Was listening to ESPNU and they were talking about NIL/Portal stuff and they all agreed that in general it favors the power programs. It won't hurt Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson those teams are poised to be able to take advantage. Look at the WR from Ohio State who had a great year for Alabama, look at the LB from Tenn who was a star, this year they got the RB from Ga.Tech who from the times I've seen him play will be an All-American given the offense and the quality line he'll be running behind. Ohio State as yet doesn't have a QB in the 2023 class and Don said they might not get one. But next spring after Stroud is gone, it'll be a thin QB room. Big opportunity for a Portal QB who has played well at a lower program to move up and have a shot (maybe) at playing in a bigger pond with better players around him.
The verbal by Arch Manning is paying dividends already, Texas has picked several highly ranked skill players.
A couple of comments, first seems to me NIL is killing College Football. While the Gators only have 9 commitments and ranked in the high 20's on 247, 8/9 of them are from the state of Florida. That is more than were in the entire class last year when we had 6. We will get more from Florida and I am encouraged by that.
USC and UCLA to the B10? If this happens, super conferences will be a small step away. The game that I grew up with is becoming unrecognizable. USC, UCLA Reportedly Planning to Leave Pac-12 for Big Ten by 2024
Money, the BIG 10 is slated for a massive new deal and according to the article Bob referred the Pac 12 revenue is going the other way.
You are correct, sir. Huge, huge news. The first conference to claim a "national" footprint, coast to coast.
I see two different motives for the moves. UCLA is moving for the money, hell they can hardly compete in the PAC. SC on the other hand sees a possibly more viable path to the playoffs.
One would think so Tim! If this news turns out to be true, we probably will cancel the game Sept 3rd with the Irish and Play USC instead. I am kidding of course, but things really seem to be out of control anymore.
The big media contracts are going to the SEC and the BIG 10. That is what caused the move of OU and Texas to the SEC. I wonder how Phil Knight and Oregon will take this?
If this comes to pass the Big 10 and the SEC will effectively supplant the NCAA as the lead of college football. If FSU, Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame move to the Big 10 or the SEC the NCAA will become even more irrelevant.
What makes this move easier is the Pac12 media rights expire after next season. Texas media rights allow for projected 2025 move to the SEC. ACC teams are stuck with at least 10 more years on their media rights, that includes the Irish. So movement will be more difficult.
A couple of segments from our local sportswriter's article covering the USC-UCLA news. Both state the obvious, but seeing it in print emphasizes the significance of the move(s): 1) A conference no longer constrained by Midwest geography is now likely to plow past $1 billion in media revenues annually, assuming it can consummate a marriage that has been theorized for a long time but in real-world terms came together quite quickly. Think days or weeks, much more so than months. 2) Annual intake on the Big Ten’s next TV deal was already expected to approach $1 billion annually. Adding the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets, plus the heavy hits of football games like Ohio State or Michigan at USC, means the conference will probably breeze past 10 figures in annual media revenues.
It's official, USC and UCLA have been accepted for membership in the BIG 10. They will start play in 2024. Let the speculation begin on the fate of the Pac12 teams. Some have suggested that Stanford and CAL will be fits in the Big 10.