Conference Realignment Thread v. 2016

[adoraz]

That's true, no doubt those schools were better off with regional rivals. But I still think the conference would suffer the same fate.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Interesting articles, but not presently relevant.

Conference Realignment Series: An Introduction - GK Nwosu, Ph.D. - June 15, 2016

Conference Realignment Series: Perspectives of University Administrators - GK Nwosu, Ph.D. - July 17, 2016

Of the 148 participants in the dissertation study that inspired this series, 17 were presidents and 34 were athletic directors. These presidents and athletic directors, collectively referred to as university administrators, represent approximately 34% of the sample size in the dissertation study and approximately 15% of the overall population.

Although these figures are underwhelming in statistical terms, they help provide insights of the perceptions of university administrators pertaining to what factors influence NCAA Division-I conference realignment.

Results from a survey administered to university administrators as well as an exploratory factor analysis indicate the order in which the participants rank the importance of the factors as seen in the table below.

Rankings According to University Administrators

Ranking, Factor

1.Team Travel
2. Academic Prestige
3. Revenue
4. Market
5. Athletic Prestige
6. Competitive Balance

Overall, university administrators ranked these factors in the order depicted nearly unanimously. This is justified by examining each factors average rating and standard deviation values.

Paired samples t-tests and one-way analyses of variance revealed that Team Travel is the most influential factor that incentivizes institutions to change athletic conference affiliation while Competitive Balance is the least influential that incentivizes institutions to change athletic conference affiliation according to the university administrators in the dissertation study.

[stever20]

In the case of Boston College, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and West Virginia, all schools were once considered powers in the old Big East - with each finishing in the top-10 at least once while a member. Due to their new memberships in respective conferences, none have come close to duplicating the same success and, in the case of BC, Pitt, and Syracuse, all three have struggled mightily since leaving the Big East.

My point is that there is something to be said about building off of regional rivals that promote and highlight local talent. West Virginia traveling to Texas for their biggest conference game and Boston College/Pittsburgh/Syracuse being an isolated trio in the Northeast within the ACC is a big reason they have not achieved the same level of success. Now, another big factor is the step-up in competition, but that competition is nowhere close to being within proximity of those schools, and in the case of all of them, in warmer and nicer climates. Opening up a pipeline to the Florida, North Carolina and Texas schools in football created an even larger hill to climb when facing off against their (now) conference schools. It's also a big problem for fans wishing to travel to games when they are nowhere close to campus.

I would say Virginia Tech has maintained what they were in the old Big East. They were in Big East for 13 seasons, and have been in ACC now for 12 seasons. Big East they won 3 conference titles. ACC they won 4. Maybe not better- but for sure they've come close to the same success. They're probably the only one of the group that you listed that has.

And would say as well that of the 5 that you mention- they are the closest to their new competition.

[NJRedman]

In the case of Boston College, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and West Virginia, all schools were once considered powers in the old Big East - with each finishing in the top-10 at least once while a member. Due to their new memberships in respective conferences, none have come close to duplicating the same success and, in the case of BC, Pitt, and Syracuse, all three have struggled mightily since leaving the Big East.

My point is that there is something to be said about building off of regional rivals that promote and highlight local talent. West Virginia traveling to Texas for their biggest conference game and Boston College/Pittsburgh/Syracuse being an isolated trio in the Northeast within the ACC is a big reason they have not achieved the same level of success. Now, another big factor is the step-up in competition, but that competition is nowhere close to being within proximity of those schools, and in the case of all of them, in warmer and nicer climates. Opening up a pipeline to the Florida, North Carolina and Texas schools in football created an even larger hill to climb when facing off against their (now) conference schools. It's also a big problem for fans wishing to travel to games when they are nowhere close to campus.

I would say Virginia Tech has maintained what they were in the old Big East. They were in Big East for 13 seasons, and have been in ACC now for 12 seasons. Big East they won 3 conference titles. ACC they won 4. Maybe not better- but for sure they've come close to the same success. They're probably the only one of the group that you listed that has.

And would say as well that of the 5 that you mention- they are the closest to their new competition.

Also didn't BC go to a couple of ACC title games? If anyone has underachieved in their new conference it's Miami.

[Gopher+RamFan]

Also, I just want to toss out some supporting evidence in my "beaten to death" belief on Big East expansion.

St. Bonaventure had the highest TV ratings of the Atlantic 10 schools, ahead of 2nd place VCU (who has 31,000 enrollment to Bona's 2,000) and 3rd place Dayton (who's three times the size of Bona, and has a widely regarded basketball viewership/fan base).

You had the highest rating on NBCSports. VCU and Dayton also had regular season games on ESPN and CBSSports, I think SBU only had one on CBSSports and then regional Fox affiliates.

VCU/Oklahoma was the 48th most watched sporting event of 2016 so far. Only 9 CBB games were in the top 50.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Big 12 expansion now alive, well and likely after being presumed dead - CBS Sports - 1 hour ago

A hot topic of discussion for the past year, expansion discussions are only going to intensify now that the Big 12 has surprised many and changed its course

DALLAS -- The Big 12 will formally explore adding two or four teams, the league's presidents decided unanimously on Tuesday.

While nothing is assured, Big 12 Board of Directors chairman David Boren indicated it is more likely than not the league expands as it will begin to "actively evaluate" schools that previously showed interest in joining the conference.

"It's a statement from the board we want to move forward [with expansion]," Boren said during a conference call.

"I would say, yes, it's a forward step, it's a positive step. ... It's not a definite decision. But there is momentum for the board to very seriously consider this possibility."

Until this point, expansion was merely a discussion point in the last 15 months. Big 12 presidents had visited various campuses and learned that they had $1 billion reasons to expand, but the league had no formal plan.

That has changed. Boren expressed in June 2015 his desire for a conference network, a conference championship game and expansion.
He may get two out of three with a conference title game already announced for 2017.

The league has played with 10 teams since the 2011 season, losing Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M in the last round of conference realignment.

The top candidates are believed to be among this group: BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Memphis, UCF, UConn and others.

No timeline was given for commissioner Bob Bowlsby re-visiting of expansion. He did say the process could extend to the board's October meeting.
New teams added to the league could not start play until the 2017 season at the earliest.

Coming out of an early June meeting, expansion seemed dead.

Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione related as much in a conversation with CBS Sports earlier this month, noting nothing would be moving forward "at this time."

Well, it looks like expansion's time has come.

The change of heart seems to have something to do with Monday's announcement that ACC would get a standalone network after striking a deal with ESPN.

Read on . . .

[NJRedman]

Looks like the Big XII just announced they will actively look into candidates to invite to the conference. Word is they are looking into adding both 2 and 4 teams. Lets see what shakes from this tree and if we can snatch up anyone left out. *cough UConn cough*

[MUPanther]

Looks like the Big XII just announced they will actively look into candidates to invite to the conference. Word is they are looking into adding both 2 and 4 teams. Lets see what shakes from this tree and if we can snatch up anyone left out. *cough UConn cough*

If UConn doesn't go to the Big 12, they will come to the Big East. I think Cincinnati is a lock for the Big 12.

[Jet915]

Sounds like the ACC network announcement a few days ago woke up the Big XII. Time to grab the popcorn, bye bye "American."

[Michael in Raleigh]

Big East administrators can sit back, smoke cigars, and admire the national championship trophy during this round of realignment. What a dramatic change from years past.