Oregon and Washington seem to top the list due to their location and market value but also their commitment to their football programs. We already know that with the logistics of the Big Ten expanding to Los Angeles, there is a logical need for additional members in that region. It’s this new reality that had me thinking: if this is indeed the new normal, what’s to stop it from ending there? So now USC and UCLA head to the Big Ten and a coast-to-coast conference from New Jersey, south to Maryland, and now all the way out to Los Angeles. This was a big one because it took what had become the norm…conferences adding schools from larger media markets in or on the outskirts of their existing foothold…and turned it into a pure money play. See the Big Ten with UCF, Cincinnati and BYU being added…as well as Houston to shore up the Texas A&M loss.Īnd then there was USC and UCLA announcing their move to the Big Ten. The list of realignment moves by conferences goes on, with the seismic moves such as Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC.Įven with the trickle down, conference moves have prioritized adding new media markets versus adding schools within their existing hold. It’s just that Missouri didn’t deliver the TV sets that the Big Ten needed. While both schools did fall close to the existing footprint, there were ample Big 12 schools available such as Missouri, that would have fit into the old-school conference realignment motive better. Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten solidified what conference realignment now had officially become: the push solely for television revenue dollars. Next up though were Maryland and Rutgers, a very different story. But Nebraska was a national brand, so the perceived value was there. First in adding a traditional “blue blood” in Nebraska, despite its smaller market size. This instantly devalued the Pac-12 expansion plans and kept the Pac-12 from having even more potential in ever leapfrogging the SEC. But the SEC were savvy enough to step in and disrupt those plans by inviting Texas A&M. But the conference didn’t have the foresight to see this far down the road, and give in a little in order to reap greater rewards.Īnd lets not forget that during this 2010 Pac-12 push into Texas, it wasn’t Texas alone on the table. This push by the Pac-12 was a true attempt at a national power conference, as they would have expanded to the central time zone with 4 new schools. But in refusing to budge on the Texas demand to retain the Longhorn Network and demand equal revenue sharing, the Pac-12 likely wrote the ending to the story we are seeing in 2023. But the conference did expand eastward with Colorado and Utah, a significant change to the geography…but the move was done to add the Denver and Salt Lake City markets. So the then Pac-10 made a bold move in 2010 by trying to bring in Texas, in which case, Oklahoma and others would have joined. But it’s less the geography of a school in regards to the rest of the conference, it’s the geography of what media markets are connected to the schools. We’ve seen a number of big moves over the years, and geography is indeed a motivator behind these moves. And subsequent moves would follow that lead. But all of a sudden, the comfort of a close footprint in the ACC had changed. Eventually, all 3 schools would make the move to the ACC. But given that Miami seemingly had more in common with the northeast than the south, it made some sense. The early moves such as the ACC expansion for Miami (and friends) were surprising to some when northern schools like Boston College and Syracuse were included in the conversations as potential targets. The gap between football and basketball revenue wasn’t as great as it is in 2023, and travel for non-revenue sports was still something being considered. I look back at some of the speculation posts I had back then, and the primary driver in conference expansion was the same as it is today: ways to improve a conferences revenue and in turn, the per school revenue.īut 20+ years ago, there was still some semblance of regionalism, and ideally, seeking schools within a general footprint. Here’s a thought about conference realignment, I never fathomed when launching an NCAA conference realignment website back in 2000. Conference Realignment News, NCAA School Message Board Directory & Conference Realignment Forum Community
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