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Official realignment thread - SEC formally invites OU and Texas to join the conference in 2025

I wonder if the AAC without UCF, Houston and Cincy is the conference that's actually on the verge of dying and maybe the MWC is looking to go after some of their programs

Doubtful the MWC can get AAC teams to come to the MWC because the MWC's media rights deal isn't going to increase and the AAC's is 2X the MWC's. Even if the AAC's was the same as the MWC's, why would you want to ditch ESPN for CBS, CBSSN, Fox, Fox Sports, etc?

Navy can leave the AAC anytime and it won't impact the ESPN deal since Navy football's media deal is with CBSSN not ESPN for their home games.

The AAC now can go after the other G5 conferences. FCS James Madison could be a consideration and their current athletic budget is already at AAC levels & their stadium is expandable to at least 40K but the AAC minimum is said to be 35K. They could move up to CUSA or Sun Belt and easily dominate either conference.

Buffalo out of the MAC could even be a consideration. With the AAC's media money, they'd go over the $50M mark.

UAB is a no brainer with the new stadium and the high college football TV viewership of Birmingham (even if most of it is for Bama football).

UNT, Charlotte, and ODU have $40M+ athletic budgets. FAU, FIU, Appy State, Coastal, Georgia State, and Texas State are $3-5M away.
 
I wonder if the AAC without UCF, Houston and Cincy is the conference that's actually on the verge of dying and maybe the MWC is looking to go after some of their programs
unsupported hypothesis...

AFA was told the AAC would also be adding Army, later found out this wasn't going to happen, backed out of AAC talks and then CSU decided being the only AAC member in this part of the country didn't make sense.
 
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Doubtful the MWC can get AAC teams to come to the MWC because the MWC's media rights deal isn't going to increase and the AAC's is 2X the MWC's. Even if the AAC's was the same as the MWC's, why would you want to ditch ESPN for CBS, CBSSN, Fox, Fox Sports, etc?

Navy can leave the AAC anytime and it won't impact the ESPN deal since Navy football's media deal is with CBSSN not ESPN for their home games.

The AAC now can go after the other G5 conferences. FCS James Madison could be a consideration and their current athletic budget is already at AAC levels & their stadium is expandable to at least 40K but the AAC minimum is said to be 35K. They could move up to CUSA or Sun Belt and easily dominate either conference.

Buffalo out of the MAC could even be a consideration. With the AAC's media money, they'd go over the $50M mark.

UAB is a no brainer with the new stadium and the high college football TV viewership of Birmingham (even if most of it is for Bama football).

UNT, Charlotte, and ODU have $40M+ athletic budgets. FAU, FIU, Appy State, Coastal, Georgia State, and Texas State are $3-5M away.
Again the AAC’s tv contract isn’t staying at 2x after realignment and not everyone is obsessed with espn like you. The CFP is trying to get their rights out for bid right now.
 
unsupported hypothesis...

AFA was told the AAC would also be adding Army, later found out this wasn't going to happen, backed out and then CSU decided being the only AAC member in this part of the country didn't make sense.
Seems like the opposite actually. Apparently AFA really wanted to go but CSU didn’t.
 
The landscape is going to change a lot over the next 2 years, IMO. May be best for all to sit tight and see what happens.

I still think ~32 teams will form a super league where top $ and talent (players and coaches) quickly gravitate to. They’ll have their own playoff and champion. Teams from current P5 that don’t get that invite, along with the upper-half (?) of current G5 will then form a lesser league where smaller tv $ goes. They’ll have their own playoff and champion.

Everyone else will have to evaluate whether it makes any sense to have a football program at all.
 
Seems like the opposite actually. Apparently AFA really wanted to go but CSU didn’t.
I've always thought it was more attractive to AFA than anyone else because moving into a conference with navy actually gives them extra ooc games in football and basketball.
 
Makes sense. Would have been a weird move.
I know that much of realignment is about TV/Streaming money, but the certain reality of <10,000 butts in the seats in Ft Collins and the Academy when Temple, Tulane, or East Carolina, et al came to town had to be chilling.....
 
I'm much more confident for SDSU getting a P5 invite than Boise State. Boise State will not get into even the Big 12 if they don't elevate their research tier to 1 from 2. Memphis was also tier 2 and that is why they didn't come to the Big 12 and even had FedEx money ready to grease the wheels for that invite. What is interesting is that the Big 12 has BYU, Baylor, and TCU who are tier 2 private schools.

Believe it or not, every SEC school is tier 1 unlike the Big 12. Every other Big 12 school including UCF, UC, and Houston are tier 1 schools. Wake Forest is another P5 school that is not tier 1.

With CSU leaving the MWC if that happens, that will leave the MWC with UNM, Hawaii, UNR, and UNLV as their tier 1 schools.

Another thing going against BSU to the Big 12 is that BSU ($50M) is going to have to find an extra $20-25M in their athletic budget to get them in position. UCF ($69M), UC (a little under $69M), and Houston ($75M) budgets plus $20M extra from the media rights deal would put them at the level of ISU, KSU, TT, and WVU. SDSU's ($54M) new stadium and debt service on that stadium should get them within striking distance. BSU fans have been talking about another set of suite boxes on the other side of the stadium but will it be enough to get them up to $60-65M? CSU's move to the AAC would get them closer to $60-65M. Air Force is already at $60M. Those two have the biggest athletic budgets in the MWC not BSU & SDSU. Those numbers were taken from the most recent data from the Knight Commission.

I think BSU and SDSU are going to regret the decision to stay in the MWC.
Youre probably right. However, Boise the city is a fast growing real estate market and had tech jobs (Micron, Hewlett Packard) twenty years ago. Eventually money will arrive and someone will endow them. Their campus is right downtown and its not ugly either sans blue turf. They have potential if a lot of things go right and they play an aggressive hand in the next 10 to 20 years
 







What if the Big 10 adds to get to 16 ? Lets say Iowa St and West VA so that there are natural geographical Pods mirroring the SEC's Pods system.
Could this force the Pac 12 to add 4 teams from the Big 12? And if so what four schools would make the most sense?

TCU, Houston, Texas Tech and OSU ?
 
If the PAC goes to a pod system, then we would have to choose four out of the following schools: Houston, Tech, TCU, KU, OSU and bailer (ducks from the inevitable barrage of garbage thrown at my head), BYU. Boise, SDSU and UNLV. I would have to grudgingly admit that the Texas schools would probably bring the most value.
 







What if the Big 10 adds to get to 16 ? Lets say Iowa St and West VA so that there are natural geographical Pods mirroring the SEC's Pods system.
Could this force the Pac 12 to add 4 teams from the Big 12? And if so what four schools would make the most sense?

TCU, Houston, Texas Tech and OSU ?

If the B1G decides to expand, they're obviously the first mover.

Assuming they snag KU, my preference would be for the Pac to snag UNLV, OSU, TCU and UH.

UNLV would fit well in a pod with UA. ASU & Utah.

CU would be with OSU, TCU & UH.

Other pods would be OR/WA and CA.
 







What if the Big 10 adds to get to 16 ? Lets say Iowa St and West VA so that there are natural geographical Pods mirroring the SEC's Pods system.
Could this force the Pac 12 to add 4 teams from the Big 12? And if so what four schools would make the most sense?

TCU, Houston, Texas Tech and OSU ?

If the B1G decides to expand, i think they're going to say "Alliance? Sorry, I don't remember any alliance... Do you have any documentation that might help refresh my memory?" And then grab Carolina and Virginia.
 
If the B1G decides to expand, i think they're going to say "Alliance? Sorry, I don't remember any alliance... Do you have any documentation that might help refresh my memory?" And then grab Carolina and Virginia.

I'm surprised the B1G even entered into the alliance given their their strong financial footing.
 
PAC needs to go big and bold and add 10 teams from the ACC plus Houston and TCU. Change the name to Pacific Atlantic Conference, every time zone and the biggest states, CA, TX, FL and NY.
 
The Alliance is about worth the paper it's printed on.
Highlighted by USC immediately announcing games with LSU right after the commissioners announced their big alliance news.

For the record, I think 16 with pods & a semi-final championship round is infinitely better than 12 or 14 with two divisions & a championship game. In fact, I think 10 is better than 12 or 14 since that's the largest size where you play everyone else every year.
 
Highlighted by USC immediately announcing games with LSU right after the commissioners announced their big alliance news.

For the record, I think 16 with pods & a semi-final championship round is infinitely better than 12 or 14 with two divisions & a championship game. In fact, I think 10 is better than 12 or 14 since that's the largest size where you play everyone else every year.
I didn't place as much emphasis on that USC/LSU deal -- I was assuming it was a deal in the works for months before the Alliance was even a thought.
 
from B1G hoops media day, their commish made a comment tying realignment to basketball.
"Basketball plays an important role,” Warren said. “It’s a very popular sport . . . [It’s] a big component from a kind of conference structure, realignment standpoint."

many are hearing this as "they're going to take Kansas". I still think UNC and UVA are the next B1G targets. this comment could be aligned w/ either (or other options).

dailyiowan link
 
I'm just glad CSU turned down the AAC, now they can create a bidding war between Big12 and Pac12.
 
from B1G hoops media day, their commish made a comment tying realignment to basketball.


many are hearing this as "they're going to take Kansas". I still think UNC and UVA are the next B1G targets. this comment could be aligned w/ either (or other options).

dailyiowan link
I know it’s all about football, but UNC moving would break up really the only marquee college basketball rivalry which would be a shame.
 
I know it’s all about football, but UNC moving would break up really the only marquee college basketball rivalry which would be a shame.
They would still play every year.

And what's to say that the B1G looking basketball doesn't mean: KU, UVA, GA Tech, Pitt, UNC & Duke? All AAU, takes the conference to 20, and expands markets tremendously.
 
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