Sources: UNLV exploring options after USU defects
UNLV is expected to reengage in conversations with the Pac-12 after its commitment to the Mountain West earlier in the day was not formalized, sources told ESPN
UNLV Exploring Options After USU Joins PAC
- Thread starter rebswin2
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This whole thing is crazy. So many twists and turnsSources: UNLV exploring options after USU defects
UNLV is expected to reengage in conversations with the Pac-12 after its commitment to the Mountain West earlier in the day was not formalized, sources told ESPNwww.espn.com
Correct. The commitment they made was based on all 8 teams staying. With USU out, it changes everything. Bottom line, the 6-PAC is now 7 and both "12"s are in the conversation.
Thank god. Go to the Pac12 already. Keep Hawaii football and Gonzaga basketball and you have a quality league. Strong light heavyweight division.
What a cluster. Why would the PAC 12 want Utah St over UNLV?
Must be about exit fees or something.
Must be about exit fees or something.
I think they wanted both of us. We turned them down thinking USU was staying in the MWC. Once USU accepted the Pac12 invite UNLV put the breaks on and said we only agreed to stay in the MWC if all 8 had agreed. So now we are exploring our options again. Hopefully the Pac12 will take us.
What a cluster****. AFA and UNLV make a commitment to stay and then USU bolts? PAC 6 getting a little desperate? **** all those schools except Fresno St.
SDSU is blackballing us.
Thank sweet 6lb 8oz baby Jesus we had that provision.
Are we done exploring options now. Can we just please call the Pac12 and work on getting us in. No wonder the donors are pissed off the way we handle things. Gives the BOR another reason to say they need to hold our hand because we make stupid decisions. Staying in the MWC was the worst thing we could do.
In a weird twist, could the AAC suddenly be in the mix?
Their was an article outlining that their commish might use Air Force and UNLV as a chip to help keep Memphis by bolstering the conference. Which is weird since it's two more mouths to feed...
Well I'm guessing that it came out as we are exploring options is because the Pac12 turned us down when we went back this afternoon hat in hand and said we are sorry but can we get that invite again. We may be talking with the AAC. Either way staying in the MWC was the worst possible decision anyone could have made. Take the Pac12 if still available or call the AAC and see if they are still open for us.
SDSU doesn't have any power. Money talks. If we make sense financially to the PAC 12 we will get an invite
We did and turned it down and now are back in negotiations..
I think there was some merit (not a lot but some) in attempting to keep conference together..
UNLV was smart not to sign anything in blood with the MWC conference in case anybody else broke ranks.
USU broke.
PAC still needs an 8th if not 9th team to fill out football..
It's interesting that it's being reported that UNLV and AFA are in communication. What that means I don't know.
Package deal to AAC?
UNLV and AFA academy weighing worth of attempting to rebuild MWC with USU now gone?
If AFA changes course and joins AAC my hope is UNLV either follows or makes the jump to the PAC.
I cannot see any way and I don't care how much money it is, UNLV can think trying to rebuild the now 6 team MWC is a viable path forward.
I love how UNR isn't in any of this conversation. Screw 'em!
UNLV is clearly the top prize here. The facilities, the arenas, the market, and.. well... Vegas. It makes me wonder if UNLV is in the power position here and is being courted by more than one conference, waiting for the best offer
UNLV is clearly the top prize here. The facilities, the arenas, the market, and.. well... Vegas. It makes me wonder if UNLV is in the power position here and is being courted by more than one conference, waiting for the best offer
Also, has anyone mentioned that the PAC is in discussions with Gonzaga? That is being reported by the AP.
Was reported briefly as done deal. Then shot down.
Still a possibility but might be on back burner until football mess is figured out.
It’s a whirl wind for sure. Things are literally changing hourly. It is interesting that UNLV and Air Force are seemingly negotiating together. Nothing would surprise me at this point. Just hope they make the best decision.
Air Force and UNLV could be a difference maker if they team together whether it be into the PAC or to the AAC.
100%
8s the minimum but 9 is actually perfect to get your 8 conference games. No unbalanced schedule.
Stick at 9 until 2030? 2031? when all this stuff goes haywire again.
Streamlines the conference. You aren't having to spread the wealth with too many mouths to feed.
Leaves room to expand if the money or opportunity arises that makes sense.
Not sure they would do it or it even makes sense to do it but AAC could make a power move and absorb/merge with entire remaing MWC.
PAC would be in utter disarray at that point.
All these teams are doing what they can to position themselves for the ultimate consolidation. It could be two super conferences (SEC and B 10) with everyone else chasing crumbs. Or three ( add the B 12 or ACC ) But the ultimate goal is to be part of the "Final Solution" and not get left behind so far your program is completely irrelevant.
I think we have no choice now but to play our card soon and join the PAC or ACC. ( I'd prefer PAC due to travel issues ) Either conference should be good enough that if a team can dominate - be a consistent CFP selectee in addition to a consistent NCAA Tournament selectee - it can be in a position to get in the B12 and possibly be sitting with adults rather than children when it all shakes out.
I think we have no choice now but to play our card soon and join the PAC or ACC. ( I'd prefer PAC due to travel issues ) Either conference should be good enough that if a team can dominate - be a consistent CFP selectee in addition to a consistent NCAA Tournament selectee - it can be in a position to get in the B12 and possibly be sitting with adults rather than children when it all shakes out.
AAC absorbing/merging with the MW would be hilarious.
With the commitment of their top programs in hand, they’d have a chance to create a monster nationwide conference. The MW 6 (or 7… not sure how Hawaii factors in to $’s or votes) each walk away with $20 million + each and maybe agree to take a half share from the AAC for a couple years… which actually helps the AAC if those teams invest in their programs.
And basically cripple the “niche” northwest PAC 7.
I’d probably go ahead and invite Hawaii as football only to stick it up there further.
Not gonna happen but would be hilarious.
Expanding on it further…
I’d think a move like that could make the AAC the premier G5 league. With a little math and some scheduling tweaks you could almost guarantee your top team a spot in the CFP.
First you use some kind of math formula so that your best teams aren’t playing TOO many of your worst teams. Then setup your own 4 team playoff.
Split your league into East and West, then split the divisions into 5 team groups. Maybe those groups change year to year, but the East and west remains. I have no idea if any of that would work but if it’s possible you do it.
You also blackball the PAC from any of your top teams playing any of them.
And then when everyone is fast asleep in their comfy little beds you go burn down their headquarters and blame it on Idaho.
I’d think a move like that could make the AAC the premier G5 league. With a little math and some scheduling tweaks you could almost guarantee your top team a spot in the CFP.
First you use some kind of math formula so that your best teams aren’t playing TOO many of your worst teams. Then setup your own 4 team playoff.
Split your league into East and West, then split the divisions into 5 team groups. Maybe those groups change year to year, but the East and west remains. I have no idea if any of that would work but if it’s possible you do it.
You also blackball the PAC from any of your top teams playing any of them.
And then when everyone is fast asleep in their comfy little beds you go burn down their headquarters and blame it on Idaho.
For me, it's not so bad because now bother the MW and Pac 12 need us and we are negotiating to find the better deal.
Not accepting the PAC invite must be about $$. Can’t imagine why else UNLV would conditionally commit to MWC. My guess is the PAC invite was without any $$ to help pay the MEC exit fee. Given UNLV’s financial position we unfortunately cannot make a decision based solely on quality of conference. This is a super high stakes game. Sure how Whitfield doesn’t give an ounce of allegiance to the MWC just bc he is the current chair.
That new AAC will have a lot of bloat, and with that many teams, with only a handful of upper end G5 football schools, there is a chance that the SOS tanks because all of the top teams will not be playing each other every year.
The PAC would be stronger top to bottom, much leaner, with a comparable amount of top teams. So I would say the PAC has an edge.
yeah, agreed. And the more schools that leave the MWC, the bigger the pot of money gets. If, as a result of USU leaving, Air Force decides to go to the AAC, then that adds to the total pot of money that will be left for the remaining schools.
Hypothetically, lets say that there ends up being somewhere in the vicinity of $200 million worth of exit fees and penalties (if AF leaves), and there are only 5-6 schools remaining (Depending on how Hawaii is viewed), then the remaining schools could wait it out, collect the money, and then vote to dissolve the conference but with an extra 30-40 million each. It would be risky, because you don't know where you're going to end up, but the remaining schools would have to know that the next media deal wouldn't be close to as good as the current one.
I hear ya… but I think there’s multiple strategies you can use to 1. Strengthen the schedules of your best teams and 2. Weaken the ability of the PAC to strengthen their SOS.
Ultimately if the MW were to merge with the AAC then that leaves little or no options for teams that the PAC can add without weakening their conference.
So much of SOS is at least initially based on perception. Perception is gonna be influenced by bias. Bias is gonna be influenced by familiarity. The AAC with a much larger footprint is gonna benefit from that. East coast bias anyone?
I mean, the whole thing is clusterf***, but I don’t think it’s as far fletched as it sounds.
As posted on my board:
"Ok, had my coffee, no new news (yet) on this debacle. So after consulting with insiders and a couple of deities, here's how it went down:
Teresa, who Friday said she was "swinging for the fences", thought she had Memphis, Tulane and who knows who in the AAC in the bag - apparently with a lame $2.5M offer to help with their $20M+ exit fees. Makes me wonder what we offered to the MW traitors in terms of exit fee help. Probably not much. She promised them that we had those schools lined up to form this "super G5" conference. She got played, as did the traitors by believing her.
Teresa F-ed up by not offering UNLV from the get-go. The Pac now holds no cards. UNLV has all the cards. The traitors must be screaming at her voicemail.
If UNLV bolts, we have an "OK" league of 8 teams. At a huge cost.
This Gonzaga talk is BS. We would give them a full share of mostly FB money in exchange for a share of their NCAA BB credits? All this revenue that Gonzaga brings beyond that goes to - Gonzaga. We won't share in their OOC game revenues or home game $ or anything else. NCAA credits are < FB revenues. Absolute stupidity.
Her single-minded desire to keep her job has screwed the pooch.
We should have just pushed the reverse merger from the beginning. Bringing in all of the MW would have been way better than the shitpile we have now.
Even if UNLV bolts, the Pac-2 Presidents need to go back to Gloria, call timeout, and go back to the MW and beg for the full merger. Even if that means we join the MW and lose our future $30M in BB credits. Helluva lot cheaper than what we are looking at now. And whichever way it goes, Gloria become Commissioner and Teresa gets a desk in the corner somewhere.
For 2025, WSU needs to go out and get (not my term) body bag games, starting with Ole Miss to bring in some extra money."
"Ok, had my coffee, no new news (yet) on this debacle. So after consulting with insiders and a couple of deities, here's how it went down:
Teresa, who Friday said she was "swinging for the fences", thought she had Memphis, Tulane and who knows who in the AAC in the bag - apparently with a lame $2.5M offer to help with their $20M+ exit fees. Makes me wonder what we offered to the MW traitors in terms of exit fee help. Probably not much. She promised them that we had those schools lined up to form this "super G5" conference. She got played, as did the traitors by believing her.
Teresa F-ed up by not offering UNLV from the get-go. The Pac now holds no cards. UNLV has all the cards. The traitors must be screaming at her voicemail.
If UNLV bolts, we have an "OK" league of 8 teams. At a huge cost.
This Gonzaga talk is BS. We would give them a full share of mostly FB money in exchange for a share of their NCAA BB credits? All this revenue that Gonzaga brings beyond that goes to - Gonzaga. We won't share in their OOC game revenues or home game $ or anything else. NCAA credits are < FB revenues. Absolute stupidity.
Her single-minded desire to keep her job has screwed the pooch.
We should have just pushed the reverse merger from the beginning. Bringing in all of the MW would have been way better than the shitpile we have now.
Even if UNLV bolts, the Pac-2 Presidents need to go back to Gloria, call timeout, and go back to the MW and beg for the full merger. Even if that means we join the MW and lose our future $30M in BB credits. Helluva lot cheaper than what we are looking at now. And whichever way it goes, Gloria become Commissioner and Teresa gets a desk in the corner somewhere.
For 2025, WSU needs to go out and get (not my term) body bag games, starting with Ole Miss to bring in some extra money."
At least somebody understands how stupid this is and purely ego driven nonsense...
Thanks. My Coug brethren think I am a chicken little who is freaking out over nothing.
Enjoy your flights to Las Cruces and El Paso just to save a few bucks in fees... maybe spend a few dollars in the slot machines as you catch those connecting flights in Vegas where you couldve been....
I joke, but thats an ugly possibility for you..
I joke, but thats an ugly possibility for you..
How much of this is reported or conjecture?
We all know that you have a strong bias against Gonzaga. You have mentioned this several times.
Gonzage would bring big time NCAA credits, they also may allow at least a partial deal with ESPN. I don't see how a media deal would allow them to keep their TV money? If that is the deal, then they should not get a full share. You are proposing a sweetheart deal like Boise got without football. I sincerely doubt that is happening. I can see an either or. You bring ESPN and juice up our basketball take for everyone to share and you get a full share of the media deal OR you get s significantly reduced deal and keep any side deal they can work out with ESPN.
We all know you wanted a reverse merger from the jump, that was also apparently clear. It seems like even you do grab UNLV, trying to merge at that point is just ridiculous. I don't think Gloria won't penalize your at all for poaching. Whatever deal that the PAC was going to get with the reverse merger situation would definitely be worse. It would drop your bottom line annually significantly. It seems like it is much too late for that. Especially now being one team away.
With the Pac 7 suing the MWC this morning to not pay poaching fees there may be no money to pay rebels to stay
This was a little bit my point yesterday for the people wanting to “take the money”… there most likely won’t be nearly as much as thought.
