Rumors starting to swirl of Colorado going back to the big 12..or whatever you want to call it. I think the pac 12, at least with football, is effectively dead.
Colorado, Arizona, Stanford, California to Big 12 Oregon, Washington to Big 10 Washington State, Oregon State, Arizona State, Utah either join the MWC or invite basically anyone G5 west of the Mississippi.
It all hinges on the TV deal, and that has been a much longer negotiation than I think Pac-12 anticipated with the deal ending in a year. CU really never moved the needle. The CO TV market is fickle and the numbers show it's a divided audience. You don't have the rabid fans ala Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. CU is more of a U Cal audience. I'm kinda surprised Big-12 wants them. The real prize IMO would be San Diego St. Their investment in capital improvements, marketing, and athletics is on par with Pac-12 schools. SD State would love to go to Pac-12, with USC and UCLA leaving. SD St will be a household name in a decade. If Pac-12 can lure SMU, I could see a push to add Colorado St. CSU is not a doormat, and like San Diego St, they have upgraded their campus to compete against CU. You cannot replace USC, but if you trade USC, UCLA & CU for SD St, SMU & CSU, you still have the 5th best conference, ahead of the American conference.
Having lived in Phoenix, I'm puzzled why Arizona would be considered ahead of Arizona State - ASU generally has the better basketball program and has a bigger TV audience than Arizona.
Have to disagree on CSU. They are 100% a doormat. In the past 20 seasons, they have had 7 winning seasons, and of those 7, 5 of them were measly 7-6 records. One was 8-6, and one good season at 10-3. So only 10% of the time have they been mediocre. In fact, they have won 10 games in a season 5 times in their history, out of 115 seasons. They are definitely a doormat. Not really sure what they offer to a major conference. From what I understand, the Academics are crap, but sports wise Boise State would be a good option for the Pac12.
Idaho doesn't move the needle for network advertising Academics would be the same as Boise St CU has had 4, yes 4 winning seasons in the last 20 years. And 1 was the pandemic 4-2 season. 1-3 in bowl games. They last won a bowl game in 2004 I think we can agree both programs have been crap in football. I agree CSU is not an ideal fit by any means, but if you're trying to keep the coveted CO market, which is the type of diverse demographics networks crave, there are no other options in the state that makes sense IMO. Denver is the 16th-largest TV market Colorado Springs is the 86th Boise is 98 Reno or UNLV could work, but they are ranked 102 and 40th respectively and their audiences do not cross over as well as the Colorado audiences. What better option do they have if CU leaves to score a reasonable TV deal?
I'm not sure why I have to keep repeating this on every message board and social media site, but TV markets don't matter. Eyeballs do. Boise State football likely brings many more eyeballs than CSU does.
It is? TV viewership per game in 2022 below And remember, Boise was 10-4 vs CSU's 3-9 Boise is not a great TV market AND they do not build a legacy audience, even though their football program has been great for a long time. As I said in a prior post, they do not move the needle. CSU had a larger AVG audience than CU last year. Wild huh? CSU has an audience and these stats show that they can compete with CU for network eyeballs. Keep repeating
Tell it to the Big Ten. The idiots in charge added a crap program like Rutgers “to bring the NYC TV market”. I spent 7 years working in Midtown, and I can promise you there are like 5 ppl in the city that give a poo about Rutgers.
Even ignoring the Michigan game, there’s zero chance this will be remotely close this year. CU is going to blow, but a ton of ppl are going to watch the train wreck sideshow that is coach prime. I’d bet Colorado will be Top 20, or at least for the first few games.
Two other bold choices: Air Force. Hits Denver, Colorado Springs, and has a national draw for anyone in the service. NDSU - Get them to move up to D1. You’ll get the entire state, and they are way better as a program.
NOT a "Butler can't compete in the Big East statement": Butler needs to be paying attention real closely right now and be making some good friends. If UConn is truly gone again, the ACC is going to look to poach Villanova and Georgetown, maybe even St. John's to save themselves a bit. Keep your enemies close - Xavier, Marquette, DePaul, Butler, Creighton can be a good addition or start of something new, if needed. I've been negative on Hinkle Fieldhouse in the past, but in a situation like this, having that facility is a major draw for any potential needed move, etc. Thank god BU is in a major city/recruiting area as well.
I'm not so certain about P5 conferences going after anyone other than UConn. I would think they would have to figure out a way to divide up the revenue for FB and BB separately in order to make that fly. Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk
Story on what one person thinks about replacing UCONN if they go. https://bustingbrackets.com/2023/06/02/big-east-basketball-6-potential-options-replace-uconn-leave/
