Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

[AuburnAlumni]

If I'm Mike Slive, I'd go after Missouri and Louisville to finish out a 16 team SEC. Just my opinion.

[mra85a]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

IMO, WVU could be in big, big trouble. The two things that are going kill them are their academics and fanbase.

One, in academics, I think I read that they would rank dead last among all SEC schools as far as the ratings of different universities.

Two, their fanbase has a horrid reputation. Everything they do makes them the laughinstock of the college scene. They are vile, to the point that certain teams won't go into Morgantown, especially for football. I am a Pitt fan, and I would NEVER, EVER consider going to Morgantown for a game...have heard FAR too many horror stories...I understand that every fanbase has idiots, but they are by far some of the worst. I think a conference like the ACC or SEC isn't going to want to put up with shirts on national TV that say "EFFING WEST VIRGINIA," or mass couch burnings, or quarters being flung at opposing teams coaches...not to mention this is the fanbase that comes up with such original chants as "eat sh** Pitt, suck my dixon, and calling Aaron Gray when he was hear a homophobic slur." The fact that they decided to sell beer at mountaineer field now isn't going to help anything.

Add on to that the fact that they don't bring a large TV market, they have a rather limited fanbase, and you got a not very attractive school to the SEC.

I really think that WVU is going to be stuck in the Big East, or worse, if the Big East dissolves, conference USA...their reputation precedes them, and it is going to kill them...and even if they do end up in the SEC, they will be an also ran every year...they will be like Kentucky, and nothing more.

I have mixed feelings about Pitt leaving the Big East...the Big East tourney is probably my favorite sporting event, but they have to. They put them selves in a better football conference, but not one they have to be buried in, and they moved to the new best basketball conference. If Uconn and Rutgers come along too, I will be thrilled to tears with this....heck, even heard a rumor that PSU might try and join....honestly, it would make sense for them, to be honest.

[superjames1992]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

IMO, WVU could be in big, big trouble. The two things that are going kill them are their academics and fanbase.

Maybe.

One, in academics, I think I read that they would rank dead last among all SEC schools as far as the ratings of different universities.

True.

Two, their fanbase has a horrid reputation. Everything they do makes them the laughinstock of the college scene. They are vile, to the point that certain teams won't go into Morgantown, especially for football. I am a Pitt fan, and I would NEVER, EVER consider going to Morgantown for a game...have heard FAR too many horror stories...I understand that every fanbase has idiots, but they are by far some of the worst. I think a conference like the ACC or SEC isn't going to want to put up with shirts on national TV that say "EFFING WEST VIRGINIA," or mass couch burnings, or quarters being flung at opposing teams coaches...not to mention this is the fanbase that comes up with such original chants as "eat sh** Pitt, suck my dixon, and calling Aaron Gray when he was hear a homophobic slur." The fact that they decided to sell beer at mountaineer field now isn't going to help anything.

I don't think the fan base is going to decide this. Besides, WVU's fan base can be quite rabid, though obviously they can go overboard as you mentioned. Nevertheless, other schools do this stuff, as well, albeit to a lesser extent.

I see that you have revealed yourself as a Pitt fan. Your fan base is certainly liking to rub in this little excursion to the ACC, it seems.

Add on to that the fact that they don't bring a large TV market, they have a rather limited fanbase, and you got a not very attractive school to the SEC.

WVU has a much larger TV market and fan base than Pitt, in reality. WVU has as much of a share of the Pitt TV market as Pitt does. WVU also has a good presence in D.C. and North Carolina.

I really think that WVU is going to be stuck in the Big East, or worse, if the Big East dissolves, conference USA...their reputation precedes them, and it is going to kill them...and even if they do end up in the SEC, they will be an also ran every year...they will be like Kentucky, and nothing more.

LOL, just like you all will be an also-ran in the ACC.

I have mixed feelings about Pitt leaving the Big East...the Big East tourney is probably my favorite sporting event, but they have to. They put them selves in a better football conference, but not one they have to be buried in, and they moved to the new best basketball conference. If Uconn and Rutgers come along too, I will be thrilled to tears with this....heck, even heard a rumor that PSU might try and join....honestly, it would make sense for them, to be honest.

Penn State isn't joining the ACC. That is completely ridiculous. I am sad about losing the Big East Tournament. Really a priceless jewel lost there. It's sad it had to come to this but I am about 75% sure that WVU is off to the SEC once the smoke clears. If not, we will probably see a new conference of the Big 12 and Big East leftovers.

[TripleCrown9]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

If I'm Mike Slive, I'd go after Missouri and Louisville to finish out a 16 team SEC. Just my opinion.

I hadn't considered Louisville to the SEC. It works though. They add a pretty good basketball team, a football team with potential, and a, um...baseball team. Add in the fact they already have an established rivalry with Kentucky, and they would most likely grow into a rivalry with Tennessee or Vanderbilt. Louisville would be a near perfect fit, IMO.

[superjames1992]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

If I'm Mike Slive, I'd go after Missouri and Louisville to finish out a 16 team SEC. Just my opinion.

I agree. Louisville is pretty "meh", but they are probably the best of the bunch available if the ACC teams are off-limits. I've also heard TCU mentioned, but I doubt that happens.

I do wonder if the SEC might just stop at 14 teams, though, which has me a bit worried as it sounds like it is between Missouri and West Virginia for that 14th spot.

[SPTO]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

If I'm Mike Slive, I'd go after Missouri and Louisville to finish out a 16 team SEC. Just my opinion.

What about poaching FSU and putting them in the SEC? It would be natural as there would be rivalries against UF and UGA.

[superjames1992]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

What about poaching FSU and putting them in the SEC? It would be natural as there would be rivalries against UF and UGA.

The ACC teams unanimously upped their buyouts to $20 million a few days ago. That doesn't mean that they can't leave, but I don't know why a team would vote themselves a huge buyout increase just to leave a few weeks afterwards. I think FSU and Virginia Tech might be content to be big fish in a small pond, so to speak.

One thing regarding Louisville is that they would give Kentucky a natural rival (well, they already are rivals). However, I am unsure if UK would actually allow UL into the league given that that would give the SEC two teams in Kentucky.

[TheGamingChef]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

If Iowa State COULD get an invite from the B1G they would take it in a heartbeat.

My point exactly! There are 4 AAU schools that make sense for the Big Ten right now: Rutgers, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa State. Toss in Notre Dame and it's easy to tell who gets left out. Rutgers to the ACC or Missouri to the SEC increases our chances by a huge amount.

Please no one mention Kansas State, lest you get laughed out of the room. They are practically a community college compared to the research behemoths that comprise the Big Ten (and these AAU institutions listed above).

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

My point exactly! There are 4 AAU schools that make sense for the Big Ten right now: Rutgers, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa State. Toss in Notre Dame and it's easy to tell who gets left out. Rutgers to the ACC or Missouri to the SEC increases our chances by a huge amount.

Please no one mention Kansas State, lest you get laughed out of the room. They are practically a community college compared to the research behemoths that comprise the Big Ten (and these AAU institutions listed above).

True about K-State. But if they want Kansas, they may have to take them anyway.

The way the Pac-16 will be comprised will be 4 groups of 4 teams. Texas/Texas Tech/Oklahoma/Ok St. would be one. I imagine the NW schools (UW, WSU, Oregon, OSU) would be another group, and the four California schools the third group, leaving Arizona, ASU, Utah, and Colorado as the 4th.

That actually makes a ton of sense to me. I'd imagine their scheduling would be much like the NFL's. You play everyone in your division every year. You play one of the other three divisions on a rotating basis (for instance, the "Southeast" division would play the "California" division on year, "Mountain" division another, and "Cascade" division the year after that). That's 7 games so far. Then, they'd play one team from the other 2 divisions. I'd say do it just like the NFL and have it be the team with the corresponding standing in the division. So if Ok. St. finished third in their division, the next year, they'd play, say all 4 California schools, and the 3rd place team from the NW and the 3rd place team from the Mountains. I don't know how you do the conference title games at that point (I don't think they'd do a conference playoff). Maybe the top two teams overall meet. Overall, I think it's a good way to do it. It wouldn't necessarily work for the other conferences, but with the Pac 12 (16)'s rivalries being the way they are, this actually maintains all the significant rivalries. And it means every team will play a team from California every year, and a team from Texas/Oklahoma every year, much like how the funky scheduling the conference has now is set up to ensure everybody gets to play a California team cross-division every year.

[mra85a]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

Postjames,

SOrry, but WVU does NOT hold as much of the Pittsburgh TV market as Pitt...

[kodiak]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

From reading on other places, the four pod Pac 16 would have a 9 game schedule. You play your pod teams, and 2 each from the other pods. What that did not include was how the pods would split in divisions, and tie breaker scenarios. I dont know if I like that system. I would rather see 2 divisions and just play 2 teams from the other side. At least that way, a head to head result is guaranteed to take place in each division

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

If I'm Mike Slive, I'd go after Missouri and Louisville to finish out a 16 team SEC. Just my opinion.

It's not like they have a choice; there's literally no one left after Missouri/Louisville if they want to expand to 16.

Baylor? Cinci? USF? The 1AA Big East schools?

[Fredonia]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

I would rather see 2 divisions and just play 2 teams from the other side. At least that way, a head to head result is guaranteed to take place in each division

I second that.

[TheGamingChef]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

It's not like they have a choice; there's literally no one left after Missouri/Louisville if they want to expand to 16.

Baylor? Cinci? USF? The 1AA Big East schools?

What about Kansas? Any semblance of "southeastern" meaning anything is out the door with Missouri. Kansas brings an expanded footprint and a fierce rivalry with Mizzou. Also one of the nation's premiere basketball programs. And it would be geographically contiguous (state-wise) with Missouri.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Conference Re-Alignment Thread Part Who Knows

From reading on other places, the four pod Pac 16 would have a 9 game schedule. You play your pod teams, and 2 each from the other pods. What that did not include was how the pods would split in divisions, and tie breaker scenarios. I dont know if I like that system. I would rather see 2 divisions and just play 2 teams from the other side. At least that way, a head to head result is guaranteed to take place in each division

But then you have a schedule that's very static, and you go very long periods of time without playing certain teams. In this formula, you are guaranteed to play every team every other year, and won't go more than 4 years without visiting a certain venue.

I think it'd be cool to have the top 2 pod winners play for the conference title, and have #3 and #4 play each other on, like a Thursday night before the Conference Championship. I don't know if that's really feasible, but I think it'd be kinda cool.

I know a lot of people are upset about the rivalries that will be lost, and that's totally understandable. But I'm excited for the new rivalries we might see in a potential Pac 16 - Texas vs. USC every other year? Sign me up. Oklahoma vs. Oregon? Sweet!