PAC12 Scenario = Expansion

[gostangs]

gostangs: Does the PAC need the central time zone enough to add SMU? Both the Big 10 and the AAC successfully played with 11 teams, no problem. Divisions are passe. Gonzaga is going to either the PAC or the Big XII. If I were the PAC, I would insure it was us.

In a word - yes. Central time zone - plus Dallas will be the third largest media market in 3 years. Whoever is buying the pac rights wants to sell advertising to advertisers who will sell to the entire country - not just the west coast. A pac game in a night slot starts currently at 9:30 pm eastern time.
Gonzaga does nothing of significance to add dollars - basketball is an afterthought in this arena. If it wasn’t the Big would have gone for Kansas and duke instead of UCLA and USC.

[Charleston Pony]

Neither does Wichita State. What is the AAC going to have now? 13 football teams? I think the PAC-12 wants to add SDSU and SMU about as much as I want to add broccoli to my Dairy Queen.

Remember that Navy is in the AAC for football only so Wichita State as a basketball member offsets Navy and fills the gap so there will be 14 football and 14 basketball members assuming no further defections but Aresco knows there are several who would bolt in a heartbeat and that's probably why the AAC is going with 14 vs 12 for football/bball

[JasonB]

- There is no concept of surviving or not surviving. The expansion of the playoff eliminated that concern. It is all about maximizing value at this point.
- Right now, the Pac 12 has the choice of whether or not it wants to expand. If there is a threat of another team ever leaving, at that point it WON"T have a choice. One of the driving factors behind PAC 12 expansion will be whether or not they think someone could leave (which probably hinges on the size of the media contract they get), and also how likely they think other schools might expand and poach potential targets. SMU, a like-minded school with a great academic reputation is available now. Will they be available in 6 years when someone starts coming for Washington, Oregon, or the Arizona schools? Maybe not. That plays a part, because they don't want to get stuck with horrible academic institutions as a desperation measure.
- Also, expansion doesn't necessarily mean equality. They could have SMU join at a much lower revenue tier and have it earn its way up to equality.

The expanded playoff is a big plus for schools like SMU. But if we stay in the AAC which is really just a glorified Missouri Valley Conference, we won't attract the kind of players we need to compete at the hightest levels. I really don't look forward to playing any of the teams on our conference schedule and I don't think anyone in their right mind thinks that expanding our stadium to play them makes sense.

I wasn't advocating for us to stay in the AAC because of the playoffs. I was saying that becuase of the expanded playoff, the PAC isn't at risk of not surviving...

[SMUstang]

The 12-team format will feature, in order, the top four conference champions, followed by some combination of the top six at-large bids and two highest-ranked remaining conference champions. Teams will be ordered based on the College Football Playoff rankings.

So the top 4 champions, 6 at large (SEC/Notre Dame), and two highest ranked conference champions. That doesn't leave a lot of room for AAC, Sunbelt, or MAC eg. as probably the the remaining P5 Champion will be higher ranked. Looks like most years the AAC, Sunbelt, MAC whatever will get one of their champs in the playoffs. Better than nothing but still how do we compete with the P5 teams for talent?

If the 12 teams format were applied to this years rankings the participants would have been Georgia, Michigan, TCU, Ohio State, Alabama, Tennessee, Clemson, Utah, Kansas State, Southern California, Tulane, and Troy.

[Topper]

If we do not move into a legitimate P5 situation (i.e. a PAC 12 that has not been totally depleted) we need to focus on getting as many P5 non-conference games as possible rather than playing the Southland etc. Problem is getting those types of programs to come to Ford in light of our lack of attendance and exposure.

[PonyTime]

If we do not move into a legitimate P5 situation (i.e. a PAC 12 that has not been totally depleted) we need to focus on getting as many P5 non-conference games as possible rather than playing the Southland etc. Problem is getting those types of programs to come to Ford in light of our lack of attendance and exposure.

We have Vandy and Colorado on future schedules. Perhaps we can start up a series with Houston. Would love to see baylor on Schedule in the future though.

[EastStang]

I wouldn't schedule Houston or Baylor or Tech. No sense giving them a game in Dallas. We already have a game with the Frogs. After all they have games in Ft. Worth. Plus the Big XII has snubbed us multiple times. I'd schedule ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC teams that want games in Dallas. Northwestern, Indiana, Maryland, Illinois. UNC, GT, FSU, Pitt, BC, Syracuse, U, Louisville; Vandy, Ole Miss, Arkansas, A&M, OU. CO, WSU, Cal, ASU, AU, UU, and Stanford. That way, we get on their radar and they get a trip to recruit in Dallas. We will probably have to kick he door in to get into P5.

[NavyCrimson]

You're making too much sense. Absolutely.

[Topper]

I wouldn't schedule Houston or Baylor or Tech. No sense giving them a game in Dallas. We already have a game with the Frogs. After all they have games in Ft. Worth. Plus the Big XII has snubbed us multiple times. I'd schedule ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC teams that want games in Dallas. Northwestern, Indiana, Maryland, Illinois. UNC, GT, FSU, Pitt, BC, Syracuse, U, Louisville; Vandy, Ole Miss, Arkansas, A&M, OU. CO, WSU, Cal, ASU, AU, UU, and Stanford. That way, we get on their radar and they get a trip to recruit in Dallas. We will probably have to kick he door in to get into P5.

I would love to see Baylor and Tech play again at Ford for the simple reason that those schools are relevant to local fans and they put butts in the seats. Both teams already play regularly in Ft. Worth and from time to time at Jerryworld so neither need another game in Dallas. But at least people, including our own alums and local media, actually care about the outcome or are intrigued by the matchup of these old rivals.

[CA Mustang]

If we do not move into a legitimate P5 situation (i.e. a PAC 12 that has not been totally depleted) we need to focus on getting as many P5 non-conference games as possible rather than playing the Southland etc. Problem is getting those types of programs to come to Ford in light of our lack of attendance and exposure.

We have Vandy and Colorado on future schedules. Perhaps we can start up a series with Houston. Would love to see baylor on Schedule in the future though.

Don't forget about Oklahoma visiting in '27.

[EastStang]

We can't focus on the SW anymore. We need to build a national image as we once had. UH and Baylor ran away from us, so why should we go begging them to please come to our stadium? And Baylor has certainly not been our ally in the Big XII during expansion talks. So, let's build our brand on the west coast and east coast and see if someone comes calling from one of those conferences. Like I said we need to kick the door into P5. The way to do it is to dominate the AAC for the near future and schedule P5 teams where the National press sees us. Ask for 2-1 games. Two away and one home if we have to. Pick the bottom teams in these P5 conferences that are possible to play tough.

[Dukie]

We can't focus on the SW anymore. We need to build a national image as we once had. UH and Baylor ran away from us, so why should we go begging them to please come to our stadium? And Baylor has certainly not been our ally in the Big XII during expansion talks. So, let's build our brand on the west coast and east coast and see if someone comes calling from one of those conferences. Like I said we need to kick the door into P5. The way to do it is to dominate the AAC for the near future and schedule P5 teams where the National press sees us. Ask for 2-1 games. Two away and one home if we have to. Pick the bottom teams in these P5 conferences that are possible to play tough.

2-for-1 shouldn't be required for the lower third of the ACC and PAC or certain teams in the B1G and $EC. The tradeoff is that those teams' profiles are lower.

[SMUstang]

If the choice was SMU/SDSU and possibly Gonzaga, the PAC would have already made an announcement. Therefore I think there is a bigger announcement coming.

[Mexmustang]

We need a basketball program before we worry about who we play. Losing to Baylor or any other Big 12 team would only embarass us. Will we even make the AAC tournament this year?

[SMUstang]

I'm thinking (pure speculation) that the Big XII and the Pac 12 will merge forming an east and west division of 11 teams each, moving BYU to the west. There would be advantages for both conferences with such an arrangement, mainly it would allow them to challenge the B1G as a coast to coast conference which they couldn't do individually. And they could potentially increase the revenue for both conferences. Both conferences would be more stable. And there would be no need to add any G5's.