Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

[Noble Evildoer]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Hasn't Jacksonville St. been rumored to be considering moving up for some time now?

I see then mentioned pretty frequently in regards to moving up to the Sun Belt. However, I don't think USA or Troy would be interested in yet another Alabama school and they don't have the major market city that C-USA likes to go after.

[TDenverFan]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

JMU is building a huge (40k+) stadium. No way they'll be FCS for long.


Also, the MVC is thinking of adding Valpu, UIC, UMKC, and Loyola. Not football related, but I'd of thought they could get better programs, especially with Wichita's success.

[Redacted01]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

I advocate Delaware for the Sun Belt... Delaware is the south. Don't argue.

[Noble Evildoer]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

I advocate Delaware for the Sun Belt... Delaware is the south. Don't argue.

It's as much in the South as Idaho. So let me be the first to welcome the Delaware Blue Hens! Welcome aboard fellow Dixie brethren!

[Redacted01]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

It's as much in the South as Idaho. So let me be the first to welcome the Delaware Blue Hens! Welcome aboard fellow Dixie brethren!

Delaware had slaves. Idaho didn't exist. And since I'm from Mississippi, I bring enough Sun Belt to this state. They could at least compete in the Sun Belt... well, UD kind of sucked this year, so most years.

[bellaballa]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/9125952/tulsa-golden-hurricane-formally-accept-invitation-old-big-east-conference

Tulsa accepts the (Big East) invitation

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/western-kentucky-leave-sun-belt-somewhat-greener-pastures-160410022--ncaaf.html

WKU to the C-USA

[BurghFan]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

The old Big East is expected to announce that it will be called the American Athletic Conference.

Sources: Old Big East Has New Name

The American Athletic Conference is the new name for the former Big East Conference, according to sources.

The league is expected to formally announce the new American Athletic Conference name as early as Thursday.

In the Big East's final season in its current make-up, the league is going out with a flourish. Louisville upset Florida in the AT&T Sugar Bowl and five league teams reached the men's and women's Final Fours, the most from one conference in NCAA history.

So now we'll have the ACC and the AAC

[Redacted01]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

The old Big East is expected to announce that it will be called the American Athletic Conference.

Sources: Old Big East Has New Name



So now we'll have the ACC and the AAC

Better than the MAC and the MAAC and people say them the same. I guess May-ack never caught on or they are strongly against it.

[Noble Evildoer]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

The old Big East is expected to announce that it will be called the American Athletic Conference.

Sources: Old Big East Has New Name



So now we'll have the ACC and the AAC

They definitely did a good job of coming up with an even more generic name than Conference USA. So good on themI guess.

Better than the MAC and the MAAC and people say them the same. I guess May-ack never caught on or they are strongly against it.

I've always promounced MAAC as Mah-aahhhhhck. Which I guess is dumber than May-ack but they're both pretty dumb.

Also, the MAAC doesn't play FBS football while both the ACC and AAC do.

[TripleCrown9]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

It will go perfectly with the other AAC.

[Noble Evildoer]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/jeremy-fowler/22030790/conference-usa-weighing-16-team-model

Looks like Conference USA is considering going to 16 teams. Would likely pull in two western schools (Arkansas State, Louisiana, and Texas State heavily rumored) to balance out the divisions to some degree.

Also seems like a pre-emptive move to absorb the blow of losing more schools to the AAC once the Big Ten, Big XII, and SEC come after the ACC and they reload with AAC schools.

[sportznut02]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9200081/acc-media-rights-deal-lock-schools-okd-sources-say

Media deal OK'd to solidify ACC
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%"> By Brett McMurphy
ESPN

PASADENA, Calif. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference presidents approved Monday a grant of media rights for the league through 2026-27, effectively halting the exodus of any schools to other conferences. The move solidifies the future of the ACC, which had several teams that had been speculated as targets of the Big Ten.
The ACC's grant of rights makes it untenable financially for a school to leave, guaranteeing in the 14 years of the deal that a school's media rights, including revenue, for all home games would remain with the ACC regardless of the school's affiliation.

ACC blog

ESPN.com's Heather Dinich writes about all things ACC in the conference blog.
• Blog network:
College Football Nation


"This announcement further highlights the continued solidarity and commitment by our member institutions," said ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. "The Council of Presidents has shown tremendous leadership in insuring the ACC is extremely well positioned with unlimited potential." The ACC becomes the fourth league with a grant of rights, along with the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12. The SEC is the only conference among the Power Five leagues that does not have a grant of rights. The David Glenn Show, a North Carolina sports-talk radio program, first reported the ACC was considering the grant of rights.
"It was pretty cut and dry to unify this league," another ACC source said. "The ACC has been a really good league and now it can become really special." Last year when the ACC increased its exit fee from $20 million to three times its annual operating budget -- about $52 million -- Maryland and Florida State voted against the increase.
Maryland leaves for the Big Ten in 2014 and has filed a lawsuit, claiming it shouldn't be responsible for the new exit fee. The ACC also filed a lawsuit against Maryland, guaranteeing the Terps pay the full amount.
As far the grant of rights, "Florida State is on board," a source said.
Multiple ACC schools have been speculated as targets for the Big Ten, if that league decided to expand to 16 schools.
With the grant of rights in place at three other power leagues, if the Big Ten wants to add more schools it would have to target schools from leagues that don't have a grant of rights -- the SEC, the American Athletic Conference (formerly Big East), Mid-American, Conference USA, Mountain West, Sun Belt -- or BYU.
On July 1, Pittsburgh and Syracuse join as full ACC members while Notre Dame joins in all sports but football. In 2014, Louisville joins the ACC as a full member.
"People are always speculating about teams leaving the league, but no one has wavered," a source said. "This (the grant of rights) is a good move. A proactive move."
The grant of rights coincides with the ACC's TV deal with ESPN through the 2026-27 season. That deal was worth $17 million per school per year, but sources told ESPN last year it is expected to increase to at least $18 million per school per year with the addition of Notre Dame.

[Hooe]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

It just got harder to leave the ACC.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9200081/acc-media-rights-deal-lock-schools-okd-sources-say

tl;dr - each of the 14 schools' media rights are now ACC exclusive, regardless of conference affiliation, through the 2026-27 season. The ACC is the fourth conference to establish such a policy, with the B1G, PAC-12, and Big XII already having such a policy in place.

[sportznut02]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

It looks like any more major expansion will have to wait 14 years. We may finally have some stability in college sports for awhile.

[NYJets]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Mother****er