More Conference Realignment Madness: TCU Bolts the MWC for the Big East
by Adrian Mac on Nov 29, 2010 11:49 AM MST
in NCAA Conference Realignment
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It's official. The TCU Horned Frogs are the latest Mountain West Conference school to bolt for an automatic qualifier conference league. TCU will become an all-sports member of the Big East conference in July 2012 meaning that next season will be the last that TCU will spend in the MWC. Perennial MWC power Utah has already left for the Pac 10 and BYU has also left to go independent in football.
This move has to burn our "friends" in Memphis who have campaigned quite brazenly for consideration to rejoin their old C-USA rivals in the Big East. Memphis never seemed to remember that nobody cares if Josh Pastner signed a Top 2-3 recruiting class when it comes to realignment. When it comes to realignment, football is king and Memphis simply doesn't compete in football.
What Does TCU's Move Mean for Conference USA?
Amazingly, the C-USA has managed to stay untouched by the latest swarm of realignment. Despite notable efforts by UCF and Memphis to get into a Big 6 league, the fact is that neither program has reached a level of football notoriety worthy of admission the way Utah and Texas Christian have. UCF's made progress, but the bottom line is that the Knights are simply good enough to challenge mid level BCS programs but have never been able to beat them.
The C-USA's ability to stay in tact has been remarkable, but now more than ever it appears that some schools may be asked to leave to join the sinking MWC. The MWC last week seemed intent on moving up to become a 12 member football conference. The usual speculation swarmed over the potential candidates, mostly Houston, UTEP, Utah State, and SMU.
Keep in mind that at the tail end of the last realignment moves (BYU going solo) the MWC and C-USA entered into discussions where they seemed intent on working out a future together (via scheduling partnerships and possible a shared title game). The joint press released issued by the leagues convinced me that the league's would stay away from poaching from each other and so far that has been true. Now, however, it will be interesting to see what the MWC does to salvage a sinking ship.
As soon as Utah left and BYU let it be known that it was going solo, it became clear to me (despite rabid cries from MWC supporters) that there was no way the MWC would ever achieve AQ status. Why would BYU leave if Boise could replace Utah and the league could still reach AQ status? Never made sense. The move by TCU clinches this. The MWC is now forced to make a move to reassert itself as the best non-AQ league out there. Adding Boise State helps, obviously as BSU is the premier non- BCS program out there, but there's no denying that the MWC took a gigantic step backward in the last few months. Nevada, Fresno, and Boise simply don't compare to the losses of BYU, Utah, and now TCU.
So, expect increased chatter in the coming months about the MWC trying to pluck away Houston, SMU, and/or UTEP from the C-USA in an effort to either get back into the Dallas/Ft. Worth market, Houston market, or to bring in a school that actually sells tickets in UTEP.
Would UTEP, Houston, or SMU leave the C-USA?
The ironic thing is that right now, I don't see any of these schools leaving the C-USA. Years ago, and we've discussed this here, most Miner fans really wanted to get into the MWC for a chance to take on BYU and New Mexico in conference play again. Now, only an enhanced rivalry with New Mexico makes the MWC somewhat interesting for Miner fans. The truth is that the C-USA has been good for UTEP athletics as a whole. The Miners have formed strong rivalries with Houston, SMU, Tulsa, and Rice in the west division in football. In basketball, UTEP's rivalry with Memphis is the closest thing we've seen to the BYU/UTEP games that defined WAC basketball for a decade or more.
UTEP, SMU, Houston, and Rice have formed a coalition of sorts since all three were passed over by the MWC to begin with. Geographic restrictions of whats left of the MWC (without TCU) make it difficult to see why any of these schools would individually consider a lateral move to the MWC now. Perhaps, these schools would consider it if all of them moved and some sort of a 16 team league was formed? Maybe. But anything on that scale seems unlikely at this point.
Let's not forget a major sticking point in whatever the MWC may offer to a new school: their TV contract. This year, I was blown away that I couldn't watch key MWC contests because they were buried on the MTN or some other third rate network that isn't available in Texas. The MWC's lack of TV revenue was the main reason why BYU left to begin with. Why would a C-USA school leave the comforts of a solid ESPN/CBS deal to head off to the MTN and TV isolation? Granted, C-USA games on ESPN are usually on Friday or Thursday nights, but that's better than nothing, right?
If I'm Britton Banowsky, I'm watching the MWC very closely right now deal or no conference deal in place. The MWC is in dire straits and who knows whats coming next.
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MWC is done
im happy to hear that tcu left the mwc. your right theres no way any c-usa schools should even consider going west. i excpect utah st, n possibly nmsu to get invited. no need to go back to the Mountain Wac Conference!
LOL exactly...
The big loser in all of this would seem to be Boise St. who has now apparently left the WAC for the WAC. Without BYU, UTAH, and TCU the Broncos are in the same position they’ve been for the past decade.
Without their big three the MWC is in no way relevant in the national spotlight. They are just a variation of the WAC. Merging with them at this point seems like a bad idea. I think if anything we could try to poach some schools from the MWC.
"Left the WAC for the WAC" - Made me laugh.... so true.
New Mexico should be target #1. Kick off Marshall to the MAC, Add New Mexico and send Tulane to the East. That would make sense for everybody- even Marshall who’s may off in the middle of nowhere for even the East schools.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
the team we should have poached is leaving
by MinerManiax on Nov 29, 2010 12:47 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
Would've been nice
But we had no shot at TCU. They are ready to make the move to the big time and to them C-USA is been there done that…when it was a Big Time conference. No disrespect to our conference, just saying. They were holding out for either the Big 12 or Big East so when the phone call came they were ready. Especially after seeing UTAH and BYU bolt.
Ring-ring: Good Morning Mr. Banowsky this is your November 29th wake up call.....
As stated, C-USA Commish Branowsky needs to watch his flanks as now MWC will be reeling to keep themselves a legitimate player in the race for AQ supremacy. This is some of what’s already being written:
With the loss, now the forward-thinking league, which was rumored to have interest in some of the lesser Big 12 programs when it appeared that Texas and Oklahoma might be leaving, but the next move is Conference USA. Now the Mountain West has to get proactive and go after Houston and Southern Miss, and possibly keep raiding the WAC to take Louisiana Tech.Ref CFN Analysis article TCU To The Big East
Looking at this from a different side, I just don’t see how this is good for Horned Frog Nation as a whole? Sure they get into an AQ conference, one that regualrly demonstrates a lack of consistency in football prowess, but I’m suspect of any Texas programs having to sucumb to the bias’s usually encountered when having to travel east of the Mississippi. I’m not yet convinced that this is the best move for TCU. Additionally, how would this play out if and when Big
Exactly- this could be far from over
Also- what if Villanova doesn’t move up to D-1 football status? The Big East wants 10 football schools. Does that open it up for UCF? Is Banowsky going to keep sitting on the bench and hoping nobody comes after a C-USA team? Eventually with all this movement, someone is going to get an invite. Why Banowsky put his friendship with Thompson ahead of the C-USA is staggering to me. As soon as BYU announced they were leaving he should have been all over TCU and UNM.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
I mentioned...
How I don’t believe this will end up being good for TCU, allow me to speculate.
It really doesn’t matter (in the football arena) whether top tier recruits from Texas will elect to go to TCU because they’re now in an AQ conference. If those recruits only cared about being on national television and the potential of going to a BCS game, then they are more than likely going to be recruited by Tech, Texas, Baylor or A&M. Additionally, most recruits want to be able to be close and/or seen by family and friends either live or on Television. Again, they would more than likely elect to stay in state where that can exist. Other than basketball, there is no large push to sport BE football games on saturday. They are mainly mundane and usually lack any relevance on the national landscape. Consider this, UConn (7-4) may end up being an AQ for a BCS bowl. I can’t remember the last UConn football game I watched this season, if at all?! The may continue to voice that travel will not be an issue, but you also lose an hour for every away game. (IMO) BE schools will get a boost in their football recruiting because they tap into Texas; TCU’s football recruitment will take a hit, their baseball recruitment will take another hit; they will get a small boost in Basketball; so in the end BE gains and TCU looses.
The grass isn't always greener
As the ex-WAC members learned in the MWC. Really, it only worked out for Utah who got to use the MWC as a springboard to the Pac 12. Good point on UConn- and they were a darkhorse coming into the season and you’re right, they still aren’t a TV draw in Texas. Texas recruits want to play against their friends at A&M, Houston, whatever, they don’t want to play at Rutgers in December.
Also consider this. Say Rutgers or West Virginia or Pitt was undefeated right now. Would they be ranked higher than TCU is right now? Probably not because perception is that the Big East is a joke in football anyway. Adding TCU doesn’t benefit TCU in that if there are still 2 undefeateds from say the SEC or Big 12, they would still be left out anyway.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
I mean granted
The Big East is no SEC, but the grass is at least a shade or two greener. Think about it. This is about money for TCU also. We’ve talked about the joke of a tv deal the MWC has. Jumping to the Big East would definitely be a step up. Not only that. The Big 12 has stated that it wants to stay at 10 teams for now. Who knows, maybe 3 or 4 years down the road, after a good showing in the Big East, the Big 12 may come calling. This could just be an audition for a bigger part, you know?
i have said this from the beginning...
This isnt going work. Travel is a nightmare for i.e. full baseball team not to mention they wont have any support on the road. And the recruiting will suffer except maybe basketball. Also answer me this. Werent they complaining about travel in mwc?
by MinerManiax on Nov 29, 2010 5:43 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
I think
Yes they complained about travel in the MWC, but that’s also because there wasn’t enough money coming in. It makes a lot easier to forget about those travel expenses when you’re seeing that fat paycheck. Again granted its not the dream job, but it’s definitely a good pay raise.
I think you cant look at this situation as just a move to the Big East. You have to see the big picture. TCU had three options: 1. Stay put in the MWC, 2. Look to join another mid-major conference (probably C-USA, remember they’ve already done that and when it was a real power), 3. Move to the Big East.
Now of those three, undoubtedly the Big East is the best move. Also, just remember that in a couple years the Big 12 will probably want to open this expansion can of worms back up. The losses of Colorado and Nebraska will hurt more after a year or two of no championship game. At that point TCU should be a prime candidate. This is just a temporary thing in the Big East, imo.
Don't get me wrong...
I do see your point, but there was another option. Stay put, allow the MWC to garner the attention that it would’ve undoubtedly garner with the additions of Fresno, Boise, Hawaii, & Fresno. These additions would more than likely have led to the awarded of AQ status within the next 3 years. Everyone is so quick to jump out of the fish bowl for the ocean that they fail to see the sharks waiting for you downstream. Again, I do hear what you’re saying, but now they’ll have to share their football purses with 17 other schools…and trust me, they too get a cut of the football purses, just not as much.
CLARIFICATION...
Apparently I was wrong about their bowl revenue sharing. It apparently is only split amongst the football schools. As we’re already aware it’s not all it’s cracked up to be as mentioned in this as mentioned in this article specific to BE revenue sharing College bowl payouts don’t always add up
"The bowl payout to conferences is really funny money. When you go to bowl games, you’re going to more expensive destinations with a bigger travel party.
“The net result isn’t a million dollars. It might even be zero.”
Again, not saying that this should prohibit them from going to BE, however how much of their BCS bowl money from last year and this year do you think they will be recieving. I’d venture to say it’s probably far more than they will be attempting to recoup from the BE in order to cover the expenses they will have from all of their Olympic (non-revenue generating) sports programs. Everyone is selectively pointing out the football travel expenses, however during basketball season at least they had a travel partner with the WAC. Not so with BE. They are in isolation this far west. Trust me, this is just the beginning of their issues. In the end, poor decision. I’d be saying the same thing if it was UTEP being invited.
Some additional concerns...
Someone, and that someone is yet to be determined, is going to be left standing without a chair when the music stops playing. I’m concerned that it will end up being C-USA. If we look at this one conference at a time the picture begins to get a bit disconcerting.
Big East - Making their moves right now. If Villanova goes D1 football then they will be done. If not they go after a UCF or ECU. They’ve illustrated that football is what they’re gearing this decision on.
ACC – I don’t think they’ve begun to show their hand yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a move for ECU, UCF or Southern Miss. They’d like to tap into those football and basketball recruiting markets.
Big Ten – They will continue to push for Notre Dame but if they don’t get them, then we could see them make push for Pitt, Rutgers or Virginia. I doubt they push for UConn unless they see them more as an enhancement to their basketball standings. They could also elect to make a move for Missouri.
Big XII – I don’t think they’re finished. I believe they may begin to see the writing on the wall of becoming less relevant to the entire Conference landscape. I wouldn’t be surprised if Houston or Southern Miss is a direction they may begin to put feelers out for. I really doubt they go after Houston as they already possess that market with A&M and Texas but Southern Miss may be an opening for them to tap the Florida recruiting market.
PAC 10 – For all intents and purposes they are finished at this point. I don’t see them making another move at this point unless they make another push for being the first Mega Conference.
WAC – With their recent replacements after the loss of Nevada, Boise St, Hawaii and Fresno, I don’t think they need to make any moves yet again. They are who they are and will be content to simply remain alive. They don’t have any realistic belief or expectations of becoming an AQ conference.
SEC – This is an interesting dilemma. In all reality, they don’t need to make any additions and aren’t in jeopardy of losing any teams. If anything, they could add a couple of programs to enhance their recruiting bases but they would more than likely be from already existing AQ conferences e.g. A&M or North Carolina.
MWC – This is up in the air. With the loss of TCU they loose their entire Texas market and recruitment base, the little bit of that they may have had. They will want back in and wouldn’t doubt if they make a push for SMU, Houston and/or Tulsa also. They don’t want to be considered the WAC plus, therefore I expect them to try and make another round of moves.
This leaves C-USA – If Banowsky doesn’t get proactive and continues to simply sit on the sidelines believing that we’re going to remain unscathed, then we we will end up being the new MAC or Sunbelt if at all. Unfortunately, other than a better TV contract, I don’t know what leverage we possess? I don’t see how we could lure Boise, New Mexico, BYU, AFA over to C-USA. Somehow we need to make ourselves the first Mega Conference which would more than likely create a nice media contract for being the first. Especially if we were to create an in house playoff system for our conference.
Just my $0.02
Sad to see that North Texas turned down the WAC
It’’s gotten bad but they are lucky that ESPN likes their league. The WAC provides content for the time period after most of America has fallen asleep- so if you’re up at 1:00 am in New York you can see a live event although it involves Fresno and San Jose State or whatever.
I’m all for C-USA being bold and moving towards the mega conference model. Two 10-12 team leagues both with a shared title game would be an incredible thing. There is still enough strength in the MWC to make it work. Banowsky more and more seems to be too timid to make a large scale move that the C-USA desperately needs.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
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