Superconferences & Realignment

[Cali_domer]

So there has been some stuff going around the twittersphere that ND to Big 12 is for all sports but football is basically a done deal. One condition will be that we play 6 Big 12 teams a year. How does that work with our future schedules/contracts? Are we going to see the MSU, Michigan, and Purdue games disappear? I'd imagine the only game that will be safe will be the USC game.

Navy game also will be safe.. Navy will never disappear off the schedule.

I don't buy it yet, we have no reason to leave yet.
-The playoff has not been announced yet
-FSU and Clemson have not left the ACC, which dominoes into yet another raid of the Big East.

 

[IrishLax]

Navy game also will be safe.. Navy will never disappear off the schedule.

I don't buy it yet, we have no reason to leave yet.
-The playoff has not been announced yet
-FSU and Clemson have not left the ACC, which dominoes into yet another raid of the Big East.

Good call Cali.

Yes, you're right the playoff hasn't been finalized. But in general, I think with all of the specifics being thrown around on the ND to Big 12 deal, it's going to end up that way as soon as the playoff format is finalized and the rest of the dominoes start falling.

I'm not entirely convinced, unless the playoff format demands it, that the Big 12 will invite FSU and Clemson. But I guess we'll see what happens.

I'd guess the soonest this agreement would take effect would be 2014... which is a bummer because that schedule sets up quite nicely. I'd imagine the 6 teams to stay on our schedule from OOC will likely be:

USC
Navy
BYU (independent, easy to schedule)
BC (they won't be part of a big conference, easy to schedule and rival)
Gimmie Game (Temple/UCONN/Wake/Syracuse... some team from ACC/BE that will beeasy to schedule)
Gimmie Game #2 or Stanford or a previously agreed upon contract like Miami or Northwestern

I don't see Swarbick dumb enough to keep Michigan, MSU, and Stanford all on a schedule that involves USC, Oklahoma, Texas, TCU, West Virginia,Oklahoma State, etc. There's no way we would play 10 perennial top 25 teams in a season, is there?

 

[Cali_domer]

Good call Cali.

Yes, you're right the playoff hasn't been finalized. But in general, I think with all of the specifics being thrown around on the ND to Big 12 deal, it's going to end up that way as soon as the playoff format is finalized and the rest of the dominoes start falling.

I'm not entirely convinced, unless the playoff format demands it, that the Big 12 will invite FSU and Clemson. But I guess we'll see what happens.

I'd guess the soonest this agreement would take effect would be 2014... which is a bummer because that schedule sets up quite nicely. I'd imagine the 6 teams to stay on our schedule from OOC will likely be:

USC
Navy
BYU (independent, easy to schedule)
BC (they won't be part of a big conference, easy to schedule and rival)
Gimmie Game (Temple/UCONN/Wake/Syracuse... some team from ACC/BE that will beeasy to schedule)
Gimmie Game #2 or Stanford or a previously agreed upon contract like Miami or Northwestern

I don't see Swarbick dumb enough to keep Michigan, MSU, and Stanford all on a schedule that involves USC, Oklahoma, Texas, TCU, West Virginia,Oklahoma State, etc. There's no way we would play 10 perennial top 25 teams in a season, is there?

I certainly hope he doesn't keep MSU and Michigan in that case. Stanford I would miss because of locale to me. My question is if we're going to play 6 games we might as well be in the conference. With 2 more games we would qualify as a full member.

 

[DomeX2 eNVy]

It seems if this happens, it would be 6+2 (typical conference schedule) + 4 (non-conference). I could see Jack S saying we'll play 6 B12 games, but we have to have 2 back to always have USC and Navy on the schedule. That leaves 4 variety games.
I would guess UM gets one of those for the near future, but will become sparser later on. MSU and Purdue may alternate. A Pac12 from Stanford, UW, and ASU will probably be there to have a west coast game annually. And then a ACC/Big East (or whatever they become game like BC, Army, Wake, Miami, Georgia Tech type game.

With the Super Conferences becoming real, I wouldn't be surprised to see the FCS schedules all expand to 13 games - which I am totally for. There is no reason not to extend into the first week of December and generate even more money.

 

[Rack Em]

So there has been some stuff going around the twittersphere that ND to Big 12 is for all sports but football is basically a done deal. One condition will be that we play 6 Big 12 teams a year. How does that work with our future schedules/contracts? Are we going to see the MSU, Michigan, and Purdue games disappear? I'd imagine the only game that will be safe will be the USC game.

How does that work with our future schedules/contracts?

If the Big 12 wants us that badly, I bet they'd pay for our breach of contract if that's an issue. They might not force us to move to the 6 game schedule until 2015 or something too.

Are we going to see the MSU, Michigan, and Purdue games disappear? I'd imagine the only game that will be safe will be the USC game.

Hypothetical Schedule
6 Big 12 games:
@Texas
Iowa State
@Kansas
Baylor
@West Virginia
Oklahoma St.

6 OOC games
USC
@Michigan
@Navy
Purdue/Michigan St (alternating home and home with these 2)
@BC/other mediocre ACC school
Air Force/Army

So something like this:
1. @ Navy
2. Purdue
3. @ Michigan
4. @ BC
5. Iowa St.
6. Bye
7. USC
8. @ Kansas
9. Oklahoma St.
10. Air Force
11. @ West Virginia
12. Baylor
13. @ Texas

Effectively we're looking at dumping Stanford and Pitt. And we wouldn't be able to play but either Army or Air Force every year and rotate between MSU and Purdue. We could also treat the game with BC as the neutral site game for every year.

JMO.

 

[Rack Em]

It seems if this happens, it would be 6+2 (typical conference schedule) + 4 (non-conference). I could see Jack S saying we'll play 6 B12 games, but we have to have 2 back to always have USC and Navy on the schedule. That leaves 4 variety games.
I would guess UM gets one of those for the near future, but will become sparser later on. MSU and Purdue may alternate. A Pac12 from Stanford, UW, and ASU will probably be there to have a west coast game annually. And then a ACC/Big East (or whatever they become game like BC, Army, Wake, Miami, Georgia Tech type game.

Agreed. Our posts are quite similar.

 

[yankeeND]

Hey LAX,if this were to happen, how would it effect lacrosse? Just curious because I don't really know who even has a team in the B12.

 

[IrishLax]

Hey LAX,if this were to happen, how would it effect lacrosse? Just curious because I don't really know who even has a team in the B12.

We'd probably end up in the ECAC when all was said and done. Either that or the GWLL would be resurrected and include Michigan/Penn State/Marquette this time around in addition to Denver, Notre Dame, Air Force, Ohio State, Bellarmine and Quinnipiac.

 

[Cali_domer]

I wonder how much this will effect Men's B-Ball recruiting? Didn't Brey want to maintain a presence in the Northeast?

 

[IrishLax]

I wonder how much this will effect Men's B-Ball recruiting? Didn't Brey want to maintain a presence in the Northeast?

It seems we get most of our recruits from the midwest and Baltimore/Washington DC area where Brey has his roots; so I don't know how important that would be to him. Are there any players on our current roster from the north east?

 

[Cali_domer]

(Exp) Hometown
21 Abromaitis, Tim F 6-8 236 Sr (4V) Unionville, CT (Farmington HS)
0 Atkins, Eric G 6-1 182 So (1V) Columbia, MD (Mount St. Joseph HS)
33 Broghammer, Mike F 6-9 265 Jr (2V) Orono, MN (Hopkins HS)
32 Brooks, Joey G 6-6 220 Jr (2V) Houston, TX (Strake Jesuit College Prep)
24 Connaughton, Pat G-F 6-5 206 Fr (HS) Arlington, MA (St. John's Prep)
45 Cooley, Jack F 6-9 248 Jr (2V) Glenview, IL (Glenbrook South HS)
4 Crowley, Patrick G 6-3 190 So (1V) Los Gatos, CA (St. Francis)
12 Dragicevich, Alex G 6-7 221 So (1V) Northbrook, IL (Glenbrook North HS)
22 Grant, Jerian G 6-5 195 So (1V) Bowie, MD (DeMatha HS)
25 Knight, Tom F 6-9 250 Jr (2V) Dixfield, ME (Dirigo HS)
14 Martin, Scott G 6-8 222 Sr (4V) Valparaiso, IN (Purdue University)
11 Sherman, Garrick C 6-10 240 Jr (2V) Kenton, OH (Michigan State)

Looks like MD and Midwest with mixture of other states.

 

[IrishLax]

25% from the northeast... not as small as I thought.... only two from the DC area.

 

[yankeeND]

We'd probably end up in the ECAC when all was said and done. Either that or the GWLL would be resurrected and include Michigan/Penn State/Marquette this time around in addition to Denver, Notre Dame, Air Force, Ohio State, Bellarmine and Quinnipiac.

Thanks brotha, that doesn't look so bad!

 

[NDhoosier]

I still think 6 is too many games, I wonder if Swarbrick is trying or has tried to negotiate that number. I think 3-4 games a year would be fine for both Notre Dame and the BIG12 in my opinion. Though I hate to say it, we better not schedule all the powerhouses of the Big12, I say one powerhouse, and couple solid teams, then the rest be bottom tier Big12 teams, our schedule is tough enough already.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Navy game also will be safe.. Navy will never disappear off the schedule.

I don't buy it yet, we have no reason to leave yet.
-The playoff has not been announced yet
-FSU and Clemson have not left the ACC, which dominoes into yet another raid of the Big East.

Jack may feel that getting to hold a spot in the Big-12 while we keep our NBC contract is the best possible outcome for us right now. And I can't say I'd disagree with him.

IrishinFL's FSU source indicates that they're definitely headed for the Big-12 eventually. I'd imagine our joining will give them a big push in that direction; ND will be the biggest domino yet to fall in conference realignment. Once we move into the Big-12, I expect there to be serious movement from all the other conferences.

 

[beryirish]

Jack may feel that getting to hold a spot in the Big-12 while we keep our NBC contract is the best possible outcome for us right now. And I can't say I'd disagree with him.

IrishinFL's FSU source indicates that they're definitely headed for the Big-12 eventually. I'd imagine our joining will give them a big push in that direction; ND will be the biggest domino yet to fall in conference realignment. Once we move into the Big-12, I expect there to be serious movement from all the other conferences.

Like you said ND being the biggest domino...once they go..EVERYONE will go and scramble to a conference to cover their tail. So hopefully after that happens we are set...forever.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

6 Big 12 games is so many we might as well join if we can keep our NBC contract. It wouldn't even be full independence.

 

[Cali_domer]

6 Big 12 games is so many we might as well join if we can keep our NBC contract. It wouldn't even be full independence.

I think that this will be an incremental process. Which will end in Full membership eventually.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

I think that this will be an incremental process. Which will end in Full membership eventually.

I don't see how waiting is going to do anything. The Big 12 is the best option and not doing it right away will be frustrating for other schools who don't know how seriously ND is taking it. We might as well just start knocking the dominoes right now.

 

[phork]

 

[Old Man Mike]

There are probably several other things going on that we aren't taking into account. Example: agreements with other teams further into the future than just two years --- how to balance and transition that without knowing exactly who is going to be where and with what obligations. Swarbrick would want something "evolutionary" and flexible in this uncrystallized situation.

I wonder about what is typically the plan of all football powerhouses to get schedules where you play more games at home than on the road, every year. Conference play constricts that. 6 games to start would mean 3-home, 3-away as fixed for half the schedule. USC and any B1G teams certainly won't go for anything but shared home and away scheduling. Swarbrick would be looking for schedule-fillers who would always play at ND or at least the majority of the time, or in Navy's case, sometimes at a showcase "neutral" field. This is why scheduling a MAC team is a good idea. BYU is another team which would never go for anything but a shared home-&-away deal. Nor would BC... etc. Swarbrick is probably weighing what he could do to try to maintain the 7/5 pattern.

As an aside on basketball: everybody recruits New York, regardless where they are. KANSAS recruits New York. It's not like being in the Big 12 would be a hindrance to that. If you play in anything which is considered the "Center Ring", you can recruit the NE and NYC. Brey might not be particularly GOOD at recruiting NYC, but I would like him to get someone on the staff who is [and find a few guys who can actually think in the classroom while doing so].

 

[stlnd01]

I don't see how waiting is going to do anything. The Big 12 is the best option and not doing it right away will be frustrating for other schools who don't know how seriously ND is taking it. We might as well just start knocking the dominoes right now.

I'm not sure we're under any obligation to consider other schools' frustrations. This is a decision we only get to make once. We should wait and make sure it's the right one. And who knows, nine months from now things may look completely different (as they did nine months ago when we were all ACC fans).

 

[RubberSoul]

Going to the Big 12 it looks like.

http://www.facebook.com/bruce.acree.94?ref=profile#!/groups/434222006590866/

 

[STLDomer]

“@GSwaim: #Big12 fans worried who'll be 4th addition if #ND, #FSU & #CardNation join. Just about every #ACC school will want that last spot.”

- I would prefer Clemson, Virginia Tech, or Virginia

- I know someone will ask but no I don't really know who this Greg Swaim guy is but I have been following since his tweets bout ND ( Pg. 20) and has been right about it all

Going to the Big 12 it looks like.
http://www.facebook.com/bruce.acree.94?ref=profile#!/groups/434222006590866/

Is this a plug for your group or is Zabroski your source? Zabroski may come off as an "insider" but he knows nothing more than anyone else

 

[clashmore_mike]

Pretty sure that Swaim guy has been routinely **** on by CFB bloggers on twitter for a while. Not real credible but who knows.

 

[STLDomer]

Pretty sure that Swaim guy has been routinely **** on by CFB bloggers on twitter for a while. Not real credible but who knows.

Maybe that's the reason he is tweeting out info earlier than he should be, finally as a scoop and wants the attention

 

[NDPhilly]

So who would you guys want to be the last member to join? I'd like UVA.

 

[SoIll]

hokies..

 

[NDPhilly]

I don't want another power house to join the conference.

 

[STLDomer]

Swaim guy tweeted that Clemson will stick but can't reveal why yet, my guess would be if ACC holds ( which right now looks like it) but FSU leaves ( the reason ND would go Big12 over ACC) Clemson would be in line to be the face of the ACC ( coincidence they just started landed commits again?)

I would prefer UVA, otherwise we stick out like a sore thumb in terms of academics and we need another strong but not powerhouse team