Memphis to Big East?

HP...

It's true.  I can find a link if you really don't believe me.

And...12 or 8 million?  When Michigan goes to the Rose Bowl, the payout is something like 15 mil, but that money gets EVENLY dispersed between the 10 other conference teams and UM.  So when Michigan or Illinois goes to a Rose Bowl, Minnesota, sitting @ home with a 1-11 record gets just as much financial sustinence.  In fact, 2 years ago Michigan LOST money on going to the Rose Bowl, despite selling its full allottment of tickets because of the extreme cost of putting the team and band up for the week. 

ND's kicker is that it gets the FULL 15 mil for themselves ALONE if they go to a BCS game.  How can they justify taking what amounts to an 8 figure paycut?  Hell, not even winning 4 games last year they made the same amount of money as Illinois made going to the Rose Bowl.

No, I believe you.  But its the second part I was talking about, ND gets ALL the money for a BCS game, no conference to spread it around to,  thats what Im talking about, if they dont go, they dont get it, just the 1.2 you referred to.

Im estimating here, but I believe ND was averaging a BCS trip every three years or so, if they dont go for three years, thats about 15 mill in lost revenue. 

Hillbilly, you know my sentiments on ECU.  I gotta part company with you on Army and Navy though.  I'm an academy grad and love them but, I gotta be frank, I don't think they do themselves any favors trying to be Division 1 teams.  These are schools with maybe 4,000 students tops, that have height and weight restrictions.  And personally, I don't think a reason to go to a Federal Academy is because you want to play football.  There's a  much more important task these guys are training for.

From the Big East standpoint, we really can't afford to be playing home and home with them every year.  (Rutgers does it now).   Absent wartime conditions like you saw in WWII, these teams just can't remain competitive on a D1 level.  It's a shame because these guys play their hearts out and get more out of their personnel than anyone else, but they're just overmatched.  If Ohio St. and ND want to play them as a tribute to our armed services that's great.  But on the other hand I don't really relish the thought of watching the Midshipmen of Navy get pummelled by a bunch of 350 lb behemoths from Ohio St. who likely can't match Navy's SAT scores divided by two.

My prediction?  Memphis gets in, backed by the basketball schools, East Carolina and UCF get in as a quid pro quo or due to the ECU's supposed generous offer, and the BE picks up another D1AA graduate like UMass, Villanova, or Georgetown.  We can leave that spot open for awhile for those who would like to Penn St. or Boston College join up (myself included).  But I don't see it happening.

Yeah, but you hafta understand...sure, if they don't go to a BCS game they don't get the 15 mil, but if they go to a conference...when they GO to a BCS game they get around 1.2 mil, and when they DON'T go they still get 1.2 mil, same as Iowa, Vanderbilt, or Texas Tech. 

Why would they even entertain the thought of switching that?  Either way, they get paid.  Only in a restructuring of the ND clause and basically saying "that 12 mil you normally get from the Sugar Bowl?  Yeah, that's getting distrubuted." will anything on NDs end happening.  You hip to the jive I'm swinging?

And then it'll go to court, ND saying "hey you bullies, we don't NEED a conference to make this kinda money, so you're stealing from us." when the dirty reality of it is, if Florida or Texas left a conference, they'd have no more trouble than ND getting into a BCS game.  I really wonder deep down what the BCS protocol would be regarding ND and Penn State had the Nits not gone to a conference.  Would there be a PSU clause too?

Do any of you have a link to the requirment standards for being D-1A or D-1AA?  I know it has to do with attendance figures as a major sticking point.  But I find it hard to believe with say, Appalachian State's success, they couldn't draw more than Ball State or Toledo.

I'm again, totally against expanding D-1A though.  There's too much whining and swashbuckling from the little guys as it is.  Some of the teams teetering on the edge could be docked status for clubs like UMass, Nova, or ASU...all of whom would bring more name recognition than some of the teams being thrown around, I think. 

Thats easy, first the Big 10 will have a champ game that will generate more revenue, as well if ND wants, the Big 10 can put in a clause that says that if they make the Big 10 Champ game, they get a larger portion.

App's happy where they are and they dont have the cash to move up to D-1.  Its about AD budget, why do you think they played Mich, for $$$.  Same with LSU next year.

Charlotte is starting a D-1 program, they actually have some money or at least plenty of people who will loan it to them.

HP...

There's no way the Big 10 teams would go for that elitiest attitude.  Already Michigan, OSU, and PSU seem to navigate in different ways with regards to things that allow them to earn the right to certain games and other teams who can't even make a bowl game getting the same amount.  I think this is one thing that fundamentally really needs to change.  I don't understand the logic of doing less and getting the same reward.

No way Michigan, OSU, and a few others would sign onto a deal that allows one team to make more money for making a title game and the other 11 sit and twiddle their thumbs.

That and, regardless of how conference title games are seen in the public eye...they aren't worth any 10 million bones. Not even close.