Why not 14 in a conference?

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

It seems as though all discussion ranges around conferences getting to 12 teams. I realize the 16 team WAC was a failure, but I could see the value in a 14 team league. It works for Big East hoops.

[SeattleUte]

We think alike. I've been thinking that the Pac 10 should just go gut the MWC--take Utah, TCU, New Mexico, and CSU, Air Force or Colorado. BYU will be fine. It can fend for itself in the WAC or the Big 12.

[Hot Lunch]

It seems as though all discussion ranges around conferences getting to 12 teams. I realize the 16 team WAC was a failure, but I could see the value in a 14 team league. It works for Big East hoops.

Because nobody wants to split the revenue 14 ways. That is less money to all parties involved.

[SeattleUte]

Because nobody wants to split the revenue 14 ways. That is less money to all parties involved.

Utah and New Mexico together make a market roughly the size of Colorado. Might be worth it to throw in the Lobos. NM pop. 2 million, Utah 2.7 million, Colorado, 5 million.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Because nobody wants to split the revenue 14 ways. That is less money to all parties involved.

I am working on the assumption that 14 teams would be able to generate more revenue than 12.

Take BYU and Utah out of the discussion, if the Big 12 added Penn State and Arkansas they would get more TV money, more bowls, more NCAA bids, more BCS games, etc.

[falafel]

Utah and New Mexico together make a market roughly the size of Colorado. Might be worth it to throw in the Lobos. NM pop. 2 million, Utah 2.7 million, Colorado, 5 million.

If you're taking NM, would you mind taking Wyoming and San Diego as well? Much obliged.

[statman]

For football, 12 teams means you play everyone in your division once a year, and the teams in the other division of your conference every other year. 5 divsional conference games. 3 non-divisional conference games. 4 non-conference games.

If you do it with 14, you've got 6 divisional games, and then 3 non-divisional, and you'll miss a team in a two-year period. The extra league game means that, for power conferences where teams play virtually all OOC games at home (read the SEC), they'll occassionally miss an 8th home game. Simply not acceptable...

12 teams makes everything easier form a scheduling standpoint, and guarantees you 4 OOC patsies at home, if you're so inclined.

[Hot Lunch]

I am working on the assumption that 14 teams would be able to generate more revenue than 12.

Take BYU and Utah out of the discussion, if the Big 12 added Penn State and Arkansas they would get more TV money, more bowls, more NCAA bids, more BCS games, etc.

It would all depend on bowl ties and the large T.V. contract that the conference gets. With 14 teams though, you are splitting up the BCS money with more teams involved. That is one of the biggest paychecks they get outside the T.V. contract. I don't know if 14 teams would guarantee them more money through the T.V. deal.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

For football, 12 teams means you play everyone in your division once a year, and the teams in the other division of your conference every other year. 5 divsional conference games. 3 non-divisional conference games. 4 non-conference games.

If you do it with 14, you've got 6 divisional games, and then 3 non-divisional, and you'll miss a team in a two-year period. The extra league game means that, for power conferences where teams play virtually all OOC games at home (read the SEC), they'll occassionally miss an 8th home game. Simply not acceptable...

12 teams makes everything easier form a scheduling standpoint, and guarantees you 4 OOC patsies at home, if you're so inclined.

You could still play 8 conference games, 6 divisional games, 2 inter-divisional games, 4 OOC patsies. There is no rule that says you have to play a certain percentage of conference teams in a year.

[SeattleUte]

If you're taking NM, would you mind taking Wyoming and San Diego as well? Much obliged.

Once in the Pac 10 our intellectual snobbery won't permit us to seriously consider a cal state school like San Diego State. Perhaps the University of San Diego but not the Aztecs. Wyoming might be worth a look.

[Hot Lunch]

Utah and New Mexico together make a market roughly the size of Colorado. Might be worth it to throw in the Lobos. NM pop. 2 million, Utah 2.7 million, Colorado, 5 million.

When teams are deciding on who to bring in, they will also look at recruiting. New Mexico offers them zero value in a recruiting base. Vegas would be 100x better than New Mexico.

[statman]

You could still play 8 conference games, 6 divisional games, 2 inter-divisional games, 4 OOC patsies. There is no rule that says you have to play a certain percentage of conference teams in a year.

No - but then you end up where teams in the same conference rarely face each other. With seven non-divisional opponents, it'd take a full-four years before you played everyone in your conference. In that case, why bother even being affiliated?

Also, if you only play the other division's teams every 3 or 4 years, luck of the draw in playing the good teams from the other division REALLY becomes an issue. It already is an issue in football - think of BYU's Home/Away schedule with TCU & Utah. BYU gets them either both at home or both on the road. The team's ultimate record can be feast or famine, determined by the h/a of the good teams they play.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Also, if you only play the other division's teams every 3 or 4 years, luck of the draw in playing the good teams from the other division REALLY becomes an issue. It already is an issue in football - think of BYU's Home/Away schedule with TCU & Utah. BYU gets them either both at home or both on the road. The team's ultimate record can be feast or famine, determined by the h/a of the good teams they play.

Mark Mangino made a career of this at Kansas, once getting to #2 in the country and being touted as NC contenders on the strength of not having to play Oklahoma, Texas or Texas Tech from the South.