Pitt and Syracuse to ACC

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 4:32 pm

So says multiple reports. They have applied for membership beginning in 2013.

The big east is not much of a football conference if true. But it has always been a basketball conference. Maybe they do away with football completely. More likely they add from within but that doesnt make them any more attractive from a football standpoint.

In other news both OU and UT are meeting on Monday to discuss conference status.

M2 · Post by M2 » Sat Sep 17, 2011 4:40 pm

Bad move for a conference as football is concerned.

Last week:

Pitt 35-29 over Maine...

Syracuse 21-14 over Rhode Island

Moby Dick · Post by **Moby Dick** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 5:57 pm

M2 wrote:Bad move for a conference as football is concerned.

Last week:

Pitt 35-29 over Maine...

Syracuse 21-14 over Rhode Island

See any scores today from both teams there 2oolio?

M2 · Post by M2 » Sat Sep 17, 2011 6:17 pm

Moby Dick wrote:See any scores today from both teams there 2oolio?

Yes dick, one team hasn't started playing and the other is playing Iowa.

Do you have a point you're trying to make there, dick ?

Moby Dick · Post by **Moby Dick** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:18 pm

M2 wrote:
Moby Dick wrote:See any scores today from both teams there 2oolio?

Yes dick, one team hasn't started playing and the other is playing Iowa.

Do you have a point you're trying to make there, dick ?

my point is...its the fucking ACC..who gives a rat's ass.

it'd be a little different if they were trying to get into the SEC. Hell it'd be bigger news if they were trying to get into the Big 9.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 8:37 pm

Texas and OU could take their place in the BE.

BSmack · Post by **BSmack** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 4:40 pm

Next up for the ACC, bagging UConn and Rutgers. That will give them total control of the northeast. The Big East is dead.

Shoalzie · Post by **Shoalzie** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 4:58 pm

BSmack wrote:Next up for the ACC, bagging UConn and Rutgers. That will give them total control of the northeast. The Big East is dead.

Seems to make sense...the Pac-Whatever owns Pacific and Mountain time zone, the Big Whatever owning the upper Midwest and most of the Great Plains, the SEC in the South and the ACC on East coast...with the Big XII and Big East dying off.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:05 pm

Football television revenue has destroyed D-1 college sports as we know it. Thanks for nothing, fuckstains.

MuchoBulls · Post by **MuchoBulls** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:15 pm

Didn't the Big 10 want Rutgers?

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:58 pm

UConn is sniffing at the ACC door as well. The Big Least - from a hoops perspective, the only viable perspective remaining for them - can't take any more hits.

MuchoBulls · Post by **MuchoBulls** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:15 pm

PSUFAN wrote:UConn is sniffing at the ACC door as well. The Big Least - from a hoops perspective, the only viable perspective remaining for them - can't take any more hits.

Looks like it's too late for that.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:30 pm

Shoalzie wrote:Seems to make sense...the Pac-Whatever owns Pacific and Mountain time zone

The MWC is pretty strong in the Mountain time zone.

txangler74 · Post by **txangler74** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 8:27 pm

Looks like the Pac 12 and the Longhorn Network can coexist.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ ... otent.html

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 8:47 pm

txangler74 wrote:Looks like the Pac 12 and the Longhorn Network can coexist.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/ ... otent.html

I'm having a hard time believing the PAC wants anything to do with the Cancer of NCAA Footall.

txangler74 · Post by **txangler74** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 9:33 pm

They probably want the #5 and #10 TV markets that UT brings along.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 9:38 pm

txangler74 wrote:They probably want the #5 and #10 TV markets that UT brings along.

yup...and in a potential era of superconferences, in order to be money/ad rev competitive with much higher population density regions like the upper midwest/great lakes (Big Ten+) and southeast (SEC+)....the Pac needs more than the rocky mountain programs CU and Utah. and west of the Mississippi, that means Texas media markets, UT and OU's national appeal and the southwest. not a lot of other options.

Tech is luckiest school around.

Van · Post by **Van** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:48 am

...and TCU might be the unluckiest. Christ, look what they are walking into. If the Big East retains its automatic BCS bid, someone needs to be shot.

For the sake of BTPCF Fandom, TCU, Utah and BYU should've stayed put in the MWC, and Boise St should've dragged Fresno St, Nevada and maybe even Hawaii into that line-up. That would've been a conference worthy of an automatic bid.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:54 pm

Van wrote: For the sake of BTPCF Fandom, TCU, Utah and BYU should've stayed put in the MWC, and Boise St should've dragged Fresno St, Nevada and maybe even Hawaii into that line-up. That would've been a conference worthy of an automatic bid.

Exactly. Almost like they cut off their nose to spite their face.

MuchoBulls · Post by **MuchoBulls** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:23 pm

Van wrote:...and TCU might be the unluckiest. Christ, look what they are walking into. If the Big East retains its automatic BCS bid, someone needs to be shot.

Looking like the Big East and the Big 12 will merge (this is assuming that Texas, OU, TT, and OkSt go to the PAC 12). This realignment was posted on on the local sports radio website today:

West Division:

Iowa St.
Kansas
Kansas St.
Baylor
TCU
Missouri (if they remain)

East Division:

USF
Cincinnati
Louisville
West Virginia

-I'm predicting that UCONN and Rutgers go elsewhere

Possible additions to get to 16 teams:

UCF
Houston
SMU
Boise St.
BYU
East Carolina
Memphis
Temple

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 3:27 pm

Even using that line-up, such a conference still wouldn't deserve an automatic BCS bid. The only way it might would be with the inclusion of Boise St.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 3:59 pm

Pretty much agree with Mucho's line up there.

I see UConn and Rutgers moving on to the ACC.

SMU and UH are in huge TV markets so that makes them desirable, but UH has horrible facilities. UH would have to build brand new football and basketball venues before anyone is going to take them seriously. Visiting basketball teams can't even shower at the arena and have to go to the rec center or back to their hotel. The football stadium is about to loose the rent money and field upkeep that the MLS team brought over the last decade.

I don't see BYU or Boise State coming into the conf just from the fact that it would go coast to coast. Can't imagine USF would be excited about conference games in the Pacific time zone.

MuchoBulls · Post by **MuchoBulls** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:58 pm

Van wrote:Even using that line-up, such a conference still wouldn't deserve an automatic BCS bid. The only way it might would be with the inclusion of Boise St.

If they go to 16 teams, then you can pretty much insert Boise State in there.

MuchoBulls · Post by **MuchoBulls** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:00 pm

Left Seater wrote:I don't see BYU or Boise State coming into the conf just from the fact that it would go coast to coast. Can't imagine USF would be excited about conference games in the Pacific time zone.

It's not desirable, but if it meant that we'd get the BCS tag, then I wouldn't be upset at all.

Plus, you'd have to figure that we'd be going there on every 4-5 years.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:17 pm

MuchoBulls wrote:
Left Seater wrote:I don't see BYU or Boise State coming into the conf just from the fact that it would go coast to coast. Can't imagine USF would be excited about conference games in the Pacific time zone.
It's not desirable, but if it meant that we'd get the BCS tag, then I wouldn't be upset at all.

Plus, you'd have to figure that we'd be going there on every 4-5 years.

Every 4 or 5 years in football, but yearly in women's basketball, tennis, golf, swimming, etc.

Terry in Crapchester · Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:55 pm

Left Seater wrote:
MuchoBulls wrote:
Left Seater wrote:I don't see BYU or Boise State coming into the conf just from the fact that it would go coast to coast. Can't imagine USF would be excited about conference games in the Pacific time zone.
It's not desirable, but if it meant that we'd get the BCS tag, then I wouldn't be upset at all.

Plus, you'd have to figure that we'd be going there on every 4-5 years.

Every 4 or 5 years in football, but yearly in women's basketball, tennis, golf, swimming, etc.

A couple of thoughts on this:

1. It's possible that Boise State (and/or BYU) would get a football-only invite. BYU already plays in the WCC for other sports, so this doesn't pose a problem for them under NCAA rules. Boise State could move their other sports teams to the Big West.

2. Even if Boise State gets an all-sports membership, that won't happen unless this conference is at 16 teams. A 16-team conference means, I think, less than an annual road trip for non-revenue sports.

Go Coogs' · Post by **Go Coogs'** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:19 pm

Left Seater wrote: SMU and UH are in huge TV markets so that makes them desirable, but UH has horrible facilities. UH would have to build brand new football and basketball venues before anyone is going to take them seriously.

We're getting close, Lefty. Last figure I heard was Houston was about $12 million short from breaking ground on new football stadium and Hoffeinz renovations. If Big East comes calling, then stadium naming rights money should push them over the mark to start moving some dirt around.

The initial football plan is to start the stadium out with 40,000 and expand to 50,000 within five years. The fact that the money is almost raised at this point makes Houston and the market a sexy pickup for the Big Least.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:02 pm

Go Coogs, don't take this the wrong way but I have heard that renovations at the old HS stadium and the Hoff were just about to get underway for over a decade. The fact is most of the students at UH don't give a rats ass about the school while they are there. That then makes them alumni that don't give a rats ass. Choose any day and walk around campus and you will see far more ATM and UT gear than you will UH gear. Hell, more than 90% of the student body lives at home or elsewhere in Houston, but not in or around campus.

At this point I won't believe it until I see it.

Go Coogs' · Post by **Go Coogs'** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:30 pm

I think you're mistaken, LS. I would believe you if Houston was only selling out to Big 12 foes like they did with Taco Tech a couple years ago and Ok State back in '07. Last season they sold out their first two games against Texas State and UTEP. Keenum blew out his knee and the Coogs subsequently lost to UCLA and that was the end of the sellouts when they returned home. They sold out the UCLA game this year when Keenum was under center and sold out the Rice game at the end of 2009. That is at least four sellouts in a row in perhaps the shittiest stadium in all of college football with Keenum at QB.

So to say there isn't interest on campus is a statement definitely being fired from the hip. My mother is a professor on campus and she says there IS a buzz going around about the football program; a far cry from what she first experienced when Helton and Dimel were running that program into the ground. Briles changed everything about the program and started recruiting better and Sumlin has since taken the baton and continued pushing the program to new heights. It also helps when Renu Khator is advertising school spirit more than anyone else. Whenever she travels, she is sporting a UH t-shirt. I went down to the UC bookstore a couple of times last year to buy some UH gear on a Monday after a Coogs win (20% off). I waited in a line that wrapped through three aisles with people all holding Cougar paraphernalia. Un-fukking real. When I was student on campus, they had maybe two racks of UH gear and I could walk in and out of that store in five minutes with a couple of t-shirts. That isn't the case anymore.

The new stadium and Hoffeinz renovations is all but a done deal if Keenum plays every game this season and the Coogs compete for the C-USA title. With all due respect, LS, you're wrong on this one.

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:55 pm

Go Co'oo'gs' wrote:The new stadium and Hoffeinz renovations is all but a done deal if Keenum plays every game this season and the Coogs compete for the C-USA title.

This is precisely why college football players ought to be paid. Bare minimum, they should at least be allowed to earn other incomes during football season...especially star players.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:30 pm

You are talking about selling out 32,000 seats in a city with 2.1 Million people and 4.1 million people in the county. Well over 6 million live in the metro area.

And you are correct UH had their first ever back to back sell outs in Roberston history in 2010 with Texas St and UTEP. However, attendance fell to below 18,000 for games at the end of the season. RICE doesn't help your arguement much because they are only 4 miles away, so their fans helped that sell out. People like me who would never go to Roberston will go when RICE is playing there.

Look, I hope you are correct, but there is very little interest. Not surprising when the water doesn't work in your own arena. And if you are correct in that Keenum is driving this, what happens next season when he isn't there?

Van,

No way in hell with college athletes ever be paid. Until you come up with a plan to pay the women's field hockey team and women's swimming team, there isn't even a reason to discuss this.

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:47 pm

Perhaps they won't be paid by schools directly...but instead by corporate sponsors?

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:51 pm

Lefty, it's already being discussed, and at very high levels. One way or the other, change is coming. Will it merely entail piddling stipends? The ability to work and earn an income in-season, including in one's chosen field, the same as every other college student is free to do? The ability to market one's products—again, the same as any Bio major is free to do with the fruits of his labors?

I don't know, but when people like Larry Scott and his ilk along with the president of the NCAA are bandying about these various issues, yes, change is coming...especially in light of all the pay-for-play scandals currently rocking BTPCF. Eventually TPTB will have to pull their heads out of their asses and realize that these kids are too savyy to be asked to make millions for their schools while receiving not a dime of kickback. That middling scholly to State U simply does not compute when weighed against the building of whole new stadiums and arenas, not to mention the TV deals that go along with major college athletics.

One thing is for certain, and that's that we can't continue to ask these kids to live on Top Ramen while their non-athletic scholarship classmates are free to earn countless fortunes while still attending college. Such a blatant inequity makes absolutely no sense, and will not stand up to scrutiny.

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:57 pm

PSUFAN wrote:Perhaps they won't be paid by schools directly...but instead by corporate sponsors?

Exactly. In one form or another, the equivalent of Tim Tebow, Inc, will eventually be allowed to flourish even during one's college career. There's no stopping it.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 1:45 am

Jeebus, dude -- crack a book, or newspaper, or... something sometime...

Jeebus.

Van wrote:The ability to work and earn an income in-season, including in one's chosen field, the same as every other college student is free to do?

They passed a rule against that... take a big freaking guess why?

Here, I'll give you a hint... Rhett Bomar.

The ability to market one's products—again, the same as any Bio major is free to do with the fruits of his labors?

Dude, you're going full-on Atomic Drunk -- unless explicitly stated (which VERY few schools do), any "products" innovated at school, using university resources, are the property of the school.

Swing and a miss.

One thing is for certain, and that's that we can't continue to ask these kids to live on Top Ramen

You mean the 24/7 free food they get while attending?

But that's not "compensation," right?

And as to allowing players to sign product endorsements,my thoughts are...

BRING IT ON, BABY!!!!

Gee, I wonder which school comes out on the winning side of that setup... HMMMMMMMMM.... I dunno... HMMMMMMMM...

If I had to guess, it's probably the one with the unwritten rule that any former player that makes the NFL gets a really FAT shoe deal, even if they pick the pine for their whole career.

Really? Anyone thinks that's a great idea?

Like I said, I am allllllllll about it -- we'd rack up MNCs like Kal during a M2 LSD bender.

The Rivals recruit list would read:

Top Class:

1) Oregon
2-120) Everyone else

Remember the Golden Rule of Messageboarding -- "Brain," THEN "keyboard." Reversing this order leads to problems.

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:19 am

Dins, any non-scholarship student is free to work and earn money any way he or she sees fit, up to and including working for DuPont while studying chemistry at State U.

Can LaMichael James do the same? Can he even work at Nordstroms to make a little spending money above and beyond the ability to chow down at the school's training table? No, he can't, which is ridiculous...and it's going to change.

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:26 am

This is definitely generating a lot of excitement in Pittsburgh. ACC basketball is going to be pretty damn awesome...and probably the football will improve overall as well. It will be fun to see Miami and FSU playing occasional games in cold weather.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:00 am

Van wrote:Dins, any non-scholarship student is free to work and earn money any way he or she sees fit, up to and including working for DuPont while studying chemistry at State U.

And then DuPont would own his patents, but I digress...

Can LaMichael James do the same? Can he even work at Nordstroms to make a little spending money above and beyond the ability to chow down at the school's training table? No, he can't, which is ridiculous...and it's going to change.

As I said -- I'm all for it.

LaMike should be able to work anywhere he wants, for as much money as he wants -- including a part-time gig in Beaverton paying $500K a year.

Feeling dumb yet?

An anology (that doesn't involve a faceful of jizz) -- maybe the bank tellers at BoA should do under-the-table, outside-the-rules shit to stuff their pockets, since BoA makes guady amounts of profits. Or, they should bitch to upper management because they don't like their compensation package as it compares to the board of directors'.

Or... they can say "fuck you," and not work there. LaMike is well within his rights to tell U of O to fuck off and persue any other financial opportunities he likes, if he so chooses.

Collegiate athletics, football in particular, benefits a large number of people. Since I'm a (almost) tax-paying resident of Oregon (insert the name of any state), the University of Oregon is my business. I'm quite OK with the football players getting ~$40K in yearly compensation in exchange for their "work" as a football player, which enables some women's waterpolo players to persue a degree which they noirmally wouldn't have been able to.

By the way, Vannar -- as Lefty alluded to, does the phrase "Title IX" mean anything to you? I mean, don't get me started on the flagrant unconstitutionality of Title IX, since that's a different thread in a different forum, but IX is what it is.

Good luck with that. Although it's nice that this Larry Scott you speak of (kind of a retard) hasn't actually read the laws that cover the massive, mega-million dollar organization he runs.

As Lefty also alluded to, it's fucking stupid to even discuss -- complete nonstarter, the engine dies before it gets off the line. While you thinks it's a wonderful idea, apparently Congress disagrees with you (and every other "PAY THEM!" douchebag). But feel free to call your congressman and have them make repealing Title IX their rallying cry for their next reelection bid... should go swimmingly for them.

Go ahead and stick with your "it's going to change" mantra... and get back to me in 10 years, so we can share a laugh about it.

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:28 am

Dins, who cares whether DuPont would own the patents? The point is that the student was still able to earn money in his chosen field while attending college. He could also earn money in any other manner he sees fit while attending college.

Also, as PSU already alluded to, one solution upon which the NCAA and Title IX would have no grounds to stand against is the possibility of players eventually being able to sign marketing deals. If the school or state are not footing the student-athlete's endorsement deal, the issue of equal entitlements becomes a nonstarter. It's a free market, and a field hockey player need only convince Adidas that she's worth the same money to their company as is her Heisman Trophy-winning classmate.

Would Nike U there in Eugene benefit from this? Of course they would, but then they already do, so what's the difference? It's not like Phil Knight's largesse—both above and below the table—isn't already the reason anyone even talks about UO football.

Bottom line, every major school has benefactors with deep pockets. That's also a nonstarter. If Ja'Whirl Knockboots makes his deal with Reebok, Muffy McLabialbruise's desire to see her volleyball teams' coffers filled alongside Ja'Whirl's becomes moot.

And yes, let's check back ten years from now to see whether the current situation is still in place. You know as well as I do that it won't be. In some form or another changes will be made, and players will be afforded greater access to additional $$ than they are now.

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:32 am

One of the things that might make all sorts of higher ed sectors go again is corporate sponsorship. Don't know about yinz, but the state money spigot has been throttled in PA for state-related schools. University admins are going to look a lot more favorably - if not desperately - for new revenue streams of any kind, for just about any purpose, including (most prominently) athletics.