The Hypothetical 64 - Who Gets Left Out?

[BehindEnemyLines]

Plus, the MWC media payout was under $3 million a year. The economic risk of going independent wasn't significant for a business unit of the LDS church. For a program like Texas, we're talking about a conference media deal that pays over $20 million. Much harder to go solo and make that kind of cheddar up. But would BYU now choose to join a conference? Maybe, considering those economics, the greater exposure of Big 12 games, and the fact that it would assuage their bruised egos from the Utes going BCS and them not being invited to that party.

I'm pretty sure beewhyyou was in the planning stage for the indy move when the Yoots got their invite to jump ship. While the fan base may have raised a bit of a stink on the P12 move, I'm pretty sure it didn't faze the leadership at LDS-U. They also got a deal from the bcs, albeit not as good as Sorta Lame -- if beewhyyou wins 9+ games and is ranked in the top 14, they are guaranteed consideration for a bcs bowl at-large bid.


All things considered, I think LDS-U is right where they want to be, and traveling down the road they want to be on.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Just my two cents but having lived in NYC for the past 18 years the market is not necessarily mythical, it's just not tied to any one team and definitely not to geographically proximate schools (ie Syracuse or Rutgers). There are buttloads of college football fans but they're mainly alums of schools from across the country: Michigan, Michigan State, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Notre Dame, etc. Plenty of bars have specific school-related watch parties. Run through Central Park on a Saturday and you'll see quite a bit of Penn State, VT, WVA and even TTech gear. I'm always seeing folks in the BnG, on the subways, streets, in restaurants and stores.

Point being, if one of the super 16 conferences got the right grouping of schools they'd pull a decent NYC-based group of fans, probably comparable to and certainly more dedicated than from, say, some combo of Ft. Fun, Wacko, Lawrence and the other Manhattan.

I think you have a point. But if you asked me to choose the "most" apathetic major city in the U.S. when it comes to college football, I'd say NYC, by a long shot. There's definitely a wide spectrum of fans, but there are also a lot of tourists masquerading around in State-U gear.

 

[rodrigo]

I think you have a point. But if you asked me to choose the "most" apathetic major city in the U.S. when it comes to college football, I'd say NYC, by a long shot. There's definitely a wide spectrum of fans, but there are also a lot of tourists masquerading around in State-U gear.

Well, it's really about tv sets, and in a metro area of 18 million folks there must be enough tuned to cf on any given Saturday to attract the networks' attention. My guess is NYC accounts for more Michigan and Notre Dame fans than any single location outside of Ann Arbor or South Bend.

 

[Buffnik]

Well, it's really about tv sets, and in a metro area of 18 million folks there must be enough tuned to cf on any given Saturday to attract the networks' attention. My guess is NYC accounts for more Michigan and Notre Dame fans than any single location outside of Ann Arbor or South Bend.

Tri-state area of NY-NJ-CT is 10% of the entire US population. That's a lot of tvs if you can get your conference on a basic tier of the cable systems there.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

I think there's a strong chance the ACC would go after Syracuse, at least based on their past expansion. Syracuse was the ACC's first choice before VT started bitching and moaning and got Gov. Mark Warner to tie UVA's hands behind their back and push for the Hokies. However, this was before Schiano had turned around Rutgers and made them respectable. Rutgers and Maryland could develop a rivalry of sorts

Wasn't BC a last-second replacement for Syracuse the last time the ACC expanded? I thought it was a done deal that they would invite Miami, VT and SU but BC ended up replacing SU in their expansion.

 

[OriginalWhiz]

Aren't all the big Big Ten games already on TV over there? I mean, if you're a Michigan fan, you're going to watch Michigan. If you're a Notre Dame fan, you can watch them on NBC. Is that going to really increase that much if Michigan is playing Rutgers? Unless they're focusing on the Big Ten network alone, and expanding their coverage map over there...then I could see it making some sense.

Well, it's really about tv sets, and in a metro area of 18 million folks there must be enough tuned to cf on any given Saturday to attract the networks' attention. My guess is NYC accounts for more Michigan and Notre Dame fans than any single location outside of Ann Arbor or South Bend.

 

[CVilleBuff]

Wasn't BC a last-second replacement for Syracuse the last time the ACC expanded? I thought it was a done deal that they would invite Miami, VT and SU but BC ended up replacing SU in their expansion.

I think the original three targets were Miami, Syracuse and BC. Syracuse kept waffling between staying loyal to the B.E. or bolting, which gave Virginia Tech time to start bitching and moaning and getting politicians to start campaigning and twisting UVA to get them in. I'll never forget the uproar, people don't realize how much Hoos and Hokies hate each other and it was not popular in Charlottesville. But anyways, BC did end up officially joining a year later ('05) than Miami and VT, whether that was due to a later announcement or some further complications with the B.E. I can't recall

 

[MtnBuff]

Before all the recent news came out it would have been hard to imagine U of Miami being left out of the final 64 (or 80 if you go 5 leagues.)

With all the recent news of their issues with the rules could they not only get blasted by the NCAA but also have the bad timing to do it when everything is shaking out. Whether they get the death penalty or just get gutted in recruiting big time would they drop out of consideration for a spot in one of the final leagues?

Considering that they don't have great attendance, are in a state saturated with other teams, have a long history of being a program with issues with the rules and with bad publicity, and are likely to have an administration making a show out of clamping down on athletics they might find themselves on the outside looking in, something that would have been hard to imagine this time last year.

 

[rodrigo]

Aren't all the big Big Ten games already on TV over there? I mean, if you're a Michigan fan, you're going to watch Michigan. If you're a Notre Dame fan, you can watch them on NBC. Is that going to really increase that much if Michigan is playing Rutgers? Unless they're focusing on the Big Ten network alone, and expanding their coverage map over there...then I could see it making some sense.

I don't think the number of folks watching would grow, but you'd get a more focused, dedicated following all watching one network. Like I said, you'd need to get the right grouping of teams. Rutgers? No. Syracuse? Meh. New Yorkers could care less. But in a world of four, 16-team conferences the Big 10 might be able to grab Notre Dame, Texas... That hypothetical has to have some tv folks at least thinking.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

I think the original three targets were Miami, Syracuse and BC. Syracuse kept waffling between staying loyal to the B.E. or bolting, which gave Virginia Tech time to start bitching and moaning and getting politicians to start campaigning and twisting UVA to get them in. I'll never forget the uproar, people don't realize how much Hoos and Hokies hate each other and it was not popular in Charlottesville. But anyways, BC did end up officially joining a year later ('05) than Miami and VT, whether that was due to a later announcement or some further complications with the B.E. I can't recall

Ah ok, I do recall now that BC joined a year later than the other 2. Thanks man.