Conference realignment "Rumors" "tweets" "etc"

[Guest Jonesy Bull]

43 minutes ago, CousinRicky said:

The only momentum was a politician saying we deserve a stadium to a bunch of donors.  No mention of dates, funding, etc.  People are making this out to be much more than it was.  And, for the record, Weatherford has become an Iron Bull. Was announced at the event a couple of Saturdays ago. So he is putting some money where is mouth is.

Maybe "momentum" is a bad choice of words.  There is no momentum until these words are put into a true action plan (for sure).  But if this is going to happen, then it has to start somewhere.  Never before have I heard public statements like these.  That's all I'm saying.  There is at least a spark which hopefully turns into a firestorm of activity.

[Rocky Style]

18 minutes ago, Jonesy Bull said:

Maybe "momentum" is a bad choice of words.  There is no momentum until these words are put into a true action plan (for sure).  But if this is going to happen, then it has to start somewhere.  Never before have I heard public statements like these.  That's all I'm saying.  There is at least a spark which hopefully turns into a firestorm of activity.

Yes.  Obviously steps only matter if you keep making the next steps.  But we haven't even heard anyone say this before.

[FootballFan247]

6 hours ago, Bull Gooner said:

This would be great. Maybe a steeper learning curve than going to Big 12, but the ACC would be great for us after a few years for recruiting to catch up.

Probably worth pointing a few things out regarding realignment:

1. USF (and UCF for that matter) isn't going to be allowed into the ACC as long as Miami and Florida State are part of that conference no matter what the stadium/football program situation is. That's just not going to happen. 

2. Pac-12 isn't going to expand into Florida or any other East Coast teams, because that would be dumb geographically and time zone wise, and insanely expensive due to travel costs. 

3. SEC (see ACC). Florida may only have one vote, but as one of the SEC's crown jewel programs, they probably have enough clout to torpedo any USF/UCF ambitions for the conference. 

4. Big10 - Certainly a possibility due to the Florida market, but they're definitely going to require an on campus stadium with at least 50-75k seating capacity, along with some consistent success in the football program

5. Big 12 - Still the most likely from a long term standpoint, but if UCF has success in the Big 12 and gains more political clout, they could make it very challenging for USF to get in the conference. 

[hm101]

12 minutes ago, FootballFan247 said:

Probably worth pointing a few things out regarding realignment:

1. USF (and UCF for that matter) isn't going to be allowed into the ACC as long as Miami and Florida State are part of that conference no matter what the stadium/football program situation is. That's just not going to happen. 

2. Pac-12 isn't going to expand into Florida or any other East Coast teams, because that would be dumb geographically and time zone wise, and insanely expensive due to travel costs. 

3. SEC (see ACC). Florida may only have one vote, but as one of the SEC's crown jewel programs, they probably have enough clout to torpedo any USF/UCF ambitions for the conference. 

4. Big10 - Certainly a possibility due to the Florida market, but they're definitely going to require an on campus stadium with at least 50-75k seating capacity, along with some consistent success in the football program

5. Big 12 - Still the most likely from a long term standpoint, but if UCF has success in the Big 12 and gains more political clout, they could make it very challenging for USF to get in the conference. 

Great analysis. I don't fully agree about the ACC. The Big Ten is compelling but geographically challenging. But the reason I can see us in the ACC is the "alliance"... the more FL teams available for the Big Ten and Pac 12 teams to play in, the better for them. They might apply pressure to the ACC to let us in. 

[Paisa el Toro]

2 minutes ago, hm101 said:

Great analysis. I don't fully agree about the ACC. The Big Ten is compelling but geographically challenging. But the reason I can see us in the ACC is the "alliance"... the more FL teams available for the Big Ten and Pac 12 teams to play in, the better for them. They might apply pressure to the ACC to let us in. 

Agreed on a route to the ACC being completely closed off to us. We can still right this ship. Our academics and geographic location, along with a significant athletics investment, could make us attractive to the ACC. I still think the Big10 could do some poaching, despite the "alliance."

[FootballFan247]

8 minutes ago, hm101 said:

They might apply pressure to the ACC to let us in. 

Unless Big 10 and Pac-12 are willing to share their own TV revenue with the ACC (and I peace in the Middle East is more likely than that) there's not much any conference can do to force another conference to take on another team. 

On an unrelated note: Of all the Power 5 conferences, the Pac-12 is in the worst shape long term because nobody wants to play out west unless it's USC or UCLA (when they're good, and 2021 aside they haven't been for many years) and the rest of the conference is really weak. 

I also think Texas and Oklahoma leaving to go to the SEC is a major mistake, and they obviously didn't learn anything from Nebraska going to the Big 10 and Miami going to the ACC. Oklahoma and Texas are going to have a way tougher time staying relevant going against competition they can't beat much like Nebraska and Miami found out the hard way. 

[NewEnglandBull]

2 minutes ago, FootballFan247 said:

Unless Big 10 and Pac-12 are willing to share their own TV revenue with the ACC (and I peace in the Middle East is more likely than that) there's not much any conference can do to force another conference to take on another team. 

On an unrelated note: Of all the Power 5 conferences, the Pac-12 is in the worst shape long term because nobody wants to play out west unless it's USC or UCLA (when they're good, and 2021 aside they haven't been for many years) and the rest of the conference is really weak. 

I also think Texas and Oklahoma leaving to go to the SEC is a major mistake, and they obviously didn't learn anything from Nebraska going to the Big 10 and Miami going to the ACC. Oklahoma and Texas are going to have a way tougher time staying relevant going against competition they can't beat much like Nebraska and Miami found out the hard way. 

That will probably be where the next explosion happens…Cal, USC and UCLA to the Big10.

[FootballFan247]

23 minutes ago, Paisa el Toro said:

could make us attractive to the ACC.

Once again, the issue isn't how attractive USF can be to the ACC or how much money they can invest, it's that there are already two schools in Florida with major political clout in FSU and Miami. They influence Clemson (which they easily could) and there's no pathway for USF. UCF has the same issue. Houston had it in the Big 12 until Texas decided to leave, and Cincinnati experienced it with Ohio State in the Big 10.  

[El_Toro_86]

2 hours ago, CousinRicky said:

The only momentum was a politician saying we deserve a stadium to a bunch of donors.  No mention of dates, funding, etc.  People are making this out to be much more than it was.  And, for the record, Weatherford has become an Iron Bull. Was announced at the event a couple of Saturdays ago. So he is putting some money where is mouth is.

I dunno know.  This seems like it might have some legs to it.  I don’t think you would see they chair of the BOT, the CEO of the USF foundation, the official Twitter account of USF athletics all go public if this was just political hot air.  WW even spoke about potential sites, saying no to the area north of Fletcher.   Even Joey Johnston had a nice fluff piece on the announcement on gousfbulls.com.  Also, I believe CJS said he’s heard talk of an OCS over the last 4 months so I believe something changed recently.  Perhaps MK got a dose of cold reality from the B12.  Perhaps some big money donor stepped up to the plate.  Who knows?  I hope we see a pretty detailed plan in the very near future.  If this just goes by the wayside with no action, there will be some reputations tarnished.

Of course, this all could be one giant Fugazi as well.  I wouldn’t put it past USF.

 

[FootballFan247]

3 minutes ago, NewEnglandBull said:

That will probably be where the next explosion happens…Cal, USC and UCLA to the Big10.

That sounds great on paper, but geographically it would be a nightmare. Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan having to travel to California on a regular basis? The costs would be insane and remember, it's not just football, it would be all the sports teams. That get's real expensive real quick.