Conference Realignment: What Next?

[Xudash]

Clemson hinting very hard that something is afoot

https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/c ... cde8d.html

How soon?

“Sooner than later,” a Clemson senior administrator said last week when asked about a timetable.

Sometime in 2023?

“Stay very tuned,” the administrator said

I'm really curious to see what pops out of this tidbit.

In the meantime, Xavier hosted a Victory Parkway Preview yesterday. Val Ackerman was in attendance at the Cintas Center and had a few things to comment on:

1. The Big East has no interest in expansion at this time.

2. Still working on the BE / B1G Challenge renewal, but it is progressing. She also touched on the new post-season tournament Fox is attempting to put together.

3. Fox has been and continues to be a great partner. I believe it was mentioned that we are heavily loaded into linear programming for our games, given Fox's emphasis on that platform. Not much offered with respect to the new media agreement, though she mentioned that Fox has the first move when it comes to that.

[FenwayFriar]

Merrimack and Sacred Heart move from NEC to MAAC starting next year. This is the first year of full D1 eligibility for Merrimack after their 4 year reclassification process. Brings the MAAC membership to an all-time high of 13 schools and depletes NEC down to 7 schools, including two schools who just transitioned from D2 to D1 in Stonehill (2022) and Le Moyne (2023).

[GoldenWarrior11]

Army to the AAC. One less FBS Independent for UConn to schedule.

AAC might try to (again) poach an A10 school to balance with Army. Wonder if they try do a swoop with VCU/SLU/UD.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Army to the AAC. One less FBS Independent for UConn to schedule.

AAC might try to (again) poach an A10 school to balance with Army. Wonder if they try do a swoop with VCU/SLU/UD.

AAC talking to VCU (to pair with Army). Val said yesterday that there are no plans for expansion right now, so the Big East isn't adding anyone.

[Jet915]

Army to the AAC. One less FBS Independent for UConn to schedule.

AAC might try to (again) poach an A10 school to balance with Army. Wonder if they try do a swoop with VCU/SLU/UD.

AAC talking to VCU (to pair with Army). Val said yesterday that there are no plans for expansion right now, so the Big East isn't adding anyone.

Zach Braziller
@NYPost_Brazille
Big East commissioner Val Ackerman: “There’s no better fit for Gonzaga than the Big East, if you look at the kind of school they are, basketball focus, their enrollment, their budget, it’s totally on point." Said they stay in touch with them.

Seems like this is the first time Ackerman has openly endorsed Gonzaga to Big East? Does that mean they have an offer?

[Omaha1]

Ackerman hasn’t ruled out the possibility that the conference could pursue expansion in the near future, though it would be unlikely that a new school would come in before the conference’s current media deal ends in 2025. The next deal would likely include a fee structure for if the conference added or lost members, Ackerman said, as is the case in the current deal.

https://frontofficesports.com/the-bigge ... media-day/

[adoraz]

https://twitter.com/StJohnsBBall/status ... 6751640583

ESPN coming to St. John's this Thursday at 6 PM for SportsCenter. Pretty clear ESPN is making a run at the Big East's TV deal. I hope we split with them and Fox, and get a conference challenge with the SEC or ACC.

[ecasadoSBU]

https://twitter.com/StJohnsBBall/status/1717257136751640583

ESPN coming to St. John's this Thursday at 6 PM for SportsCenter. Pretty clear ESPN is making a run at the Big East's TV deal. I hope we split with them and Fox, and get a conference challenge with the SEC or ACC.

What an absolute change of stance from ESPN.

I guess if you can't destroy them... betta join them!


I'm all for a partnership with ESPN also. But as long as we don't anger our FOX folks. FOX has been great for us and I think its important for the league to value established relationships in this insane landscape.

I like that FOX goes all out for us! I wouldn't want that to be lost in exchange for a few more dollars

[GoldenWarrior11]

https://twitter.com/StJohnsBBall/status/1717257136751640583

ESPN coming to St. John's this Thursday at 6 PM for SportsCenter. Pretty clear ESPN is making a run at the Big East's TV deal. I hope we split with them and Fox, and get a conference challenge with the SEC or ACC.

What an absolute change of stance from ESPN.

I guess if you can't destroy them... betta join them!


I'm all for a partnership with ESPN also. But as long as we don't anger our FOX folks. FOX has been great for us and I think its important for the league to value established relationships in this insane landscape.

I like that FOX goes all out for us! I wouldn't want that to be lost in exchange for a few more dollars

Fox has been a great partner for us, but make no mistake - the B1G is their new prized baby. They paid to add the PAC4 schools, and will be paying extra to get the league to move to 22-games. While the B1G also has a Peacock deal for basketball, there is only so many tv slots to go around. If the Big East can take any page out of the B1G playbook, it would be 1) a shorter-term deal (no more than six years) and 2) attempt to get as much national coverage across multiple networks as possible. Fox has put us on Fox, FS1 and FS2; if we can get additional exposure on ESPN (which lost the B1G and only has 1/2 the Big 12 package), that would be amazing.

[Dew]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but I love the idea of Oregon St and Washington St controlling all of the assets of the PAC12 and sticking it to everyone leaving.

In the ongoing legal battle for control of the Pac-12, the 10 departing universities expressed concern that if Oregon State and Washington State were to obtain complete control of the conference board, they could attempt to withhold revenue distribution from the 2023-24 school year from the departing members.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... -st-motion