GCU to the Mountain West

[Bullmastiff 1]

And that is kinda my point.

We don't have to have more than 8 football, which again isn't a terrible thing.

I mean look at it this year. CSU could sneak into the MWCG without playing the far and away 2 best teams in the conference this year. That kinda sucks.

We are already stretching ourselves with the 8 we have. We really can't afford another without it helping everyone's bottom line

If you are a commisioner and one of your top programs asked for a clause allowing them to pursue P4 opportunities with zero exit fees, you damn well better prepare yourself for that possibility.

Do I think it's going to happen? Unlikely.

Not to mention if UNLV left AFA is likely AAC bound at that point. You'd be back down to six full members.

I'm not enthralled by any of the options out there but you better be proactive here vs having to scramble again in the future.

And again any additions do not hurt UNLV. We get our money regardless. What's Wyoming gonna do? Complain and leave for CUSA because media deal drops from 5 mil to 4 mil per year? Even 3 million a year is 3x what CUSA is paying.

I'm not saying she needs 12 or 14 or 16 but 9-10 full members at least guards against potential losses down the road.

 

[dcut03]

If you are a commisioner and one of your top programs asked for a clause allowing them to pursue P4 opportunities with zero exit fees, you damn well better prepare yourself for that possibility.

Do I think it's going to happen? Unlikely.

Not to mention if UNLV left AFA is likely AAC bound at that point. You'd be back down to six full members.

I'm not enthralled by any of the options out there but you better be proactive here vs having to scramble again in the future.

And again any additions do not hurt UNLV. We get our money regardless. What's Wyoming gonna do? Complain and leave for CUSA because media deal drops from 5 mil to 4 mil per year? Even 3 million a year is 3x what CUSA is paying.

I'm not saying she needs 12 or 14 or 16 but 9-10 full members at least guards against potential losses down the road.

Cross that bridge when you get there.

Really UNLV is the only one that is a threat to leave for free.
AFA could leave for the AAC, but it seems like they would have done that this past couple of months IF that were to happen. Seemed to be locked in the MW for the foreseeable future. If they were to leave now, they have to pay a pretty penny.

Bloating the conference, hurting everyone's pockets now just to protect from teams leaving just isn't worth it. Especially if the commish is telling everyone they aren't getting any less than what they are used to, which seems very unlikely with the next contract. I don't think inflation offsets losing your 4 best markets.

So overpromising money that likely has to be offset with exit/poaching fees, that both wells could be reduced from negotiations and lawsuits. They have some wiggle room with a escrow of sorts of funds that have not been allocated, but adding more mouths to feed is going to stretch that cushion even further.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

Cross that bridge when you get there.

Really UNLV is the only one that is a threat to leave for free.
AFA could leave for the AAC, but it seems like they would have done that this past couple of months IF that were to happen. Seemed to be locked in the MW for the foreseeable future. If they were to leave now, they have to pay a pretty penny.

Bloating the conference, hurting everyone's pockets now just to protect from teams leaving just isn't worth it. Especially if the commish is telling everyone they aren't getting any less than what they are used to, which seems very unlikely with the next contract. I don't think inflation offsets losing your 4 best markets.

So overpromising money that likely has to be offset with exit/poaching fees, that both wells could be reduced from negotiations and lawsuits. They have some wiggle room with a escrow of sorts of funds that have not been allocated, but adding more mouths to feed is going to stretch that cushion even further.

We had to add UTEP to survive (sorry to any UTEP fans lurking on here). That alone should tell you how shaky of a situation the MWC is in. She could offer NMSU a half share and it's double their current deal. Same with Sam Houston State or WKU or even LA Tech. Tarleton State was talked to.

 

[LocoRebel]

I mean look at it this year. CSU could sneak into the MWCG without playing the far and away 2 best teams in the conference this year. That kinda sucks.

Especially for a conference like the MWC, where we can all want it to be a top tier league, but also all know that it will never been recognized as such, I had a thought for unbalanced scheduling.

Going to 9 teams playing an 8 game conference schedule or 10 and playing 9 games would eliminate the need for this. But here's where I'm at:

You're the MWC. You have 12 teams. You want to make sure your strongest team (or one with the best chance to "get in") is poised to be in the chair at the end of the season.

You have BSU, who is firmly in control of its own destiny. Basically as the conference, if they get in, you get the spot. But what if they don't win the conference title and someone like CSU, who has no real chance at being the highest ranked G5 team if they win the MWC wins. And they do it by avoiding the top 2 teams in the conference.

You leave the week before conference championship week open on all schedules. Or maybe you do this 2 weeks prior.

4 games into conference play, when you have already seen about where everybody is lined up, and you know who hasn't played, you force those matchups as eliminator games. Set CSU vs UNLV for that week. Give Boise another good win (or do you give them a lock in that scenario?). Get flexible scheduling on the conference road map and ensure you don't have a humpty humpty accidental winner of the conference by not beating one of your 2 or 3 good teams.


I'm sure stadiums and teams probably wouldn't love it. But you'd also draw TV eyes on the 1 or 2 match ups that mean something.

It gets your good teams in the conversation and keeps the bad teams out.

 

[Boston Rebel 2]

Recency bias.

Again, I LIKE the GCU add. I'm just saying that St. Mary's has been the better basketball program, and it isn't that close

I agree you had said they had zero wins in tourney just pointing out they do have one.

 

[RebelinWA]

Recency bias.

Again, I LIKE the GCU add. I'm just saying that St. Mary's has been the better basketball program, and it isn't that close

I wish we could get both of them. Though I believe if St Marys doesn’t follow Gonzaga, more likely they’ll want to stay to run the table in the WCC.

If I’m St Marys, I don’t take anything less than what Gonzaga got if I follow them to the Pac. I don’t think the Pac can afford that type of deal again.

 

[Pistol Pete 1]

I wish we could get both of them. Though I believe if St Marys doesn’t follow Gonzaga, more likely they’ll want to stay to run the table in the WCC.

If I’m St Marys, I don’t take anything less than what Gonzaga got if I follow them to the Pac. I don’t think the Pac can afford that type of deal again.

Or St Mary's tells the WCC they want the same deal Gonzaga had & dominate the WCC.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

We need more basketball schools period. We should be able to get GCU at a discounted share of the media revenue. They have been a quality program recently and adds a great market.
Any full fledged members that have football will likely drive the media payouts lower than what they currently are realistically. So adding GCU, and I think they should try to get St. Mary's, will get us much needed additional conference basketball games and add 1 (or 2) tournament quality programs.

Canzano is saying that GCU cost to join the MWC would be $3.5 million and they would earn $1.5 million in media rights "guaranteed" over 6 years.

edit: Forgot to post the link......

Canzano: Mountain West in pursuit of Grand Canyon

WCC playing defense with the new member.

www.johncanzano.com

 

[dcut03]

We had to add UTEP to survive (sorry to any UTEP fans lurking on here). That alone should tell you how shaky of a situation the MWC is in. She could offer NMSU a half share and it's double their current deal. Same with Sam Houston State or WKU or even LA Tech. Tarleton State was talked to.

That is an option, but having an unbalanced pay schedule is a shaky proposition that usually ends poorly.

MW regretted it with Boise. The big 12 pushed A&M to the SEC because of it.

Sure UNLV and AFA are getting more this next contract, but that is just an unequal share of the fees. The base media contract will stay the same.

Adding a poor market at a reduced share now would at least save some money, but the rewards of that are low, while the risk could be high.

If UNLV hopefully leaves in the near future ( BIG 12 2028 babaaay!!, lol). Then there will likely be some other mix ups around college sports and a more fitting option may be there in the future.

If Sam or NMSU make a jump, and they start to compete at a high level in this conference and start demanding a higher share, you will start to get in trouble. Unlikely sure, but still possible.

 

[dcut03]

Canzano is saying that GCU cost to join the MWC would be $3.5 million and they would earn $1.5 million in media rights "guaranteed" over 6 years.

edit: Forgot to post the link......

Canzano: Mountain West in pursuit of Grand Canyon

WCC playing defense with the new member.

www.johncanzano.com

Higher initial costs than I would have expected.

The WCC is going to the tubes without Gonzaga, I would imagine any of those teams are up for grabs for a reasonable price. Their TV payouts are going to tank.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

Higher initial costs than I would have expected.

The WCC is going to the tubes without Gonzaga, I would imagine any of those teams are up for grabs for a reasonable price. Their TV payouts are going to tank.

Apparently that was the offer which at this point I would think GCU would negotiate. That article is already 4 days old I'm thinking maybe they are also trying to cut a deal with the Pac12. That would make sense if they want to be in a conference with Zag basketball. It will be interesting to see where they end up.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

The longer this GCU offer/acceptance drags on it's starting to look like they took the offer over to the Pac12 to use as leverage or a bargaining chip. Again, the MW looks to be getting played.

Time to move on. Who's next?

Time to shake things up and look at St. Mary's, San Francisco, USD, and University of Denver. St. Mary's basketball speaks for itself. USF, USD, and UD cover some large ass media markets. Sure, Denver isn't in a big conference but, if it were they would have potential for some better basketball recruits. Unlike CSU and Colorado the UofD is right in the middle of the Denver market. Couldn't be any worse than UTEP and a whole bunch of upside to them.

 

[Masked_rebel]

The longer this GCU offer/acceptance drags on it's starting to look like they took the offer over to the Pac12 to use as leverage or a bargaining chip. Again, the MW looks to be getting played.

Time to move on. Who's next?

Time to shake things up and look at St. Mary's, San Francisco, USD, and University of Denver. St. Mary's basketball speaks for itself. USF, USD, and UD cover some large ass media markets. Sure, Denver isn't in a big conference but, if it were they would have potential for some better basketball recruits. Unlike CSU and Colorado the UofD is right in the middle of the Denver market. Couldn't be any worse than UTEP and a whole bunch of upside to them.

The Pac 12 isn't pursuing GCU. They don't even have a conference, why add another non-football school.
Also, we don't need to shake things up. The MWC is not in a rush or need to add multiple programs, especially those without football. We don't need to be WCC+. GCU also isn't in a rush to leave. They're a building high level basketball program in a solid mid-major conference. There's not a huge rush to go anywhere else.

 

[Meister_Rebel]

The Pac 12 isn't pursuing GCU. They don't even have a conference, why add another non-football school.
Also, we don't need to shake things up. The MWC is not in a rush or need to add multiple programs, especially those without football. We don't need to be WCC+. GCU also isn't in a rush to leave. They're a building high level basketball program in a solid mid-major conference. There's not a huge rush to go anywhere else.

Excellent thoughts. Getting back to GCU I would think that even Gloria sees how weak our conference is going to be in basketball so she was hoping to get them to help. I'm getting the same Texas State type of vibe where GCU will eventually turn us down. Where should we go then for some good basketball teams. We have UNM and UNR as the two best programs in the conference and the rest just suck. This doesn't help our media contract either.