(05-26-2020 01:10 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(05-26-2020 12:33 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  But how much does it hurt season and individual game ticket sales when it's darn near impossible for some Cleveland resident who is a Miami (OH) grad to make it to Oxford two Tuesdays in November?

I'm thinking that one in particular for my alma mater would be in the near neighborhood of didley and squat. If he or she exists, said Miami alum living in Cleveland who is going to be traveling to Oxford every Saturday home game can take the same private jet to the same private airfield for a weeknight game.

Columbus, Cincinnati and especially Dayton are more plausible, but even so, it's a long, long time since the old Cradle of Coaches has had a notably successful fresh faced young coach to attract a lot of Miami's fair-weather fans to roll out on a November afternoon.

Michael is talking fans, not millionaires.

(05-26-2020 12:21 AM)Rob3338 Wrote:  

(05-25-2020 11:41 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  I took a guess that Oklahoma goes to the Big Ten (SEC would be the same effect ... I rate it 55-40 B1G over SEC, 5% OU stays put), but Texas stays put.

The MAC may lose a school or two to dropping out of D-I, but no replacement. MWC wont be touched.

Besides and OU move to SEC or B1G I don't see any other P5 to P5 moves.

Who replaces them? 50-50 it's BYU, otherwise a school from the AAC acceptable to Texas.

If OU stays put then only CUSA-SBC reorg to watch

CUSA and the SBC will at some point reorg. The WAC (NMSU) and ASUN (Liberty) might lose schools in this process.

In the last 80 years no NON AAU school has been invited to the Big10. True Nebraska is no longer a member of the AAU but they were when they entered the Big 10. I just do not see the B1G changing their policy. I live in the heart of B1G football and they are very proud of their academics. Often more proud than they should be. The Pac12 is a more likely contributor to the Big 10.

You might want to check the date when Michigan State was invited? They were not an AAU school when invited and the Big10 was aware that Nebraska was losing their AAU status when they joined. Also, how many times has Notre Dame been asked to join the Big10? They are not an AAU school.

(05-26-2020 01:01 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-26-2020 12:33 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  The MAC isn't going to lose any schools to P5 or other G5 leagues. If they do lose anybody, it'll be to schools losing FBS or D1 status because of financial shortfalls.

The MAC is very interesting to me. They're arguably the most stable G5 league. Despit the rotation in and out of football only members the past 20 years, their roster is the same as it was in 1999, minus Marshall. They schools have a common identity, while ther G5 leagues can't necessarily say the same. They are solid undertraduate (and many boast strong graduate programs) Midwestern schools, or at least Rust Belt schools (Buffalo). They're by far the most travel friendly conference in FBS.

I still think the MAC of today will still pretty much be the same MAC in ten years. Their solidarity outweighs their problems.

If the MAC were to expand, they might bring aboard a couple of current midwestern or mideastern FCS schools that want to move up to FBS level. Check out this article:

10 FCS college football teams that could become FBS schools

Illinois State

"The Redbirds aren’t necessarily a powerhouse in the FCS, but have recently made a national title game in 2014. Illinois State would be part of the MAC conference and would join Northern Illinois as another team from the state of Illinois. In my opinion, they would be able to compete in the MAC, as they did beat Northwestern a couple years back."




North Dakota State:

The Bison are the top candidate to move up to the FBS ranks and the MAC would likely be the landing spot. NDSU has dominated the FCS playoffs for the last 10 years. The Bison have won 7/8 FCS national titles and would immediately be a contender in the MAC. If NDSU competed right away in the MAC, perhaps they could even make the jump to the Big Ten. They have beaten a couple of FBS schools including Iowa, Kansas St and Iowa St. The Bison are easily the best candidate to move up."

Youngstown State

"The Penguins made an FCS national title appearance in 2016, but that is their only playoff appearance this decade. YSU would fit into the MAC with all of the other Ohio teams in the conference and could resurrect their rivalry series with Akron. The Penguins have a former P5 coach in Bo Pelini who would recruit well with a little extra help in the FBS ranks."

https://pypeline.co/10-fcs-college-footb...s-schools/

IMO NDSU isn't happening to the MAC. Too much travel for a region-locked team. Ill St intrigues me, but then we'd have to deal with that insufferable troll more so it's mixed emotions. Would be nice to have a regional rivalry

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

(05-26-2020 01:14 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(05-26-2020 01:10 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(05-26-2020 12:33 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  But how much does it hurt season and individual game ticket sales when it's darn near impossible for some Cleveland resident who is a Miami (OH) grad to make it to Oxford two Tuesdays in November?

I'm thinking that one in particular for my alma mater would be in the near neighborhood of didley and squat. If he or she exists, said Miami alum living in Cleveland who is going to be traveling to Oxford every Saturday home game can take the same private jet to the same private airfield for a weeknight game.

Columbus, Cincinnati and especially Dayton are more plausible, but even so, it's a long, long time since the old Cradle of Coaches has had a notably successful fresh faced young coach to attract a lot of Miami's fair-weather fans to roll out on a November afternoon.

Michael is talking fans, not millionaires.

Unless you live in tiny Oxford or some other small hamlet, it is a pain in the arse to get to campus on any day or night. Even from Cincinnati, it can be difficult and take forever to get there.

Most Miami grads say eff it and are now OSU fans and/or UCIt’s easier to go to Columbus or to Cincinnati to watch a game.

(05-26-2020 01:14 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(05-26-2020 01:10 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(05-26-2020 12:33 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  But how much does it hurt season and individual game ticket sales when it's darn near impossible for some Cleveland resident who is a Miami (OH) grad to make it to Oxford two Tuesdays in November?

I'm thinking that one in particular for my alma mater would be in the near neighborhood of didley and squat. If he or she exists, said Miami alum living in Cleveland who is going to be traveling to Oxford every Saturday home game can take the same private jet to the same private airfield for a weeknight game.

Columbus, Cincinnati and especially Dayton are more plausible, but even so, it's a long, long time since the old Cradle of Coaches has had a notably successful fresh faced young coach to attract a lot of Miami's fair-weather fans to roll out on a November afternoon.

Michael is talking fans, not millionaires.

My point is to question whether he is ... if he's talking about going to Oxford every Saturday there's a Football game, it doesn't seem like he's really talking about many Cleveland based Miami University alumni taking the 4ish hr drive from Brooklyn Heights to Oxford. Going to Homecoming once a year sounds a bit more realistic, like the big block of Chicagoland alumni a not much longer drive away (depending on which side they live).

You'd more be aiming for season ticket holders in Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Indianapolis. And like CliftonAve suggests, it's an uphill climb getting them to turnout out on a lovely September fall weekend, never mind under the gray cotton flannel skies of November.

(05-26-2020 01:01 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-26-2020 12:33 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  The MAC isn't going to lose any schools to P5 or other G5 leagues. If they do lose anybody, it'll be to schools losing FBS or D1 status because of financial shortfalls.

The MAC is very interesting to me. They're arguably the most stable G5 league. Despit the rotation in and out of football only members the past 20 years, their roster is the same as it was in 1999, minus Marshall. They schools have a common identity, while ther G5 leagues can't necessarily say the same. They are solid undertraduate (and many boast strong graduate programs) Midwestern schools, or at least Rust Belt schools (Buffalo). They're by far the most travel friendly conference in FBS.

I still think the MAC of today will still pretty much be the same MAC in ten years. Their solidarity outweighs their problems.

If the MAC were to expand, they might bring aboard a couple of current midwestern or mideastern FCS schools that want to move up to FBS level. Check out this article:

10 FCS college football teams that could become FBS schools

Illinois State

"The Redbirds aren’t necessarily a powerhouse in the FCS, but have recently made a national title game in 2014. Illinois State would be part of the MAC conference and would join Northern Illinois as another team from the state of Illinois. In my opinion, they would be able to compete in the MAC, as they did beat Northwestern a couple years back."




North Dakota State:

The Bison are the top candidate to move up to the FBS ranks and the MAC would likely be the landing spot. NDSU has dominated the FCS playoffs for the last 10 years. The Bison have won 7/8 FCS national titles and would immediately be a contender in the MAC. If NDSU competed right away in the MAC, perhaps they could even make the jump to the Big Ten. They have beaten a couple of FBS schools including Iowa, Kansas St and Iowa St. The Bison are easily the best candidate to move up."

Youngstown State

"The Penguins made an FCS national title appearance in 2016, but that is their only playoff appearance this decade. YSU would fit into the MAC with all of the other Ohio teams in the conference and could resurrect their rivalry series with Akron. The Penguins have a former P5 coach in Bo Pelini who would recruit well with a little extra help in the FBS ranks."

https://pypeline.co/10-fcs-college-footb...s-schools/

Youngstown State isn't happening. This isn't the YSU of the mid 80s though the 90s. They have made the playoffs exactly twice since Tressel took off to Ohio State, once in 2006 (Loss to Appy State 49-24 Quarter Finals), and in 2016 (Loss to JMU 28-14 in the title game). They have also had 9 losing seasons in 15 since Tressel has been gone. They aren't the power they used to be. And plus Youngstown applied for the MAC along side Marshall and NIU after the 1996 season. The MAC accepted Marshall and NIU and rejected YSU. YSU is broke also, they are more likely to go DII than IA.

If the MAC were to lose schools (EMU, Akron are most in danger) my best guess is that their 1st calls would be to Marshall and WKU. I think it would take more than 2 for Marshall to even consider it. The 2nd biggest reason they left in 04 was that over half of the MAC just wasn't competitive.

(05-26-2020 01:01 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  If the MAC were to expand, they might bring aboard a couple of current midwestern or mideastern FCS schools that want to move up to FBS level. Check out this article:

They'll take Youngstown when it relocates to somewhere in PA (already over-concentrated in Ohio), NDSU if it relocates to Wisconsin or preferably downstate Illinois, or Illinois State if it relocates to the range of an NIT at-large pick on a regular basis.

If 3 were to drop out, they could take UMAss FB-only, to get back to inventory that ESPN will want for #MACtion ... the only real reason to want to go to 10 full time would be to be able to play an 18 game conference season in BBall with a double round robin, and no reason to take reliable NET drags for that purpose.

So far, most CSNBBS readers have indicated that they expect the Big 12, C-USA, AAC, and Sun Belt conferences to be most likely to be affected by realignment.

Q: Is the C-USA and Sun Belt speculation based on reports that they might spin off new divisions based on East and West regions?

A: Very possibly.

Q: Could the C-USA take the Eastern schools and Sun Belt take the Western schools from the two conferences, or vice versi - - as simple as that?

A: Why not?

Q: Is the Big 12 and AAC speculation based on rumors that the Big 12 might take 1 or 2 AAC teams by 2026?

A: Probably.

Q: What's your opinion?

(05-27-2020 04:47 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  So far, most CSNBBS readers have indicated that they expect the Big 12, C-USA, AAC, and Sun Belt conferences to be most likely to be affected by realignment.

Q: Is the C-USA and Sun Belt speculation based on reports that they might spin off new divisions based on East and West regions?

A: Very possibly.

Q: Could the C-USA take the Eastern schools and Sun Belt take the Western schools from the two conferences, or vice versi - - as simple as that?

A: Why not?

Q: Is the Big 12 and AAC speculation based on rumors that the Big 12 might take 1 or 2 AAC teams by 2026?

A: Probably.

Q: What's your opinion?

An organized realignment between CUSA and the Sun Belt is unlikely (although in these COVID times, who knows?) -- if there is any realignment by 2026, those two conferences are most likely to be affected due to a unorganized cascade of moves triggered by the Big 12 losing members, similar to what took place in the early 2010s.

The thing is, sh!t always rolls downhill in conference realignment. Things in the Big12 will either break mid-decade, or they won't. If they do, the Big12 will raid down, possibly from the AAC and MWC both, but I reckon likely the AAC at any rate, then the AAC will have to raid down ...

... and otherwise if it's clear the Big12 is pretty much standing pat, then the AAC can decide who among those available is strongest to fill in their 12th member.

The incentive to charge into the difficult unscrambling which is almost certain to end up with bruised egos somewhere is weakened the more people are thinking maybe a mid-decade realignment scramble will end up making it easier to unscramble the remaining schools among CUSA and the SBC.

(05-27-2020 06:40 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 04:47 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  So far, most CSNBBS readers have indicated that they expect the Big 12, C-USA, AAC, and Sun Belt conferences to be most likely to be affected by realignment.

Q: Is the C-USA and Sun Belt speculation based on reports that they might spin off new divisions based on East and West regions?

A: Very possibly.

Q: Could the C-USA take the Eastern schools and Sun Belt take the Western schools from the two conferences, or vice versi - - as simple as that?

A: Why not?

Q: Is the Big 12 and AAC speculation based on rumors that the Big 12 might take 1 or 2 AAC teams by 2026?

A: Probably.

Q: What's your opinion?

An organized realignment between CUSA and the Sun Belt is unlikely (although in these COVID times, who knows?) -- if there is any realignment by 2026, those two conferences are most likely to be affected due to a unorganized cascade of moves triggered by the Big 12 losing members, similar to what took place in the early 2010s.

I personally think what may happen with CUSA/Belt talks is some type of scheduling agreement for non-football sports to agree to play OOC games against each other. Too many nearby teams from each conference with overlapping fan bases for this not to be a good thing. The Sun Belt is in a much better position than CUSA. We are somewhat more compact with a travel partner system that makes sense so other than Texas St who is on a bit of a Football island I don't see a lot of schools willing to move to CUSA as it's currently configured. A wholesale east/west organized realignment of the two conferences is just a pipe dream IMHO.

(05-27-2020 08:37 AM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 06:40 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 04:47 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  So far, most CSNBBS readers have indicated that they expect the Big 12, C-USA, AAC, and Sun Belt conferences to be most likely to be affected by realignment.

Q: Is the C-USA and Sun Belt speculation based on reports that they might spin off new divisions based on East and West regions?

A: Very possibly.

Q: Could the C-USA take the Eastern schools and Sun Belt take the Western schools from the two conferences, or vice versi - - as simple as that?

A: Why not?

Q: Is the Big 12 and AAC speculation based on rumors that the Big 12 might take 1 or 2 AAC teams by 2026?

A: Probably.

Q: What's your opinion?

An organized realignment between CUSA and the Sun Belt is unlikely (although in these COVID times, who knows?) -- if there is any realignment by 2026, those two conferences are most likely to be affected due to a unorganized cascade of moves triggered by the Big 12 losing members, similar to what took place in the early 2010s.

I personally think what may happen with CUSA/Belt talks is some type of scheduling agreement for non-football sports to agree to play OOC games against each other. Too many nearby teams from each conference with overlapping fan bases for this not to be a good thing. The Sun Belt is in a much better position than CUSA. We are somewhat more compact with a travel partner system that makes sense so other than Texas St who is on a bit of a Football island I don't see a lot of schools willing to move to CUSA as it's currently configured. A wholesale east/west organized realignment of the two conferences is just a pipe dream IMHO.

I'm wondering what the chances of the Big 12 adding members are. I'm guessing the odds may be less than 50/50, especially given the current rumors about P5 splitting off from NCAA.

Big 10 will poach from ACC and the SBC and CUSA will play musical chairs.

(05-27-2020 09:07 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 08:37 AM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 06:40 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 04:47 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  So far, most CSNBBS readers have indicated that they expect the Big 12, C-USA, AAC, and Sun Belt conferences to be most likely to be affected by realignment.

Q: Is the C-USA and Sun Belt speculation based on reports that they might spin off new divisions based on East and West regions?

A: Very possibly.

Q: Could the C-USA take the Eastern schools and Sun Belt take the Western schools from the two conferences, or vice versi - - as simple as that?

A: Why not?

Q: Is the Big 12 and AAC speculation based on rumors that the Big 12 might take 1 or 2 AAC teams by 2026?

A: Probably.

Q: What's your opinion?

An organized realignment between CUSA and the Sun Belt is unlikely (although in these COVID times, who knows?) -- if there is any realignment by 2026, those two conferences are most likely to be affected due to a unorganized cascade of moves triggered by the Big 12 losing members, similar to what took place in the early 2010s.

I personally think what may happen with CUSA/Belt talks is some type of scheduling agreement for non-football sports to agree to play OOC games against each other. Too many nearby teams from each conference with overlapping fan bases for this not to be a good thing. The Sun Belt is in a much better position than CUSA. We are somewhat more compact with a travel partner system that makes sense so other than Texas St who is on a bit of a Football island I don't see a lot of schools willing to move to CUSA as it's currently configured. A wholesale east/west organized realignment of the two conferences is just a pipe dream IMHO.

I'm wondering what the chances of the Big 12 adding members are. I'm guessing the odds may be less than 50/50, especially given the current rumors about P5 splitting off from NCAA.

The Big 12 would only add members if they lost members.

(05-27-2020 10:15 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 09:07 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 08:37 AM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 06:40 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 04:47 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  So far, most CSNBBS readers have indicated that they expect the Big 12, C-USA, AAC, and Sun Belt conferences to be most likely to be affected by realignment.

Q: Is the C-USA and Sun Belt speculation based on reports that they might spin off new divisions based on East and West regions?

A: Very possibly.

Q: Could the C-USA take the Eastern schools and Sun Belt take the Western schools from the two conferences, or vice versi - - as simple as that?

A: Why not?

Q: Is the Big 12 and AAC speculation based on rumors that the Big 12 might take 1 or 2 AAC teams by 2026?

A: Probably.

Q: What's your opinion?

An organized realignment between CUSA and the Sun Belt is unlikely (although in these COVID times, who knows?) -- if there is any realignment by 2026, those two conferences are most likely to be affected due to a unorganized cascade of moves triggered by the Big 12 losing members, similar to what took place in the early 2010s.

I personally think what may happen with CUSA/Belt talks is some type of scheduling agreement for non-football sports to agree to play OOC games against each other. Too many nearby teams from each conference with overlapping fan bases for this not to be a good thing. The Sun Belt is in a much better position than CUSA. We are somewhat more compact with a travel partner system that makes sense so other than Texas St who is on a bit of a Football island I don't see a lot of schools willing to move to CUSA as it's currently configured. A wholesale east/west organized realignment of the two conferences is just a pipe dream IMHO.

I'm wondering what the chances of the Big 12 adding members are. I'm guessing the odds may be less than 50/50, especially given the current rumors about P5 splitting off from NCAA.

The Big 12 would only add members if they lost members.

That may be true, but if so, you will no doubt be disappointed, considering that you are a fan of realignment.

(05-28-2020 04:31 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 10:15 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 09:07 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 08:37 AM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 06:40 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  An organized realignment between CUSA and the Sun Belt is unlikely (although in these COVID times, who knows?) -- if there is any realignment by 2026, those two conferences are most likely to be affected due to a unorganized cascade of moves triggered by the Big 12 losing members, similar to what took place in the early 2010s.

I personally think what may happen with CUSA/Belt talks is some type of scheduling agreement for non-football sports to agree to play OOC games against each other. Too many nearby teams from each conference with overlapping fan bases for this not to be a good thing. The Sun Belt is in a much better position than CUSA. We are somewhat more compact with a travel partner system that makes sense so other than Texas St who is on a bit of a Football island I don't see a lot of schools willing to move to CUSA as it's currently configured. A wholesale east/west organized realignment of the two conferences is just a pipe dream IMHO.

I'm wondering what the chances of the Big 12 adding members are. I'm guessing the odds may be less than 50/50, especially given the current rumors about P5 splitting off from NCAA.

The Big 12 would only add members if they lost members.

That may be true, but if so, you will no doubt be disappointed, considering that you are a fan of realignment.

I'm not a fan of realignment simply for the sake of realignment, but more to correct the disorder represented by the current college sports alignments. To this end, yes, I would be disappointed if the Big 12 didn't add members, since the most realistic chance of increasing the order within college sports is for the Big 12 to take a hit and lose members and power status. At that point it would have to add schools to restock. Of course, such events could easily result in the same level of disorder as now or worse, but the status quo is not optimal.

you left out none.

(05-26-2020 12:03 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  Very interestingly, C-USA and the Sun Belt Conference are apparently having a serious discussion about a merger, with East and West Divisions, motivated by the Covid-19 epidemic and need to cut travel costs.

See the thread on that topic.

The problem with that is that several schools still be outliers in number of sports. There be some ideas of grabbing schools.
Dallas Baptist's baseball could go from MVC to CUSA/SBC merger.
If UTEP can't get into the MWC? Maybe add West Texas A&M to be with UTEP while their football team plays an Independent schedule or be part of the WAC football? West Texas A&M is pretty good in men's basketball which could help bring UTEP's team the needed competition.
Lamar, SHSU and SFAU all looked into going FBS. Grabbing them would keep the threat of WAC from restarting their FBS football dreams.
Missouri State could add some benefits in several sports. It would give them a step closer to joining Tulsa and Wichita State in the AAC. Imagine Tulsa, Missouri State and Wichita State going to the men's tournament for March Madness out of the AAC?
Youngstown State could be paired with Marshall.
North Florida and FGCU along with Belmont might work for non-football purposes.
JMU and Delaware would work for ODU.

As it is, the merging of CUSA and SBC still not work with outliers. Even P5 conferences are hurting from the pandemics and have to change themselves.

(05-28-2020 06:30 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-28-2020 04:31 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 10:15 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 09:07 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 08:37 AM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  I personally think what may happen with CUSA/Belt talks is some type of scheduling agreement for non-football sports to agree to play OOC games against each other. Too many nearby teams from each conference with overlapping fan bases for this not to be a good thing. The Sun Belt is in a much better position than CUSA. We are somewhat more compact with a travel partner system that makes sense so other than Texas St who is on a bit of a Football island I don't see a lot of schools willing to move to CUSA as it's currently configured. A wholesale east/west organized realignment of the two conferences is just a pipe dream IMHO.

I'm wondering what the chances of the Big 12 adding members are. I'm guessing the odds may be less than 50/50, especially given the current rumors about P5 splitting off from NCAA.

The Big 12 would only add members if they lost members.

That may be true, but if so, you will no doubt be disappointed, considering that you are a fan of realignment.

I'm not a fan of realignment simply for the sake of realignment, but more to correct the disorder represented by the current college sports alignments. To this end, yes, I would be disappointed if the Big 12 didn't add members, since the most realistic chance of increasing the order within college sports is for the Big 12 to take a hit and lose members and power status. At that point it would have to add schools to restock. Of course, such events could easily result in the same level of disorder as now or worse, but the status quo is not optimal.

What kind of "disorder" are you referring to? Could you write a clear definition of what you mean by the disorder?

For example, "disorder" could refer to chaos, or it could refer to unfair mismatches, or it could refer to geographical mismatches, etc. Are you referring to these kinds of disorder?

(05-28-2020 05:56 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-28-2020 06:30 AM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-28-2020 04:31 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 10:15 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(05-27-2020 09:07 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  I'm wondering what the chances of the Big 12 adding members are. I'm guessing the odds may be less than 50/50, especially given the current rumors about P5 splitting off from NCAA.

The Big 12 would only add members if they lost members.

That may be true, but if so, you will no doubt be disappointed, considering that you are a fan of realignment.

I'm not a fan of realignment simply for the sake of realignment, but more to correct the disorder represented by the current college sports alignments. To this end, yes, I would be disappointed if the Big 12 didn't add members, since the most realistic chance of increasing the order within college sports is for the Big 12 to take a hit and lose members and power status. At that point it would have to add schools to restock. Of course, such events could easily result in the same level of disorder as now or worse, but the status quo is not optimal.

What kind of "disorder" are you referring to? Could you write a clear definition of what you mean by the disorder?

For example, "disorder" could refer to chaos, or it could refer to unfair mismatches, or it could refer to geographical mismatches, etc. Are you referring to these kinds of disorder?

Even if you're comparing conferences of similar athletic strength, there are inconsistent numbers of schools per conference and overlapping geography between conferences. Taking just the P5, you have 2 conferences of 14, 1 conference with 14 full members and 1 non-FB member, 1 conference of 12, and 1 conference of 10. Geographically, the ACC overlaps both the Big Ten and SEC, and you've got WVU in the Big 12. It's a mess to my OCD sensibilities.