Not a move, but a name change for George Washington. Colonials -> Revolutionaries The name won out over Ambassadors, Blue Fog and Sentinels. Personally, would've gone with Blue Fog!
and this hair-raising interview today of one of the university's main men in power did nothing to quell such a rumor/concept. do not be surprised if Florida State actually pulls the trigger between now & August 15.
“I think today when you think about what we’re going to be next year (in the ACC) and what the SEC and Big Ten are relative to what we make … that gap is massive,” said [Florida State’s Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins], who then joked that he wasn’t breaking any news with that statement. ... “we’re going to be $30 million, $35 [million] or $40 million behind the other conferences. That’s an insurmountable gap that you have to do something about.”
So, what exactly can be done? Well, Collins was asked about his comments from earlier this year, when he said the university had a, “very good handle on the Grant of Rights.” That, of course, alludes to the ACC’s media right contract with ESPN, which is in effect until 2036. ... “That’s the least of my worries based on what we know. … We understand it. We have gotten a lot of counsel on that document. That will not be the document that keeps us from taking action. And I’ll leave it at that.”
the few rumor-mill guys i follow have been dead-on throughout this entire Pac saga, so i will pass along a couple things here from them not necessarily related to the Pac:
—ACC: Florida State will withdraw from the conference either this year (by August 15, 2023 – in time for '24-'25 season) or next year ([probably] by August 15, 2024 – in time for '25-'26 season). several people strongly believe it'll be the former, especially given all the colossal changes that have already happened across the college sports landscape. but guys/gals/non-binary pals: it's coming. no one knows where FSU would end up between the Big Ten & SEC, but best believe the school has been in talks with both conferences throughout this whole saga.
—Big 12: Brett Yormark is allegedly meeting with seven schools this week with the potential to add two of them during this realignment cycle. the seven are UConn, Gonzaga, San Diego State, and each of the remaining Pac-4 schools (yes, to my surprise this apparently includes Stanford & Cal). he wants UConn, but the ESPN folks want literally any good remaining brands in the Pacific timezone that they can get their hands on. any of the current Power-5 schools [and allegedly the other three] would at least get ESPN's pro rata of 63% of the total media value (around $20M). no earthly idea which of those seven may have the leg up.
sorry for hijacking this thread like this; i'll try not to post rumors on here moving forward. hopefully things at the Power-5 level get resolved soon – for this cycle, anyway. i'm soooo close to not having to care about any of this anymore, or at least for a while. 😮💨
The AAC has said no to western expansion for now. They are hoping to get Army for football only to replace SMU.
Looking like OSU & WSU to the Mountain West. The MWC commissioner is going to both schools football games this weekend (granted they are playing at MWC teams).
so with the AAC and the Big 12 presumably out on the ‘Pac-2’, it pretty much just depends on if the MWC is able to complete a “reverse merger” with the Pac-2 in hopes of retaining the Power-level status for the next two years which would include receiving the previously scheduled Power-level College Football Playoff payouts – which is no guarantee given how different things are now. otherwise, if the CFP Committee votes to strip any new version of the Pac of its Power-5 status and thus drastically reduce those payouts, Oregon State & Wazzu would just join the MWC outright. i do foresee the “Mountain West” name going by the wayside either way.
allegedly it would also take 9 schools to vote to dissolve the MWC, if the schools in charge want to go that route in order to cut out the MWC’s weakest links.
Here's a weird note: The NCAA gives conferences a two-year window to get up to eight teams, so technically Oregon State and Washington State are a legit league, all by themselves, until 2026.
They are responsible for Pac debts and obligations, but also get all Pac income from championships and TV deals.
They may just hang on for two years and watch MWC schools try to bail as cheaply as possible.
it is weird to me that the ACC didn’t try to pursue adding Oregon State & Wazzu more intently, if those 12 ACC schools mainly voted Cal/Stan/SMU in from the “strength in numbers” standpoint. leading voices in the Big Ten for example believed it would be easier to schedule Olympic-sports competitions with four west-coast schools rather than just two, especially for the sake of those four schools. (and also, better optics.)
the money component of it all surely didn’t work out, which is a damn shame considering Oregon State & Wazzu probably would’ve taken even less money than Stanford & Cal did. but no school pre-existing in a conference can come out net neutral when adding others to their conference let alone lose even a single dollar, heaven fucking forbid…
Last Edit: Sept 5, 2023 11:54:25 GMT -5 by Deleted