SDSU AD Jim Sterk "Its not all done yet... At least one more western division school."

It's an audio clip. Skip to the part half-way through. Who do you think it will be? I say either Fresno State or Air Force.

about 1 month ago B.D.Bronco 4 comments 0 recs |

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Intresting

Everyone seems to think UofL is as good as gone to the Big 12. (I’ll believe it when I see it) That would leave the current BE membership at 12 (for 2015). So to me this means one of a few things:

A) The BE is just going about their business and wants a full 14 teams when expanded
B) They believe Louisville will leave before 2015 and don’t want to risk dropping below 12 (aka losing the BE championship game)
C) Combination of A and B. They think Louisville will leave, but would still like 14 teams. In which case both teams probably get in at some point. This also hedges their bets against losing Cincy or possibly Rutgers.

Personally I think they’d be smart to add both. AFA might be willing to join with Navy in 2015 and Fresno is in whenever the next defect happens if not before. This helps stabilize things and will help form a true Western division.

East: UConn, Rutgers, USF, Cincy, UCF, Temple, Navy, ~~Louisville~~
West: Boise, SMU, Houston, SDSU, Memphis, AF, Fresno

by Cards86 on Apr 8, 2025 4:30 PM EDT reply actions

Ah the Louisville to Big 12 debate

Probably the one with the strongest credible evidence to the argument. Outside of Florida we have all seen the tabloid sources that say UConn, Cincy, Rutgers and Louisville are all out the door, but Louisville was the only one that seemed to have any real credibility, the others all involve some kind of package with Notre Dame or other such nonsense.

There is evidence both for and against the defection

1) If Louisville was offered, I have no doubt they would be gone as they would make more money and be able to continue on with playing West Virginia, have better bowl tie ins, etc.

2) Championship games tend to equal more revenues in a Big Conference and they would need 12 teams to get that

Against:

1) The Big 12 is currently negotiating a major TV deal with it’s new line-up. Generally speaking your bargaining position is much better if you actually have all of your teams in place. The point is that if they were serious about going to 12, then why didn’t they jump and add Louisville and another team to help bolster their argument for a media deal?

2) There is a bunch of mixed sentiment in the Big 12 with how many teams there should be. Some wanted the old Big 8, Some wanted 10, some wanted 12, so it’s likely that 10 is a compromise number.

So it’s a toss-up.

by Jesterrace on Apr 9, 2025 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Whoops

first part should read South Florida and not Florida.

by Jesterrace on Apr 9, 2025 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Most Louisville fans are more than ready to hop on the Big 12 bandwagon

But honestly, if the money was equal I’d rather stay in the BE. It’s just a better fit for Louisville geographically (assuming we’d stay in the East) and in terms of culture (metropolitan research universities). Plus I think the BE is finally making smart move in terms of expansion. If the conference can right itself it has the potential to appeal to a large audience across the country, in some of the best media markets.

That said, I think the one thing stopping us from going to the Big 12 is Texas/OU wanting to stay at 10. Which makes no sense to me. I understand they want an easier road to the National Championship game, but it’s incredibly selfish. When you see the rest of the “power” conferences expanding it’s time to follow suit. Less than a year ago UT/TT/OU/OSU were all ready to go to the Pac-16 which would’ve without a doubt IMO cause the Big 12 to implode. Now the conference seems to be continuing to let them call the shots. The Pac-12, B1G, SEC, and ACC (maybe even BE) could all decide to go to 16 team super conferences in the near future, and the Big 12 is currently at a big disadvantage.

I don’t think the TV money will come into play. If the Big 12 adds 2 more they will renegotiate again. The ACC and SEC both just renegotiated mid-contract. It seems that if you’re willing to let ESPN play puppet-master, they’re willing to pony up the cash.

by Cards86 on Apr 9, 2025 10:28 PM EDT up reply actions