Realignment Reestablishes in the 11th Hour ...

[Cane from the Bend]

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Texas St is officially a member of the new formed Pac-12 {currently an 8 team football coalition} ...

Texas State is set to join the Pac-12 Conference on July 1rst, 2026, the school and league announced in a joint statement on Monday.

The move gives the league the eight required football-playing members to continue as an FBS conference.

After a long vetting process, TXST received an official invitation, and had to wait until Monday in order to hold a special Board of Regents meeting to authorize the buyout and clear the way to join the Pac-12.

The vote came in just ahead of a July 1rst deadline, when the buyout to leave the Sun Belt would have doubled from $5 million to $10 million.

So, the Bobcats will be taking this next step alongside the likes of:
Boise State
Colorado State
Fresno State
San Diego State
Utah State

In a merger with Oregon State and Washington State to stabilize the Pac-12 that it may preserve its Conference status.

Gonzaga has also declared its intentions to become a Conference member, joining as a non-football program.

I'd like to say, we should call the football division of this league, State Conference. Maybe they can add other members in the future. Though, seeing how long they drug this invitation out, they don't seem to be in a hurry to expand.

My guess, with the announcement of their revenue partner "CBS Sports", they want to build with the schools they have, now, before they increase the number to distribute more of the shares to future members.

This is a big move for the Pac.

It gives them a program in a region the Big Ten desperately wants, Texas.

That's a big Market, and when games from earlier times are winding down, the West Coast games will now be open region to the Lone Star State. Which has a mere 1 hour time difference. So, late night televisions will still be on.

They are the 7th Largest University in Texas, and with a Student Body of 44,000; This makes them the biggest attendance school in the newly forming Pac.

For the Sun Belt, this has to sting, as they lose a member from one of the largest Recruiting grounds, and TV Markets, that has been a conference pillar since 2013. Worse off, the Sun Belt has been silent since the buzz of Texas St's negotiations with the Pac. There has yet to be any movement to seek replacement for the exiting Bobcats.

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[Mountainman]

Wow……. as the NCAA continues to flounder and the conferences have managed to spread out over great distances maybe the NCAA should consider buying or leasing some jumbo jets to fly the teams and fans to the games and back!!!!!!

Don’t laugh, don’t roll yours eyes, don’t think your suspicions were right about, ‘the Mountainman has lost it’……. I’m talking about the same NCAA that going to pay the plaintiff’s attorneys in the SLAM-DUNK House Case over 400 millions dollars!!!!




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[Cane from the Bend]

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Are they're finally responding ..?

Looks as though things could shake up quite a bit.

The Sun Belt is exploring options, and it might not be what you expected at all.

The Conference reached out to the ECU Athletics Department to gauge their interest in joining the SBC.

AS per David Schultz: “ECU has replied and, for now, they are going to take a wait-and-see approach.”

Let's face it, the AAC is a more premier conference than the Sun Belt. For East Carolina, though in proximity of Sun Belt programs, it would be a step down in value.

And Not Coincidentally, soon afterwards, it was not the conference that started this inquiry.

Okay, lemme see if I can articulate this. F*ck It, I'll just say it.

The Ohio Bobcats have reached out to the Sun Belt, to kind of kick the tires, if you will.

They are a Founding Member of the MAC, which would be a Huge blow to lose them for the Conference. Especially after having lost Northern Illinois to the Mountain West.

Talk abut those Jumbo Jets you were referring to, Mountainman. If this were to happen, the only league game in their immediate region would be Marshall.

Ohio's reasons for interest were noted as: "With the number of mid week games, fan interest and ticket sales have diminished." Also highlighting that, with the addition of Buffalo and UMas, travel costs went up, where the Conference had traditionally been made up of teams entirely of the Midwest.

Them ever Lovin' Herd folk went on to propose a complete dissection of the Mac, diagramming a North / South Sun Belt that would look like this:

North

App State
Coastal Carolina
James Madison
Marshall
Miami {OH}
Ohio
Old Dominion
Toledo

South

Arkansas State
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Louisiana {UL-Lafayette}
UL Monroe
South Alabama
Southern Miss
Troy

The initial talks are said to be about building relationships for a Future potential move, rather than immediate current one, with a plausible impending massive Realignment {there's that word again} across college sports, before 2031.

It's almost as though they are telling us, "We know the ACC is about to implode."

I sure hope they have the foresight to examine building those sort of relationships with teams who are likely to get left out in the cold, from the ever dissolving bigger leagues. You may want to tag yourself as the next balancing peg to stabilize a larger brand, instead of moving laterally ... unless you're just accepting your serf like status.

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[Mountainman]

Well, I don’t know their thoughts, but that’s a big ole footprint……. and if they can secure a midweek TV contract they could be on to something.

I’m really glad to see that level of College Football pushing back and doing something about their plight…… they’re undersized and a step slower than the big boys, but it’s good and competitive football.




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