The PAC 10 expansion groundswell

[Uncle Ted]

Personally I'd love Arizona. Screw Colorado. I'm not sure many people give AF about CU sports. Both seem dilutive, however.

Colorado use to have a good football program but it has gone completely into the sh*tter since leaving for the P10+2... The same with Nebraska. I am guessing that Prime Time has been getting some heat from the progressive P12 about his comments he made about single mothers and he told the CU administrators he can't turn their program around in a P12 environment. CU is so desperate to be relevant again they may even consider crawling back to the Big 12 and take a smaller piece of the pie. It would be interesting if the Big 12 only takes one team from each of the four corner states.

Edit: On the bright side, if Prime Time can't turn CU around they may be an easy win for BYU every year.

[Uncle Ted]

Coach Prime is now coaching the CU band on what to play...

There may be hope for Colorado.

[Goatnapper'96]

Colorado use to have a good football program but it has gone completely into the sh*tter since leaving for the P10+2... The same with Nebraska. I am guessing that Prime Time has been getting some heat from the progressive P12 about his comments he made about single mothers and he told the CU administrators he can't turn their program around in a P12 environment. CU is so desperate to be relevant again they may even consider crawling back to the Big 12 and take a smaller piece of the pie. It would be interesting if the Big 12 only takes one team from each of the four corner states.

Edit: On the bright side, if Prime Time can't turn CU around they may be an easy win for BYU every year.

I thought the first decade of the 21st century wasn't real good for them either.

[All-American]

I thought the first decade of the 21st century wasn't real good for them either.

Yeah, they were languishing in the Big 12 too. I thought that was partly what motivated the move. Turns out the grass isn't any greener.

[Joe Public]

I wonder whether the legacy Big 8/Big 12 members have any desire to welcome CU back into the group. I haven’t heard one way or the other.

[Moliere]

The Bg12 should welcome CU and make it BYUs rivalry game. They could call it rumble in the Rockies.

[falafel]

The Bg12 should welcome CU and make it BYUs rivalry game. They could call it rumble in the Rockies.

No way are we making CU our rival after the shit we gave Utah over the last 10 years.

[Green Monstah]

No way are we making CU our rival after the shit we gave Utah over the last 10 years.

I could be wrong, but I think that’s the joke.

[falafel]

I could be wrong, but I think that’s the joke.

I could be wrong, but I don't want to joke about that!

[Omaha 680]

Not buying the superleague nonsense that leaves everyone outside the Big Ten and SEC behind. I get the fear but like JL said the leaders of those conferences and schools aren't interested in killing college football, which is exactly what would happen if the two leagues broke off.

Top level sports leagues appear to normalize around 30 teams probably because that is the rough number of metropolitan areas that can support them at the level needed to sustain a franchise, combined with the optimal number of teams to play months long seasons and then determine a champion. I expect that number will continue to creep up as the US population increases overall and more metro areas mature and become rich enough to support a modern top teir professional sports franchise.

But what does that have to do with college football? People don't watch CFB because the teams and athletes are the best at football. They watch the NFL for that. If the two power leagues cut out the rest of the country they lose any viewers not directly connected to the included universities or in their cities. To the rest of the country CFB is just a minor league like the XFL at that point. The "magic" of college football, with everyone emotionally invested in their school/team at a level with which professional sports can't compete is a golden goose no one wants to kill.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Not buying the superleague nonsense that leaves everyone outside the Big Ten and SEC behind. I get the fear but like JL said the leaders of those conferences and schools aren't interested in killing college football, which is exactly what would happen if the two leagues broke off.

Top level sports leagues appear to normalize around 30 teams probably because that is the rough number of metropolitan areas that can support them at the level needed to sustain a franchise, combined with the optimal number of teams to play months long seasons and then determine a champion. I expect that number will continue to creep up as the US population increases overall and more metro areas mature and become rich enough to support a modern top teir professional sports franchise.

But what does that have to do with college football? People don't watch CFB because the teams and athletes are the best at football. They watch the NFL for that. If the two power leagues cut out the rest of the country they lose any viewers not directly connected to the included universities or in their cities. To the rest of the country CFB is just a minor league like the XFL at that point. The "magic" of college football, with everyone emotionally invested in their school/team at a level with which professional sports can't compete is a golden goose no one wants to kill.

Excellent post. Agree on all points.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The Bg12 should welcome CU and make it BYUs rivalry game. They could call it rumble in the Rockies.

For the record, I laughed! Good one.

[Paperback Writer]

I wonder whether the legacy Big 8/Big 12 members have any desire to welcome CU back into the group. I haven’t heard one way or the other.

All the legacy Big8/12 members with any clout have left the conference. My initial response was that no way would the Big 12 welcome Colorado back because the Buffaloes started the defections from the Big 12 in the first place. But on second thought the remnants of the Big8/12 would probably welcome Colorado back - it would strengthen the conference. But I do question whether Colorado would want back into the Big12 as long as the PAC 12-2 has life. Colorado has long seen themselves as having DNA closer to the PAC 8/10/1212 than the Big 8/12. And that has a lot to do with academics and branding.

[All-American]

Not buying the superleague nonsense that leaves everyone outside the Big Ten and SEC behind. I get the fear but like JL said the leaders of those conferences and schools aren't interested in killing college football, which is exactly what would happen if the two leagues broke off.

Top level sports leagues appear to normalize around 30 teams probably because that is the rough number of metropolitan areas that can support them at the level needed to sustain a franchise, combined with the optimal number of teams to play months long seasons and then determine a champion. I expect that number will continue to creep up as the US population increases overall and more metro areas mature and become rich enough to support a modern top teir professional sports franchise.

But what does that have to do with college football? People don't watch CFB because the teams and athletes are the best at football. They watch the NFL for that. If the two power leagues cut out the rest of the country they lose any viewers not directly connected to the included universities or in their cities. To the rest of the country CFB is just a minor league like the XFL at that point. The "magic" of college football, with everyone emotionally invested in their school/team at a level with which professional sports can't compete is a golden goose no one wants to kill.

There are a few straw men in this argument.

First, we aren't talking about the Big 10 and SEC breaking off-- not yet anyway.

We also aren't talking about the top level of collegiate football stopping at 30. Every post where I have mentioned this interesting phenomenon also acknowledged that college sports is different and likely not capped for purposes of revenue maximization at 30. We are at 32 as it is, and all the talk is that this number will continue to grow.

Finally, since the leagues are still talking expansion, we are not talking about the Big 10 and SEC leaving everybody behind-- just the ones that don't contribute more to the bottom line than they take away. Cue the old joke about not outrunning the bear.

The talk about the magic of college football is nice, but it banks more on nostalgia than current trends would support. We are already seeing that magic erode. Most of you are old enough to remember when what is now the AAC-- then the Big East-- actually was part of the club. The Big 12 is doing okay now, but was on the ropes less than two years ago. Now the PAC is rewriting its will, and the ACC is booking a meeting with its estate lawyers as we speak. There is absolutely a divide between the top level of football and the lower level, and the top level is becoming more exclusive, not less exclusive.

Saying that trend won't continue because it will harm the game is simply not reflective of what has been going on the last fifteen years. This entire expansion era has featured a series of short-term moves that gave immediate benefits to the participants and hurt the game on the whole. Nobody is looking to chop off the golden goose's head, but let's not pretend the old bird isn't bleeding.

[Jeff Lebowski]

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