B1G Expansion and more Conference Realignment

Bucky said:
MichiganMan said:
i heard we are merging with the MAC
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I'm also getting chatter from my sources saying much the same thing.

It'll be great to finally settle the debate as to who has the best football conference in the Great Lakes/Midwest.
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Agreed. It's been keeping me up at night. Then again, if the MAC and Big 10 merged this year, Ohio may run away with it all. :)

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On the topic I posted, a friend of a friend (isn't it always?) sent me this link to a Shaggy Bevo thread, of all things, where these ideas may have came from...

...aparently the source of all this is a West Virginia fan that broke their school's realignment to the Big XII before everyone else (supposedly). The fan's twitter feed, MHver3, had the following information:

MHver3: News has been slow lately but big things are brewing. I'm gonna update my expansion alert level from yellow to orange. Big Ten eyeing 4MHver3: BigEast decision on staying with espn or seeking greener pastures could very well start the festivities.

MHver3: The B10 will make waves. Not a splash. 4 separate states south of the mason Dixon.

MHver3: Sources saying their is mutual interest among the four schools who have been contacted via back channels.
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So...um...well...there's this, I suppose. Four schools south of the Mason-Dixon line? I wouldn't expect four, since the BTN wants to expand to the Northeast, but I could see three--Ga. Tech, FSU, and Clemson, with Rutgers or Boston College getting the fourth spot.

 
I remember at one Texas was going to go to the B1G back in the 1990's.

Anyway, yes to Texas if they are not allowed to run the show.

Oklahoma would also be good.

I heard that Maryland, Virgina, and North Carolina might be a possibility as well.

Missouri might be able to get out the 25 million if the SEC could get a Clemson, Gergia Tech, or Florida State, which they would rather have.

The next major conference to get raided will be the ACC. Again, this is all in several years, and hopefully wont happen soon.

 
Mizzou is welcome to leave the SEC without a penalty....as I understand it, there is no exit fee. I doubt they'll bail after a single season...they've been through the worst of the SEC. They'll get their licks in.

 
AgMarauder04 said:
Mizzou is welcome to leave the SEC without a penalty....as I understand it, there is no exit fee. I doubt they'll bail after a single season...they've been through the worst of the SEC. They'll get their licks in.
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No, there's an exit fee--I want to say it was recently upped (after having aTm and Missouri join) to $25 million, but it may only be $20 million.

Still, though, Missouri just got done paying their exit fee to the Big XII. Turning around and paying another fee would really set their AD back a few years fiscally...

 
matthew_m_g said:
strigori said:
I think it's a moot point even talking OU and OSU. If I remember right, the new TV contract the Big XII signed had all the schools giving their media rights over the to conference for at least a decade. Meaning if they change conferences, the new conference would not have any means to air the school's home games in any sport.
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No, it means that the school, in addition to exit fees, would have to pay to buy back the rights of the conference. That, and past games may become unavailable to the school as well.

There's no way the Big XII would hold their media rights hostage if a school wanted to leave--sure, they could do so legally, but they won't, and it just instead is another fee on top of the exit fee to consider.
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I don't now the specifics of the law but if push came to shove, the school would just rescind the contract and then only be liable for the $$$ of their rights.

 
matthew_m_g said:
AgMarauder04 said:
Mizzou is welcome to leave the SEC without a penalty....as I understand it, there is no exit fee. I doubt they'll bail after a single season...they've been through the worst of the SEC. They'll get their licks in.
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No, there's an exit fee--I want to say it was recently upped (after having aTm and Missouri join) to $25 million, but it may only be $20 million.

Still, though, Missouri just got done paying their exit fee to the Big XII. Turning around and paying another fee would really set their AD back a few years fiscally...
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I really don't think the SEC has a fee, but I've googled all over the interwebs and I can't find proof one way or another. Regardless, 1 bad year doesn't mean a team is going to leave. With the increased exposure and money of the SEC, Mizzou can recover.

 
AgMarauder04 said:
matthew_m_g said:
AgMarauder04 said:
Mizzou is welcome to leave the SEC without a penalty....as I understand it, there is no exit fee. I doubt they'll bail after a single season...they've been through the worst of the SEC. They'll get their licks in.
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No, there's an exit fee--I want to say it was recently upped (after having aTm and Missouri join) to $25 million, but it may only be $20 million.

Still, though, Missouri just got done paying their exit fee to the Big XII. Turning around and paying another fee would really set their AD back a few years fiscally...
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I really don't think the SEC has a fee, but I've googled all over the interwebs and I can't find proof one way or another. Regardless, 1 bad year doesn't mean a team is going to leave. With the increased exposure and money of the SEC, Mizzou can recover.
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Yeah, they can take their money and be the doormat of the SEC for the foreseeable future. I'm okay with that... :dunno

 
matthew_m_g said:
matthew_m_g said:
AgMarauder04 said:
http://www.forbes.co...r-the-course/2/ Exit Fee list.
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Thanks. I was thinking of the ACC, I guess. I could have sworn there was something that took place right after Missouri and aTm got voted in where there were exit fees or penalties, though...
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So, I guess Missouri is in play if the B1G is interested, and we know that Missouri was hot on the B1G before...
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Yeah, I think Mizzou went to the SEC because they needed to get out of the BigXIIish, and the SEC was available. For some reason, I don't remember the B1G being interested...which is weird because Mizzou is an AAU member, has good athletics and fan support, and brings good TV markets. Question is would they leave if the B1G came calling? I can't answer that one.

 
The problem is almost no team that is worthwhile is available. No one is going to leave the SEC. The ACC just passed a $50 million exit fee, so no one from there. The PAC12 owns the media rights of it's members. And I think the Big XII does now also. Leaving the Big East members, or lower level conference members, which the B1G would have no interest in. Really leaving the options as being Louisville and Rutgers as the best remaining options. And I don't know if either really add value.

Teams from the South make sense, creating a better inroad for recruiting. But unless the B1G is going to pull a couple from Sun Belt or CUSA. South Florida and Louisville are the Big East members from the south.

 
strigori said:
The problem is almost no team that is worthwhile is available. No one is going to leave the SEC. The ACC just passed a $50 million exit fee, so no one from there. The PAC12 owns the media rights of it's members. And I think the Big XII does now also. Leaving the Big East members, or lower level conference members, which the B1G would have no interest in. Really leaving the options as being Louisville and Rutgers as the best remaining options. And I don't know if either really add value.

Teams from the South make sense, creating a better inroad for recruiting. But unless the B1G is going to pull a couple from Sun Belt or CUSA. South Florida and Louisville are the Big East members from the south.
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That's the problem. If these conferences are making it impossible to get out (like a jail), there's something wrong. Your conference should operate in a way that it doesn't matter what the exit fee is because nobody wants to leave. I'm not really a fan of the 4 "Super" conferences, but when some of the "minor" ones panic, crap like this happens.

 
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