Could we be left out of Division 4 Football?

[GreenbeltPony]

I think SMU will make it. We're 2nd in the AAC in donor contributions (after Louisville + Rutgers leave), we've got a lot of $$$ and history in general, we're the only notable football program in Dallas, highly-ranked academics, the list goes on.

The question is: how will we get into Div 4. I wouldn't be surprised to see us as a Div. 4 Independent along with any (or all) of BYU, ND, Boise, Fresno, UNLV, SDSU, Air Force, Navy, Army, Memphis, Houston, Temple, UConn, Cinci, UCF, USF, ECU, Tulsa, Tulane, etc.

[Stallion]

Vandy won't be such a pushover-they are getting Top 20 Classes now-of course half of SEC has Top 10 classes so it could be tough-but schools that recruit well can make up some grounds by keeping their kids in school and with high graduation rates

[SMU2007]

I don't think academics will be the sole factor keeping Boise out of the big 12 with schools like Iowa state in the conference... The academics are complete crap

[East Coast Mustang]

If D4 happens and is 80 schools then Boise is one of the first schools in.

[dbone]

When they created different divisions in the first place...they didn't have a set number of teams...they just set the bar at certain levels and the schools just kind of fell in place. I don't think there were lawsuits or politicians, etc.

Isn't it possible that we are chasing the Conference ticket when instead they might just raise the bar for this "new" division? 60k stadiums...45k average attendance...$50mm+ budgets...etc. I guess they could back into their criteria to hit some magic number of teams.

And...the paying the player thing also seems a stretch when you look at Title IX, worker's comp., state employment laws, collective bargaining, etc. If they are worried about this stuff...the nice protective patina of amateurism under the NCAA is a nice place to stay.

Bottom line...is I come on this site occasionally...read some great comments and insights from so many of you...and then close the page worried about where we are. Thanks a lot.

[rodrod5]

I don't think academics will be the sole factor keeping Boise out of the big 12 with schools like Iowa state in the conference... The academics are complete crap

Iowa State is a member of the AAU and has been for a very long time and as we have recently seen with Nebraska and Syracuse (and others in the past) the AAU will vote members out

Iowa State was also a major player in the Manhattan Project, was the first designated Morill Act Land Grant University, they had the first public vet school and they are where the first modern digital computer was invented

Their academics are far from crap

If D4 happens and is 80 schools then Boise is one of the first schools in.

if anyone cared about Boise then Boise would already be some place relevant.....no one is sitting around waiting or wanting to open up another space so that Boise can be the first one in.....not a chance in hell

[FoxRaider]

There will be no push to add teams. The Big 12 will only add teams if it becomes absolutely necessary in order to hold a conference championship game. Even then, the only teams under consideration would be teams that would allow for revenue distribution to at least remain at the current level for each school.

There really isn't anyone worthwhile left to add at this point with the ACC having entered into a grant of rights.

[ponyinNC]

I always love the talk of 5x16 divisions, all nice and neat, 5 automatic qualifiers for playoffs and 3 at-large.

When has conference realignment ever been nice and neat and mathematically correct?

Answer: Never! Every conference acts in thebest interests of that conference ONLY, and it will always be that way. There is no way to "force" the B12 to take 6 more teams if they do not want to.

Conferences will always have autonomy. The only forseeable change I can imagine is the B12 takes 2 teams (UC, BYU/UConn/UH) in order to have a CCG.

[GRGB]

There will be no push to add teams. The Big 12 will only add teams if it becomes absolutely necessary in order to hold a conference championship game. Even then, the only teams under consideration would be teams that would allow for revenue distribution to at least remain at the current level for each school.

There really isn't anyone worthwhile left to add at this point with the ACC having entered into a grant of rights.

They could be forced to if the bigger conferences say "unfair"

they could be left out next year with a 1 loss SEC or PAC team, but conference champ, getting a bid over perhaps an undefeated b12 team.

[East Coast Mustang]

Like someone said earlier, US Senators and House members in Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Connecticut, New Mexico, and Massachusetts (to name a few) would be none too pleased with the idea of shutting off their states' flagship universities from big time college football.

I think we are starting to see the de facto split of the P5 from the rest with the bowl matchups only featuring P5 conference members, though.

Bottom line- we need to start winning consistently, beating relevant teams, and drawing more than 20k a game if we want to make the next jump. Fortunately, we'll have the opportunity to do so with TCU and Baylor on our schedule for the foreseeable future. Now we just need to beat them. Easier said than done, and we've been saying the same thing for years. Fortunately we're not still stuck in C-USA with the likes of UNT and Rice, though. While The American isn't a perfect scenario for us, it's a lot better than where we could be and, frankly, it's probably where we deserve to be given our varying degrees of commitment to fielding a competitive team over the past 25 years.

[Water Pony]

So, you currently have 64 plus ND as automatically in.

Assuming the service academies get preference for tradition and political reasons and BYU slips in as a national independent, you start with 69 schools before you go one of two options: (1) elevate or create one more conference such as the American and/or MWC combination or (2) the Five Power Conferences add members.

Therefore, the key question is the maximum of Power Schools? If it is 80 as suggested, you are looking for 11 more universities. If evenly spilt among the current Five Conference, then conference membership would be 16 to get to 80. If you anoint six conferences, you would likely have 14 members per conference and stop at 84.

If the Power Conferences break away, do they need to accommodate another conference, add schools to the current conferences or say "go stuff yourself"?

[East Coast Mustang]

If the Power Conferences break away, do they need to accommodate another conference, add schools to the current conferences or say "go stuff yourself"?

I don't see how they just "break away," and start paying players. Title IX and all that stuff would really complicate things.

Here's what I've never heard refuted- these college athletes already are getting paid- six figures, in fact, with a FREE college education. It's the student-athlete's call on whether to take advantage of that opportunity or not.