Conference Realignment

Ironically, the largest state in the ACC is now California, and in an unusual twist, Cal does NOT have that U of cache so much, as USC and UCLA seem to suck all the oxygen out of that state. So the ACC is really on the bad luck side in the "U of" sweep stakes."
The Bay Area is kind of a state within a state. I think having Cal and their rival in the ACC is actually a decent thing for the conference. (Although they will definitely laugh that "ACC" still stands for "Atlantic Coast Conference", as they watch the sun set over the open ocean.)
 
The Bay Area is kind of a state within a state. I think having Cal and their rival in the ACC is actually a decent thing for the conference. (Although they will definitely laugh that "ACC" still stands for "Atlantic Coast Conference", as they watch the sun set over the open ocean.)
I spend a fair amount of time in the Bay Area. USC and UCLA do have fan bases -- mostly transplants from SoCal. Stanford and Cal have fan bases, which would be much larger for winning teams.
 
For those of you who have never lived in that part of the country, this makes total sense. SEC schools not named KY are 98% football, 2% baseball, and 0% everything else. Some Big Ten football schools driving the bus (MI, OSU) have interest in basketball even if football is king 3 times over.
I live in the middle of SEC country and believe me, basketball makes up way more than 0%. Even leaving Blue Nation out of the equation, it trumps baseball, but of course still swamped by football. And that is including Vandy, which is a baseball school.
 
I live in the middle of SEC country and believe me, basketball makes up way more than 0%. Even leaving Blue Nation out of the equation, it trumps baseball, but of course still swamped by football. And that is including Vandy, which is a baseball school.
It's very fair to criticize my numbers as hyperbolic, but I'll give you another example. It would be very easy to get basketball road tickets at every SEC venue but KY. AR had them only a few days before the game last year. (Thankfully, I skipped that due to the mini-airport Walmart has there.) It's not that way at any Big 10 school except perhaps PSU or USC (where we're not going anytime soon.) I couldn't do it during the ACC-B10 Challenge with one exception. It's also a lot harder to drive to B10 venues when you don't use snow tires in the winter.
 
It's ALL about the sizes of the schools.....which = the size of their current on campus fan base, is highly correlated with their alum fan base. A Michigan grad living in Charlotte is NOT an ACC fan. Then there is the U of factor. If you drew a circle with a 15 mile radius from the top of Cameron Indoor, there'd be a lot more Heel fans in that circle. Same with SMU versus Texas, Wake Forest and UNC, Vandy and UT, and a lot of other examples.
Ironically, the largest state in the ACC is now California, and in an unusual twist, Cal does NOT have that U of cache so much, as USC and UCLA seem to suck all the oxygen out of that state. So the ACC is really on the bad luck side in the "U of" sweep stakes."
I agree that your logic makes sense. That's been part of my pessimism around Duke's future - who wants a small private school with a mediocre football program and small alumni group?

But if Jason says the Big Ten is looking, I believe him.
 
I agree that your logic makes sense. That's been part of my pessimism around Duke's future - who wants a small private school with a mediocre football program and small alumni group?

But if Jason says the Big Ten is looking, I believe him.
There are really only 3 private school sports that have at least regional interest : ND football, Duke basketball, and Miami football when they are good. I'll accept anyone's argument that USC football is so dominant in LA that they belong in my list, but I'll argue there is no interest at all on the East Coast for them. I'll also accept arguments that an extended down period for Duke basketball would add my qualifier for Miami to the description.
 
For those of you who have never lived in that part of the country, this makes total sense. SEC schools not named KY are 98% football, 2% baseball, and 0% everything else. Some Big Ten football schools driving the bus (MI, OSU) have interest in basketball even if football is king 3 times over.
Vandy is 1% football, 1% basketball, 10% baseball and 88% NOTHING else😃
 
I just flat don’t believe it. Big 10 teams are interested in sharing revenue with a small private school that generates very little football revenue? Do tell.
As of last summer, the door is now open to (very) unequal sharing. They'd be interested in taking Duke at a cut rate, and Duke would be interested in going at a cut rate.
 
I just flat don’t believe it. Big 10 teams are interested in sharing revenue with a small private school that generates very little football revenue? Do tell.

The size and value of Duke’s basketball brand should not be underestimated. Couple it with P5 average football since 2012 and the school is definitely attractive to the B10, especially at a reduced rate.
 
I agree that your logic makes sense. That's been part of my pessimism around Duke's future - who wants a small private school with a mediocre football program and small alumni group?

But if Jason says the Big Ten is looking, I believe him.
Oh I believe that's possible, and with Duke's basketball cache and academic cache, the B1G may welcome another "boutique" program in the mix if they expand....they will still have all those huge fan bases to now join the Duke haters on the Big Ten Network....and they'll pay Duke enough to muddle along in football.

That said, the ACC will be dead for the reasons you and I agree on......even if Duke finds a landing spot.
 
As of last summer, the door is now open to (very) unequal sharing. They'd be interested in taking Duke at a cut rate, and Duke would be interested in going at a cut rate.
I'm curious. Would that "cut rate" be essentially what Duke gets from the ACC now?
 
The Bay Area is kind of a state within a state. I think having Cal and their rival in the ACC is actually a decent thing for the conference. (Although they will definitely laugh that "ACC" still stands for "Atlantic Coast Conference", as they watch the sun set over the open ocean.)
I agree with all of that....including it being a decent thing for the conference. Still, Cal does not have the "u of " dominance even in No Cal, let alone all of the state, that Texas or Penn State or Michigan have.....also in massive states - with other big state schools in the same state - (thus a decent analogy I think). I mean it's still good, but not like the ACC got the dominant California school. WE didn't. No better than third....
 
NEW TWIST? Now this B12 related podcast - quoting another source that's been right on a lot of this stuff - sez Notre Dame wants to go to the Big Ten and they get to name (because they're ND) their partner school to join - and it will be Stanford. Now that would be funny....leaving Clemson and FSU out....but running ND and Stanford off. Same report sez SEC standing pat for now.

This is for entertainment value only.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9BrliSvJKI
 
Oh I believe that's possible, and with Duke's basketball cache and academic cache, the B1G may welcome another "boutique" program in the mix if they expand....they will still have all those huge fan bases to now join the Duke haters on the Big Ten Network....and they'll pay Duke enough to muddle along in football.

That said, the ACC will be dead for the reasons you and I agree on......even if Duke finds a landing spot.
A lot of those schools are basketball crazy and would love playing Duke every season. Indiana, Michigan, Michigan St, Wisconsin.

The hated Blue Devils would be the headline matchup on their basketball season as they try to sell streaming subscriptions. Lots of value there.
 
A lot of those schools are basketball crazy and would love playing Duke every season. Indiana, Michigan, Michigan St, Wisconsin.

The hated Blue Devils would be the headline matchup on their basketball season as they try to sell streaming subscriptions. Lots of value there.
Agree, I think Duke would instantly be THE conference game on every Big Ten team's hoops schedule. Already some nasty history with all those teams you mentioned....and remember, Duke instantly became THE game for Cuse the very moment they joined the ACC.
 
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