Conference Realignment

Discussion in 'College & Amateur Soccer' started by Len, Sep 20, 2011.

  1. Len

    Len Member+

    Club: Dallas Tornado
    Jan 18, 1999
    Everywhere and Nowhere.....I'm the wind, baby.
    Didn't see this discussion anywhere else; if I missed it, please merge:

    I'm curious how those of you who are more in the know than I am (which is just about everyone) see the conference realignments affecting college soccer. Particularly Big 12 schools moving to the Pac 12. Just off the top of my head, I think the Big 12 and SEC are the only two major conferences that don't offer men's soccer. Living in SEC country, I know Hell High School will be cancelled due to icy conditions before enough SEC schools play to have a men's championship. But if/when TX, OK, OKST, and TXTECH joining the Pac 12 will they at least consider adding men's soccer?

    And for that matter, now that Nebraska has joined the Big 10(+2) is there going to be any interest there?
     
  2. fishon

    fishon Member

    Apr 27, 2007
    Conference alignment is for football not futbol. One of, if not the Top basketball league (big east) in the country may no longer exist due to football.
     
  3. bisbee

    bisbee Member

    Sep 9, 2010
    IMHO the whole situation sucks. It's all about money and nothing else. Too bad futbol and not football runs the show.
     
  4. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    I think there's a very real chance the four superconferences withdraw from the NCAA.

    Assuming they all get to 16 teams, the four of them have no need for the NCAA and having to be dictated to by the NCAA and sharing revenue with the NCAA.

    That could be good for college soccer as it frees the game from the NCAAs rules.

    It could also be bad for college soccer because the schools could decide to only have football and hoops on the men's side and however many women's sports they need to remain Title IX compliant.
     
  5. fishon

    fishon Member

    Apr 27, 2007
    4 conferences of 16-20 schools will most likely happen. However, if they do not have the NCAA or something like it, it could be a free for all, paying players, no rules, cats and dogs sleeping together etc..

    These schools could become very large JUCO's. Go two years and then straight to the pros.
     
  6. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    Oh, I'm sure they'd form some sort of governing body.

    But, it wouldn't be as controlling as the NCAA and they'd have far more influence over it and not have to share with, or take into account, the smaller D-I programs, to to mention the D-II and D-III schools.
     
  7. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Honest question -- why is 16 schools the magic number to no longer need the NCAA?



    Personally, I don't see the Big Ten expanding to 16. They don't seem inclined to expand for the sake of expansion. Every school they add is another mouth to feed and if a prospective school is below the conference median in terms of how much money they bring to the table, it's a net negative. These sorts of net negative schools aren't going to give the conference a bump in the next TV contracts, either. If Missouri isn't good enough for the Big Ten, there aren't many prospective schools that are.

    The Big Ten's best options seems to be to do nothing, unless Notre Dame and/or Texas step up.


    The SEC is another conference that isn't under any pressure to expand. They added Texas A&M because TAMU is a huge program with tons of fans and money that's a boon to the conference. But these WVU rumors are now being debunked because WVU brings nothing to the table for the SEC.


    The ACC feels a bit more pressured than the Big Ten and the SEC because their underlying financials aren't as strong. That's why they feel the need to shore up the conference with Syracuse, Pitt, and possibly others soon. It's a defensive move, though, designed to prevent defections

    The Pac-12 is protected by their geographic isolation and the strong coherence of its member institutions, but could use some big-time college football schools like Texas and Oklahoma because the West Coast isn't as football-crazy as the southeast and midwest, and consequently the conference doesn't have the muscle to pull down comparable TV deals.



    There are a lot of dominoes yet to fall, but I don't think college soccer will be particularly affected. A number of Big East programs will likely have to find a new home and there could be more conference raiding once the main pieces fall into place and everybody else fights over the craps.
     
  8. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    The magic number isn't teams per conference. It's the number of major conferences.

    When you had six major conferences, you were never going to bring them all into a coalition. The politics were too complicated, with too many diverging interests.

    Once you're down to four major conferences, the dynamics change. As soon as three of them come to an agreement, they begin to dominate the financial picture. The fourth major conference is likely to fall into line.
     
  9. thetank123

    thetank123 Member

    Dec 28, 2009
    It's that plus it's the schools in the conferences. You know I'm an Akron supporter but they aren't getting invited anywhere any time soon. The super conferences can't kick teams out but they can certainly be picky about who they add. I mean hell, Oklahoma and Texas to the Pac-Whatever? Those are two of the biggest sports schools in the country, boys AND girls.
     
  10. Len

    Len Member+

    Club: Dallas Tornado
    Jan 18, 1999
    Everywhere and Nowhere.....I'm the wind, baby.
    Well, it looks like the Pac 12 has decided against expanding............at this time, anyway.
     
  11. 24Seven

    24Seven Member

    Jan 31, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I still don't get your earlier thought about the Big East not exisiting any longer. I would think a conference founded on basketball would find a way to expand and keep going without football, which has become a weak conference sport. Thoughts?
     
  12. Emile

    Emile Member

    Oct 24, 2001
    dead in a ditch
    Holy shitballs, apparently Boise State is really going to the Big East for football. That doesn't impact college soccer, but SMU and Central Florida are going for all sports, as is Houston (perhaps the BE will require them to start a program? Are there any BE schools without mens soccer?).

    San Diego State is also going for football, so their arrangement with the Pac-6 should be strong as ever, and Boise State can continue to not have soccer in peace.
     
  13. Gaucho Bandsman

    Sep 19, 2010
    Not so fast - rumors have SDSU going to the Big West for all sports not football (the MWC requires pointyball to be a conference member). If so, that would drop the Pac-6 to 5 for soccer...meaning they'll have to do some scrambling or lose their auto-bid.

    If that happens, who do they poach from the MPSF (because the BW and WCC probably aren't going to let a school be everything but soccer, and I really don't see an existing Pac-12 program adding men's soccer)? I'm thinking Bakersfield might be a candidate - mostly because they strike me as the only school close enough to take San Diego State's spot as UCLA's travel partner. I suppose San Jose State and UNLV would also be possibilities, or maybe Seattle to pair up with UW. Sac. State is already going to the BW.

    Also, what does this do to the Big West? Do they add a team to make an even 10 (with two 5 team divisions), and if so, who? Again, CSUB looks like a strong candidate. UNLV seems too far away to be desirable, and San Jose State would lack a travel partner (since Davis is pairing with Sac State). Bakersfield would fit rather well, especially with their recent success.
     
  14. unnamedsource

    unnamedsource Member

    Jun 29, 2007
    how about New Mexico from a competition standpoint? think they might be tired of going undefeated and getting seeded 10th?
     
  15. BigSalmon

    BigSalmon Member

    Sep 20, 2010
    Club:
    Manchester United FC

    maybe they should simply schedule stronger out of conference opponents instead of the likes of towson, cal poly, columbia, cal state northridge, syracuse
     
  16. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    Not this crap again ... really, if you haven't figured out by now that Northridge was a strong team this year, you're not worth trying to explain things to.
     
  17. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    The west as a whole is tired of situations like this, but they will continue to happen to everyone as long as the RPI is in place. And it isn't as though New Mexico dominates the MPSF every year.
     
  18. unnamedsource

    unnamedsource Member

    Jun 29, 2007
    I'd consider them the most successful MPSF team over the past 8 years or so.
     
  19. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    Sure, no question about that, but it isn't as if they're head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. They needed penalties to beat out Bakersfield for this year's title, and Sacramento St (09 and 10) and Denver (08) have also won championships recently.
     
  20. Emile

    Emile Member

    Oct 24, 2001
    dead in a ditch
    Apologies if this has been discussed already, but I was reading an article which said the possible MWC-CUSA merger would be for all sports, whereas I had believed it would be for football only.

    If that happened, we'd have New Mexico, Air Force, and UNLV all moving into the MWCUSA, to join the 7 remaining CUSA schools there (with Memphis still being rumored to move to the Big East). This would both severely limit the Pac-5's purview of available teams to add - I would guess San Jose State would now be in the lead - but would also leave the MPSF with only 5 teams and just 4 if the Pac snitched one. Without really researching it, I can't think of any obvious schools that could come into the MPSF, and the NCAA rules about showcase sports seem to kill any chance that some of the strong regional D2 programs would do it.

    Apparently UC San Diego will be arriving as a new D1 program at some point, but wants to join the Big West, as does CSU Bakersfield. If Bakersfield leaves, then Denver, Sac State, and Seattle (imagining SJSU joined the Pac 6), would really be left out. Perhaps the Summit League would want Denver. Grand Canyon has also apparently made noises about going D1, but with the WCC as the hoped for affiliation.

    Will we see the imminent end of the MPSF, and possibly see some programs terminated if they become orphaned?
     
  21. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    Sacramento State has already joined the Big West, effective 2012. Also, my impression is that the Big West decided against Bakersfield and UCSD, so UCSD will stay in D2.

    As for the other schools, it's tough to say what will happen, but I really hope the Mountain West men's soccer teams don't end up tied to C-USA. The travel would be terrible for the kids, and the associated costs could end up putting several of the conference's programs under the ax.
     
  22. Emile

    Emile Member

    Oct 24, 2001
    dead in a ditch
    Thanks for the updates/corrections.
     
  23. CBSoccer

    CBSoccer Member

    Sep 17, 2010
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    I could see Seattle and/or Denver, even Air Force joining the WCC over "state" scools like SJSU, Bakersfield, or Sac State. Don't know much about Grand Canyon.
    However, the WCC has a pretty good set up right now, with the double round, home/away conference. Adding more schools to the conference would likely change the format of conference games...
     
  24. espola

    espola Member+

    Feb 12, 2006
  25. midfieldmadness

    Aug 12, 2009
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    The article says that SDSU men's soccer will join the Big West in the fall of 2015.

    The Big East really needs to change it's name, it's ridiculous. SDSU will now be a member of both the Big EAST and the Big WEST. Hard to get more west than San Diego unless you invite Hawaii to join.;)
     

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