(07-27-2021 02:17 PM)curtis0620 Wrote: Then ACC/SEC merger + 2 for 32 team Super League (ESPN).
Then B1G/PAC merger + 6 for 32 team Super League (FOX).
That's one popular idea. Essentially everyone is consolidated into two new athletic associations, a South ESPN association and a North Fox/Others association.
If I'm the ACC commissioner maybe I would prefer something different:
Coastal Athletic Association
(aka Hokie Mark's CCC Coast-to-Coast Conference or SSSC Sea-to-Shining-Sea Conference, domer1878's ACC All Coast Conference)
Maybe I'm in a mood to contact friends on the West Coast about creating a Coastal Athletic Association consisting of two big leagues--East and West, natch. Leave the B1G and SEC to fight over the flyover.
PAC schools aren't getting the value they want out of their current media arrangement, so maybe the best thing is for PAC schools, in effect, to 'join' the ACC and become part of its current media deal.
What is now the ACC Network becomes a network devoted to college athletics on both US coasts. Let's call the new entity the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).
There's quite a bit of media value in that arrangement. The new Coastal Athletic Association would encompass major population centers and protect present rivalries. The time zone difference becomes a media advantage. Western schools can start events at times more natural for them because their partners on the East coast cover the earlier slots. It's a round-the-clock network that, unlike others, could even draw international viewers.
The title game between the champions of East and West coasts would be must-see game. If promoted well, even people that don't even watch football most days would tune in and feel they have a stake.
A bi-coastal CAA also meets the needs of school administrators that are driving change now: the need for an organising entity to replace the NCAA in handling NIL issues, academic standards, post-season events, and the like.
With a serious contract (looking daggers at ESPN), the new Coastal Athletic Association could be attractive to schools now sitting in other conferences. If it's all a financial wash between one league and another, maybe you consider signing up if you're Penn State. With Southern Cal and Stanford now under the umbrella, maybe ND says, well, that changes things. You can get more valuable matchups for the league and the individual schools by actually
restoring old rivalries.
Among other options to explore, that's one. The ACC and the PAC should be talking.