Jon Joseph

Do not disagree at all. But without the ACC scheduling agreement, ND could have a tough time filling out a schedule with an SOS decent enough to get a playoff seeding high enough (5-8) to play an opening-round playoff game in South Bend. And where would all of its other sports besides football play? I very much doubt that the B1G would allow ND to stay independent in football and take in all of the other sports in addition to ice hockey. No doubt, the entire structure has a low, low probability. But I do believe it would work financially and logistically. As always, thanks for your thoughts. (At the very least I hope the playoff powers-that-be will require ND to play a 13th game against a P5 opponent. A 12-game schedule when all conference champs and runners-up play 13 games is a playoff scam.) I'm not certain but add UCF instead of ND and this might still make sense financially. Orlando is a bigger media market than Miami.

I believe I have been too dismissive of thoughts regarding some kind of affiliation with ACC schools. Any thoughts regarding possible realignment (maybe not adding Amherst, Bowdoin, and Williams) are worth pondering. I do think the following would work both from a financial and a travel perspective but there is one critical piece to the puzzle that I will discuss below after laying out how the Atlantic and Pacific (A+P) Conference could be structured. Atlantic and Pacific Conference Pacific 12 Division West Pod - Arizona, ASU, Cal, Stanford Northwest Pod - Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State East Pod - CU, San Diego State, SMU, Utah Atlantic 16 Division East Pod - Boston College, NOTRE DAME, Pitt, Syracuse Mid-East Pod - Duke, UNC, NC St., Wake Forest Southeast Pod - Clemson, UVA, VA Tech, West Virginia (W VA would likely pay whatever it had to in order to have a better geographic fit) South Pod - FSU, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami The above would easily be the #3 conference of the Power 4 conferences. It is probably apparent to all reading the above that bringing on Notre Dame as a full-time football member would be critical as would be working through a new media deal with ESPN. With the end of the ACC conference, the ACC-Notre Dame football scheduling agreement would also be terminated. As would the onerous media deal with ESPN. Notre Dame would be the straw that stirs this drink. To entice Notre Dame to come on board as a full football-playing member I would allow Notre Dame to continue its broadcast arrangement with NBC and continue to receive three-quarters of the revenue from this agreement with the other quarter paid to the AP. This suggestion is only if NBC was willing to come on as a broadcast partner for the other AP games. This is the price that would have to be paid for the most valuable brand still left on the realignment board. Yes, Notre Dame could opt for the B1G. However, there is long-running bad blood between the B1G and Notre Dame, and other than ice hockey (where Notre Dame is a B1G member) all other sports have been contested in the ACC for over a decade. Also, would Notre Dame rather face Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Iowa in football or play against AP members? 3 out-of-conference football games, as discussed below, would allow the Irish to play traditional foes Navy, Stanford and USC. ESPN with ESPN+ and NBC with Peacock would provide both linear and streaming services (possibly as augmented by a deal with Apple/Amazon.) The ACC Network would become the AP Network. The Pac-12 Network facilities would be used for in-studio coverage and game broadcasts of Pacific Division sporting events. Football and basketball would be played cross-division. Football pods would play 3 football games against other pod members every year; hopefully, the final 3 games of the regular season. There would also be 4 intra-division games. 2 cross-division games and 3 out-of-conference games. The top 2 teams, regardless of division, would play for the conference football title. There would be one intra-division basketball tournament. All other sports would be played intra-division augmented by cross-division games as so desired. This format would cut down on travel for non-revenue sports teams. The champion of the Pacific in any given non-revenue sport would play the champion of the Atlantic. But dual meets could be held for track and field, and there could be a collective conference tournament for sports such as baseball, softball, golf, volleyball, and so on. I do think the above would work financially and logistically but not without the Irish coming on board. Does this make any sense to you? And if it was ever presented to them in this fashion or another would it make sense to George Kliavkoff and Jim Phillips who would serve as co-commissioners?

Great take but I think the ACC could and would go to 9 but for enabling Notre Dame to stay independent.

$70M a year is not enough? I get his point but it's not like ESPN has lots of cash lying around. Best to the Dawgs on the quest for a three-peat.

Big talk until the rubber hits the road. I'm sure Nick would like Auburn, Vandy, and Missouri as his 3 pod members and perhaps, Kentucky instead of Auburn.

Hickey: Turns out former B1G commissioner Kevin Warren might actually be a damn idiot SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Kevin Warren's parting gift to the Big Ten is a media rights contract that won't be worth as much as initially reported -- thanks to Warren.

Oregon Football's Dream 2024 Recruiting Class 1.0 WWW.YARDBARKER.COM Oregon's 2024 recruiting class is flying high heading into a crucial stretch in June. Official visits will start rolling and the Ducks will put their best foot forward in hopes of landing some more top-tier...

Oregon edges out Arizona to win Pac-12 tournament title DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Key defensive plays and big hits propelled Oregon past Arizona 5-4 to win the Pac-12 tournament.

Following Pac media negotiations make us all Riders on the Storm.

And give thanks to those like the maternal uncle I am named after who was a tank commander with Patton and KIA at the Battle of the Bulge.

Left the door open? If the deal stinks we're out of here. DUH! This just in. The Sun will most likely rise in the east tomorrow. Is your gin and tonic half full or half empty? Probably depends on whether or not you are an alcoholic.

Happy, are you telling me that business and economics have something to do with a media deal? Who knew? GREAT comment.

The worst thing Oregon could do at this point in time is to sign its grant of rights to any deal longer than 5 years. 5 years mean that the Pac media rights will be coming to the renegotiating table before the B1G, B12, and the SEC. For the negative effect a long-term deal can have see the ACC.

The Ducks will likely play an FCS opponent every season. Why not open up every season versus Portland State in Autzen when fans are fired up to see the opening game? Plus, keep the body bag payment in the state.

It's getting harder for SEC schools to fill up the stadium for the walk-over games.

Where have you gone, Terry Donahue?

8 or 9 conference games? SEC heads to spring meetings still debating schedule formats WWW.USATODAY.COM Southeastern Conference leaders will continue debating what to do with their football schedule when they meet in the Florida Panhandle next week

Almost heaven? W VA is at risk of being left behind far more than is Oregon.

According to Brent McMurphy, and as also reported by Dennis Dodd and The National Enquirer, Charles is coming out of retirement to play for the 49ers and I am coming out of retirement to play for the Boston Bruins. Not trying to belittle anyone but this is rumor-mongering and the rumors will not end before a new Pac media deal is announced. Did any of these 3 schools' SID report the meetings? Ask yourself this question: Are ESPN/Fox (with the LA market locked up) going to pay $30.7M x 3 per annum for these schools' sports inventory? And are downstream advertisers standing by to assure ESPN/Fox a profit if they do so? Over the life of the 6-year B12 media deal the total would be an additional $552.6M; $276.3M for each network. And this question. Are these schools willing to join the B12 for less money than BYU will be paid? And would any of these 3 schools leave the Pac for a few million more if the Pac deal comes in at say, $25M per annum? According to Jon Wilner, a reporter I trust, the Pac deal is still in line to equal or exceed the B1G media deal.

According to many reports these schools are already in the B12 and Oregon and UW are in the B1G with OR ST and WA ST in the Mountain West.

Great take. Interesting that we live in a day and age of 9-3 being only an OK record. Of course, the ACC has and is staying with an 8 game conference schedule. There is now significant doubt that the SEC conference schedule will not go to 9 conference games. 3 OOC wins for the most part in the SEC are a given. 16 teams and 8 conference games? Once again proving that today's CFB is all about the money. In 2023, Alabama plays Texas and 3 donut holes. UGA's toughest OOC opponent, because the SEC canceled the Dawgs game at OK, is Georgia Tech. But there are schools like Florida that will play Utah and FSU. I am hoping that come 2024 and a 12-team playoff SOS and not just W/Ls will matter to the PO committee. The difference in SOS in college sports is all over the map compared to professional sports. At least CBB does take into consideration the schedule a team played but then again, gives far too much weight to the B1G conference schedule. A conference that has not won a CBB title since 2000. I agree that the Pac could go cannibal in the final year of the final 4. UCLA has the easiest conference schedule but the Bruins still have to play at OR St, USC, and Utah.

Quack!

I don't think these two would agree to any kind of merger with K Strate, OK State, etc. The only way the Pac/Big12 merge is out of absolute desperation. Oregon has far more eyes on the prize than any B12 team. UW makes the viewership numbers in the Seattle market meaningful. Not the case so much with TCU in Dallas where it is a distant third place behind Texas and A+M. This will be the same for Houston in the Houston market. Where is the bottom line win for Oregon in such a merger? It would have been one thing to pick up B12 orphans on the cheap but a 'merger of equals' will not serve Oregon's best interests.

I agree. Ford Field is not that much larger if larger at all, than the field in E Lansing where I have attended a game. Sparty Stadium is not the Big House but it holds near to 80,000 and is a fun place to watch a game. I can think of only 2 reasons why NBC wanted the change. Weather concerns or the fact the Lions stadium is better set up for broadcasts and NBC has broadcast games from here before. But if the person with the pocketbook wants anything to happen it most often will happen.

Only 7 SEC teams are in favor of going to a 9 game conference schedule. Among the naysayers is Nick Saban who often advocated a 10-game conference schedule before learning that his 3 regular opponents would be Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee. Isn't it interesting that many people support ideas before learning how they will be personally impacted? I don't believe the Pac, in whatever iteration, has the 'fandom' to drop to 8 conference games and schedule an additional home donut-hole game. Stanford can't sell out for the Notre Dame game. Only college football can have a playoff where the schedules are so disparate in the strength of the opponents and the number of home games. Alabama football: Why Nick Saban is so against new SEC schedule model FANSIDED.COM Of course, Alabama head coach Nick Saban would be opposed to a nine-game SEC schedule... SEC expansion is coming in two years, but we still don't know...