I love the idea of moving.One question. Where would the conference championship be? Would it be in a better location than Kansas City in December or in the dome in Dallas. I would assume either in Southern California or Arizona.
I agree. A conference move shouldn't look at that as a factor. The fact is, CU would be on an island in the Pac. The Buffs might be a remote outpost now, but it would be worse in the Pac.
Driving mileage from Boulder, Colo., to Big 12 campuses
Nebraska: 501 miles
Kansas St.: 515
Texas Tech: 584
Kansas: 587
Okla. St.: 665
Oklahoma: 716
Iowa St.: 720
Mizzou: 748
Baylor: 887
Texas: 976
A&M: 984
Driving mileage from Boulder, Colo., to Pac 10 (12) campuses
Utah (rumored): 522
Arizona: 922
Ariz. St.: 948
USC: 1,042
UCLA: 1,051
Wazzu: 1,167
Cal: 1,260
Stanford: 1,300
Washington: 1,332
Oregon St.: 1,337
Oregon: 1,337
Colin Cowherd was talking about Pac 10 expansion on his show this morning (don't like the guy personally), and he seemed to think Utah was a no brainer and he begrudgingly thought BYU would be the other although he ackowledged there are issues with BYU (academic, no playing on Sunday which is more of an issue for hoops).
His explanation for why CU would be a bad choice...it's a hippie school and the Pac 10 already has plenty of hippie schools. I actually think that works in our favor culture-wise, but either way that guy is a clown.
Sumpin to consider:
I'll probably go to the Cal game this year. I probably won't go to any of the B12 road games.
Take it for what it's worth.
:wtf:
How can it be a longer drive from Boulder to Tempe than Boulder to Tucson, which is pretty much due south of Tempe? Oregon and OSU are exactly the same distance, and both are farther away than UW, which is all the way on the pacific coast and farther away from Boulder on a north/south basis? It's a shorter drive to USC and UCLA (again, about as far west as you can go, and a big drop to the south) than either Oregon school??
Something seems very strange with those numbers... :huh:
I've got ~10 friends of mine planning on coming out to the cal game from all over the place Denver/Boulder, LA, San Diego, Bay Area, and Seattle. I've never been able to get any of them to go to an away game before and it's been tough getting the out of staters to plan a trip back to Boulder around a football game. I think the Cal game turnout is going to be massive.
when CU played ucla at the rose bowl a few years back there were EASILY 10k CU fans there, maybe more. at the end of the game, there were thousands that stayed and sang the fight song with the team--- all the bruin fans were commenting on how many of us there were there.
when CU played usc in LA a few years back, there were well north of 5k fans and maybe closer to 10k. i was there with some big time usc folks and they were practically begging for CU to come to the p10... these were people who are influential and dialed-in with usc sports.
when CU played tenn. in the pre-season game at anaheim there were tens of thousands of CU fans in attendance. more than half the crowd for sure.
i could go on like this. you say whatever you want about the travel distances and, yes, there are issues, but CU has a huge alumni presence up and down the coast.
i'll be at the cal game this next season and i can pretty much guarantee you that we'll have thousands of fans there.
all of these turnouts are far, far better than you'll see if you take a roadie to ames, waco, or the little apple. that is a fact.
there are some significant hurdles to a move, but in the long run, i believe it would be great for CU.
It was sad to see fewer than 200 CU fans in attendence in Stillwater a few months back against a nationally ranked team in a brand spanking new stadium with national ESPN coverage.
It was sad to see fewer than 200 CU fans in attendence in Stillwater a few months back against a nationally ranked team in a brand spanking new stadium with national ESPN coverage.
So, seeing as its all about TV markets, and using that to leverage everything we can from a new media deal, lets take a look at the markets that the Pac-10 already delivers (US market rank in parenthesis):
Los Angeles (2), San Francisco Bay Area (6), Phoenix (12), Seattle (14), Sacramento (20), Portland (22), San Diego (28). We also have Tucson in there at number 68.
This makes seven top 30 markets located within the Pac-10 footprint, a very impressive number. Obviously, adding two large markets to the footprint would have the potential to be a big money maker, as adding that many eyeballs to a TV deal/potential Pac-10 network makes nine large markets for advertisers.
Of the four top-50 markets that would be available to expand into, one thing stands out: Denver is the gold mine. The addition of Denver would give the conference eight top-30 markets. Denver itself adds almost three million viewers, the state of Colorado as a whole almost five million. Salt Lake City then becomes the next most attractive market at number 33. This is why you hear about Colorado and Utah as the schools that the Pac-10 is targeting. This would give the Pac-10 ten of the top 33 TV markets, and all schools except Stanford would be large, academically sound state schools with large enrollments and huge alumni numbers.
Skiddy, nice research. Also you have to take into consideration the town you're in when you finally arrive - the Pac 10 destinations are more likely to make the travel worth the trip. And depending on where you're coming from, it's going to be a hell of a lot easier finding direct flights in LA, Oakland, Portland, or Phoenix than Tulsa, Omaha, Des Moines, or Lubbock.
:wtf:
How can it be a longer drive from Boulder to Tempe than Boulder to Tucson, which is pretty much due south of Tempe? Oregon and OSU are exactly the same distance, and both are farther away than UW, which is all the way on the pacific coast and farther away from Boulder on a north/south basis? It's a shorter drive to USC and UCLA (again, about as far west as you can go, and a big drop to the south) than either Oregon school??
Something seems very strange with those numbers... :huh:
This was posted over on Rivals, but here's a good read on PAC 10 expansion:
http://www.addictedtoquack.com/2010/2/10/1304100/eastward-ho-pac-10-expansion-will
Wow who would have thought CU actually have leverage in this deal?
@skid...
dude, i get the personal fan experience was cool because you were one of a handful of Buffs not related to coaches or players in attendance... but, being one of a couple dozen CU fans at a conference game doesn't help the program, ya know?
i'd love a move to the p10. i really would. getting away from the ut juggernaut and the arrogance of the entire state of texas when they carpet-bagged our conference... getting away from kjuco state's dreadfully inadequate academics... getting away from roadies to waco, ames, manhattan, etc. ...
the only thing i'd miss is the fusker rivalry in football. it is a good one and worth saving, but i doubt they'd agree to an annual ooc tilt (ala usc v. notre dame).
Is it still considered "carpetbagging" when they're so much further south than the rest of the conference?
Would probably have to use that leverage to solicit funds to help buy out of the Big 12.
Thursday games are tough on travel, I'd imagine.
I'm inclined to agree with Liver. I'll travel to Pac 10 destinations. The Big VIII was awesome from the aspect of tradition (locations of the school's still sucked, but the football was awesome). But its follow on, the XII, boasts few desirable destinations. Okay, 2 of them, and one of them is where we play home games.
Reading that article it really doesnt seem beneficial for the Pac 10 to expand without the Denver market so they better be ready to come up with a pile of cash for the buyout as well as bettering our current deal.
I don't get the travel snobbery. To much emphasis is put on "geography". Football is football. Tailgaiting with buff fans is all good no matter what the setting might be. Hotel rooms and restaurants in Lawrence look a lot like hotels in the Pac10 cities. When you are drinking beers and grilling burgers and having a good time, does the topography make all that much difference? When you are in the stadium cheering on the Buffs, it's great from Manhattan to Morgantown.
Speaking of which, the West Virginia game was on a Thursday night and I'm guessing that over 1,500 Buffs fans managed the mid week trip. It's just a question of priorities. Are you going for the football, or is the extracurricular trip to the amusement park what is really important here?
I don't get the travel snobbery. To much emphasis is put on "geography". Football is football. Tailgaiting with buff fans is all good no matter what the setting might be. Hotel rooms and restaurants in Lawrence look a lot like hotels in the Pac10 cities. When you are drinking beers and grilling burgers and having a good time, does the topography make all that much difference? When you are in the stadium cheering on the Buffs, it's great from Manhattan to Morgantown.
Speaking of which, the West Virginia game was on a Thursday night and I'm guessing that over 1,500 Buffs fans managed the mid week trip. It's just a question of priorities. Are you going for the football, or is the extracurricular trip to the amusement park what is really important here?
when CU played ucla at the rose bowl a few years back there were EASILY 10k CU fans there, maybe more. at the end of the game, there were thousands that stayed and sang the fight song with the team--- all the bruin fans were commenting on how many of us there were there.