Jim Johnson

Yup. The Big 12 ... which will start playing in 2025. Big 12 Adds Affiliates in Lacrosse, Rowing - Big 12 Conference BIG12SPORTS.COM The Big 12 Conference has added three affiliate members in women’s lacrosse and two in rowing for the 2024-25 academic year. Florida, San Diego State and UC Davis will...

Gotcha, my browser has trouble displaying the sarcasm fonts sometimes ... Just as a note, however, Duke has less than 7,000 undergrads.

Tulane has 14,000 students... more than Wake Forest and Boston College... and almost as many as Duke and Miami.

When they lose FSU and Clemson, ESPN is going to renegotiate... so the pro-rata additions won't matter.

They've been an odd number overall since 2014... thanks to ND. Adding SMU made them an even number... except in football --> which was your point about being an odd number currently. I bet they lose 2 and add 3... WSU and OSU to help with Stanford and Cal ... (on paper, a merger with the Pac 12 which lets the NCAA units transfer)... and then I hope that 3rd is USF to keep two teams in Florida ... but I suspect adding New Orleans might have just as much appeal.

This is evident just looking at basketball... the fourth- and fifth- year players on a team like Oakland manhandled the more talented, but significantly younger, players at Kentucky. Sure, the talent difference was remarkable... but when the game gets more phyiscal, that difference can be mitigated. A lot of people like to compare the top college teams with bottom NFL teams... "Alabama could beat ..." this year it's U Conn could beat some NBA teams. No. No they could not... 18-22 year olds could not beat teams that are just as talented but 8 to 10 years older, stronger, and more experienced. Consider how many rookies go from college to starting their first game and succeed. For every CJ Stroud there's plenty of Ryan Leafs... and there is even more disparity for the late rounders.

As @Outlaw said ... it's all about the Benjamins. An extra $40-50 million per year means being competitive across the board. FSU sees a day when their baseball ... girls soccer... and other sports (not to mention football) are among those left behind in their respective sports.

I counter to say this: the fact that Horne, Weaver, and Boyles left for greener pastures shows that CCS/CJS could recruit NFL-caliber talent and develop them enough so they had the opportunity to transfer. If CCS and CJS (and their respective staffs) were that bad, none of their recruits would A) transfer to schools with better opportunities to showcase their talent ... or B) be considered draftable. USF is not going to recruit more than a handful of potential NFL-caliber players under the best of conditions... heck, getting one per class would be outstanding in the AAC. I think the terrible game management, terrible game planning, and all the losses have jaded you.

Now now... Jimmy Horne and Xavier Weaver are going to be drafted for sure. Spencer Schrader and Dwayne Boyles might.

This is wrong... it took 12 votes before they added SMU, Cal, and Stanford.

- NM -

Yes. Miami does not have much of a fanbase outside of South(ern) Florida... USF would allow the ACC to get viewers in the Central Middle Florida that UM does not attract. (FSU currently covers those markets for the ACC).

They won't be able to afford the exit fees or break the Big 12 Grant of Rights ... they're in the Big 12 for a while.