MWC Expansion Candidates

[HawaiiMongoose]

On 4/14/2025 at 1:49 PM, nvspuds said:

For several reasons, the MWC should have added UCD rather than UCI

I think it’s pretty clear that UCD got the nod because it sponsors football and is on a trajectory to be able to move up from FCS to FBS in the relatively near future.  I have no argument with that logic.

[VSOPBRAND]

Davis will be our Cal, and they will have a built in Northern Cal rivalry with Sac State

[Warbow]

On 4/14/2025 at 4:44 PM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Neither of those TV markets is anywhere close in size to the greater Los Angeles market.  If TV market matters then the top priority for the MWC should be to add at least one if not two schools in or near Los Angeles.  UCI ticks that box.

Morever Seattle and Denver have minuscule fan support.  Attendance at their men’s basketball games in 2024-25 was 949 and 782 respectively.  UCI averaged 2,640.

And while Seattle at least had a competitive pulse with a NET ranking of #155, Denver was an absolute NET anchor at #300.  UCI finished the season at #62 in the NET ranking.

They have the potential to be something special, unlike UCI who reached its highest peak this year. 2,640 attendance for a great season they had this year isn’t saying much. Willing to bet that if either Seattle or Denver had that type of season, they would more than double those figures. Especially playing against MWC caliber opponents. 
 

I'm looking at future growth and potential. Like I said, UCI has peaked, no where to go but down. They already lost a few of their players to the portal. I see Denver and Seattle’s potential of being another Houston. 
 

The MWC needs to be looking toward the future and not the current landscape. The portal and NIL has erased all previous seasons of success for G-5 schools.

[Bigd]

On 4/15/2025 at 1:31 AM, Warbow said:

They have the potential to be something special, unlike UCI who reached its highest peak this year. 2,640 attendance for a great season they had this year isn’t saying much. Willing to bet that if either Seattle or Denver had that type of season, they would more than double those figures. Especially playing against MWC caliber opponents. 
 

I'm looking at future growth and potential. Like I said, UCI has peaked, no where to go but down. They already lost a few of their players to the portal. I see Denver and Seattle’s potential of being another Houston. 
 

The MWC needs to be looking toward the future and not the current landscape. The portal and NIL has erased all previous seasons of success for G-5 schools.

Houston is a massive public school, Denver and Seattle are tiny private schools. They will never be the same as Houston, and the MW should stay far away from them unless as affiliate members for certain sports.

[Warbow]

On 4/15/2025 at 5:14 AM, Bigd said:

Houston is a massive public school, Denver and Seattle are tiny private schools. They will never be the same as Houston, and the MW should stay far away from them unless as affiliate members for certain sports.

I stand corrected. Didn’t do any research on those schools and just based my opinions based on location. Although Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern US it’s still tiny as compared to Houston. But just a little less students than Wyoming.  On the other hand, Denver has more students than Wyoming.

Since we’re only talking about basketball schools, it really doesn’t matter if it’s a private tiny school or huge public school as TV dollars don’t increase based on enrollment but it sure does based on location.

[SalinasSpartan]

Apparently the bigger guy has sources in the B1G, and they allegedly gave him some interesting info.

B1G’s number one target by a mile is FSU. Clemson being talked about as a second school. Miami may be a backup plan if they don’t get FSU.

B1G TV partners would prefer a quicker timeline for expansion, Presidents would prefer waiting till closer to 2030.

NBC not happy with what games they are getting in the B1G deal AND Notre Dame deal.

FSU/Clemson want to wait and see if SEC invites are in the cards before moving to the B1G, and some of their people definitely prefer the SEC.

Notre Dame apparently wants to keep the ACC intact and only wants to join a conference if there is some sort of P2 breakaway situation. 

B1G genuinely doesn’t want to make the first move for whatever reason, and the B1G seems to believe that the two conferences want different schools; they believe SEC wants UNC. 

Apparently SEC more focused on brands and keeping a “southern” footprint, which is why they want UNC. The guy speculated then that based on why the SEC supposedly wants UNC, Duke may also be high up on their wishlist, but NC State may end up being forced to tag along. His speculation was that UVA may have fumbled the bag with an SEC invite by not investing in football more, but it’s possible they could still be on the move.

At the end he said his source said not to sleep on Kansas as having a potential path to the P2. Also said Louisville may end up being on the move. I assume he is hinting at the Big 12, but who knows. 

Taken together, pretty interesting stuff. Either FSU or UNC seem likely to be the school that sets everything off.

[UNLV2001]

On 4/15/2025 at 4:11 PM, SalinasSpartan said:

Apparently the bigger guy has sources in the B1G, and they allegedly gave him some interesting info.

B1G’s number one target by a mile is FSU. Clemson being talked about as a second school. Miami may be a backup plan if they don’t get FSU.

B1G TV partners would prefer a quicker timeline for expansion, Presidents would prefer waiting till closer to 2030.

NBC not happy with what games they are getting in the B1G deal AND Notre Dame deal.

FSU/Clemson want to wait and see if SEC invites are in the cards before moving to the B1G, and some of their people definitely prefer the SEC.

Notre Dame apparently wants to keep the ACC intact and only wants to join a conference if there is some sort of P2 breakaway situation. 

B1G genuinely doesn’t want to make the first move for whatever reason, and the B1G seems to believe that the two conferences want different schools; they believe SEC wants UNC. 

Apparently SEC more focused on brands and keeping a “southern” footprint, which is why they want UNC. The guy speculated then that based on why the SEC supposedly wants UNC, Duke may also be high up on their wishlist, but NC State may end up being forced to tag along. His speculation was that UVA may have fumbled the bag with an SEC invite by not investing in football more, but it’s possible they could still be on the move.

At the end he said his source said not to sleep on Kansas as having a potential path to the P2. Also said Louisville may end up being on the move. I assume he is hinting at the Big 12, but who knows. 

Taken together, pretty interesting stuff. Either FSU or UNC seem likely to be the school that sets everything off.

FSU & Clemson are clearly more geographically tied to the $EC...............Missouri Oklahoma Texas & TX A&M would be fits in the B10 -- Mizzou, Oklahoma would be reunited with old Big 8/12 buddy Nebraska 

Texas & TX A&M could go either way I suppose, since both were in the old Southwest Conference & the annual Texas Oklahoma game could be a non-conference like it was for decades 

Almost wonder if the $EC & B10 trim some fat & realign amongst themselves & the best of the ACC / Notre Dame ?!?!

[Spaztecs]

Notre Dame could seriously phuck with the B1G/$EC by joining the XII.

[Bigd]

On 4/16/2025 at 7:55 AM, Spaztecs said:

Notre Dame could seriously phuck with the B1G/$EC by joining the XII.

They'd join the ACC long before they join the Big 12. They don't have any traditional rivals in the Big 12.

[Spaztecs]

On 4/16/2025 at 12:08 PM, Bigd said:

They'd join the ACC long before they join the Big 12. They don't have any traditional rivals in the Big 12.

The ACC will be torn asunder. I was referring to the post rendering.

[UtGrizfan]

On 4/16/2025 at 2:13 PM, Spaztecs said:

The ACC will be torn asunder. I was referring to the post rendering.

I think minimum the ACC will lose 6 teams and potentially up to 10 teams, if ND however is hellbent on keeping the ACC together to ensure its Football Independence I think it will stop a good number of schools from jumping to the Big12. What I think could happen (based on rumors/speculation the P4 wants to have 20 teams per Conference) and what I'd like to see:

BIG10: Grabs FSU and Clemson getting to 20 teams

SEC: Grabs UNC, Virginia, NC-State and Duke to get to 20, they usually avoid dual Markets but Duke Basketball is to valuable and NC-State will probably be a package deal.

Big12: Where what I'd like to see comes into play more then anything, I think they get Louisville and then they add SDSU, Boise and Oregon State to get to 20 teams. If they don't get Louisville add Wazzu or UNLV.

ACC: Backfills with Memphis, Tulane, USF, UConn and to get to 20 could add any from the following list - *Army, *Navy, *Air Force, Rice, ECU. Will depend on how focused on Academics they want to be.

(* = Football Only, in this scenario they go out and get Oly only teams in addition to Academy Football to ensure Basketball NET doesn't get smacked)

[SalinasSpartan]

On 4/16/2025 at 1:22 PM, UtGrizfan said:

I think minimum the ACC will lose 6 teams and potentially up to 10 teams, if ND however is hellbent on keeping the ACC together to ensure its Football Independence I think it will stop a good number of schools from jumping to the Big12. What I think could happen (based on rumors/speculation the P4 wants to have 20 teams per Conference) and what I'd like to see:

BIG10: Grabs FSU and Clemson getting to 20 teams

SEC: Grabs UNC, Virginia, NC-State and Duke to get to 20, they usually avoid dual Markets but Duke Basketball is to valuable and NC-State will probably be a package deal.

Big12: Where what I'd like to see comes into play more then anything, I think they get Louisville and then they add SDSU, Boise and Oregon State to get to 20 teams. If they don't get Louisville add Wazzu or UNLV.

ACC: Backfills with Memphis, Tulane, USF, UConn and to get to 20 could add any from the following list - *Army, *Navy, *Air Force, Rice, ECU. Will depend on how focused on Academics they want to be.

(* = Football Only, in this scenario they go out and get Oly only teams in addition to Academy Football to ensure Basketball NET doesn't get smacked)

Not really sure why anybody is laughing at this post, but yea it is hard to foresee a realistic scenario with the ACC losing less than 4 schools, and 6 seems likely. I mean I suppose if UNC and FSU join the SEC, then MAYBE the B1G doesn’t do anything since they don’t see value in adding two schools at that point? But does anybody think the B1G would just stand pat if the SEC adds those schools? I don’t. I think both the B1G and SEC go to 20 and do a scheduling agreement which will add value to both TV deals.

And In that scenario I just don’t see how the Big 12 doesn’t capitalize on the situation and poach some of the ACCs remaining schools. Is the Big 12 going to sit there with schools like Miami, Louisville, Georgia Tech, NC State, Va Tech on the table? Because maybe a few of those schools hit the P2 lottery, but they definitely won’t ALL get invites.

[UtGrizfan]

On 4/16/2025 at 5:04 PM, SalinasSpartan said:

Not really sure why anybody is laughing at this post, but yea it is hard to foresee a realistic scenario with the ACC losing less than 4 schools, and 6 seems likely. I mean I suppose if UNC and FSU join the SEC, then MAYBE the B1G doesn’t do anything since they don’t see value in adding two schools at that point? But does anybody think the B1G would just stand pat if the SEC adds those schools? I don’t. I think both the B1G and SEC go to 20 and do a scheduling agreement which will add value to both TV deals.

And In that scenario I just don’t see how the Big 12 doesn’t capitalize on the situation and poach some of the ACCs remaining schools. Is the Big 12 going to sit there with schools like Miami, Louisville, Georgia Tech, NC State, Va Tech on the table? Because maybe a few of those schools hit the P2 lottery, but they definitely won’t ALL get invites.

He seems to be pretty salty about whatever I post lately reacting quite a bit, its amusing and good to know he's the super sensitive type 😂.

And I for sure agree there's a good chance the Big12 will make a run at many of those programs, but it's going to come down to if and how many schools value their association with ND more then a new Conference. Granted all the P2 and TV Execs have to do is throw enough $$ at teams to leave the ACC to join the Big12 to pressure the Irish into joining a Conference in Football.

[jdgaucho]

On 4/13/2025 at 3:03 PM, HawaiiMongoose said:

Membership in the Big West is great for saving on travel, but the members earn virtually zero revenue from the conference and get very limited media exposure.  In the MWC they would receive a conference payout that would probably be large enough to cover their increased travel expense, plus they would be on national TV more often in all sports, and would probably sell quite a few more tickets to home games in the revenue sports.

Inertia is a tough thing to overcome and it may be enough to dissuade any other Big West school from joining UC Davis in jumping to the MWC.  But if any of them have ambitions to increase their national sports media profile and probably net a little more cash as part of the deal, I think they would be tempted to go.  Both UCSB and UCI could have such ambitions, as both were members of the Big West back in its glory years when it was featured in Big Monday telecasts and UNLV and San Jose State (along with Fresno State, Utah State, and New Mexico State) were conference mates. 

 

Nice to see you acknowledge what the old league was like.

[HawaiiMongoose]

On 4/16/2025 at 5:30 PM, jdgaucho said:

 

Nice to see you acknowledge what the old league was like.

I'm old, LOL.  In the late '80s I worked in Washington D.C. when Georgetown basketball was huge.  Those were the years Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo were stars.  Everyone in town watched Big Monday telecasts featuring the Hoyas and other Big East teams.  I admit that I rarely stayed up late enough to watch the Big West games, but I knew they were part of the package and of course everyone was familiar with Tark and the Runnin' Rebels.  UCSB also had some very good teams during that period.

[BoneYardNIU]

 

[jdgaucho]

On 4/29/2025 at 12:31 PM, BoneYardNIU said:

 

 

GCU won't do it, but it wouldn't hurt them to join the Big West for '25-'26 if they can't move into the MWC early. Give the Big West a $1 million check for a one year stay, with the caveat that GCU gets it back if for whatever reason they renege on the MWC. Win win. Maybe keep them around for men's soccer too.

It's not like Davis and Hawaii will care anyway.  

[BoneYardNIU]

On 4/29/2025 at 3:08 PM, jdgaucho said:

GCU won't do it, but it wouldn't hurt them to join the Big West for '25-'26 if they can't move into the MWC early. Give the Big West a $1 million check for a one year stay, with the caveat that GCU gets it back if for whatever reason they renege on the MWC. Win win. Maybe keep them around for men's soccer too.

It's not like Davis and Hawaii will care anyway.  

I believe that NCAA rules prohibit GCU joining for “just basketball” as suggested in the video.

If the WAC won’t allow them to stay for an extra year and joining the MW earlier than scheduled creates unnecessary chaos with the media contracts, tournament payouts, etc., the best thing may be for them to officially claim Independent status but join the MW as an affiliate for every sport that the MW sponsors other than Men’s and Women’s basketball but arrange a scheduling agreement for those two sports, as a way to circumvent that prohibition. They can join as full members as planned for 2026. They could also seek affiliate status a year earlier (in those other conferences) for those sports that the MW doesn’t sponsor that they would be housing elsewhere in 2026 anyway.

[UtGrizfan]

On 4/29/2025 at 2:38 PM, BoneYardNIU said:

I believe that NCAA rules prohibit GCU joining for “just basketball” as suggested in the video.

If the WAC won’t allow them to stay for an extra year and joining the MW earlier than scheduled creates unnecessary chaos with the media contracts, tournament payouts, etc., the best thing may be for them to officially claim Independent status but join the MW as an affiliate for every sport that the MW sponsors other than Men’s and Women’s basketball but arrange a scheduling agreement for those two sports, as a way to circumvent that prohibition. They can join as full members as planned for 2026. They could also seek affiliate status a year earlier for those sports that the MW doesn’t sponsor that they would be housing elsewhere in 2026 anyway.

Also with the WAC on life support no way are they going to allow anyone to leave early. They need as much time as possible to try and save their Conference, granted I think this time they wont be able to unless they convince a few D2 teams to move up or try and get some Southland schools back.

Sac State might end up being a temporary blessing in disguise if they're able to park their Olys there for a few years to give them more time to find members.

[Billings]

On 4/16/2025 at 1:22 PM, UtGrizfan said:

I think minimum the ACC will lose 6 teams and potentially up to 10 teams, if ND however is hellbent on keeping the ACC together to ensure its Football Independence I think it will stop a good number of schools from jumping to the Big12. What I think could happen (based on rumors/speculation the P4 wants to have 20 teams per Conference) and what I'd like to see:

BIG10: Grabs FSU and Clemson getting to 20 teams

SEC: Grabs UNC, Virginia, NC-State and Duke to get to 20, they usually avoid dual Markets but Duke Basketball is to valuable and NC-State will probably be a package deal.

Big12: Where what I'd like to see comes into play more then anything, I think they get Louisville and then they add SDSU, Boise and Oregon State to get to 20 teams. If they don't get Louisville add Wazzu or UNLV.

ACC: Backfills with Memphis, Tulane, USF, UConn and to get to 20 could add any from the following list - *Army, *Navy, *Air Force, Rice, ECU. Will depend on how focused on Academics they want to be.

(* = Football Only, in this scenario they go out and get Oly only teams in addition to Academy Football to ensure Basketball NET doesn't get smacked)

not sure show Notre Dame stops an ACC school from jumping to a conference offering a better deal than the ACC does.  HOW????