Utah to B1G?

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Gopher_Devil

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I’ve always thought that the more you talk up a lie the easier it is to spot. This feels pretty articulate and plausible though. I’ll believe it when I see it but it’s fun to talk about it in the mean time.

Say they do come over, I think it’s good for the B1G but that makes 19 teams. Do they add another or stick with an odd number? Does the SEC respond in kind? Speculate away
 













WAGopher said:
I doubt it. Utah is neither a recruiting hot bed nor has a large TV market. Utah has 2.2 million less people than Minnesota. Why would the B1G waste a valuable member slot on Utah?
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According to 247 they have nearly 2X composite rated players than MN. Heck we just took a WR commit from there.

UU’s academics are also in line and their fanbase is considered very loyal. They recruit well across the entire west coast too. If it was the absolute last slot I’d hold out but I think there will be another wave and the B1G will add multiple more teams. In that case I’m okay with Utah being one.
 

Seems unlikely without a pair to make it an even number of teams. Not a lot of tv eyes on their own. Combine them with Colorado or maybe Syracuse or Boston College??
 





WAGopher said:
I doubt it. Utah is neither a recruiting hot bed nor has a large TV market. Utah has 2.2 million less people than Minnesota. Why would the B1G waste a valuable member slot on Utah?
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Rapidly expanding market? The present is not static, after all.
 

Just read somewhere that the average Utah family has more buying power than anywhere else in the US - high wages compared to cost of living.

I would think Utah would be a throw in with someone else (BYU?, Colorado? or Stanford?). This only makes sense if it helps bring in a reasonable partner.
 

Dumb. There's no money here to help the Big 10. Utah is a money drain. They're not a big media market, the recruiting isn't great, and they're not a national power in any sports that move the money bag needle.
 



No way. The ink's still drying on their move to the Big 12, and they're coming off of bad to mediocre football and men's basketball seasons. Making yet another conference jump in such a short time would be disastrous for the long-term future of their program.
 

Gopher_Devil said:
According to 247 they have nearly 2X composite rated players than MN. Heck we just took a WR commit from there.

UU’s academics are also in line and their fanbase is considered very loyal. They recruit well across the entire west coast too. If it was the absolute last slot I’d hold out but I think there will be another wave and the B1G will add multiple more teams. In that case I’m okay with Utah being one.
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The number of recruits vs Minnesota isn’t saying much.

Their TV market ranks 34th even after including homes in 3 other states.
  • MARKET NAME: SALT LAKE CITY
  • TV HOMES: 916,960
  • % OF US: 0.80%
  • RANK: 34
  • STATE: ID, NV, UT, WY
Compare to the Twin Cities market, which comprised 51 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, plus 7 in western Wisconsin:
  • MARKET NAME: MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL
  • TV HOMES: 1,742,530
  • % OF US: 1.52%
  • RANK: 15
  • STATE: MN, WI
The B1G has been all about bringing in TV money. If Utah joined, each school would end having less revenue.

I wouldn’t mind if Utah was in the B1G, I just don’t see it happening. Now watch, they’ll be invited tomorrow. Lol!
 

ergopher said:
Making yet another conference jump in such a short time would be disastrous for the long-term future of their program.
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I don't see a connection. If the money is right, it would be just fine for Utah. Plus they had no choice but to abandon what is currently the PAC 2 soon to be reborn in essentially a merger with the Mtn West.

Getting a spot in the Power 2 seems like a no brainer, if such an invitation were to be extended.
 

With the crazy money BYU is throwing around and them having a model that keeps them competitive in the big two sports every year, feel like that would be the better direction to go than UofU.
 

I can't believe the Big Ten would pass on Stanford and Cal and then go for Utah and ???

Financially, academically, athletically...none of it makes sense.
 

This is coming from left field if not click bait.

Given the conference revenue sharing, it’s tough to see how Utah would bring anywhere near a full equal share’s worth to the BG10. A fractional share might work. They built a nice brand the past couple decades.
 

gophernut1 said:
Just read somewhere that the average Utah family has more buying power than anywhere else in the US - high wages compared to cost of living.

I would think Utah would be a throw in with someone else (BYU?, Colorado? or Stanford?). This only makes sense if it helps bring in a reasonable partner.
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I live in Utah. I'm not sure where the high wages thing is coming from and cost of living has increased exponentially the past 5 years with everyone running away from California as fast as they can. I'm sure there is a article somewhere that says that Utah is a great place but it's very average at best.
 


howeda7 said:
Probably makes sense. Either would enable a four division football alignment, which I hope they go to.
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How would that work for the Title Game? I can't see them adding another game so the 4 becomes 2.
 

Message Board Geniuses is generally speaking a site that takes posts & somewhat mocks what is being said & overreactions by fan posts, so who knows if they're being serious when they say REPUTABLE.

In terms of Utah; it wouldn't be the Notre Dame whale which I think will always ultimately be what is wanted, when both parties can figure it out. You probably can do better than Utah; you can definitely do worse though too. I'm just not sure the Big Ten is ultimately at the "you could do worse" point in the expansion game so I'd be more doubtful of anything coming of it than something happening.
 

Dave H said:
How would that work for the Title Game? I can't see them adding another game so the 4 becomes 2.
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For the 9 games, you play the 4 teams in your division and one of the other 3 divisions on a rotating basis.

For the B1G title, you either add a 10th game that serves as a de facto semi-final where the 1st place team plays the 1st place team from one of the other two divisions, 2nd vs 2nd etc. Or if you don't want to add a 10th conference game, then the two division winners with the highest CFP ranking go to the B1G title game.

I agree they may not want to add a 10th game, as that would pretty much ensure that no one plays any decent non-conference games anymore.
 

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