Conference Re-Alignment Again - Utah And Colorado to the Pac -10?

by Jon Johnston on Feb 10, 2010 1:13 AM CST in Nebraska Husker Football

Earlier this year, news that the Big 10 is considering expansion hit, and college football fans everywhere started debating about which schools would be a good fit for the Big 10. Nebraska fans might have reason to be concerned because Missouri could be considered as a target for joining the Big 10.

Now news has hit that the Pac-10 is considering expansion as well as it's come out that Utah may be invited to join the conference (even more here). You know that the Pac 10 isn't going to take just one school - they're going to want another so they can hit the magic number 12 which makes them eligible for a conference championship game. As they have over the years, rumors that Colorado may make the twelfth entry have cropped again after the news about Utah broke.

If the Big 10 takes Missouri and the Pac 10 takes Colorado, where does that leave the Big 12? And where does it leave Nebraska? Before you respond with "big deal, who needs them, let them leave" comments, it'd be best to consider Nebraska's position. We have a very small TV market. While our fan support is better than anyone's, it generates money for our athletic department, not necessarily for the conference. Were both those teams to leave, there is the (small, granted) possibility that the Big 12 might dissolve (stranger things have happened) and Nebraska might find themselves on the outside looking in.

On the lighter side, if Colorado were to bolt to the Pac-10 would you miss them, or would you want our athletic department to schedule them as a yearly rival so we could beat their butts on a regular basis anyway?

I have the nagging feeling that if conference re-alignment happens, it's going to happen in a big way. We will most likely see one of the conferences vanish in the next couple of seasons. I'd throw away any notion of hanging onto historical opponents because these changes aren't going to be about the past, they're going to be about the future.

If I had to bet on it, I'd say that in three years there's a better than 50-50 chance that college football looks a lot different than it does now.

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Comments

That would be strange...

Utah does need to get into a decent conference if they want some street-cred when they are winning. Colorado makes sense, but where would that leave the Big 12? Would we become the Big 10?

"Not the victory but the action; Not the goal but the game;
In the deed the glory"

GO BIG RED!

by Brian Speers on Feb 10, 2010 9:29 AM CST reply actions

replacements

That means TCU and BYU would be on the horizon for the Big XII

by Mattreedah on Feb 10, 2010 5:34 PM CST reply actions

BYU

most likely they would be an easy choice to hop into the North instead of having an unbalanced league

Mountain West Connection

by Jeremy Mauss on Feb 13, 2010 1:29 PM CST up reply actions

Dont confuse Nebraska not having large cities vs. not having a large TV presence...

Nebraska easily outdraws Missou and Colorado on TV, so the huskers most certainly are a big TV draw for the conference. I would say that Nebraska is 2nd at best or 4th at worst in terms of drawing attention to TV. Just because Missou and CU are in states with larger populations doesn’t mean that they are watching Missou and CU games. In fact, I would say that the population centers in this states are largely apathetic towards these teams or they would be better. Case in point, does anyone honestly think that the Big XII Championship game is the 2nd most watched cf game this year if its UT vs. CU or UT vs. MU? Nope. Its not enough to just “exist” in a populated state, people have to watch in order to deliver a market.

Now if you want to argue “potential”, as in Missou and CU could become greater draws if they develop a rabid fan base with continued years of high success, I can understand that. At the same time, they have had 100 years to do this and they haven’t yet, so methinks this isn’t too likely.

by meatybob on Feb 10, 2010 7:21 PM CST reply actions

I disagree to an extent

Nebraska will outdraw Missouri and Colorado in terms of TV viewership if is is winning. Do you think Nebraska was a bigger TV draw than Mizzou in 2007? I don’t, and that Border War game at Arrowhead against KU, which I believe drew the highest ratings for a football game that season, helps prove it.

The difference between Nebraska and a Mizzou or Colorado is that Nebraska does not have big markets that it delivers regardless of the product. Nebraska delivers Omaha and Lincoln regardless of the product it puts on the field, but that’s about it. Mizzou and CU deliver all or portions of St. Louis, Denver and Kansas City. If Nebraska is winning, it outdraws those because of the national appeal. But if Nebraska is a middling 7-5 or 8-4 team, not a chance.

We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats

by TB on Feb 10, 2010 10:44 PM CST up reply actions

No, you are wrong.

Nebraska still outdrew these schools. If you were right, then prove to me when Missouri received a larger share of the Big XII TV revenue? They didn’t in 2007, the apex of the missou program in the last 40 years, and since its TV revenue distribution is determined ultimately by viewership, bad Nebraska was/is a bigger draw.

Dont get me wrong, winning certainly helps, and I am sure that the 07 KU v. Missou game did receive high ratings given the circumstances and I am sure Missou did very well compared to past performances, but Nebraska is simply a bigger brand overall right now or Missou would have larger TV revenue streams. So yeah, 8-4 or 7-5 Nebraska outdraws a similar or better Missou. There really isn’t anything out there to dispute this.

by meatybob on Feb 11, 2010 4:46 PM CST up reply actions

Pac 10 expansion

What is this nonsense that the Pac 10 wants Utah and that since they need 2 teams Colorado might be the 12th? The Pac 10 wants Colorado and in fact wanted them in 1994 when CU turned them down. They want them because of the Denver market and because CU is a good academic fit in the Pac 10. They need 2 teams and the betting is that Utah would be the other likely choice. Colorado is a good fit for the Pac 10 for the same reason that Nebraska is not. See above.

by Brian Mcmillan on Feb 12, 2010 8:53 PM CST reply actions