The top ACC schools will go to the Big Ten and SEC and it makes no geographic sense to have a conference only located on the west and east coasts. The problem is the remaining Pac 12 schools don't have much value (which is why they are the only one without a TV contract). I imagine UO and UW will either be in the Big 12 or Big Ten this time next year along with a couple of other Pac 12 schools and whats left of the Pac 12 will add MWC schools to fill the void. There isn't another plausible outcome, and it's ludicrous to think an all West/East coast conference flying cross country makes sense in any way.
That grant of rights is a huge poison pill so the Pac teams would want to be exempt. Travel expense and logistics are also major considerations, though I could see the two divisions mostly meeting in playoffs. Basically, it's more about pooling money than playing games.
Big10 should do a massive expansion, adding Cal, Furd, UW, WSU, Oregon, OSU, AZ, ASU, Utah and Colorado. But then they are so big that they'll need to split into divisions - East and West for example, with UCLA and USC joining the newly-added schools in the west. Of course, they'll need names for the divisions - for the East, for historical consistency, they could maintain the name "Big10". And for the West, they could use "Western 12", or maybe "Pacific 12", or "Pac12" for short.
Of course with such a big conference, a special championship game is needed. It could feature the winners of the East and West, and be played in Pasadena every January 1.
You mentioned Duke, which triggered a memory: Duke hosted the only Rose Bowl played outside Pasadena during WWII. I met a man who played in that game for Duke, later was a Japanese prisoner.
Sure. Coastal Conference is one idea. Thanks for laying that out. It also now seems that we are casting about over much wider possibilities. So I may as well throw yet another (admittedly kooky, but fiendishly simple) idea out there...
The Super Mega Western Conference League
21 Schools/Teams from 8 contiguous western states as follows:
AZ - Arizona, Arizona State
CA - California, Fresno State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Stanford
CO - Air Force, Colorado, Colorado State
ID - Boise State, Idaho
NV - Nevada, UNLV
OR - Oregon, Oregon State
UT - BYU, Utah, Utah State
WA - Washington, Washington State
Break it into two divisions if you like: North & South. Or 3: Coastal, Desert, Mountain
12 game schedule. Teams play certain rivals every year, but rotate through all other teams year by year with a sprinkle of OOC opponents each year. Best 8 teams bracket elimination playoff for league championship.
As a parent of teenagers who might someday soon want to attend a UC school, I've started to think of the on-going campus support to athletics as not so much a petty embarrassment and more as an utterly indefensible use of resources. At the same time, its pretty clear (isn't it?) that the lifeline we seem to want in the form of conference consolidation and richer tv contracts is a game that Cal can't win. So what's the goal? What are we even doing here?
ACC has the same problem the Pac-10 does. We have programs that are attractive to the B1G/SEC. A complete lack of any brand power whatsoever is what is saving the Big 12. Joining forces doesn't really change this unless the network revenue basically doubles as a result (unlikely), because the moment an invite comes for $80-$100M/year that school is gone.
The Pac12 should work with the ACC. If that doesn't pan out, Pac12 should expand to SMU, Rice, and Tulane. The Pac12 should also work on getting a team in Los Angeles. How? UCSD, UCIrvine, UCSB, and UCRiverside should field one football team. It would play either at SOFI / LA Coliseum / Rose Bowl / or any of the 2 MLS stadiums in L.A. The enrollment for the 4 schools > 100,000. The amount of their alumni in SoCal is huge. All football athletes will enroll at UCSB or UCSD. Olympic teams will stay respectively with their schools. L.A. market is huge. The Clippers and Charges left for L.A. Raiders went to L.A. for a spell. Rams are back in L.A. Anaheim Angels are called Los Angeles. In order to survive as a standalone entity, the Pac12 needs to be in L.A. UCB are the Golden Bears, UCLA are Bruins, this entity will be called the Grizzly Bears. This team can sport different tints of Blue and Gold from Cal and UCLA.
The top ACC schools will go to the Big Ten and SEC and it makes no geographic sense to have a conference only located on the west and east coasts. The problem is the remaining Pac 12 schools don't have much value (which is why they are the only one without a TV contract). I imagine UO and UW will either be in the Big 12 or Big Ten this time next year along with a couple of other Pac 12 schools and whats left of the Pac 12 will add MWC schools to fill the void. There isn't another plausible outcome, and it's ludicrous to think an all West/East coast conference flying cross country makes sense in any way.
YAWN.
If the Coastal Conference/Alliance can keep up us from group of 5 tier then I’m interested!
Welcome to the PACC + ND
This will save the ACC, PAC12 & ND
DIVISION 1:
Syracuse
B.C.
Notre Dame
Pitt
Lville
Cincy
DIVISION 2:
VA
VA Tech
N.C.
Duke
Navy
FSU
DIVISION 3:
G.T.
Clemson
Miami
Wake Forest
Memphis
N.C. St.
DIVISION 4:
Stanford
Cal
Oregon
Washington
Wash. St.
Oregon St.
DIVISION 5:
Colorado
Utah
AZ
AZ St.
San Diego St.
UNLV
5 division games per year
4 division cross-over games per year
3 out of conference games per year
PACC Playoff:
Round 1: 2 vs. 5
3 vs. 4
Round 2: winner vs. winner
Round 3: winner vs. 1
This IS a money maker for ESPN. IT'S COMING SOON.
That grant of rights is a huge poison pill so the Pac teams would want to be exempt. Travel expense and logistics are also major considerations, though I could see the two divisions mostly meeting in playoffs. Basically, it's more about pooling money than playing games.
As long as we're throwing out ideas:
Big10 should do a massive expansion, adding Cal, Furd, UW, WSU, Oregon, OSU, AZ, ASU, Utah and Colorado. But then they are so big that they'll need to split into divisions - East and West for example, with UCLA and USC joining the newly-added schools in the west. Of course, they'll need names for the divisions - for the East, for historical consistency, they could maintain the name "Big10". And for the West, they could use "Western 12", or maybe "Pacific 12", or "Pac12" for short.
Of course with such a big conference, a special championship game is needed. It could feature the winners of the East and West, and be played in Pasadena every January 1.
Not a well thought out idea. Coast to coast travel? Good - bye TV/streaming service money. There won't be any leftover for the Olympic sports.
You mentioned Duke, which triggered a memory: Duke hosted the only Rose Bowl played outside Pasadena during WWII. I met a man who played in that game for Duke, later was a Japanese prisoner.
Sure. Coastal Conference is one idea. Thanks for laying that out. It also now seems that we are casting about over much wider possibilities. So I may as well throw yet another (admittedly kooky, but fiendishly simple) idea out there...
The Super Mega Western Conference League
21 Schools/Teams from 8 contiguous western states as follows:
AZ - Arizona, Arizona State
CA - California, Fresno State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Stanford
CO - Air Force, Colorado, Colorado State
ID - Boise State, Idaho
NV - Nevada, UNLV
OR - Oregon, Oregon State
UT - BYU, Utah, Utah State
WA - Washington, Washington State
Break it into two divisions if you like: North & South. Or 3: Coastal, Desert, Mountain
12 game schedule. Teams play certain rivals every year, but rotate through all other teams year by year with a sprinkle of OOC opponents each year. Best 8 teams bracket elimination playoff for league championship.
I would watch this league.
Having one or two games a season with ACC teams is not a bad idea, one at home and one away for each, if it nets us a lot more money.
As a parent of teenagers who might someday soon want to attend a UC school, I've started to think of the on-going campus support to athletics as not so much a petty embarrassment and more as an utterly indefensible use of resources. At the same time, its pretty clear (isn't it?) that the lifeline we seem to want in the form of conference consolidation and richer tv contracts is a game that Cal can't win. So what's the goal? What are we even doing here?
ACC has the same problem the Pac-10 does. We have programs that are attractive to the B1G/SEC. A complete lack of any brand power whatsoever is what is saving the Big 12. Joining forces doesn't really change this unless the network revenue basically doubles as a result (unlikely), because the moment an invite comes for $80-$100M/year that school is gone.
Pac whatever sucks!!! SEC SEC SEC
Pac whatever sucks!!! SEC SEC SEC
ATLANTIC – PACIFIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
NORTHEAST
Boston College, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech
CAROLINA
Clemson, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest
SOUTH
Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Rice, SMU, Tulane
WEST
Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, Washington State
SOUTHWEST
Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado Long Beach State, SDSU, Utah
The Pac12 should work with the ACC. If that doesn't pan out, Pac12 should expand to SMU, Rice, and Tulane. The Pac12 should also work on getting a team in Los Angeles. How? UCSD, UCIrvine, UCSB, and UCRiverside should field one football team. It would play either at SOFI / LA Coliseum / Rose Bowl / or any of the 2 MLS stadiums in L.A. The enrollment for the 4 schools > 100,000. The amount of their alumni in SoCal is huge. All football athletes will enroll at UCSB or UCSD. Olympic teams will stay respectively with their schools. L.A. market is huge. The Clippers and Charges left for L.A. Raiders went to L.A. for a spell. Rams are back in L.A. Anaheim Angels are called Los Angeles. In order to survive as a standalone entity, the Pac12 needs to be in L.A. UCB are the Golden Bears, UCLA are Bruins, this entity will be called the Grizzly Bears. This team can sport different tints of Blue and Gold from Cal and UCLA.