It all comes down to Notre Dame. They shouldn't, but they hold all the cards.
If they decide to jump into the B1G, UNC sounds ready to jump with them. Throw in Washington, and most likely Oregon (sounds as if USC and UCLA do not want another team from CA, which leaves Stanford out)-- with the wild card being Utah, and the B1G is set at 20 teams.
The ball will then be in Sankey's court to round out the 20 team SEC. As has been said over and over for those who want to listen, this is about brand names more than simple geography, but geography is still a factor for the SEC (in other words, we won't be chasing a pair of west coast teams).
The names being thrown out the most are UNC, Clemson, FSU, and Miami. So, if we miss on UNC, then who steps into their spot?
NC St, Virginia, and VA Tech are the only ones that seem like viable alternatives. Duke, Wake Forest, Pitt, etc., aren't happening. No matter what teams are chosen, the ACC is dead as we know it.
The PAC and Big 12 can either work together, or the Big 12 can grab Arizona and Arizona St, maybe others, and the PAC dissolves. It might make more sense for them to form an actual scheduling alliance, and then try to make a deal with ABC/ESPN to put all their games on broadcast and streaming. At the end of the day, ESPN needs programming, and the Big 12 and PAC can still deliver some eyeballs that make a deal worthwhile. But they will no longer be able to compete, from a financial standpoint, with the B1G and SEC.
If Notre Dame stays independent, this all slows way down (as @jhead34382 has said).
In the meantime the ACC teams will try to make sure they can get out of their 2-page rights contract if/when the time comes (I've read different opinions on this one, so too early to know how quickly that can be resolved), and we wait.
If the ACC somehow gets ND to join them, then I think the SEC is done expanding and stays at 16. The B1G may still go to 20 and finish off the PAC (their long time partner-- talk about cold blooded) but I bet they hold at 16 as well.
Anyway, that's where this all stands, at least from what I can gather, two days later.
On an aside, it really pisses me off that Notre Dame gets to decide the fate of football moving forward.
If they decide to jump into the B1G, UNC sounds ready to jump with them. Throw in Washington, and most likely Oregon (sounds as if USC and UCLA do not want another team from CA, which leaves Stanford out)-- with the wild card being Utah, and the B1G is set at 20 teams.
The ball will then be in Sankey's court to round out the 20 team SEC. As has been said over and over for those who want to listen, this is about brand names more than simple geography, but geography is still a factor for the SEC (in other words, we won't be chasing a pair of west coast teams).
The names being thrown out the most are UNC, Clemson, FSU, and Miami. So, if we miss on UNC, then who steps into their spot?
NC St, Virginia, and VA Tech are the only ones that seem like viable alternatives. Duke, Wake Forest, Pitt, etc., aren't happening. No matter what teams are chosen, the ACC is dead as we know it.
The PAC and Big 12 can either work together, or the Big 12 can grab Arizona and Arizona St, maybe others, and the PAC dissolves. It might make more sense for them to form an actual scheduling alliance, and then try to make a deal with ABC/ESPN to put all their games on broadcast and streaming. At the end of the day, ESPN needs programming, and the Big 12 and PAC can still deliver some eyeballs that make a deal worthwhile. But they will no longer be able to compete, from a financial standpoint, with the B1G and SEC.
If Notre Dame stays independent, this all slows way down (as @jhead34382 has said).
In the meantime the ACC teams will try to make sure they can get out of their 2-page rights contract if/when the time comes (I've read different opinions on this one, so too early to know how quickly that can be resolved), and we wait.
If the ACC somehow gets ND to join them, then I think the SEC is done expanding and stays at 16. The B1G may still go to 20 and finish off the PAC (their long time partner-- talk about cold blooded) but I bet they hold at 16 as well.
Anyway, that's where this all stands, at least from what I can gather, two days later.
On an aside, it really pisses me off that Notre Dame gets to decide the fate of football moving forward.
