WTF just happened to the PAC10??? (obviously NHR)
- Thread starter ThunderCat98
- Start date
1. Cal will probably try the independent route and hope that one of the other Power conferences invites them.
2. Stanford will be independent for a couple years, but I see them in the B1G if ND is ever forced to join a conference.
3. Oregon St will be in the MWC.
4. Washington St will be in the MWC.
2. Stanford will be independent for a couple years, but I see them in the B1G if ND is ever forced to join a conference.
3. Oregon St will be in the MWC.
4. Washington St will be in the MWC.
This result seems the most likely.
Today's rumor is that Stanford would like to put together a league with some academic standing (at least a perceived one). But it looks tough to do. It needs a minimum of 8 teams to be a legal conference for the NCAA, but it wants 10. So it has the four leftovers. It can get the USAFA from the MWC and the USNA from the joke AAC (the service academies are property of the US of A, which has sovereign immunity and thus do not have to pay exit fees) ; and the USMA, which is an independent anyway.
So that is 7. It cost $38M to get out of the MWC, so that is out, and Stanford is unwilling to just merge into it and take all the teams, because of the low academic standing, particularly of Boise State (which is really a community college) and of the two California schools (these are solid schools, but California has the "master plan" and all of the UC campuses (and thus all of the students there) are at a higher level than the "Cal State" schools. So that isn't happening.
Which brings us to the AAC. The buyout is only $10M. Rice is high level university, among the best in the country, but has like 17 actual fans. Tulane would be the next choice, also a high level university, but also fan challenged. SMU isn't as good academically, but its not bad and has a larger fan base.
Obviously, this is where Notre Dame would go if forced, they like to play as weak as possible competition as possible. No way they want a piece of the Big 10.
I can see Stanford & Cal joining the ACC which focuses on high academics. Oregon St & Washington St - only MWC makes sense but have never seen a school go down to G5 from P5.?
Well if you go back to when the old Southwest conference folded you at least saw a glimpse. SMU, TCU, U of Houston and Rice were left behind in a cloud of dust as Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech and Texas A&M set their sails for greener pastures of the Big 8 or soon to be Big 12.
I read this at first and thought, "that is just ridiculous"... But nowadays, who the heck knows.
I saw a report that Cal has looked into three options -- 1. Begging the Big12 to take them and Stanford as a package deal... 2. Join the MWC and step down to G5 (their 800 fans would be upset with that)... 3. Not play football anymore, which yes has been tossed around as a possibility.
At least the P5 leagues have gotten one thing right.. The big boys are killing off the weakest link... This is what should have happened to CUSA two years ago when half the teams left for the AAC or Sun Belt. MTSU and WKU should have gone to the MAC, La. Tech and UTSA to the MWC and CUSA should have been deleted from the college football landscape.
