Rumors Flew at Final Four: Interesting................

[813knight]

so many rumored scenarios.......anyone think that this 16 team Super Conference idea is a way to combat the playoff supporters/pressure? I guess the cliffs version of all this realignment talk is Notre Dame is the key to all of the dominoes falling. Why a program that hasn't done anything in 25+ years has so much power still is another conversation

[Hurricane Mutiny]

Well Hurrican you have some good points. 

You put say Miami & USF in one conference and FSU & UCF in another -makes for good TV.  I don't like not including Cinci in part it take away from UL & WV.  They are all located near each other. 

As far as TV markets- you are right UCF is like 19th (about 2mil) but that includes Daytona Beach which seems a little strange to me and Cinci is about 33(1Mil) so if all things are equal and TV market decides it then it goes to UCF.  Since Cinci is in the BE I think that might give them a leg up.

DaBull, I live near Orlando (Lake Mary) but work in Daytona Beach.  Daytona has historically been a part of the market, even the NBC affiliate (WESH) was originally based in Daytona.  Also, when I lived in Gainesville, you could get the Orlando Sentinel and I think that some of the "local" TV affiliates were from Orlando.  That may have changed, though.

Basically, with the lack of big cities to the south, east, and north, Orlando has a huge TV/Radio footprint, and if growth continues into the more rural areas, it has the capability to become an even larger market.

I'm not saying any of this is guaranteed, but I'm just pointing out that the criteria for expansion may not simply be "what are the 4 best football/hoops schools".  Trust me on this, I happen to work for a major sports/entertainment company, and sometimes decisions are made based on media markets rather than "traditional" considerations.

You have to take everything into consideration, and if the ACC expands within its own footprint (rather than moving into the northeast), both USF and UCF are very desirable partners.

[dabull80]

Hurricane - I think alot of USF fans realize that.  Being a U fan you know the good history of ECU in football yet they picked USF for the BE with virtually no history and maybe that TV market and recruiting did it for us.

[Hurricane Mutiny]

Hurricane - I think alot of USF fans realize that.  Being a U fan you know the good history of ECU in football yet they picked USF for the BE with virtually no history and maybe that TV market and recruiting did it for us.

I completely agree with you, DaBull.  Hell, ECU beat Miami TWICE, yet USF got the nod.

Simply stated, I think that you have to look at where a school will be in the future.  For that reason, I think that USF and UCF are much better "gambles" (especially 6 years ago) than a longer-established school such as ECU.

Look, I'm not trying to tell the BE how to do business.  But when Miami was IN the Big East, I regularly argued for a 12-team all-sports conference, and greater expansion of the BE footprint in the south.  Keep in mind, Miami's CLOSEST conference rival was Virginia Tech.

Whether USF stays in the BE, or joins up with another conference, I still think that the pair of USF and UCF is very attractive, for a variety of reasons.  That's not a slight to either program, it just means that, as a pair, you can bring a budding rivalry that locks down the middle of the state and adds two Top 20 media markets.  Impressive.