That guy is an idiot.

I'll say this as a UC fan... I don't see any sign that the B12 wants UC. In fact, after all the conference realignment stuff, I'm fairly sure that the B12 looked hard at UC and eliminated UC from their list. I'll even go this far...I think ECU has a better shot at B12 membership than UC does. And you have no idea the pain that causes me to say.

At some point you realize that the music stopped and you don't have a chair.

(07-08-2013 10:19 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  My God, what's the world come to. We've got one blogger interviewing another blogger for their blog. We're f----d America.

Agreed. Even worse, last year there was a blog that included a roundtable with Frank the Tank, The Dude, Tuxedo Yoda and a couple other guys. I think my IQ dropped about 40 points just for having read it.

(07-08-2013 11:30 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-08-2013 10:19 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  My God, what's the world come to. We've got one blogger interviewing another blogger for their blog. We're f----d America.

Agreed. Even worse, last year there was a blog that included a roundtable with Frank the Tank, The Dude, Tuxedo Yoda and a couple other guys. I think my IQ dropped about 40 points just for having read it.

good one. Sad but true.

(07-08-2013 11:15 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  I'll say this as a UC fan... I don't see any sign that the B12 wants UC. In fact, after all the conference realignment stuff, I'm fairly sure that the B12 looked hard at UC and eliminated UC from their list. I'll even go this far...I think ECU has a better shot at B12 membership than UC does. And you have no idea the pain that causes me to say.

At some point you realize that the music stopped and you don't have a chair.

I partially agree. I think UC along with Uofl, BYU, and USF were all on the radar at some point but I think FOX just didn't see any value in our teams except BYU. I think orange bloods verified that to be the case that adding UC and UofL was not going to add any additional revenue to the league. I think its their loss because I believe any combination of BYU/LOU/UC makes a ton of sense. I don't think ECU was anywhere near the hemisphere of being looked at by the big 12 at the time. Not a knock on ECU at all but it took 5 schools to leave before the big east took a flyer on them. Having said that I think ECU should have got a look from the big east a long time ago but that's another story. Plus I still eventually see UC and UCONN both in the ACC at some point. I know it doesn't appear that way now but another shoe will eventually drop. Its just hard for me to envision the big 12 staying at 10 once their GOR expires.

(07-08-2013 11:30 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-08-2013 10:19 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  My God, what's the world come to. We've got one blogger interviewing another blogger for their blog. We're f----d America.

Agreed. Even worse, last year there was a blog that included a roundtable with Frank the Tank, The Dude, Tuxedo Yoda and a couple other guys. I think my IQ dropped about 40 points just for having read it.

Lol wow forgot about that one.

(07-08-2013 08:22 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  He's not that knowledgeable or impartial, IMO. All of his posts have an "extreme" "p5" bias.

This. I have never seen anything that leads me to think he knows much more than anyone else. I don't think he is all that bias, he just follows the power.

(07-08-2013 11:30 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-08-2013 10:19 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  My God, what's the world come to. We've got one blogger interviewing another blogger for their blog. We're f----d America.

Agreed. Even worse, last year there was a blog that included a roundtable with Frank the Tank, The Dude, Tuxedo Yoda and a couple other guys. I think my IQ dropped about 40 points just for having read it.

That actually exists? Someone please link that I'd really love to read it. I actually just lost respect for Frank, not that I had a ton to begin with, because while I don't often agree with him I never put him in the category with the crazies of realignment like Dude and Yoda are.

(07-09-2013 06:28 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  

(07-08-2013 08:22 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  He's not that knowledgeable or impartial, IMO. All of his posts have an "extreme" "p5" bias.

This. I have never seen anything that leads me to think he knows much more than anyone else. I don't think he is all that bias, he just follows the power.

Personally, I like Frank, b/c he seems to be bright, and he is unfailingly polite. However, he doesn't generally have inside info, and he is absolutely biased toward the B10. JMO. But he is often an interesting read, simply b/c he spends so much time studying realignment, so he often has good insight.

Tank isn't always right but he's very intelligent, has obviously thought about these realignment issues, and is a straight-talker.

The only posters who dislike him around here are the relentlessly overoptimistic sunshine/rainbow blowers who reflexively criticize any commentary that doesn't put the Big East and now AAC in the most positive light. Or in the Soviet Union's terms he gets jailed sometimes for "non-belief in our Victory", LOL.

(07-08-2013 08:14 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  For those unfamiliar, "Frank the Tank" is a BE homer and AAC hater. I wouldn't expect anything complimentary about the AAC's position or future from Frank...

He was anything but a BE homer. He tends toward being a B1G homer, and claims (only in retrospect, from what I could tell) to have said all along that the ACC was more cohesive than anybody was giving it credit for.

I saw nothing in the article that hadn't been said a million times previously, though, and nothing that portrayed him as an enemy of the American.

Frank lives in the Chicago-land area and has been a BE-C7 apologist, trumpeting the C7 (which is what I mean by BE) and especially DePaul and Marquette...

The BE is the "new" Big East...the non-football entity that broke away.

(07-09-2013 08:30 AM)Cardinals Wrote:  

(07-08-2013 08:14 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  For those unfamiliar, "Frank the Tank" is a BE homer and AAC hater. I wouldn't expect anything complimentary about the AAC's position or future from Frank...

He was anything but a BE homer. He tends toward being a B1G homer, and claims (only in retrospect, from what I could tell) to have said all along that the ACC was more cohesive than anybody was giving it credit for.

I saw nothing in the article that hadn't been said a million times previously, though, and nothing that portrayed him as an enemy of the American.

By "Big East homer" he means C7 homer, which is certainly is, along with of course a B1G homer.

(07-09-2013 08:30 AM)Cardinals Wrote:  

(07-08-2013 08:14 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  For those unfamiliar, "Frank the Tank" is a BE homer and AAC hater. I wouldn't expect anything complimentary about the AAC's position or future from Frank...

He was anything but a BE homer. He tends toward being a B1G homer, and claims (only in retrospect, from what I could tell) to have said all along that the ACC was more cohesive than anybody was giving it credit for.

I saw nothing in the article that hadn't been said a million times previously, though, and nothing that portrayed him as an enemy of the American.

No question that he has bias as we all do, but I'll give credit where it is due. He was claiming ACC solidarity long before it looked likely. He looks dead right on that one as of today. He also does a really good job researching the details behind a lot of realignment.

No matter what we all think of the C7 product, it has proven to be true that a basketball only conference actually has high value in the TV market.

You just have to take B10 stuff with a grain of salt. His blog definitely gave the impression that the B10 would be running the show with respect to realignment. Instead, they struggled to convince big fish to join and wound up with Maryland and Rutgers after who knows how many NOs from others. Now, it seems like all the B10 people are trying to change the entire story line to justify those additions. It's all spin really, but it's hardly specific to Frank.

(07-09-2013 09:09 AM)uccheese Wrote:  

(07-09-2013 08:30 AM)Cardinals Wrote:  

(07-08-2013 08:14 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  For those unfamiliar, "Frank the Tank" is a BE homer and AAC hater. I wouldn't expect anything complimentary about the AAC's position or future from Frank...

He was anything but a BE homer. He tends toward being a B1G homer, and claims (only in retrospect, from what I could tell) to have said all along that the ACC was more cohesive than anybody was giving it credit for.

I saw nothing in the article that hadn't been said a million times previously, though, and nothing that portrayed him as an enemy of the American.

No question that he has bias as we all do, but I'll give credit where it is due. He was claiming ACC solidarity long before it looked likely. He looks dead right on that one as of today. He also does a really good job researching the details behind a lot of realignment.

No matter what we all think of the C7 product, it has proven to be true that a basketball only conference actually has high value in the TV market.

You just have to take B10 stuff with a grain of salt. His blog definitely gave the impression that the B10 would be running the show with respect to realignment. Instead, they struggled to convince big fish to join and wound up with Maryland and Rutgers after who knows how many NOs from others. Now, it seems like all the B10 people are trying to change the entire story line to justify those additions. It's all spin really, but it's hardly specific to Frank.

I still think it remains to be seen if a basketball only product has TV value. This was a very special circumstance that led to Fox paying a nice sum of money to that league. First you had a new sports network that needed winter content, second that network needed to pay enough money so the C7 could leave the exit fees and tournament credits on the table plus the necessary money needed to get conference off the ground.

Due to the settlement I believe the legacy schools in the American are making more money than the C7 who I imagine are getting a bigger cut initially than the three new members.

I don't think it took some grand insight to know that the ACC was more stable than it appeared. Basically anyone with working knowledge of the state of NC and UNC specifically would have known that. The ACC is fine as long as UNC is happy running the league. They are essentially the Texas of the ACC. The B1G doesn't need or want teams like BC, Pitt, or Cuse that they could easily get, and the SEC doesn't need or want the teams like FSU, Miami, and Clemson that they can easily get. Both sides want an NC team and a VA team, and all roads lead through UNC for that. If UNC isn't going anywhere none of the other teams in that area are either. UVA isn't going anywhere without UNC, and VT has no political capital or really any desire to leave UVA. Same thing applies to NC State, it would be a nightmare politically to try to get away from UNC, and they really don't want to anyway. UNC isn't going anywhere because they like running the ACC, they view themselves as a southern university and wouldn't want to be with a bunch of yankees in the B1G, and they view themselves as a public ivy and wouldn't want to lower themselves to be in the SEC.

(07-09-2013 08:30 AM)Cardinals Wrote:  

(07-08-2013 08:14 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  For those unfamiliar, "Frank the Tank" is a BE homer and AAC hater. I wouldn't expect anything complimentary about the AAC's position or future from Frank...

He was anything but a BE homer. He tends toward being a B1G homer, and claims (only in retrospect, from what I could tell) to have said all along that the ACC was more cohesive than anybody was giving it credit for.

I saw nothing in the article that hadn't been said a million times previously, though, and nothing that portrayed him as an enemy of the American.

Anybody with common sense that lives (or has spent significant time) in North Carolina could've told you that. (Sorry Bonds, I had the exact same thoughts you did apparently).

Honestly guys, Frank is pretty good at writing things from a non-biased, common sense perspective. That's where his "insight" stops though. At the end of the day, he's just a fan with a blog.

Unfortunately, we live in a world of Lemmings where a guy like Frank looks like a genius.

(07-08-2013 07:57 PM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  For those unfamilar -- Frank the Tank is a very knowlegable poster on various boards around the Internet. Here he's doing a Q & A on realignment in three parts --- the first being 'Grant of Rights.' The site is BurntOrangeNation (Texas) >>>>

Quote:...To me, there are three key players to conference realignment stability (or instability): Texas, Notre Dame and North Carolina. As long as all three of those schools are happy, then it's tough to find much of a case for any of the 5 power conferences to proactively make moves. If any one of those three gets itchy, though, then that's where things get interesting again....

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2013/7/...k-the-tank

This topic is basically dead until the B12's GOR expires.... Unless the B10 wants to add more schools before renewing its tv contract in several years.

If Cincy is in the top3 of the AAC in Bball and Fball over the next two years, the B12 will plug their nose and take them in (like the ACC did with Louisville). Cinci is just that much better than the other options and they can rationalize the southwest corner of Ohio location wise. SMU is totally screwed, but Houston and either UCF/USF will be in the mix if they can separate themselves from the AAC group. If the B12 really does not want to lose their southern esque branding, then I will call Houston and USF to the B12.
Shockingly TU actually presents perhaps the most competitive advantages (academics, recruiting in roads, endowment, ratings potential, marque NCAA FBall city, destination city for away fans) but I can't see the school getting their act together fast enough, especially the Bball program and FBall stadium size.

The real insight in my view is figuring out what the Big XII and Texas will do next. Right now that conference seems like a marriage of convenience more than a stable group. I keeping wondering if Texas bails sometime down the line or if that conference will expand. Without Oklahoma or Texas that conference is a mirror image of the American Athletic Conference with smaller markets.