A New Direction

[BaltoBull]

I'm not trying to be called stupid or anything with this post, I'm just trying to think outside of the box and share what I've been thinking as of late.

 

This is amalgam of other's ideas in addition to some of my own. It is a radical departure from the status quo, but in light of the NCAA's repeated favoritism & ineptitude and the further consolidation of 'power' and access - Seriously, why wouldn't the Gang of Five form a coalition, blow-up everything, separate from the NCAA and form it's own league?

 

My thoughts associated with this idea:

 

- We wouldn't have to be "The Gang of Five". We wouldn't have to be the 'poor step-children' of the collegiate sporting establishment. We could be our own thing, setting our own destiny.

 

- Realize our attendance and ratings are not on par with the 'power' conferences. Set expectations accordingly and go from there.

 

- It would be a lot like the NFL. Everything has to have as much parity as possible. Remember, this is about 'student-athletes' - we could have the chance to set a new standard for competition and conduct - beat the NCAA at their own game. No more Texas budget vs. Iowa budget. This is a really out-of-left field idea, but put a "cap" on booster donations. Anything above the cap goes to a general conference fund and then is dispersed equally. As the league becomes more successful, the 'cap' can be raised.  

 

- Or, allow the schools to bank the excess money from boosters and put a limit on how much can be spent on facilities per five year cycle, adjusting for market where the construction is taking place. I don't know. There has to be someway to prevent the sizable gaps between certain schools.

 

- I'm not sure what to do about schools that already have inherent advantages (stadiums and facilities) like say, Houston's new stadium vs. say, Southern Miss.

 

- It would be a lot like the Aresco plan, but on steroids. Where Aresco failed before, by spreading himself to thin, this will be avoided by the sheer number of schools and not competing with other 'bests of the rest'. Everyone is under the same umbrella with the same mission.

 

- Basically, in addition to markets, the teams that show the most commitment to athletics (attendance & budget averaged over the last 5 yrs.) from the four best remaining conferences: Big East, C-USA, MAC, MWC would become the teams of this true "SUPER CONFERENCE". If the ACC does implode, those teams, along with Army & Navy can be incorporated into the model as well. This isn't so much about potential (sorry, USA and Georgia State) as much as forming the best we can with what we have available.

 

- Yes, this means you will be playing with some schools that you think are 'inferior'. But this about safety in numbers, creating a level playing field and perhaps most importantly, playing in a competitive conference with similar schools.

 

- 10 teams per conference division. Play everyone round-robin and two out of division. Stop worrying about 'pay day' games; as has been stated elsewhere before, when the 'super conferences' finally form, there won't be room on 'elite' schools schedule anyways. If they want to hurt their chances to play in a post-season game, let them kill their ranking by playing a Sun Belt team.

 

- Give an ultimatum to Cincy and UConn, "You are either in or out". Seeing the number of teams signing up, they may have no choice other than to "downgrade' and wait for their call up or go independent. Boise, would no longer have their advantageous contract. If the other schools in the MWC who are having second thoughts see a 'reset' button, I don't think they will hesitate to disband and start over.

 

- Unfortunately, some teams will be 'left behind'. If there is one thing the expansion process has taught us, this is business. Right now, it's about survival and creating something from the ashes of realignment. 

 

- Some teams would have to be reassigned and shuffled around to make divisions competitive and somewhat geographically minded to allow for reasonable travel costs and rivalries to develop.

 

- Pitch to the networks a HUGE inventory of non-stop games on Saturday. Again, just like Aresco's plan, only much bigger.

 

- Forget the bowls. We are going to be locked out of them eventually. ESPN owns a bunch of them and wont want a team not associated with them to play in those games. The other, 'marquee' bowls are beauty contests and with the 'selection committee' will never give a team outside of the 'power' conferences a sniff, under ANY circumstances. To them, it's about 'brands', 'tradition' and protecting their own.

 

- We'll have our own playoffs and championships.

 

This is where is gets hairy. How much would it be worth? Would the contract be enough to split amongst all the teams equally? Like I said, costs can be reduced by forming tight, geographic conferences. But that might give the southern schools too much of an advantage.

 

I don't think I have all the answers, but I have long favored starting-over from scratch and getting out of the shadow of the 'big boys'. I have no problem accepting where we are in the hierarchy of college sports and making the best of it.

 

I also realize the likelihood of something like this happening are next to none. 

 

 

 

 

[MaltLiquorBull]

Not really worth it.   You don't see national televised minor-league baseball games on TV.  Nor do you see many FCS or division II college football on TV.  People want to see the best athletes and the highest level of competition--and that's what they pay for. 

 

I do agree we should try a new direction which is WINNING.  A winning tradition will cure all problems in the long run.

[cmhatter]

my out of the box idea is:

 

promotion an relagation...

 

Have the big 5 conferences aligned regionally to lesser conferences that are more of a 2nd division....

 

Bottom 4 teams from the big 5 drop, top 4 from the 2nd division move up.... This way it ALL comes down to success on the field.

[Who'sYourData?]

- We wouldn't have to be "The Gang of Five". We wouldn't have to be the 'poor step-children' of the collegiate sporting establishment. We could be our own thing, setting our own destiny.

 

Only problem is that no one would care to watch, when the SEC is on the other channel.

[Who'sYourData?]

my out of the box idea is:

 

promotion an relagation...

 

Have the big 5 conferences aligned regionally to lesser conferences that are more of a 2nd division....

 

Bottom 4 teams from the big 5 drop, top 4 from the 2nd division move up.... This way it ALL comes down to success on the field.

 

And why would the gang of four agree to this?

[charsibb]

my out of the box idea is:

 

promotion an relagation...

 

Have the big 5 conferences aligned regionally to lesser conferences that are more of a 2nd division....

 

Bottom 4 teams from the big 5 drop, top 4 from the 2nd division move up.... This way it ALL comes down to success on the field.

 

I did this back in 2010, in a complete NCAA realignment. Waaaaaaaayyy too much time on my hands back then, LOL

 

http://thebullspen.com/index.php?/gallery/image/63-realignment/

[SANJAY]

I'm not trying to be called stupid or anything with this post, . 

You don't have to try for that here. They'll do it for violation and giggles.

[cmsnow84]

my out of the box idea is:

 

promotion an relagation...

 

Have the big 5 conferences aligned regionally to lesser conferences that are more of a 2nd division....

 

Bottom 4 teams from the big 5 drop, top 4 from the 2nd division move up.... This way it ALL comes down to success on the field.

 

I did this back in 2010, in a complete NCAA realignment. Waaaaaaaayyy too much time on my hands back then, LOL

 

http://thebullspen.com/index.php?/gallery/image/63-realignment/

 

That link is not working, I was really looking forward to seeing what you drew up.

[cophbulls]

my out of the box idea is:

 

promotion an relagation...

 

Have the big 5 conferences aligned regionally to lesser conferences that are more of a 2nd division....

 

Bottom 4 teams from the big 5 drop, top 4 from the 2nd division move up.... This way it ALL comes down to success on the field.

 

I did this back in 2010, in a complete NCAA realignment. Waaaaaaaayyy too much time on my hands back then, LOL

 

http://thebullspen.com/index.php?/gallery/image/63-realignment/

This is actually a great idea, one ESPN had a couple years back also. They had 4 16 team conferences and the bottom two for each conference was deregulated and the top2 from each conference was regulated. I think they had it set up wher eyou played 8 teams w/in your conf, 4 outside and 1 from the lower conference. Of course USF wasnt in the top 64 with this either.

[bull-71]

Not  to different then the Division one and two soccer leage in Spain .  Still Real Madrid, Barcelona. Bilbao dominate the league with money..smaller towns are the ones that go up and down.

 

Go Bulls

Edited January 24, 2013 by bull-71