Lots of stuff - Ole Miss, Tulane/Memphis, UNLV/AF

[Loyal Coug1]

Ok, nothing groundbreaking today except that the Six-Pac meets this week (tomorrow), apparently to discuss next steps in expansion. Here's my thoughts:

• Ole Miss and 2025 schedule. It has been quiet for WSU on the scheduling front. If Teresa/Anne can cobble something decent together, I will rescind my negative opinion of them. Somewhat. Wake Forest dropped the Ole Miss away game in favor of an away-and-home with Oregon State, which WF said was more lucrative. Not sue how visiting OSU is more lucrative than going to Ole Miss, but hey. So WSU should be talking about going to Oxford as a replacement game. With 3 home games so far, I think WSU will be lucky to land 5 total. If we have to play two FCS teams (already have Idaho) that will suck, but I see it coming
• Memphis and Tulane. I don't want them. Too far away, and don't tell me they are a better catch than UNLV. Plus, I can't stand the thought of Mik rubbing my nose in it for ridiculing his notion of luring them in for months. But all the chatter is about them this week
• UNLV and AF. This is the no-brainer to get to 8 teams. Especially UNLV. There must be something going on behind the scenes here. They are smack dab in the middle of the Six-Pac. How can we possibly not get them on board? But IMHO that means getting another MW team. I don't see any of these Eastern prospects (T/M or the Texas possibilities) coming alone. So get UNLV and if AF won't come, then Wyoming or whoever. One bottom feeder won't kill us. More important to get to 8, take a breath, get the 2025 schedule hammered out and consider other schools at our leisure. But UNLV is a must have, even if it means taking Reno too.

 

[CougPatrol]

WSU is already scheduled to play on the weekend that Ole Miss needs to fill.

Tulane, Memphis, and UNLV should be the target additions. Air Force doesn't bring anything to the table in terms of market, and unfortunately, that's all that matters now.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

WSU is already scheduled to play on the weekend that Ole Miss needs to fill.

Tulane, Memphis, and UNLV should be the target additions. Air Force doesn't bring anything to the table in terms of market, and unfortunately, that's all that matters now.

Not a problem. Get the Mean Green to push that game back a week (they have a bye) and plug in Ole Miss. Hell they already have 7 home games, maybe they will come out here and play us.

Which brings up another point. If you peruse various teams' 2025 schedules, most are filled. Cal and Stanford being exceptions, and both of which have only 5 home games. The WSU has some heavy lifting to do to get 6 more games scheduled. All the more reason to grab UNLV and ?, stand pat at 8, and focus on the 2025 schedule.

FBSchedules.com | College and Pro Football Schedules

A fan site for college football schedules (FBS and FCS), pro football schedules (NFL, UFL, and CFL), future schedules, and more.

fbschedules.com

 

[mikalalas]

WSU is already scheduled to play on the weekend that Ole Miss needs to fill.

Tulane, Memphis, and UNLV should be the target additions. Air Force doesn't bring anything to the table in terms of market, and unfortunately, that's all that matters now.

Not only that but militiary, govt rules, limits their budget, recruiting, makes it harder for recruits to get in, etc, and the only reason Airforce good now, in past is awesome coaching, that they are ultimate extremely lucky to have, as soon as lose that coach, and replace that coach with a likely coach that likely won't overcome the above problems, Airforce will be a bottom dwellers, that won't provide enough value, as much value as Memphis, Tulane, UTSA, UNLV, SMU, Cal, Rice.

Also AAC schools like Memphis, Tulane, UTSA, not only have more value, but they only cost $10 to $13 mil per College, which is way CHEAPER then the $15 mil poaching fee, + $18 mil exit fee for UNLV + the $15 mil poaching fee + $18 mil exit fee for BOTTOM DWELLER, NO VALUE NEVADA, THAT LIKELY TIED TO UNLV, for a total of $76 million for UNLV, Nevada, compared to only $10 mil to $13 mil for each of Memphis, Tulane, UTSA, that best of the G5 programs in USA, that have a lot of value, more value then UNLV, Airforce, Nevada, and that only cost a total of $30 mil to $39 mil, compared to the about 109 mil for UNLV, Airforce, Nevada.

Doesn't matter that Memphis, Tulane is in the borderline south midwest to just barely south western half of USA just barely, and semi far way.

All that matters is that Memphis, Tulane, BSU, Fresno St, SDSU, WSU, OSU, CSU, UNLV or UTSA, etc, will be, is, etc, the 5th best conference behind Big 10, SEC, Big 12, ACC, and a hybrid P5, G5 conference, or that become such a conference, that get about 13 mil to 15 mil to 17 mil to 19 mil to 21 mil per team, per year, that get about 5,6,7,8,9 mil from CFP after 2028. Where that PAC 8 champ goes to 12 team playoff 99 times, out of 100 over, instead of AAC champ, MWC Champ, MAAC champ, SUN Belt Champ, as long as PAC 8 champ 9-3, 10-2, 11-1, etc.

Also getting Memphis, Tulane, WEAKENS AAC, so that AAC champ won't goto CFP over PAC 8 champ.

MWC is already weakened, so if don't get UNLV, to weaken MWC further, MWC is weakened enough to where MWC champ won't goto CFP over PAC 8 champ.

Money, CFP, Better, best bowls, better, best bowl money, etc, is the only thing that affects SURVIVAL.

And SURVIVAL, MONEY, is the only thing that seems to matter in College Football.

 

[CougPatrol]

Market size matters. That's why, unfortunately, Wyoming isn't going to be considered.

 

[95coug]

Ok, nothing groundbreaking today except that the Six-Pac meets this week (tomorrow), apparently to discuss next steps in expansion. Here's my thoughts:

• Ole Miss and 2025 schedule. It has been quiet for WSU on the scheduling front. If Teresa/Anne can cobble something decent together, I will rescind my negative opinion of them. Somewhat. Wake Forest dropped the Ole Miss away game in favor of an away-and-home with Oregon State, which WF said was more lucrative. Not sue how visiting OSU is more lucrative than going to Ole Miss, but hey. So WSU should be talking about going to Oxford as a replacement game. With 3 home games so far, I think WSU will be lucky to land 5 total. If we have to play two FCS teams (already have Idaho) that will suck, but I see it coming
• Memphis and Tulane. I don't want them. Too far away, and don't tell me they are a better catch than UNLV. Plus, I can't stand the thought of Mik rubbing my nose in it for ridiculing his notion of luring them in for months. But all the chatter is about them this week
• UNLV and AF. This is the no-brainer to get to 8 teams. Especially UNLV. There must be something going on behind the scenes here. They are smack dab in the middle of the Six-Pac. How can we possibly not get them on board? But IMHO that means getting another MW team. I don't see any of these Eastern prospects (T/M or the Texas possibilities) coming alone. So get UNLV and if AF won't come, then Wyoming or whoever. One bottom feeder won't kill us. More important to get to 8, take a breath, get the 2025 schedule hammered out and consider other schools at our leisure. But UNLV is a must have, even if it means taking Reno too.

Air Force doesn't do anything for us. They have few viewers in a market that CSU already has us in. They're a pain in the ass to play, too. They won't be a player in NIL and aren't a huge recruiting competitor, but those are minor positives.

I'm with you on Memphis and Tulane, they're too removed for too little return. Neither has very strong viewership (although to be fair, the 4 teams that we've already pulled aren't great on viewership either). They're in the #50 and #52 media markets, which puts them on par with Fresno-Visalia and Albuquerque.

UNLV (#40 market) seems like a no-brainer, unless they've attached themselves to Reno (#102....right behind Tri-Cities). UTSA is #31. UNLV & UTSA had nearly identical viewership last year. Just ahead of them in viewers, but in the #10 market is SJSU.

Yes, SJSU is a commuter school that we don't have much respect for...but they're in the Bay, along with a lot of TVs. We can't ignore that. Fresno and SDSU give us a piece of SoCal, it would be really good to have some NorCal too. I really think that the first right of refusal goes to Cal and Stanford, but if (when) they decline, we need to consider SJSU. On the plus side, it's an extremely likely win every year.

I think it's also worth consolidating the programs in the west to get a pretty solid grip on the teams that anyone watches in the mid to late time slots.

To me, the list looks like this:

1. Cal
2. Stanford (slightly behind because I think they're less likely to accept and more likely to threaten to leave every year)
3. UNLV
4. SJSU
5. UTSA
6. Wyoming
7. After that, everyone just blends together into an unattractive mess.

This of course assumes we don't pull off some sort of miraculous poaching of a school from the Big 12...which seems somewhere between impossible and outrageous.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Air Force doesn't do anything for us. They have few viewers in a market that CSU already has us in. They're a pain in the ass to play, too. They won't be a player in NIL and aren't a huge recruiting competitor, but those are minor positives.

I'm with you on Memphis and Tulane, they're too removed for too little return. Neither has very strong viewership (although to be fair, the 4 teams that we've already pulled aren't great on viewership either). They're in the #50 and #52 media markets, which puts them on par with Fresno-Visalia and Albuquerque.

UNLV (#40 market) seems like a no-brainer, unless they've attached themselves to Reno (#102....right behind Tri-Cities). UTSA is #31. UNLV & UTSA had nearly identical viewership last year. Just ahead of them in viewers, but in the #10 market is SJSU.

Yes, SJSU is a commuter school that we don't have much respect for...but they're in the Bay, along with a lot of TVs. We can't ignore that. Fresno and SDSU give us a piece of SoCal, it would be really good to have some NorCal too. I really think that the first right of refusal goes to Cal and Stanford, but if (when) they decline, we need to consider SJSU. On the plus side, it's an extremely likely win every year.

I think it's also worth consolidating the programs in the west to get a pretty solid grip on the teams that anyone watches in the mid to late time slots.

To me, the list looks like this:

1. Cal
2. Stanford (slightly behind because I think they're less likely to accept and more likely to threaten to leave every year)
3. UNLV
4. SJSU
5. UTSA
6. Wyoming
7. After that, everyone just blends together into an unattractive mess.

This of course assumes we don't pull off some sort of miraculous poaching of a school from the Big 12...which seems somewhere between impossible and outrageous.

I could go with that list except I would put UNLV at #1. Cal and Stanford are irrelevant because they aren't coming back. Certainly not in time to meet our grace period deadline.

 

[CougInSpain]

I could go with that list except I would put UNLV at #1. Cal and Stanford are irrelevant because they aren't coming back. Certainly not in time to meet our grace period deadline.

Stranger things have happened...... And in response to 95, I wouldn't exactly consider Fresno a SoCal city but I guess close enough? Yes, splitting hairs I know.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Market size matters. That's why, unfortunately, Wyoming isn't going to be considered.

The list below has some question marks in terms of what all games and networks are included. However, it shows Wyoming's viewership as higher than Fresno or SDSU. SJSU is surprisingly above UNLV.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Also AAC schools like Memphis, Tulane, UTSA, not only have more value, but they only cost $10 to $13 mil per College, which is way CHEAPER then the $15 mil poaching fee, + $18 mil exit fee for UNLV + the $15 mil poaching fee + $18 mil exit fee for BOTTOM DWELLER, NO VALUE NEVADA, THAT LIKELY TIED TO UNLV, for a total of $76 million for UNLV, Nevada, compared to only $10 mil to $13 mil for each of Memphis, Tulane, UTSA, that best of the G5 programs in USA, that have a lot of value, more value then UNLV, Airforce, Nevada, and that only cost a total of $30 mil to $39 mil, compared to the about 109 mil for UNLV, Airforce, Nevada.

Doesn't matter that Memphis, Tulane is in the borderline south midwest to just barely south western half of USA just barely, and semi far way.

All that matters is that Memphis, Tulane, BSU, Fresno St, SDSU, WSU, OSU, CSU, UNLV or UTSA, etc, will be, is, etc, the 5th best conference behind Big 10, SEC, Big 12, ACC, and a hybrid P5, G5 conference, or that become such a conference, that get about 13 mil to 15 mil to 17 mil to 19 mil to 21 mil per team, per year, that get about 5,6,7,8,9 mil from CFP after 2028. Where that PAC 8 champ goes to 12 team playoff 99 times, out of 100 over, instead of AAC champ, MWC Champ, MAAC champ, SUN Belt Champ, as long as PAC 8 champ 9-3, 10-2, 11-1, etc.

Mik your math needs some work. The poaching fee for teams 5 and 6 is not $15 million. It is about $12 million. The exit fee is $17M, not 18M$. And even using your incorrect numbers, the total would be $66M not $76M. The real combined number is $58M.

This "hybrid P5, G5" nonsense is all in your mind.

Every guesstimate I've read speaks to a Pac-8 media deal of $10-15 million max. Not $13-21M. And your assertion about getting $5-9M in CFP monies assumes that a) the CFP even exists after 2028, and b) that WSU wins the Pac every year. A bit of a reach.

And your geography needs some work. Go look at a map. Tulane is not borderline midwest = it is Deep South (east). Memphis is in the Southeast.

That said, I'm still prepared to eat crow if the absolutely terrible choice comes down to Tulane and Memphis.

 

[CougEd]

Air Force doesn't do anything for us. They have few viewers in a market that CSU already has us in. They're a pain in the ass to play, too. They won't be a player in NIL and aren't a huge recruiting competitor, but those are minor positives.

I'm with you on Memphis and Tulane, they're too removed for too little return. Neither has very strong viewership (although to be fair, the 4 teams that we've already pulled aren't great on viewership either). They're in the #50 and #52 media markets, which puts them on par with Fresno-Visalia and Albuquerque.

UNLV (#40 market) seems like a no-brainer, unless they've attached themselves to Reno (#102....right behind Tri-Cities). UTSA is #31. UNLV & UTSA had nearly identical viewership last year. Just ahead of them in viewers, but in the #10 market is SJSU.

Yes, SJSU is a commuter school that we don't have much respect for...but they're in the Bay, along with a lot of TVs. We can't ignore that. Fresno and SDSU give us a piece of SoCal, it would be really good to have some NorCal too. I really think that the first right of refusal goes to Cal and Stanford, but if (when) they decline, we need to consider SJSU. On the plus side, it's an extremely likely win every year.

I think it's also worth consolidating the programs in the west to get a pretty solid grip on the teams that anyone watches in the mid to late time slots.

To me, the list looks like this:

1. Cal
2. Stanford (slightly behind because I think they're less likely to accept and more likely to threaten to leave every year)
3. UNLV
4. SJSU
5. UTSA
6. Wyoming
7. After that, everyone just blends together into an unattractive mess.

This of course assumes we don't pull off some sort of miraculous poaching of a school from the Big 12...which seems somewhere between impossible and outrageous.

UW with 3 our of four to Iowa Rutgers and Indiana....those trips will wear on them. I say think big... see if UCLA has buyers remorse, see if Nebraska wants to become a power again or middle of the pack...

 

[CougPatrol]

I'm with you on Memphis and Tulane, they're too removed for too little return. Neither has very strong viewership (although to be fair, the 4 teams that we've already pulled aren't great on viewership either). They're in the #50 and #52 media markets, which puts them on par with Fresno-Visalia and Albuquerque.

UNLV (#40 market) seems like a no-brainer, unless they've attached themselves to Reno (#102....right behind Tri-Cities). UTSA is #31. UNLV & UTSA had nearly identical viewership last year. Just ahead of them in viewers, but in the #10 market is SJSU.

Memphis is a great market to add. #50, but they pull in neighboring markets as well. Same with Tulane. These are the 2 best non-SEC programs in the Southeast.

I'm not a fan of this cross-country realignment stuff, but I absolutely see why the P12 is leaning towards Memphis, Tulane, Texas San Antonio, etc. Viewership and TV market is all that matters, and having a pod of these 4 programs is going to draw more eyes on games than Air Force, San Jose State, Wyoming, etc.

 

[mikalalas]

Mik your math needs some work. The poaching fee for teams 5 and 6 is not $15 million. It is about $12 million. The exit fee is $17M, not 18M$. And even using your incorrect numbers, the total would be $66M not $76M. The real combined number is $58M.

This "hybrid P5, G5" nonsense is all in your mind.

Every guesstimate I've read speaks to a Pac-8 media deal of $10-15 million max. Not $13-21M. And your assertion about getting $5-9M in CFP monies assumes that a) the CFP even exists after 2028, and b) that WSU wins the Pac every year. A bit of a reach.

And your geography needs some work. Go look at a map. Tulane is not borderline midwest = it is Deep South (east). Memphis is in the Southeast.

That said, I'm still prepared to eat crow if the absolutely terrible choice comes down to Tulane and Memphis.

The CFP pays out 1.8 mil to each G5 conference whether a Champ makes it into CFP or not.

PAC 2/6/8/10/12 for next 2 years gets 3.3 mil per year from CFP, whether WSU, OSU makes CFP or not.

In 2026, the PAC 8 will probably get 4.3 mil from CFP, whether anyone makes CFP or not.

In 2028, after look in reevaluation, that number will probably jump to about 5 to 9 million per year from CFP no matter whether anyone from PAC 8 makes CFP or not.

And Yahoo Sports, Dellinger, CBS Sports, Dodd, Canzano, Wilner, Daschel, and lots of sources are saying, projecting that it will be 12, 13 mil per team, per year at minimum to 14,15 mil to 16,17 mil to 18,19 mil to 20,21 mil because BSU MWC, which not as good value wise as PAC 8, would have gotten about 9,10,11 mil per team, per year, and that PAC 8 get substantially way more then that, and because even the PAC 12, without USC, UCLA, and with UW, Oregon, etc, got offered about 30 mil per team, per year, and had they made a reasonable counter offer could have gotten 34,35,36,37 mil per team per year.

PAC 8 with Memphis, Tulane, is worth at least about 45,50,55,60,65%, of the 30 mil per team, per year previous PAC 12 offer, at semi minimum, 12, 13 mil to 21 mil out of that 30 mil, at semi minimum, because a Memphis, Tulane PAC 8 is ABOUT .70 as good, almost as good value wise, competition wise as the UW, Oregon, no USC, UCLA PAC 12, in that PAC 12 down years.

 

[COUGinNCW]

WSU is already scheduled to play on the weekend that Ole Miss needs to fill.

Tulane, Memphis, and UNLV should be the target additions. Air Force doesn't bring anything to the table in terms of market, and unfortunately, that's all that matters now.

WitF did we agree to go to North Texas before they came to Pullman?!

 

[mikalalas]

Memphis is a great market to add. #50, but they pull in neighboring markets as well. Same with Tulane. These are the 2 best non-SEC programs in the Southeast.

I'm not a fan of this cross-country realignment stuff, but I absolutely see why the P12 is leaning towards Memphis, Tulane, Texas San Antonio, etc. Viewership and TV market is all that matters, and having a pod of these 4 programs is going to draw more eyes on games than Air Force, San Jose State, Wyoming, etc.

Yep, and that's why PAC 6/8/10/12 should try to get Cal, SMU, Memphis, Tulane, UTSA, UNLV, Rice, in that order.

 

[Stretch 74]

Air Force doesn't do anything for us. They have few viewers in a market that CSU already has us in. They're a pain in the ass to play, too. They won't be a player in NIL and aren't a huge recruiting competitor, but those are minor positives.

I'm with you on Memphis and Tulane, they're too removed for too little return. Neither has very strong viewership (although to be fair, the 4 teams that we've already pulled aren't great on viewership either). They're in the #50 and #52 media markets, which puts them on par with Fresno-Visalia and Albuquerque.

UNLV (#40 market) seems like a no-brainer, unless they've attached themselves to Reno (#102....right behind Tri-Cities). UTSA is #31. UNLV & UTSA had nearly identical viewership last year. Just ahead of them in viewers, but in the #10 market is SJSU.

Yes, SJSU is a commuter school that we don't have much respect for...but they're in the Bay, along with a lot of TVs. We can't ignore that. Fresno and SDSU give us a piece of SoCal, it would be really good to have some NorCal too. I really think that the first right of refusal goes to Cal and Stanford, but if (when) they decline, we need to consider SJSU. On the plus side, it's an extremely likely win every year.

I think it's also worth consolidating the programs in the west to get a pretty solid grip on the teams that anyone watches in the mid to late time slots.

To me, the list looks like this:

1. Cal
2. Stanford (slightly behind because I think they're less likely to accept and more likely to threaten to leave every year)
3. UNLV
4. SJSU
5. UTSA
6. Wyoming
7. After that, everyone just blends together into an unattractive mess.

This of course assumes we don't pull off some sort of miraculous poaching of a school from the Big 12...which seems somewhere between impossible and outrageous.

So what exactly determines the media market? Why is San Antonio rated as the #31 market when they are listed as the 7th largest city in the US? You would think that media markets would go hand in hand with population.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

So what exactly determines the media market? Why is San Antonio rated as the #31 market when they are listed as the 7th largest city in the US? You would think that media markets would go hand in hand with population.

San Antonio is the 24th largest MSA in the country and if they have larger households....that could mean fewer TV's?

Also, some TV markets are much larger than the city that they represent. Spokane TV market covers a huge part of Washington, so even though Spokane is ranked 96th in MSA size, they are 67th in TV market rankings. Austin, Corpus Christi and Houston are all taking up oxygen in that part of Texas.

 

[95coug]

Memphis is a great market to add. #50, but they pull in neighboring markets as well. Same with Tulane. These are the 2 best non-SEC programs in the Southeast.

I'm not a fan of this cross-country realignment stuff, but I absolutely see why the P12 is leaning towards Memphis, Tulane, Texas San Antonio, etc. Viewership and TV market is all that matters, and having a pod of these 4 programs is going to draw more eyes on games than Air Force, San Jose State, Wyoming, etc.

Problem is that even if they do have other decent markets nearby, they also have a lot of nearby competition for eyeballs. They draw numbers of viewers that are similar to Boise State and Cincinnati...even though they've got the proximity. I just don't see it changing much, especially if they're in a conference with teams that are 1500 miles away that fans in that region don't care about.

I'd be more willing to accept one of them if they were paired with a team that has a following - which means one that's poached from the Big 12 or SEC...but that's not going to happen.

 

[95coug]

San Antonio is the 24th largest MSA in the country and if they have larger households....that could mean fewer TV's?

Also, some TV markets are much larger than the city that they represent. Spokane TV market covers a huge part of Washington, so even though Spokane is ranked 96th in MSA size, they are 67th in TV market rankings. Austin, Corpus Christi and Houston are all taking up oxygen in that part of Texas.

Apparently the list I looked at was from 2022-23, so may be a bit dated

 

[CougPatrol]

Problem is that even if they do have other decent markets nearby, they also have a lot of nearby competition for eyeballs.

The West coast viewing window will be a selling point for media outlets. Like it or not, we're going to see a lot, if not all of our games starting at 4:30PM or later in the reformed conference.

Memphis at WSU, Boise State, Oregon State, Fresno State, SDSU kicking off at 9:30PM CDT is going to be significant.

 

[KRUSTYtheCOUG]

So what exactly determines the media market? Why is San Antonio rated as the #31 market when they are listed as the 7th largest city in the US? You would think that media markets would go hand in hand with population.

San Antonio (a perfectly swell metropolis) is the smallest major city in the country. Although the actual population is almost twice Seattle, it "feels" closer to Spokane.

It's airport only has 2 gates and is actually smaller than Spokane's. It's weird. That's all I have to say about that.

 

[KRUSTYtheCOUG]

The West coast viewing window will be a selling point for media outlets. Like it or not, we're going to see a lot, if not all of our games starting at 4:30PM or later in the reformed conference.

Memphis at WSU, Boise State, Oregon State, Fresno State, SDSU kicking off at 9:30PM CDT is going to be significant.

Unfortunately almost certainly true. If we want 2pm kickoffs like 40 years ago then that means we are irrelevant. (I actually DO want 2pm kick offs, just not that other thing) Taihtsat

 

[CougPatrol]

Unfortunately almost certainly true. If we want 2pm kickoffs like 40 years ago then that means we are irrelevant. (I actually DO want 2pm kick offs, just not that other thing) Taihtsat

I've actually grown to prefer the later kickoff times, but I understand why some people prefer the earlier games. I always stay 2-nights for game weekends, so i'd rather have the day to myself. That 12:00PM game with Portland State was brutal. So was Apple Cup. 3:30 would have been much better.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

I've actually grown to prefer the later kickoff times, but I understand why some people prefer the earlier games. I always stay 2-nights for game weekends, so i'd rather have the day to myself. That 12:00PM game with Portland State was brutal. So was Apple Cup. 3:30 would have been much better.

Yep. Not nearly enough time to drink before the game.

So what about the 2025 schedule? Am I the only one who is a bit concerned?

 

[COUGinNCW]

I've actually grown to prefer the later kickoff times, but I understand why some people prefer the earlier games. I always stay 2-nights for game weekends, so i'd rather have the day to myself. That 12:00PM game with Portland State was brutal. So was Apple Cup. 3:30 would have been much better.

3:30 - 4 is the perfect kickoff time in my book. Plenty of time to tailgate and still get home at a reasonable hour.

 

[CougPatrol]

Yep. Not nearly enough time to drink before the game.

So what about the 2025 schedule? Am I the only one who is a bit concerned?

Now that we at least have a future conference in 2026, it's not as big of a worry, but it's still concerning. Comments from Schulz hint that it's either going be a really difficult schedule or one with too many cupcakes.

 

[Coug90]

WitF did we agree to go to North Texas before they came to Pullman?!

Only one explanation. They thought it was Texas State

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Now that we at least have a future conference in 2026, it's not as big of a worry, but it's still concerning. Comments from Schulz hint that it's either going be a really difficult schedule or one with too many cupcakes.

Well the biggest issue is who the hell can we find to schedule? Might as well get Cal and Stanford on the road to bring us to 8. My Ole Miss scenario is not a joke. There's 9. 3 home games. So find a G5 or gawd forbid 2nd FCS school to come for #10 and find a couple of "body bag" road games. 4 home games, a bunch of away guarantee money.

That's what we are looking at folks.

And edit - so to leave the AAC, it is a 27-month requirement and a $10M fee. If a school wants out earlier, the fee is "negotiated". Ended up being $18M for Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. AAC originally wanted $45M per the linked article.

Ok so - the Pac offers two of these schools. They need to be here by 7/1/26, well before the 27-month limit. The AAC sez hmmm, we can really hardball these traitors, and the Pac will have to come to their rescue. Think of that. It will be at least $18M based on last time. And they ain't that great. The Big-12 snagged 3 AAC teams a year ago, and it wasn't the teams we are now supposedly "looking at".

I've cooled on Air Force. UNLV and either Wyoming or SJSU. Done. Get back to the 2025 schedule.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4175508/2022/06/10/houston-cincinnati-ucf-reach-settlement-with-aac-to-join-big-12-in-2023/

 

[COCoug]

Air Force doesn't do anything for us. They have few viewers in a market that CSU already has us in. They're a pain in the ass to play, too. They won't be a player in NIL and aren't a huge recruiting competitor, but those are minor positives.

For what its worth, the service academies are national brands that many people follow. There are currently 330,000 on active duty with the Air Force, and millions have served since WWII, and they have families. Naturally they have a fan base in Colorado Springs, which combined with CSU would be 2 of the 3 D1 teams in the Colorado market, which is a highly desirable market.

I hope we don't offer Tulane or Memphis or a Texas school. I would rather have the strong mountain west/west coast identify than no geographic identity. I suspect that it would be easier to find advertisers with regional footprint as well.

 

[M-I-Coug]

So what exactly determines the media market? Why is San Antonio rated as the #31 market when they are listed as the 7th largest city in the US? You would think that media markets would go hand in hand with population.

Could it be that many folks move from out of state to San Antonio to retire, or semi-retire, and they're not originally from the area, so they don't care about UTSA?

 

[Panthergrowl13]

So what exactly determines the media market? Why is San Antonio rated as the #31 market when they are listed as the 7th largest city in the US? You would think that media markets would go hand in hand with population.

Refer to the Nielsen TV Rankings.

The ACC added Stanford and Cal because the Nielsen has San Fran/Palo Alto ranked #10 and SMU which has the Dallas/Fort Worth ranking #5.

Standford and Cal are not going back because they want their schools associated with great academic schools which include 10 AAU member Research Universities.

Don't know if it would happen but depending on circumstances WSU and OSU could be added to the ACC to form a western pod with Stanford, Cal and SMU.

Since ESPN has 100% of the programming rights to the ACC and 50% of the ACCN, you can be pretty sure ESPN will be involved in the discussions.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[COUGinNCW]

For what its worth, the service academies are national brands that many people follow. There are currently 330,000 on active duty with the Air Force, and millions have served since WWII, and they have families. Naturally they have a fan base in Colorado Springs, which combined with CSU would be 2 of the 3 D1 teams in the Colorado market, which is a highly desirable market.

I hope we don't offer Tulane or Memphis or a Texas school. I would rather have the strong mountain west/west coast identify than no geographic identity. I suspect that it would be easier to find advertisers with regional footprint as well.

My dad was Air Force.
He’s a sports fan but I can’t ever recall him tuning into an AF game intentionally.

 

[mikalalas]

Refer to the Nielsen TV Rankings.

The ACC added Stanford and Cal because the Nielsen has San Fran/Palo Alto ranked #10 and SMU which has the Dallas/Fort Worth ranking #5.

Standford and Cal are not going back because they want their schools associated with great academic schools which include 10 AAU member Research Universities.

Don't know if it would happen but depending on circumstances WSU and OSU could be added to the ACC to form a western pod with Stanford, Cal and SMU.

Since ESPN has 100% of the programming rights to the ACC and 50% of the ACCN, you can be pretty sure ESPN will be involved in the discussions.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

The moment the PAC 2 became the PAC 6 with BSU, SDSU, Fresno St, CSU, is the moment that WSU, OSU won't be added to ACC.

Especially if WSU, OSU, PAC 6 gets Memphis, Tulane. WSU, OSU probably had to sign contract agreements not to leave PAC 6/8 to join ACC, in order to get BSU.

And even if WSU, OSU could, they wouldn't leave a PAC 8/10/12 comprised of BSU, SDSU, Fresno St, Memphis, Tulane, UNLV, UTSA, WSU, OSU, because they would be convinced that such a conference would become equal to, better then the ACC some day, an or wouldn't do to the PAC 8/10/12 what UW, Oregon did by leaving PAC.

And ACC probably won't take whole PAC 6/8. And even if ACC did try, Stanford would shoot it down because of BSU, etc, or Stanford would leave the ACC because of BSU.

IF IF ACC falls apart, has FSU, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Miami, etc, leave ACC, SMU, and maybe Cal might join PAC 8. Stanford wouldn't because of BSU.

 

[Panthergrowl13]

The moment the PAC 2 became the PAC 6 with BSU, SDSU, Fresno St, CSU, is the moment that WSU, OSU won't be added to ACC.

Especially if WSU, OSU, PAC 6 gets Memphis, Tulane. WSU, OSU probably had to sign contract agreements not to leave PAC 6/8 to join ACC, in order to get BSU.

And even if WSU, OSU could, they wouldn't leave a PAC 8/10/12 comprised of BSU, SDSU, Fresno St, Memphis, Tulane, UNLV, UTSA, WSU, OSU, because they would be convinced that such a conference would become equal to, better then the ACC some day, an or wouldn't do to the PAC 8/10/12 what UW, Oregon did by leaving PAC.

And ACC probably won't take whole PAC 6/8. And even if ACC did try, Stanford would shoot it down because of BSU, etc, or Stanford would leave the ACC because of BSU.

IF IF ACC falls apart, has FSU, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Miami, etc, leave ACC, SMU, and maybe Cal might join PAC 8. Stanford wouldn't because of BSU.

The ACC is not going to fall apart.

Read the part about the financial importance of the ACC to ESPN.

You can be sure ESPN will get involved to protect their financial interests when they have to.

If the ACC would need to add a few teams they could also add B-12 teams.

No matter what P-12 type Conference would transpire, teams would leave if they got an offer from the B1G, ACC or Big 12.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[mikalalas]

The ACC is not going to fall apart.

Read the part about the financial importance of the ACC to ESPN.

You can be sure ESPN will get involved to protect their financial interests when they have to.

If the ACC would need to add a few teams they could also add B-12 teams.

No matter what P-12 type Conference would transpire, teams would leave if they got an offer from the B1G, ACC or Big 12.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

ACC, no, Big 12 maybe, Big 10, SEC, yes.

The only team ACC might semi probably could get from Big 12, is West Virginia. No Big 12 team outside of West Virginia, and maybe not even West Virginia, would join a ACC that lose FSU, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, Miami, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Pitt, Virginia Tech, leaving behind only Syracuse, Boston College, NC St, Wake Forest, Duke, etc, to the TOP 3 conferences in Big 10, SEC, Big 12.

 

[Coug90]

Refer to the Nielsen TV Rankings.

The ACC added Stanford and Cal because the Nielsen has San Fran/Palo Alto ranked #10 and SMU which has the Dallas/Fort Worth ranking #5.

Standford and Cal are not going back because they want their schools associated with great academic schools which include 10 AAU member Research Universities.

Don't know if it would happen but depending on circumstances WSU and OSU could be added to the ACC to form a western pod with Stanford, Cal and SMU.

Since ESPN has 100% of the programming rights to the ACC and 50% of the ACCN, you can be pretty sure ESPN will be involved in the discussions.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

Nice win in the backyard brawl. I only saw highlights but looked like a helluva game.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

Most of you have some good points, but I can't believe the ignorance on one point: service academies do not draw from a fan base that is geographic. They all draw from their tribe, and friends/relatives of their tribe, and their tribes are spread all over the world. Specifically, the AF academy's audience is not the state of Colorado (though there are various employees, retirees and others that probably increase the fan density there just a bit) and has very little to do with Colorado State's audience. Like all of the service academies, they draw excellent eyeballs, but not concentrated in one locale. The networks understand this. Do not diss AF over media/market concerns. They also do not have limitations on player size or body type. They DO have some academic hurdles to overcome, but no worse than the better 2/3 of the old PAC had to deal with. And the biggie is the military service commitment; that certainly restricts their recruiting base. As for funding, "fuggetaboutit". Each academy has more non-visible funding sources than you can shake a stick at. Money is not an issue, other than they can't lead the conference in what they pay the HC, and have to be conscious of other extremely visible things. They would be an excellent addition and would normally be competitive enough to be roughly mid-conference. I"d be happy to have them.

 

[CougPatrol]

I hope we don't offer Tulane or Memphis or a Texas school. I would rather have the strong mountain west/west coast identify than no geographic identity. I suspect that it would be easier to find advertisers with regional footprint as well.

I don't disagree with you in principle, but the problem we need to recognize is that West coast doesn't care enough about college football to justify an exclusive G5 or Tier III conference like the one we're reforming. I'm not at all a fan of National conferences, but they make sense for football and men's basketball.

Memphis, Tulane (New Orleans), and San Antonio are all NBA/Professional Sports towns. Big markets with a lot of sports fans who will tune in at 9PM local time to watch their local team take on Boise State, WSU, Oregon State, etc. That's what the networks are looking for.