(02-27-2016 03:49 AM)Lenvillecards Wrote:  

(02-27-2016 12:18 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  

(02-26-2016 05:15 PM)Lenvillecards Wrote:  Why would ESPN & Fox dissolve the ACC now? As JR said it takes 12 ACC teams to dissolve the league. That means that 12 teams would have to be bumped up to the SEC/B1G level or to bump those conferences down & that isn't likely. To bump up 12 teams by $10 million each per year wouldn't make sense when the networks are supposed to be cutting their budgets.

I have 2 concerns for the long term viability of the ACC.

1) If they don't get a network then certain schools are going to continue to fall behind financially. Is ESPN willing to make that investment? They seem to be delaying it. It would be cheaper to trade off some schools to the B1G and only have to pay for about half of those rights. FOX will own the other half and they would love to get some more Eastern content. I could see all parties being pleased with that.

2) The SEC would prefer some of the ACC schools as opposed to the Big 12, I think. They'd have to get a raise, but ESPN would also make more money off the content.

That and I'm just spitballing.

Those are legitimate concerns. My point was simply that instead of moving 12 teams now & spend an additional $120 million per year that the networks will wait until after the GOR's & move the pieces that they want to keep & consolidate the rest.

Another possible move would be to combine the top brands of the B12 & the ACC into 1 conference & pay them Big 12 current money. This way the networks get to keep who they want & without paying the premium price. They give them a conference network which gives the schools additional revenue while also creating a new revenue stream for themselves. The SEC & B1G could still possibly take 2 each.

One possible scenario here would be NC, Duke & Virginia going to the SEC. This would possibly put Missouri & Kansas into the B1G. You would then have the best of the B12 & ACC come together.

Another scenario would be for 6 schools to jump from the ACC to the B12. (FSU, Clemson, GT, Miami, Louisville & VT) The remainder of the ACC (NC, Duke, Virginia, NC State, WF, Pittsburgh, Syracuse & BC) would keep ND as a partial & add UCONN to give them 10 with 9 football schools. They then could add Georgetown & Villanova & have a great basketball conference. They may even consider St John's & Seton Hall as well. The ACC would become a tweener conference. Tobacco Road saves the ACC & still has an elite basketball conference that makes good money. ND keeps their football independence. IF NC State could escape from NC control then you could see the SEC &/or B1G pickup 2 each.

You could be right. There might not be a good reason from the networks' perspective to make many moves in the near future.

I do think that either the Big 12 or ACC will go away though. I could see the ACC surviving as a basketball-centric league that happens to play football. I'm not sure the parities are interested in that, but it makes sense to me.

I do think JR is right about the next round of moves depending on what OU does.

I could see OU and OSU heading to the SEC. If that happens then maybe a few more crazy moves happen. I'm not sure.

Maybe?

SEC takes OU and OSU

B1G takes KU and UConn

At this point, I'm assuming that the GOR isn't that big of a roadblock...at least for public schools.

Texas, wanting to rebuild a strong league for themselves, calls up some of the programs not quite as happy in the ACC. They get some interest and ESPN considers it as well since they could use the LHN to form a new conference network.

However, some schools are still more valuable in the SEC or B1G so some sort of compromise is needed.

UNC, Duke, UVA, and GT move to the SEC. The SEC is done at 20.

West: Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Arkansas
South: LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn
East: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina
North: Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech

Virginia Tech, NC State, Syracuse, and Boston College move to the B1G. The B1G is done at 20.

Florida State, Miami, Clemson, Louisville, and Pitt move to the Big 12. They also get an affiliation with Notre Dame. The Big 12 is done at 12 + 1.

West: Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State
East: Miami, Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, West Virginia, Pittsburgh