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College Conference TV Money Breakdown: ACC Gains As SEC Prepares To Strike

2012-05-09T19:54:59Z

Now that the ACC has its next long-term television deal in place and the Big 12's is reportedly right around the corner, all five power conferences are established ... except for the SEC. Though it's been lapped by the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12, the SEC's additions of Missouri and Texas A&M have enabled the conference to renegotiate its current contract, with some estimates flying as high as $30 million per school per year from TV money. Estimates fly high!

As it stands, the money breakdown per conference as best I can figure it (I tried my best!), based in part on work by Kristi Dosh and Jon Solomon:


Conference	2013 $	Through
Big Ten	22M	2031
Pac-12	20.8M	2023
Big 12	20M+	2025
SEC	16.7M+*	2023
ACC	16M	2026
Big East	3.5M**	2013
Mountain West	1.17M**	2013
Conference USA	1.14M**	2015

+: This conference allows members to sell Tier 3 rights, or a certain reserved number of games that Tier 1 and Tier 2 broadcasters don't want. For example, Texas gets to put X games on the Longhorn Network that the Big 12's Tier 1 (ESPN) and Tier 2 (FOX) partners don't choose. The SEC's Tier 1 (CBS) and Tier 2 (ESPN) structure works similarly. Other conferences don't let members sell their own Tier 3 games. The Big Ten compiles all Tier 3 games on the Big Ten Network, while the Pac-12 is building something super space age-y with its Tier 3 stuff.

*: Oh ho, the big bad SEC, all broke and stuff! Just wait. When the SEC cashes in, Buzz Bissinger is going to ban college football so hard.

**: It's $17 million per member, but the ACC takes its own membership cut, so each school gets more like $16 million.

***: Went with 2013 membership ranks for these conferences, since they're all about to expand. Money should go up for the Big East by quite a bit, though not really near the upper class. Some are wondering whether Boise State's addition could help bring it to the $8 million range. If you have any estimates on how Charlotte and San Jose State will alter MOUNT USA's finances, please feel free to contribute.

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Jimmy Kimmel Tweets At Top Recruits Just Like The Rest Of The Internet

2012-05-08T21:22:15Z

Above you see Jimmy Kimmel tweeting at Anthony Bennett, the top unsigned basketball player in the class of 2012. Tweeting at recruits is popular these days, and now we have our most famous example yet.

So what do we make of this?

On one hand ... Tweeting at 18-year-old kids will never not be creepy and sort of pathetic. Sometimes the creepiness masks an actual crime -- like what happened at Ohio State over the past two weeks, if you want to go down the rabbit hole -- but usually it's just anonymous people in the ether tweeting at slightly-less-anonymous high-school prospects to tell them how badly their school needs them. Sometimes, after a recruit goes somewhere else, rival fans lash out at him, which gets really pathetic and gross. Fans tweeting at recruits is stupid.

On the other hand ... If I were on national TV like Jimmy Kimmel, I'd DEFINITELY use my influence to try and help my alma mater land a superstar high-school player. Like, constantly.

You or me tweeting at some 18-year-old kid is sad and weird; someone like Kimmel tweeting at him is kind of awesome, because said 18-year-old might actually get a kick out of it. And ultimately, who cares? 18-year-olds aren't choosing colleges based on Twitter, and Kimmel was just screwing around responding to a fan. Do we have to take ourselves that seriously?

What I'm saying is, hundreds of fans tweeting recruits is kind of creepy and sad, but if you find the Kimmel tweet equally upsetting, you might be as obnoxious and sanctimonious as the NCAA.

(Speaking of which ... It's fun and harmless, so that tweet's probably an NCAA violation somehow.)

(So is this article, probably.)

(God bless college sports.)

Baby Mimics Anthony Davis Picture

2012-05-08T17:49:10Z

At an autograph signing in Louisville over the weekend, reigning national Player of the Year Anthony Davis was handed a picture of a baby mimicking the (somewhat) famous picture UK released of Davis in the middle of this past season.

Davis signed the photo for the baby's father and then tweeted out a picture of he, the baby and the autograph. As you may have guessed, it's appropriately fantastic.

Big Sky Commish Makes Case For Idaho To Go FCS

2012-05-07T19:12:24Z

The Big Sky wants the Idaho Vandals, should they wind up without a FBS home (they will probably wind up without a FBS home. From the Idaho Statesman:

"Playing at the top of the FCS is a better situation than playing at the bottom of the FBS," Fullerton said, adding that it is nearly impossible for schools with budgets near $20 million to compete with schools like Texas and its $140 million athletic department budget.

He said Idaho could shave $3 million to $5 million from its athletic budget by moving to the Big Sky, lessening the need to play those types of payday games. Those savings would come from fewer scholarships in football and women's sports and from lower coaching salaries. Idaho, he said, could then reinvest that money into other programs.

F--- It, Sam McLaurin Is Headed To Illinois

2012-05-03T19:19:38Z

After averaging 10 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks during his junior year at Coastal Carolina, Sam McLaurin became a hot commodity when he announced his intent to transfer earlier this month. Baylor, Illinois, Georgia Tech, SMU and Virginia were among the host of schools who immediately expressed interest in the 6-8 power forward.

Ultimately, McLaurin made the announcement Wednesday night that he was headed to Illinois, and he chose to do so in perhaps most 2012-appropriate fashion ever: on Twitter and following a pair of words that usually precede "I'm going to Taco Bell."

Fuck it im going to Illinois #illinination
— #⃣5⃣ Sam McLaurin (@Category__5) May 3, 2012

McLaurin, who is eligible to play immediately next season, apologized for his language on Thursday.

Hey everyone sorry about my language last night. I was just extremely excited to be apart of #illinination
— #⃣5⃣ Sam McLaurin (@Category__5) May 3, 2012

Ah, over-excitement. The obvious culprit.

Conference Realignment: Can The WAC Survive?

2012-04-30T18:46:36Z

Begin composing your obituaries for the WAC, the original super-conference. Long fallen from its glory days of BYU winning a football national title in 1984 and membership that's included TCU, Utah and Arizona, the former 16-team football league could very soon be down to only one or two football-playing members, along with three non-football members.

The Mountain West is reportedly continuing its decade-plus of raiding the WAC, with Conference USA swooping in for its second round of WAC imports. Even the Sun Belt might pick off a school. Here's the damage at the moment:

~~Fresno St. Bulldogs~~: Leaving for Mountain West in 2012.
~~Hawai'i Warriors~~: Leaving for Mountain West in 2012.
Idaho Vandals.
~~Louisiana Tech Bulldogs~~: Reportedly leaving for Conference USA in 2013.
~~Nevada Wolf Pack~~: Leaving for Mountain West in 2012.
New Mexico St. Aggies.
~~Texas-San Antonio~~: Reportedly leaving for Conference USA in 2013.
Texas State.
~~San Jose St. Spartans~~: Reportedly leaving for Mountain West in 2013.
~~Utah State Aggies~~: Reportedly leaving for Mountain West in 2013.

Texas State and New Mexico State have both looked to escape to MOUNT USA, while the Sun Belt could have interest in Texas State. Idaho, meanwhile, appears to lack any options whatsoever. The Vandals are likely going down with the ship.

All hope isn't lost, as the WAC can still look to replenish by calling up from the FCS ranks. Brian Murphy lists Utah Valley and Cal State Bakersfield as potential additions. The WAC has also previously courted local FCS teams, including Montana State and Sacramento State, only to withstand some uncounterable sass from the Big Sky commissioner.

Being put in one's place by a FCS conference is a thing that must be avoided at all costs, but remaining a FBS conference is going to require a mess one way or another.

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PHOTO: Florida State Has New Cuddly Wuddly Mascot

2012-04-30T15:01:36Z

The Florida St. Seminoles have a mascot: a guy on a horse who throws burning stuff. It's pretty awesome. But they didn't have anything for the kids until now. Meet Cimarron, the two-legged horse who wears Christmas tree stands as shoes:

This has already resulted in much shaming and scorn around the Southeast, but I don't really get why. Your school already had a fluffy plush mascot, so it's not clear what you're laughing at. Let's all just cuddle.

MOUNT USA Not Doomed

2012-04-20T12:40:30Z

Despite reports to the contrary, UNLV's president says the great Mountain West-Conference USA merger is still sort of alive:

"We're looking at alternatives on how to actually form a new conference arrangement," Smatresk said. "We've looked at several different configurations and will decide on what is best for all our members. We're proceeding, and nothing has come apart."