****The official NEW new conference realignment thread.****

[Saul Good]

the second thread has been pronounced dead.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

I think ACC is a very real option for Notre Dame.

ACC would probably let ND join for every sport except football, which B1G won't do. ACC also offers more academic prestige and east coast exposure than the Big 12.

If ND joins the ACC, no one is leaving that conference.

I dont know that joining the ACC for everything but football makes sense for either side. The ACC may let them keep their network deal if they join for all sports. It would likely save the league.

I dont think that adding them without football keeps teams from leaving.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Codered

My guess is B1G has been holding off any more expansion talk until Notre Dame decides it's next step.

Add the long relationship the conference and ND has shared. It just seems like a natural fit.

What relationship is that?

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I dont know that joining the ACC for everything but football makes sense for either side. The ACC may let them keep their network deal if they join for all sports. It would likely save the league.

I dont think that adding them without football keeps teams from leaving.

Why it makes sense for ACC:
- increases conference stability
- increases national exposure and television revenue (ND would make a similar arrangement like they had with Big East to play 4-5 ACC teams per year)

Why it makes sense for ND:
- they need a conference to park their non-football sports after the collapse of the Big East but still want to remain indy in football
- ACC offers equal academic prestige to B1G but better geographic exposure on eastern seaboard

[Codered]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

What relationship is that?

The two sides have flirted over the years. Any time you hear about Notre Dame giving up that independent label the B1G is the first conference that is mentioned. They have had long lasting relationships with some of the big schools in the B1G. (Yes I know this is also true for USC in the PAC.)

Perhaps I am jumping to conclusion and assuming a little too much, but if there was a conference that has always made sense for ND it's been the B1G.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Then what does Notre Dame stand to gain by joining the Big XII?

A chance in hell of making the playoffs.

As it is, if the current plan is adopted they could go undefeated and likely not make it in.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

I think ACC is a very real option for Notre Dame.

ACC would probably let ND join for every sport except football, which B1G won't do. ACC also offers more academic prestige and east coast exposure than the Big 12.

If ND joins the ACC, no one is leaving that conference.

The ACC is a hellhole full of bad football that will not make more than 15-18MM per school for tiers 1-3, and they are about to lose their autobid.

ND would have to join for every sport, including football for the ACC to not be in the dire trouble they find themselves in from inviting Pitt/Syracuse instead of WVU/some other football school.

[Saul Good]

Soren Petro pretty well blasted the whole Florida State thing out of the water. Said he had been hearing so many rumors that he decided to call some of his contacts to see if there was anything to them and was told that it will never happen.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by alnorth

A chance in hell of making the playoffs.

As it is, if the current plan is adopted they could go undefeated and likely not make it in.

The current system is rigged in Notre Dame's favor. They don't need a conference to get into a playoff.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

Why it makes sense for ACC:
- increases conference stability
- increases national exposure and television revenue (ND would make a similar arrangement like they had with Big East to play 4-5 ACC teams per year)

Why it makes sense for ND:
- they need a conference to park their non-football sports after the collapse of the Big East but still want to remain indy in football
- ACC offers equal academic prestige to B1G but better geographic exposure on eastern seaboard

Notre Dame without football doesn't stabilize anything.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by alnorth

The ACC is a hellhole full of bad football that will not make more than 15-18MM per school for tiers 1-3, and they are about to lose their autobid.

ND would have to join for every sport, including football for the ACC to not be in the dire trouble they find themselves in from inviting Pitt/Syracuse instead of WVU/some other football school.

1. There's not going to be auto bids at all anymore.
2. ACC was the highest-paid conference when FSU joined just a decade ago. Valuations are fluid, especially when the football kings Miami and FSU have been down.
3. West Virginia is awful and irrelevant. Big 12's value comes only from Texas and OU.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Notre Dame without football doesn't stabilize anything.

Money tends to correlate with stability. Networks pay more money for better matchups. ACC would get 4-5 games against Notre Dame, including national draws such as ND vs FSU, Miami, Clemson, and Va Tech.

ND may join the ACC as a full member, but they are going to try their best to remain football independent. If push came to shove, I bet the ACC would let them join in a Big East-type of arrangement in hopes it is a precursor to them joining as a full member.

[eazyb81]

Pete Thamel on Notre Dame.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/sp...r=3&ref=sports

The next critical Jenga piece is Notre Dame, which would definitely leave if the basketball universities left — and could possibly leave even if they don’t. The A.C.C. is the most likely destination. The Irish’s television contract with NBC, currently under negotiation, will go a long way in determining their future — as will how they fare as a stakeholder in the new college football playoff. That appears to be safe and stable for now.

If Notre Dame leaves for the A.C.C., its only realistic destination, the A.C.C. will take Connecticut or Rutgers to make it a 16-team league. And that would send all the Big East blocks tumbling.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

Money tends to correlate with stability. Networks pay more money for better matchups. ACC would get 4-5 games against Notre Dame, including national draws such as ND vs FSU, Miami, Clemson, and Va Tech.

ND may join the ACC as a full member, but they are going to try their best to remain football independent. If push came to shove, I bet the ACC would let them join in a Big East-type of arrangement in hopes it is a precursor to them joining as a full member.

I have to think that the ACC is too smart to think that offering a partial membership would end differently for them than it did for the Big East. Why buy the cow when the milk is free?

If Notre Dame is going to play four or five games, they may as well just go all in.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I have to think that the ACC is too smart to think that offering a partial membership would end differently for them than it did for the Big East. Why buy the cow when the milk is free?

If Notre Dame is going to play four or five games, they may as well just go all in.

The partnership would not only be successful if ND joins as a full member someday.

The ACC will be more valuable with any arrangement with ND, period. We are seeing that networks will pay a premium for elite games, and ND would provide that.

Also, who is to say that there wouldn't be additional side benefits that aren't being discussed? What if ND joins the ACC in an ACC Network? The financial upside would be ridiculous.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Soren Petro pretty well blasted the whole Florida State thing out of the water. Said he had been hearing so many rumors that he decided to call some of his contacts to see if there was anything to them and was told that it will never happen.

Soren Petro has a personal, emotional stake in not wanting to see the ACC die. (Syracuse)

His guest (Chad Scott) was a moron whose central argument (FSU will never join because of academics) is a laughable pile of lunacy. Chad Scott has a very long, well-documented bias against the Big 12. Late last year, he didn't even think the Big 12's new contract would top the ACC for crying out loud. He fundamentally does not understand the business and the reality of college sports today.

If you want a shill to come out and strongly back up an opinion that the Big 12 rumors are not just unlikely, but ridiculous, then Chad Scott's your man.