MEGA Conference Realignment and lawsuits Megathread: Stories, Tales, Lies, and Exaggerations

Stanford isn’t going to the BIG before us. Also, if Stanford is somehow going, it means we’ve got a spot too. We did them a huge favor in greasing the skids to get them into the ACC. They did the same with AAU for us. We have a good relationship with them, they won’t ***** us over.
Don’t be naive, they will look out for what’s best for them and if they have to ***** us to do it they won’t think twice about it
 
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There are a lot of us here! I once read that outside of Florida, the Atlanta metro area is the largest UM alumni base. I have a UM Georgia plate and see other plates / car stickers / etc. pretty much every day and I'm almost an hour north of the city.

I've actually never been given the finger, but I'm a chick, so that may have something to do with it...haha. Maybe they do it behind my back.
Last I read, that is correct.
 
Stanford isn’t going to the BIG before us. Also, if Stanford is somehow going, it means we’ve got a spot too. We did them a huge favor in greasing the skids to get them into the ACC. They did the same with AAU for us. We have a good relationship with them, they won’t ***** us over.
I do not know how you can conclusively say that, especially if they are willing to take 25%. If the B10 says yes, Stanford is not going to say we are only going if you take Miami too. Every school will (and should) only look out for themselves. We may have a good relationship, but they aren't going to turn down a spot on the lifeboat to stay on the Titanic for us.
 
I do not know how you can conclusively say that, especially if they are willing to take 25%. If the B10 says yes, Stanford is not going to say we are only going if you take Miami too. Every school will (and should) only look out for themselves. We may have a good relationship, but they aren't going to turn down a spot on the lifeboat to stay on the Titanic for us.


The more ominous aspect is if Stanford-Notre Dame are viewed as expansion partners. Because Stanford at 25% for 10 years makes the addition of Notre Dame "a bargain".

I still think the Big 10 would be smart to take F$U-Miami as well in that scenario.

I'm not saying there aren't some arguments to be made for Clemson. But I posted the state population numbers, and Florida CRUSHES South Carolina, particularly as an overall market that would be locked down by the addition of 2 of the top 3 teams in the state.

UNC may be one of the strongest candidates, but the NC politics are tricky. The SEC would be smart to take some combination of Clemson, UNC, NC State, VaTech, GaTech, and/or UVa. Maybe 4, maybe all 6. They would lock down the south, at least outside of Florida.

But to be honest, it's almost a financial crime if you do NOT take a school offering to accept a 25% share. It would be like the ACC turning down SMU. WHY? You are guaranteed to make a profit.
 
Stanford isn’t going to the BIG before us. Also, if Stanford is somehow going, it means we’ve got a spot too. We did them a huge favor in greasing the skids to get them into the ACC. They did the same with AAU for us. We have a good relationship with them, they won’t ***** us over.

Stanford is the most elite P5 university in terms of academics, so I think would rank much higher on the list than you might expect. From a research perspective, saying a project was sponsored by Stanford carries a lot of credibility, and both staff and students at basically every other college would jump at the chance to partner with Stanford. The B1G academic alliance essentially removes the red tape between B1G schools for joint research. I think the inclusion of Stanford would have little to do with sports and more to do with the academics and research (which in this case would dwarf the football stuff). I could definitely see a conference taking Stanford over a UM or FSU simply because the school presidents want the academic cred.
 
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Stanford is the most elite P5 university in terms of academics, so I think would rank much higher on the list than you might expect. From a research perspective, saying a project was sponsored by Stanford carries a lot of credibility, and both staff and students at basically every other college would jump at the chance to partner with Stanford. The B1G academic alliance essentially removes the red tape between B1G schools for joint research. I think the inclusion of Stanford would have little to do with sports and more to do with the academics and research (which in this case would dwarf the football stuff). I could definitely see a conference taking Stanford over a UM or FSU simply because the school presidents want the academic cred.
Sports is more than just football. Stanford is a major player in Olympic Sports
 
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The more ominous aspect is if Stanford-Notre Dame are viewed as expansion partners. Because Stanford at 25% for 10 years makes the addition of Notre Dame "a bargain".

I still think the Big 10 would be smart to take F$U-Miami as well in that scenario.

I'm not saying there aren't some arguments to be made for Clemson. But I posted the state population numbers, and Florida CRUSHES South Carolina, particularly as an overall market that would be locked down by the addition of 2 of the top 3 teams in the state.

UNC may be one of the strongest candidates, but the NC politics are tricky. The SEC would be smart to take some combination of Clemson, UNC, NC State, VaTech, GaTech, and/or UVa. Maybe 4, maybe all 6. They would lock down the south, at least outside of Florida.

But to be honest, it's almost a financial crime if you do NOT take a school offering to accept a 25% share. It would be like the ACC turning down SMU. WHY? You are guaranteed to make a profit.
Plus, you are adding to their west coast pod.
 
Big plus for Stanford ... is that they are available without controversy or having to "sue to get their media rights".
Stanford was rejected less than a year ago by big ten and fox and burned bridges over the big ten academic alliance. Things can change of course. Like taking no money for a decade (hi SMU)

Stanford is not without controversy. They join the acc in 83 days and those rights then apply to them as much as Miami or fsu. Not sure what happens in theory should they try to get out of whatever they signed before August 1.

Look things change fast here and maybe the Big Ten is now interested in Stanford, but if you don’t think Stanford tried to get into the Big Ten last year before they came with their hat in hand for a discount rate to the ACC and got told go away kid -you’re not paying attention. If it was purely about adding to their West Coast pod, they could’ve taken them and Cal or whoever last year when they took Oregon and Washington, and they specifically chose not to.

But who knows especially with settlement coming and big payoffs in the past for the NIL issues and other things could be moving differently than where their mindsets were a year ago
 
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Sports is more than just football. Stanford is a major player in Olympic Sports

Yeah I think the conference realignment is MOSTLY driven by football money but there are some other considerations. I think USC and UCLA were accepted because that was almost purely about carriage fees and Fox Sports wanted it to happen. Fox added Oregon, Washington, and California markets. Stanford didn't have a dance partner and they were irrelevant to Fox Sports. You could say Cal was a possible pairing but neither Stanford nor Cal matter to the networks in terms of viewers or fanbase. B1G had no football-related reason to add Stanford- I assume if they added Stanford/Cal then Fox Sports would have to increase the payouts proportionally- Ohio State isn't going to take less money to add more teams to the conference. Could the B1G have gone to bat for Stanford and Cal, and told Fox Sports- "We are adding two west coast teams without much of fanbase or market share, oh and also no incremental carriage fees- give us another 200 million per year for those teams"? Sure, but I don't think the squeeze was worth the juice at the time.

But if Stanford reached out to Notre Dame and somehow convinced them to pair up , then it's absolutely a no-brainer (I'm skeptical it's true, but if it is, then the point stands). Notre Dame is a top tier academic institution but it isn't mentioned in the same breath as the most elite academic schools like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford. As you said, there are Olympic Sports too, so B1G would look at the overall picture and say, "Academics + olympic sports + Notre Dame make up for Stanford not being relevant in football." I think the B1G would definitely be willing to tell Fox Sports, "We are adding Stanford and Notre Dame now, fork over another 200 million" and Fox Sports would oblige. So IMO it's not that farfetched, and I don't think any previous rejection of Stanford by the B1G has any bearing on the decision now (if they really did convince ND to pair up). Also, there is no doubt in my mind that Stanford would f#ck over UM and not pay back the favor of backing them for ACC membership. This is an existential matter for football programs. You don't turn down a chance at the P2 even if you have to throw your friends under the bus. "Sorry, guys, nothing personal. It's just business."
 
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Yeah I think the conference realignment is MOSTLY driven by football money but there are some other considerations. I think USC and UCLA were accepted because that was almost purely about carriage fees and Fox Sports wanted it to happen. Fox added Oregon, Washington, and California markets. Stanford didn't have a dance partner and they were irrelevant to Fox Sports. You could say Cal was a possible pairing but neither Stanford nor Cal matter to the networks in terms of viewers or fanbase. B1G had no football-related reason to add Stanford- I assume if they added Stanford/Cal then Fox Sports would have to increase the payouts proportionally- Ohio State isn't going to take less money to add more teams to the conference. Could the B1G have gone to bat for Stanford and Cal, and told Fox Sports- "We are adding two west coast teams without much of fanbase or market share, oh and also no incremental carriage fees- give us another 200 million per year for those teams"? Sure, but I don't think the squeeze was worth the juice at the time.

But if Stanford reached out to Notre Dame and somehow convinced them to pair up , then it's absolutely a no-brainer (I'm skeptical it's true, but if it is, then the point stands). Notre Dame is a top tier academic institution but it isn't mentioned in the same breath as the most elite academic schools like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford. As you said, there are Olympic Sports too, so B1G would look at the overall picture and say, "Academics + olympic sports + Notre Dame make up for Stanford not being relevant in football." I think the B1G would definitely be willing to tell Fox Sports, "We are adding Stanford and Notre Dame now, fork over another 200 million" and Fox Sports would oblige. So IMO it's not that farfetched, and I don't think any previous rejection of Stanford by the B1G has any bearing on the decision now.
My point is that Stanford is in a unique position relative to other schools with similar football records and viewerships.
 
His value is facilities expansion. Infrastructure and fundraising.
Yeah I've heard this before but for $3 mil a year (I think it was) he should be really good at everything. He made a horrible hire in baseball and doesn't appear to be too involved in realignment either which isn't a good look. Ive heard (may be untrue) he's not that great of a fundraiser either. So his main forte is adding athletic buildings but he's not an architect, engineer, etc. so he's just working with those firms to pick what the school prefers. Just benchmarking to other schools and picking what Miami should have in comparison isn't that hard.
 
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Stanford was rejected less than a year ago by big ten and fox and burned bridges over the big ten academic alliance. Things can change of course. Like taking no money for a decade (hi SMU)

Stanford is not without controversy. They join the acc in 83 days and those rights then apply to them as much as Miami or fsu. Not sure what happens in theory should they try to get out of whatever they signed before August 1.

Look things change fast here and maybe the Big Ten is now interested in Stanford, but if you don’t think Stanford tried to get into the Big Ten last year before they came with their hat in hand for a discount rate to the ACC and got told go away kid -you’re not paying attention. If it was purely about adding to their West Coast pod, they could’ve taken them and Cal or whoever last year when they took Oregon and Washington, and they specifically chose not to.

But who knows especially with settlement coming and big payoffs in the past for the NIL issues and other things could be moving differently than where their mindsets were a year ago


Stanford to Big 10: Full-share.

Big 10: No.

Stanford to Big 10: I WANT HALF, EDDIE!

Big 10: No.

Stanford to Big 10: Alright, 25% it is.

Big 10: MAAAAAAAYBEEEEEE...




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There are a lot of us here! I once read that outside of Florida, the Atlanta metro area is the largest UM alumni base. I have a UM Georgia plate and see other plates / car stickers / etc. pretty much every day and I'm almost an hour north of the city.

I've actually never been given the finger, but I'm a chick, so that may have something to do with it...haha. Maybe they do it behind my back.
I've actually heard that Chicago is the largest outside of Florida. But that was several years ago and most likely has changed.
 
I've actually heard that Chicago is the largest outside of Florida. But that was several years ago and most likely has changed.
I know there was the graphic about "most searched" teams that showed Miami as #1 in Illinois...but no idea how that is true haha. I go to the official UMiami bar in Chicago from time to time and outside the big games when we are good, it is usually very quiet. And almost never get comments about all the U attire I wear either.
 
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