Anyone else seeing/hearing rumors about

[Central Coast Ute]

Utah being a target for the SEC and B1G? I’m seeing KU, TCU, and Utah being targeted by the B10 and SEC. Just curious what everyone else is hearing if anything.
I know some people are over the topic of realignment and won’t believe anything until they see it. I’m with you. But it’s the off season and not much else to speak of right now.

[Ute Dub]

What does for the round mean?

[Central Coast Ute]

Sorry, I’m not sure how it came out like that. I fixed it.

[CB]

I haven’t heard that. Wanna post a link?

[Central Coast Ute]

No links from websites yet. I’ll post one when I see. Hopefully, tomorrow. Just wondering what others may be hearing.

[MDUte]

Yea I’m always following this topic but not seeing anything credible that has Utah in this round. Of the schools you listed, I only saw the bit about Kansas being a potential target for the SEC but it wouldn’t be anything immediate or in this round. It was more about if/when the ACC blows up, if the SEC gets UNC, Virginia, and already has Kentucky, and if MBB becomes more valuable because of maybe splitting off from the NCAA so the power leagues can retain more of the revenue from the NCAA Tournament….then Sankey will have formed a very powerful MBB conference as well to go along with Football and Kansas would be very attractive to add in that scenario.

One thing that is interesting about the Kansas scenario is that it would also make the possibility of fhe 4 corner schools being a target for the SEC as well as the B1G. Up until the possibility of Kansas was put out there, all reports suggested that the SEC kicked the tires on westward expansion but decided against leaving their traditional Southeast footprint. Kansas would be one step away from the mountain west. I’d still prefer the B1G over the SEC because it would put Utah back with SC, Oregon, Washington etc. But beggars can’t be choosers and if the SEC expanded west to take Utah and the 4 corner schools, I certainly wouldn’t complain. Anything to secure our future in the Super League. But it would be nice to have 2 viable paths forward as these next rounds play out.

[AlohaUte]

The SEC expanding west makes a ton of sense if there are indeed going to be two super leagues. Arizona State l, in particular, just seems like a perfect fit for the SEC in such a scenario.

[concerned]

I saw an article yesterday that the Big 10 is interested in FSU but not Miami or Clemson, and that the SEC wants UNC and UVA. No mention of schools further west. Go figure. FWIW.

[pedro]

I had a columnist from the UCF area message me about this exact thing. It sounds like Utah is in a good position right now, but there is a lot, A LOT, that needs to be worked out.

FWIW, I have zero faith our current leadership can get it done. Whit will need to play a prominent role, even more than he did for the PAC 12 invite.

[Central Coast Ute]

Good info. Thanks, Pedro. I wouldn’t think it would be within the next few months for sure, but it seems some chips are beginning to fall, and the B12 might get picked apart.

[MDUte]

Locked On B12 is going to be talking about it in tomorrow’s podcast.

Locked On B12: Why SEC, B1G want to take expansion B12 teams

[Yergensen]

@Pedro, is there inside info or experience that is the reason for your lack of faith in U leadership?

From the outside looking in we know Randall acknowledged being associated with the $50m/team PAC12 ESPN ask and there were claims Harlan didn’t do great in selling USF to the Big 12. I’m curious what your reasons are.

[pedro]

Not trying to be a tool, but a lot of my feelings are based on what I have seen and keep hearing. Having said that, it would not be appropriate to say anymore. I hope I’m wrong and will be happy to admit it if I am.

I will share this… when we were courting the PAC, Dr Hill, K Whit and Pres Young were heavily involved. AND they were more than willing to negotiate, pretty much to any degree, just to get the U in. They had seen the writing on the wall regarding realignment, understood it and were doing what they needed to to make sure we weren’t left out.

[PAC12Teams]

Locked on Big122l on YouTube will be talking about Utah, TCU tomorrow possible movement. Dude’s Not a big fan of Utah, refers to Kyle as Utah’s crazy Uncle.

[Gugstanley]

I hope the move happens and I would prefer the SEC. My gut feeling is we are stuck in the BIG 12+

[Trailgoat]

Agree. Who knows how it all shakes out. Guessing the top shelf league mirrors the NFL with 32 to 40 teams. At some point the SEC, BIG, ESPN, and Fox will rip the bandaid off and form their own league with the top money generators. Not sure Utah has the financial donor support, competent administration, or media market share to be in the top tier. All depends how many club members Fox, ESPN, BIG and SEC want to invite. Cheering the Utes on either way.

[MDUte]

Just watched it and there wasn’t anything in there. The whole thing was just a tease headline to get people to click and listen to the podcast. Cliff’s Notes: The B12 guy, Drake Toll, interviewed a BYU podcaster who calls himself B12 Mafia and had this BYU guy share his opinions for 8 min. Anyone on here could do the same and it would carry the same amount of weight…zero.

[krindor]

Sounds like it’s mostly from that ranking/listing Altimore put together a while back…but it’s become an Oroboros at this point.

Altimore ranked teams, and podcasts reacted.
Then over the next month, articles were written (based on Altimore’s rankings) and now podcast are reacting to those articles as if it’s something new or corroborating evidence instead of just the same thing.

Bottom line it’s not a lot of noise from various sources about Utah (or other teams) moving…it’s the same noise repeated again and again.

The USA Today article referenced by Toll is a CornhuskersWire article listing the top ten possible B1G expansion candidates based on Altimore’s list

[FountainofUte]

I’ve not seen any rumblings about SEC going west. But I will say this…

While the SEC wants to remain regional to the SE, if cfb really does break into two conferences, if you’re the SEC, you can’t let the B1G be the only one with coast-to-coast inventory. That would be completely idiotic to let that happen.

The B1G already got a huge jump on the SEC getting western inventory. If the SEC were smart they’d gobble up the 4 corners schools sooner than later. If they don’t the B1G will eventually take the best if not all of the 4C schools.

[The Miami Ute]

I think the only thing off with your theory is that the SEC probably believes that they can continue to march with their current constituents and nothing will change. They probably believe that they have such an overwhelming advantage in football related matters that actually adding more programs to the conference dilutes the product.

[FountainofUte]

Yeah, I kinda figure that’s what their line of thinking is. Double down on being THE highly regional conference.

[AlohaUte]

This is especially true if/when the B1G gets into the South. If the B1G were to land UVA, UNC, FSU, and aTm (and I’d grab GA Tech due to being in Atlanta) they are essentially in every major market that the SEC is in. The B1G would likely dominate in national appeal. The SEC would be super short sighted to not go west if they can. Just getting the Phx, Denver, and SLC markets would help a lot. They’d also be smart to consider getting into Vegas and San Diego and the Bay area.

[FountainofUte]

I don’t know. Not even the PAC-12 could hold their nose long enough to take UNLV.

(Had the P12 held together post LA defections, I was actually a proponent of taking UNLV and SDSU and stay regional west. But I was definitely in a minority.)

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