.
Yep sucks to be schools like BC and Rutgers, when the only thing your AD plays for, year after year, is a paycheck...;)

PS there's alot going on social media/ twitter right now regarding all this crap.....THE SI writer said the Uconn stuff is real in his podcast...says the money for Uconn is $5 mil per year in the BE , but $30 mil per year in the B12... if your the BOT and Dave Benedict, whats the call ? and would they become a bottom feeder? I think not with DH, Mora, Geno and Penders...

I still love Big East better but I can't take these know nothing national writers who should shut their frickin mouths on Uconn matters and offer nothing but FAKE NEWS with dumb OPINIONS on half truths!

 
if your the BOT and Dave Benedict, whats the call ?
Just facts, ( fake news sports media guys hate those) but this re-tweet from Matt, a Uconn football beat writer, got a like from the Uconn AD... on a clip of an interview he did last year with a College sports strategy analyst. Losing the MSG tourney and the 5 eastern MBB rivals is the big down side though. Butler, Creighton Xavier, Depaul ( half the new BE is Midwest), so who cares along with BE baseball. For Geno the Big 12 is an upgrade too and obviously for Jim Mora.

But tough call for the AD/ BOT and it's not my money or budget, if they are given the choice. And you can afford alot of travel and coaches salaries with $30 mil a year playing midwest games in the Big 12 (as they do already in the BE). Compared to the $2 mil per yr they got from the AAC TV contract, for all that travel or the $5 mil a year in the BE.

ACC ( or remnants) would be better but could their TV deal fall apart with what's going on ?....so Uconn is fine as is....stealth mode.



 
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Wonder where that leaves former Big East members Syracuse, Pitt and BC, who are among the "not so magnificent" other 7?
“We’re not unified,” is how one ACC source explains it. “We’re unified until someone offers a school more to go somewhere else. Everyone is going to grab it.”

"The seven with the wandering eye: Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia and Virginia Tech. The seven on the other side: Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Wake Forest. "

"with perhaps a Big East football reincarnation that brings the northeast schools back together. In short, all hell would break loose."

 
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if your the BOT and Dave Benedict, whats the call ?
Some Big 12 talking points by writer Mike Anthony- ( besides the $30 milion a year increase in revenue)

"That leaves the Big 12, which does make sense on some levels. Big 12 men’s basketball has been the best in America in recent years, led by the two national champions (Baylor in 2021, Kansas in 2022) that preceded UConn’s latest."

"Geographically, the Big 12 is less than an ideal fit, but Big East isn’t exactly exclusive to the Northeast anymore, with members (Creighton) as far away as Omaha. The conference would give football, which currently runs independently, a conference affiliation and a Power Five one at that. The Big 12 would be a step up for Jim Pender’s UConn baseball team, too. "

BUT.
...“I don't think money guarantees success,” Benedict said. “I think you can look around the country and identify programs in those conferences that aren't winning national championships or are competitive at that level."....."I would have no interest in going into a situation — this is me, personally, speaking — where you're going to get more money but you're not going to be competitive in anything. That is not attractive to me, at all. And that certainly was a factor in making the move back to the Big East.”

 
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I think it's also complicated by the fact that nobody knows where CR is headed and the Big 12- which already imploded once losing its top 2 schools- may implode again, down the road. BC 18 years ago thought that the grass was greener in the ACC pasture, but after 18 years of ass kickings by ACC teams in multiple sports, they are about to be left at the altar, scrambling for a new conference to get married to. The bottom line is what looks good now may not be 2, 3, 5 or 10 years down the road. Lots and lots of potentially unwise, short term thinking is going into the decisions we are seeing.
 
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BC 18 years ago thought that the grass was greener in the ACC pasture......they are about to be left at the altar, scrambling for a new conference to get married to. The bottom line is what looks good now may not be 2, 3, 5 or 10 years down the road.
Another thought I had is I wonder how Notre Dame feels about the ACC just about now, since they don't seem to be on either side ( of the 7's) . Or if it does implode ? Since they've always wanted to stay Indy in FB, will it be time for them to finally join the B1G in all sports or would they stay an Indy and turn back to their Catholic brethren to join the new Big East for everything else?
 
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Notre Dame is probably the only school in the nation which can stay out of CR, remain Indy and not have it impact too much. I suspect that their basketball team wouldn't suffer that much if it were to be indy. Their men's team went 3-17 in the ACC last year, and although they had some decent years under Digger Phelps (as an independent back then), it's been a while since ND men's hoops has been a force nationally. The ND women's team doesn't need the ACC. They were great in the Big East and have been consistently good including under their new coach whose recruiting has been stellar.

I think ND stays Indy and sits out on CR at least for a while. It's the wise thing to do and I believe they are the one school that can do it. Having a national TV package helps.
 
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I guess my payout number for the Big 12 was a little low. They did have Baylor and Kansas as back to back NC's in hoops before us. And TCU was in the national championship football game, so I'm sure that helps payout numbers too and for future #'s.

I'd guess new Big 12 members in 2023, Cincy, UCF, Houston and BYU don't get that amount. Interesting side note is that Uconn FB has had recent home and home FB games with all 4 of those, so we've traveled to all of them for alot less.

Still can't believe Aresco had us playing in his AAC for a $2-3 mil a year TV contract for all sports, when the BE was getting $5 mil for hoops. You think the national writers would understand this. Along with him trying to steal the SNY $2 mil a year TV deal from Uconn WBB (and then sell it to ESPN for nothing) as to a huge factor in Uconn leaving the AAC. Instead all of their other stupid "this sport vs. that sport" narratives.


 
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Alt link- https://www.printfriendly.com/p/g/eGFptX

KEY point that all the National writers get completley wrong when voicing their dumb opinions of Uconn.... I'm GLAD The Courant's Amore said it:

"Let’s try to correct the false narrative that a move to the Big 12 would be repeating a past mistake. UConn did not leave the Big East and jeopardize its basketball because it was deluded about football. This is revisionist history. The original Big East wanted UConn to upgrade football in what proved to be a futile attempt to keep its football schools in the conference, and actually urged UConn to speed up the timetable....When the conference broke up several years later, the seven private basketball-centric schools left to form their own conference, bought the Big East name and did not invite UConn to join them. So what became known as the American Athletic Conference was the only option for UConn at the time"
( and still the original Big East Conference with offices in Providence, RI...I might add..it's the reason all the defectors around 2012 break-up paid around $105 mil in exit fees Uconn split with Cincy and USF over 6 years as the 3 only real BE members left. It does kinda lead to the timing of Uconn heading to the new BE though)

Other excerpts :
"Benedict would neither confirm nor deny reports that Yormark has been on campus for a tour of facilities and conversations.....“It’s extremely complicated from the standpoint there are a lot of things going on in college athletics,” Benedict said. “There’s the opportunity, not necessarily the requirement, to invest more than we currently are.”

"Coaching staffs can now be expanded in sports other than football, and colleges can give all student athletes up to $6,000 per year. UConn cannot do all of this, at least not across the board. Increased levels of support for health care, including mental health, and a longer period of time for athletes to return and get their degrees will also increase costs in the future."

“These are things most Power Five programs are doing, which is going to create a further divide among haves and have nots,” Benedict said. “But money is not the only thing that determines outcomes.”
 
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At least UConn has some options to talk about.
True another thing Dom Amore added in his article:

"If the Big 12 came calling now, it would be UConn’s choice to join or pass, and the continued conference realignment leaves UConn holding some cards. With Hurley’s championship and the improved football credibility that Jim Mora has brought, it must look a lot better to suitors than it did when the conference dancing began. No longer desperate to escape the AAC, UConn would still be in a good place if it stays put."

"So if such a move were to happen, UConn would sacrifice its emotional ties to the Big East and Madison Square Garden all over again, and that would hurt, but it would not suffer competitively or financially in basketball. It would not be the dismal days of 2012-13 all over again"

Benedict compares the college sports landscape to the board game “Risk,” where old alliances can fall by the wayside. “One could say it makes sense to have very geographic-centric conferences,” Benedict said, “but in what’s driving the current environment and the value for media, that strategy doesn’t necessarily apply anymore. "

"If it comes down to going to the Big 12 or staying put, the massive increase in revenue would seem to make the move an easy choice. But is there a third option coming around the blind curve? What if the ACC sees seismic changes — as other reports have suggested is possible — and a new arrangement could be forged ..."
 
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I used to play Risk as a kid. That is a very good board game analogy for the alliances that need to be developed to win at that board game. I like the scenario that places UConn in the Big East in most sports (especially basketball, although Big East is kind of suck-ass in baseball), and has UConn football married to the "not so Magnificent 7" in football. UConn is also not so Magnificent in football, and those schools fit with UConn geographically, rivalry-wise, and competitively. As long as those schools admit now that the ACC was a failed experiment for them, all partners could go into the new football conference with the attitude of aggressively recruiting OUR part of the nation and making each other better and competing with what appears will eventually be a Power 2: SEC and Big 10. They will get the recruits from south, west and Midwest, we need to dominate the northeast.
 
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Best thing to me after years of having to sweat this stuff, is I almost feel like Uconn is a mini-me of Notre Dame as an-all sports member in a conference and an Indy in FB. If the ACC fell apart I could also see the Irish pushing to come back to the Big East as member #12 and continue as a FB Indy too....But as the article says:

" Conference realignment has become an extra-inning ballgame without ghost runners. The next blow could end it, or it could go on all night, or be suspended and resumed in the future. It’s not over, and the new question confronting UConn in this at-bat is not “Why doesn’t anyone want us?” but rather, “What do we want?” And, whatever comes next, that is a good place to be.
 
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. It’s not over, and the new question confronting UConn in this at-bat is not “Why doesn’t anyone want us?” but rather, “What do we want?” And, whatever comes next, that is a good place to be.
This is 100% true- although it's a better place to be, choosing the correct option when there are so many unknowns and playing extra innings without ghost runner, is going to be a difficult game to play. CR is a Wild West type scenario right now. Nobody knows what the correct option is without a Swami and Crystal Ball that can predict future events. All of this is to say Dave Benedict has more pressure on him than maybe any AD to make a difficult and correct choice. And if he chooses wrong or what's looking like it was wrong after another 5 years of unknown developments, he is going to be cooked like Eggs Benedict but with no runny yolks.
 
This is 100% true- although it's a better place to be, choosing the correct option when there are so many unknowns and playing extra innings without ghost runner, is going to be a difficult game to play. CR is a Wild West type scenario right now.
You ain't kidding..... now the PAC 12 ??? .... if this is next... COL back to the future ? They left the Big 12 for the PAC 12...How about Uconn and Deion to the Big 12... hang on folks !

 
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All of this is to say Dave Benedict has more pressure on him than maybe any AD to make a difficult and correct choice.
Yesterday....he also mentioned a small problem too ;), for Jim Penders Top 10 team, regarding Big East baseball. (yep, I know a solution, it's called in conference games in the Big 12, LOL!)

 
You ain't kidding..... now the PAC 12 ??? .... if this is next... COL back to the future ? They left the Big 12 for the PAC 12...How about Uconn and Deion to the Big 12... hang on folks !
Speaking of Deion, I will be very curious to see how Colorado does this year with the most revamped roster in NCAA football history- they set a record for Portal transfers after Deion's now famous "jump into that portal" speech:

Deion was heavily criticized for telling players to leave, even though their team was awful last year and to win he had to revamp the roster. It's interesting that Hurley didn't do this and it may have taken him longer to build a championship team as a result. But most fanbases do not want to wait. They want instant winning.
 
CR is a Wild West type scenario right now. Nobody knows what the correct option is without a Swami and Crystal Ball that can predict future events.
Or Wild East and West, I know Big 12's Commish Yormark was a Brooklyn Nets executive for years and read he was all in hoops (the Gonzaga post FEB in this thread). But if this happens I need to change the title to BE/ ACC poach version 5.0 !



 
You ain't kidding..... now the PAC 12 ??? .... if this is next... COL back to the future ? They left the Big 12 for the PAC 12...How about Uconn and Deion to the Big 12... hang on folks !
More on Deion Sanders and the "Prime Effect":
 
More on Deion Sanders and the "Prime Effect":
And with that they might be ready for a move back home.....

" It became more public last week when the Oklahoman's Berry Tramel reported, "Colorado is ready to commit joining the Big 12 'soon.'"..............."I have no comment other than what I said last week," Colorado athletic director Rick George told CBS Sports while not exactly shooting down the Big 12 talks. "We are proud members of the Pac-12. In a perfect world, we'd love to be in the Pac-12, but we also have to do what is right for Colorado at the end of the day."

 
You ain't kidding..... now the PAC 12 ??? .... if this is next... COL back to the future ? They left the Big 12 for the PAC 12...How about Uconn and Deion to the Big 12... hang on folks !

My twitter feed is trolling me, LOL! .... FWIW from Sports Director @ K-State student radio....

 
But tough call for the AD/ BOT and it's not my money or budget, if they are given the choice.

ACC ( or remnants) would be better but could their TV deal fall apart with what's going on ?....so Uconn is fine as is....stealth mode.
Torres tweet regarding the post below " Sounds like a strange pair, but there's a plan in place that will make sense if/when it comes together" .........with COL and Uconn as full members. Might make more sense for Uconn fans in a best of both worlds situation/ if Yormark's big on hoops was to happen..

Here's a new look map...... while talk of hoops only members for the Big 12 ( Gonzaga and some other Big East schools Nova, G-town, St Johns ?) is also out there. As always this stuff is the wild wild west or maybe east. But as I posted when this recent CR frenzy started.... INDY/ Big East is fine for me.
 
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