(non-MVC) Realignment News

[VUGrad1314]

Signs point to Dixie State joining the WAC.

Here's an update on SL Expansion Update from South Dakota AD

https://twitter.com/jhoeck/status/1083098311266127872

Takeaways:

No discussion with or invitation for Augustana yet

GCU had interest but SL wasn't interested

Some discussions with UMKC but nothing recent

I'm guessing it will take a move from the OVC HL or MVC to get the ball rolling in earnest.

[IWokeUpLikeThis]

WAC announced Friday the addition of St George’s (America’s fastest growing metro area) Dixie State Trailblazers tucked in the SW corner of Utah. The area has a long transient southern history and adopted a Confederate flag, Confederate mascot, and Rebels nickname until the 90s.

Dixie State is located 120 miles NE of Vegas where the WAC tournament is held. NMSU AD Mario Moccia stated the goal is to get the WAC up to 10 schools.

WAC establishes a 6-school core of Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, Utah Valley, Dixie State, New Mexico State, and Rio Grande Valley with outposts in Seattle, Kansas City, and Chicago.

WAC has now called up 3 D2 schools with D1-ready arenas and fan bases — a strategy that has propelled it past the Mountain West in RPI — as GCU & CBU have produced sellouts.

Grand Canyon


Cal Baptist


Dixie State

[IWokeUpLikeThis]

For the first time since 2002, Penn takes the Big 5 in the Quakers’ historic sweep of Villanova, Temple, Saint Joseph’s, & LaSalle.
http://www.philly.com/college-sports/pe ... 90127.html

https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-fo ... story.html
UConn’s scanned ticket numbers:
UCF - 15,705
Rhode Island - 12,908
Cincinnati - 12,194
UMass - 3,882
SMU - 8,194
Temple - 7,308
Average: 10,032

For a regional matchup 50 minutes apart to draw only 3k folks, UMass and UConn really shouldn’t be playing FBS.

[VUGrad1314]

The UCONN to BE and (most likely) Army\VCU to the AAC smoke is getting too great to ignore. Now the question is do SLU and Dayton want to be in an A10 without VCU? Would they pursue the AAC if they can't get into the BE? Would the AAC take successful private schools like Dayton and SLU?

[mvfcfan]

Supposedly the WAC is also interested in Tarleton State. I'm glad to see that the WAC is gaining members. If they were to lose their automatic bid it would just be another bid that goes to a P5 team.

[VUGrad1314]

Interested in Metro State too Also rumors of Central Washington possibly going D1.

[BCPanther]

Interested in Metro State too Also rumors of Central Washington possibly going D1.

Central Washington has wanted to go for a long time they just didn't have a realistic path to get there with the Big Sky already being too big. With Seattle in the WAC, its not terribly far fetched that the move works out for them. Enrollment wise they are nearly identical to Eastern Washington and EWU has been able to have some success in FB and MBB.

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

The UCONN to BE and (most likely) Army\VCU to the AAC smoke is getting too great to ignore. Now the question is do SLU and Dayton want to be in an A10 without VCU? Would they pursue the AAC if they can't get into the BE? Would the AAC take successful private schools like Dayton and SLU?

UCONN will not go Big East. Theyre waiting for P5, which theyll get considering there are numerous spots left. Just a matter of time.

Dayton will go to the Big East.

VCU will go AAC.

The A-10 will not be a top 10 conference and at that point SLU might leave, too. Theyre hoping for Big East.

[VUGrad1314]

UCONN can either:

Drop football to FCS thereby saving a ton of scholarship cash
Gain the flexibility to cut\add other sports if desired\necessary
Join the Big East thereby saving a ton on travel and receive:
A well-attended tournament in a historic venue right in their backyard
20 games vs the #5 conference full of familiar rivals their fans enjoyed playing against AND
Guaranteed game against the Big 10
Guaranteed game against the Big 12
Which results in a massive boost to SOS and attendance
And take advantage of a media deal greater than or equal to the AAC's best case scenario

OR:
Keep their underperforming money pit of a football program
Keep schlepping all sports to Florida Texas Oklahoma and Kansas
Keep playing an 18 game schedule against a significantly worse conference full of teams that wouldn't even register on the average UCONN fan's radar.
Keep playing their conference tournament in some far-flung location most years that is sparsely attended compared to the Big East
Get no built in P5 games (much harder scheduling more slots to fill)
Pray for the best case scenario on the media deal to hope you can make up the shortfall.

If I'm UCONN's AD facing a $40million shortfall increasing apathy and losses for football and an uncertain basketball future I know the option I'm taking. There might be some open P5 slots but most of those will likely be the Big 12 backfilling. Joining the Big 12 especially if Texas Oklahoma and possibly Kansas are gone doesn't really solve a lot of UCONN's problems even with a larger payout. Travel gets worse for all sports and if they can't compete against the AAC in football now what happens when the bottom of the AAC is removed and replaced with the middle\bottom of the Big 12? Football becomes LESS competitive apathy continues and even grows because even though that basketball league might end up ahead of the Big East some years the fans won't connect with the rivalries and losses continue to mount on the football field and in the ledger especially.

It's past time for UCONN to admit their football failure and take the golden parachute offered by the Big East before they do irreparable damage to their athletic department and their reputation.`

[TheAsianSensation]

UConn should (and will) wait until about 2026. That's when the Big 12 GOR expires, and I expect movement of some kind then. If you remember, back when that was signed, the conference was teetering on destruction; everyone wanted out before realizing their best chance at relevance was sticking together, for the time being.

Once the fate of that conference is decided, UConn will have a pretty good picture of if there'll ever be room at the inn in a P5 (or P4!) conference. There's certainly a chance the Big 12 stays fully intact long-term, and a UConn/Cincy package makes sense. And if if there's movement, UConn will have a chance to convince the ACC or Big 10 to add them in addition to one of the Big 12 scabs. I'd go over individual permutations, but with the Pac-12, SEC, and B1G all in play for Big 12 refugees, there's too many to cover all possibilities.

5 years seems like an eternity, but it's worth waiting out.