Major re-structuring of college FB conferences coming soon?

[FeliSilvestris]

For whatever reasons people have started talking about B1G expansion (or member substitution).
HERE is a fairly interesting article from a couple of months ago by Chip Brown, a UTx follower, posted at a competing site. It discusses some interesting scenarios, including:
--- A P5 super-league -- created in order to jointly negotiate TV rights -- involving 60+ schools (including ND and BYU) with a 16-team postseason tournament.
--- A possible SEC-B12 merger
--- A possible departure to the SEC of the OK schools prompting a PAC12/B12 mini-merger (at least involving UT and selected partners).
Mostly speculation, but apparently with some basis on conversations with key people, and common sense.

 

[stpaulcat]

For whatever reasons people have started talking about B1G expansion (or member substitution).
HERE is a fairly interesting article from a couple of months ago by Chip Brown, a UTx follower, posted at a competing site. It discusses some interesting scenarios, including:
--- A P5 super-league -- created in order to jointly negotiate TV rights -- involving 60+ schools (including ND and BYU) with a 16-team postseason tournament.
--- A possible SEC-B12 merger
--- A possible departure to the SEC of the OK schools prompting a PAC12/B12 mini-merger (at least involving UT and selected partners).
Mostly speculation, but apparently with some basis on conversations with key people, and common sense.

This may seem a strange take on this, but the football team is for the school and the students, not for some gigantic and amorphous TV audience. A league of schools (conference) gives both the team and the students of the school an important association and identity. The B1G (like the other conferences) is a very important and good umbrella for the schools in it, even if perhaps a bit larger, and to disband conferences would basically make college into a professional sport and further college life as an anonymous experience. I mean why not just get your degree from the University of Phoenix and never have to leave your bedroom.

 

[Hungry Jack]

This may seem a strange take on this, but the football team is for the school and the students, not for some gigantic and amorphous TV audience. A league of schools (conference) gives both the team and the students of the school an important association and identity. The B1G (like the other conferences) is a very important and good umbrella for the schools in it, even if perhaps a bit larger, and to disband conferences would basically make college into a professional sport and further college life as an anonymous experience. I mean why not just get your degree from the University of Phoenix and never have to leave your bedroom.

I tend to disagree.

The lure of TV money trumps tradition and collegiate rivalry in most cases. The commercial appeal of much broader audiences is just too hard for financially pressed institutions to ignore. If you read Dave Revsine's fine book "The Opening Kickoff", you see that this behavior goes back to the beginning of college football.

But we have seen that the economics of media, regional rivalries hold significant appeal and can form the basis of a media product. The handful of national college football brands might wander off to form a pan-north American super conference, but games like Northwestern vs. Illinois/Wisc/Minny/Iowa/Purdue aren't going to grab an audience beyond the Great Lakes region.

 

[klemman]

This may seem a strange take on this, but the football team is for the school and the students, not for some gigantic and amorphous TV audience. A league of schools (conference) gives both the team and the students of the school an important association and identity. The B1G (like the other conferences) is a very important and good umbrella for the schools in it, even if perhaps a bit larger, and to disband conferences would basically make college into a professional sport and further college life as an anonymous experience. I mean why not just get your degree from the University of Phoenix and never have to leave your bedroom.

I completely agree. I also believe in a free market economy that rewards those who work the hardest and take the biggest risks, a society that while competitive and rewarding, also takes care of those in need, that our government leaders are more interested in the well being of their constituents and less interested in their own personal gains. And that lawyers are more interested in finding out the truth than winning their case.

Big time college sports is about making money. That's not a completely bad thing as that creates wonderful opportunities for many you need to be realistic.

 

[Mr. Stupor]

For whatever reasons people have started talking about B1G expansion (or member substitution).
HERE is a fairly interesting article from a couple of months ago by Chip Brown, a UTx follower, posted at a competing site. It discusses some interesting scenarios, including:
--- A P5 super-league -- created in order to jointly negotiate TV rights -- involving 60+ schools (including ND and BYU) with a 16-team postseason tournament.
--- A possible SEC-B12 merger
--- A possible departure to the SEC of the OK schools prompting a PAC12/B12 mini-merger (at least involving UT and selected partners).
Mostly speculation, but apparently with some basis on conversations with key people, and common sense.

A Texas fan speculating about a B12- SEC merger. Shocking.

 

[StreamCat]

This may seem a strange take on this, but the football team is for the school and the students, not for some gigantic and amorphous TV audience. A league of schools (conference) gives both the team and the students of the school an important association and identity. The B1G (like the other conferences) is a very important and good umbrella for the schools in it, even if perhaps a bit larger, and to disband conferences would basically make college into a professional sport and further college life as an anonymous experience. I mean why not just get your degree from the University of Phoenix and never have to leave your bedroom.

Doesn't seem strange to me. You nailed it, St. Paul!