For years, summer has been known as the Talking Season in college football — media conference days in July produce a river of rhetoric from coaches and administrators that are pumping for bans and dealing with the future. But the last two summers It becomes looting season Additionally, with the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten making huge expansions at the expense of the Big 12 and Pac-12. This in turn affected the nature of the Talking Season.
at recent days , Speeches of the delegates of the conference Predicted, vetted, and proven more than anything coaches say. With revenues on an all-time high and The Fellowship at an all-time low, the boardroom drama is even more awesome than the actual games. The direction of the college athletics draft hangs in the balance, which is something of more appeal than the teams with the best off-season performance in the weight room.
We have now reached a lull – dare we dream, maybe even pause – in reorganization. We’ve heard from every conference delegate as they take stock of the scene. We’ve seen reviews from Greg Sankey of the SEC and Kevin Warren of the Big Ten. We just heard about the brass business from new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark. We got a dose of bounce and perspective — sad and weak for some critics — from ACC head Jim Phillips. And we got a mix of dread and defiance from Pac-12’s George Klyavkov.
With Talking Season on hold and poaching season, where do we stand in college sports? Where has the reorganization taken us, and where it might go in the future? The author’s round table addresses six issues.
What is the strength rating of 5, and who ranks as the best among the rest?
For now – and we don’t know how long this moment will last – I’m going to arrange them like this.
1. SEC. The Big 10 may squeeze a little more revenue from their media rights deals, but the SEC is rich And the Win all football tournaments. At the moment, there is no comparison in this area. Schools added by the SEC (Texas and Oklahoma) carry slightly more weight than What Big Ten Company Adds (USC And the University of California).
2. Big Ten. In the new Power 2 scene, the first coast-to-coast league is set to continue to distance itself from all but the SEC. It’s a long way back to third place.
3. ACC. Ironically, the conference is held together and is strained by the endless contract of media rights until 2035-2036. The high cost of breaching the league’s rights award agreement has undoubtedly alienated some schools from the reorganization market, but it has also created some concern in terms of specific revenue. Will there be pressure for unequal revenue distribution in the future? Phillips has cut his teeth in terms of finding creative solutions.
4. Big 12. That might be a tie for fourth place with the Pac-12, but the ties are a pullback. The Big 12 has already shown that it can survive the poaching of its best shows by making some smart 2023 additions (BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston). Although the league doesn’t have any top-tier players, the B list is long and balanced – and not really mobile, providing an odd level of comfort. Yormark showed some early blinking; Could he back it up with some aggressive moves to boost the league’s standing?
5. Buck 12. Early evidence suggests that the conference could prevent its current 10 members from splitting, although this solidarity may only be as strong as the Big Ten’s desire to expand further. The Pac-12 still has many major media markets and late-night programming niche, and they’re good. But it doesn’t have many attractive expansion targets, and any further raid on its members could be fatal.
6. Mountain West. With the American Athletic Conference set to lose three top schools next year, the path is clear for the MWC to move into a better ranking than the rest. San Diego has a new stadium which is the only Southern California program that belongs to a Western Conference; Boise State is a perennial contender, while many other shows have had 10 seasons in recent years. –Pat Fordy
Which schools have the most strength going forward? What programs will decide what happens next?
Fighting Irish was a temporary part of the ACC during the 2020 COVID 19 season.
Greg Nelson / Sports Illustrated
1. our lady. Irish fighting It is the lever that can send everything spinning – or strengthen the status quo. A stubbornly proud independent blue blood is the obvious overarching goal of the Big Ten, but the Irish are hopeful (even confident) that they can reap sufficient revenue from their next media rights agreement with NBC to continue arming their coveted conference. time immemorial. If Notre Dame goes to the Big Ten, Stanford might follow it as a favorite plus, and that could hasten the demise of the Pac-12. Everyone is watching the golden dome.
2. Oregon and Washington. They would be the envisaged leaders of the Pac-12 going forward, but would also likely jump into the Big Ten immediately if given a chance. For now, Big Ten/Fox Sports’ appetite for the Pacific Northwest pair seems lukewarm, and there may be difficulties with the state legislature regarding disengagement from Oregon and Washington state. What deal they might demand from Pac-12 in the new media rights package — such as no penalty for the Big Ten — will say a lot about their true intentions.
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3. Stanford. Its marketability for independent sports is debatable – the uninterested fan base and reliance on Notre Dame illustrate the limitations. But academic qualifications and Silicon Valley connections widen the student body of university presidents. The cardinal can be a wild card in all of this.
4. Best dogs acc. This may be a decade later, when exit penalties will be greatly reduced, but eventually some schools from this league could be ready to move in. The Big Ten and the SEC are thought to be interested in North Carolina, an attractive brand that demands an audience in a populous state that is not currently part of either league’s footprint. Virginia also has some oomph. From a purely football standpoint, Clemson, Florida State, and Miami have the most cache (dated as they might be on the Seminoles and Hurricanes).
5. San Diego State. If a group of 5 schools could fill the need for Power 5, the Aztecs and the Pac-12 might have a marriage of convenience. or not. –PF
Who has more to lose in this mess of reorganization?
1. Oregon and Washington State. Many miss the grumbles of realignment people at Corvallis and Pullman. You don’t see any reports linking the Beavers and Cougars to the Big Ten, Big 12, or any other league. They are two of the least resourced universities in Power 5 and are located in small media markets and have had very little historical success in football. OSU and WSU would likely stumble to Mountain West if the Pac-12 collapsed.
2- The group of five. With each realignment wave, the Power 5 increases in size and strength. The moves of Oklahoma and Texas to the Securities and Exchange Commission created a domino effect that led to the UCF, Cincinnati, BYU, and Houston moving to the Power 5 League. Their replacements in the G5? That would be FCS Jacksonville State and Houston State teams, both joining the USA Conference. USC and UCLA switching to the Big Ten could lead to more of these moves. The gaps between the haves (strength 5) and the have-nots (group 5) continue to grow. Heck, the gap inside the Power 5 is now a gap. As one official recently predicted, “It’s become the biggest 2 (SEC, Big Ten), last 1 (ACC) and group 7.”
3. The athletes’ families and fans. The conferences were originally created because of their location. They linked like-minded universities with similar financial resources that were in the same cultural and geographic footprint. They also gave fans and families a fairly easy and affordable trip to watch their team/kids compete on the road. The reorganization has ruined many regional competitions, driveable road trips and, let’s be honest, just plain fun. USC is now in the same league as the Rutgers. UCF will play at a convention headquartered in Dallas, 1,100 miles away. New Mexico will be in the same league as Virginia-based Liberty. –Ross Dillinger
Which network has the upper hand, Fox or ESPN?
Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren is in the midst of negotiating a new media rights deal for the league.
Robert Gooden/USA Today Sports
Going forward, it’s undoubtedly Fox. While ESPN is the biggest chip on the board in SEC (especially when it gets its exclusivity in 2024), Fox is in a prime position to reclaim some control spots from the four-character grid. Fox now has Los Angeles in his pocket, but he’ll also get a seat at the table if College Football Playoff expands after this current TV deal expires. It’s clear that the Pac-12 and the Big Ten want several TV partners to be involved in the negotiations rather than just ESPN, which means, in all likelihood, ESPN will somehow have to share CFP with Fox. –Richard Johnson
What is the best rumor of the last month?
Realignment is the absurd season on steroids. Everyone who covers college football gets it wrong in the end, and there’s probably no time when people throw things at the wall more than when teams are moving in the leagues. I was on vacation during the post-USC/UCLA period and somehow missed a really terrible day on Twitter, which included a rumor that Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Clemson would jump into the SEC. It came with an additional “price” that ESPN was trying to negate a 20-year deal with the ACC. –Royal Jordanian
Our best guess of what the next big step will be?
While the realignment appears to be on hold for now, it is unlikely to remain that way. Does this mean the Big Ten will add two more teams tomorrow, or will the Big 12 catch half of the Pac-12 by the end of next week? No, but the next three to five years are sure to bring more movement within the Power 5.
The two biggest remaining Pac-12 brands, Washington or Oregon, are unlikely to sign any kind of long-term contract to stay in the league. Three years? Can. six years? No way. If negotiations on the new Pac-12 TV deal don’t go as planned, we may see a duck and strongman move, especially if (1) the Big Ten drops an invitation or (2) the Big 12 TV negotiations within two years have a more glamorous revenue figure.
Either way, the Big Ten appears set to expand again eventually, meaning the SEC could respond with another expansion of its own, which could similarly reciprocate the interest of a group of ACC teams that could challenge the rights award in exchange for a spot. In one of the biggest 2. Buckle up. By 2028, the sport could be a 40-team and two-conference structure possibly operating as a semi-professional entity. – Research and development
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