Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: Ohio to the Sun Belt?
Page: 2 of 2
mail
TWT
9/10/2025 12:50 PM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
if american and conference usa are in bad shape then thebig east is the way togo.
This Big East doesn't have and never will have football. That conference is a basketball conference.
The Big 12 has only 16 members and needs two more to catch up with the B1G/18. Just saying! ;-)
Between Iowa State and WVU we can clearly compete in football…built in regional rivalry with WVU, Cincy, bring in Toledo… who says no?
There was a point in 2021 when it wasn't clear the Big 12 was going to make it and WVU could have ended up left out in the cold. Tires were kicked on a conference featuring WVU, Ohio, UConn, Army, Buffalo and a few others.
Curious as to “who” was kicking tires on this conference.
WVU in the event the Big 12 turned into the PAC 2 or something. The rumor also included Delaware, JMU and ODU but curiously enough not Marshall and not Temple or any existing AAC team at the time. UConn of course was football only. It was going to be an upper G5 type conference like the new PAC 12. Over the longer haul WVU could be a better fit in a G5 conference with their NIL numbers where they can dominate again.

https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/2024/12/11/where-d... /
mail
person
GoCats105
9/10/2025 3:30 PM
TWT wrote:expand_more
if american and conference usa are in bad shape then thebig east is the way togo.
This Big East doesn't have and never will have football. That conference is a basketball conference.
The Big 12 has only 16 members and needs two more to catch up with the B1G/18. Just saying! ;-)
Between Iowa State and WVU we can clearly compete in football…built in regional rivalry with WVU, Cincy, bring in Toledo… who says no?
There was a point in 2021 when it wasn't clear the Big 12 was going to make it and WVU could have ended up left out in the cold. Tires were kicked on a conference featuring WVU, Ohio, UConn, Army, Buffalo and a few others.
Curious as to “who” was kicking tires on this conference.
WVU in the event the Big 12 turned into the PAC 2 or something.
A lot of people forget the Big 12 was the one in the biggest danger because for years their inherent value was tied up in two schools: OU and Texas. Brett Yormark essentially saved the conference by going to market with the B12's TV rights long before they expired just so they had something in their back pocket they could point to in case sh*t hit the fan and they needed to recruit other schools.

There's going to be an excellent televised docuseries or book written about all of this one day and it's going to be fascinating. There was a point in the PAC 12's history when they literally had the press release document ready and the press conference backdrop banners already printed for introducing OU, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State as their newest members. It all fell apart right at the 11th hour when ESPN decided to launch the Longhorn Network.
mail
OhioCatFan
9/10/2025 3:50 PM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
if american and conference usa are in bad shape then thebig east is the way togo.
This Big East doesn't have and never will have football. That conference is a basketball conference.
The Big 12 has only 16 members and needs two more to catch up with the B1G/18. Just saying! ;-)
Between Iowa State and WVU we can clearly compete in football…built in regional rivalry with WVU, Cincy, bring in Toledo… who says no?
There was a point in 2021 when it wasn't clear the Big 12 was going to make it and WVU could have ended up left out in the cold. Tires were kicked on a conference featuring WVU, Ohio, UConn, Army, Buffalo and a few others.
Curious as to “who” was kicking tires on this conference.
WVU in the event the Big 12 turned into the PAC 2 or something.
A lot of people forget the Big 12 was the one in the biggest danger because for years their inherent value was tied up in two schools: OU and Texas. Brett Yormark essentially saved the conference by going to market with the B12's TV rights long before they expired just so they had something in their back pocket they could point to in case sh*t hit the fan and they needed to recruit other schools.

There's going to be an excellent televised docuseries or book written about all of this one day and it's going to be fascinating. There was a point in the PAC 12's history when they literally had the press release document ready and the press conference backdrop banners already printed for introducing OU, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State as their newest members. It all fell apart right at the 11th hour when ESPN decided to launch the Longhorn Network.
Reminds me of the headlines circa 1969 in the Columbus Citizen-Journal (may she rest in peace) that proclaimed: Cincinnati, Louisville to Join the MAC. Fell apart at the 11th hour, when the MAC refused to raise it's self-imposed lower scholarship limit to the then D1 limit, which as I recall was 105. Oh, what could have been!
mail
person
GoCats105
9/10/2025 3:55 PM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
if american and conference usa are in bad shape then thebig east is the way togo.
This Big East doesn't have and never will have football. That conference is a basketball conference.
The Big 12 has only 16 members and needs two more to catch up with the B1G/18. Just saying! ;-)
Between Iowa State and WVU we can clearly compete in football…built in regional rivalry with WVU, Cincy, bring in Toledo… who says no?
There was a point in 2021 when it wasn't clear the Big 12 was going to make it and WVU could have ended up left out in the cold. Tires were kicked on a conference featuring WVU, Ohio, UConn, Army, Buffalo and a few others.
Curious as to “who” was kicking tires on this conference.
WVU in the event the Big 12 turned into the PAC 2 or something.
A lot of people forget the Big 12 was the one in the biggest danger because for years their inherent value was tied up in two schools: OU and Texas. Brett Yormark essentially saved the conference by going to market with the B12's TV rights long before they expired just so they had something in their back pocket they could point to in case sh*t hit the fan and they needed to recruit other schools.

There's going to be an excellent televised docuseries or book written about all of this one day and it's going to be fascinating. There was a point in the PAC 12's history when they literally had the press release document ready and the press conference backdrop banners already printed for introducing OU, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State as their newest members. It all fell apart right at the 11th hour when ESPN decided to launch the Longhorn Network.
Reminds me of the headlines circa 1969 in the Columbus Citizen-Journal (may she rest in peace) that proclaimed: Cincinnati, Louisville to Join the MAC. Fell apart at the 11th hour, when the MAC refused to raise it's self-imposed lower scholarship limit to the then D1 limit, which as I recall was 105. Oh, what could have been!
I love reading about "what if" stories. That's incredible.
mail
person
SVAC83
10/19/2025 6:35 PM
i would love to be in a conference with Marshall, James Madison, app state and ODU. Both in football and basketball. especially if the MAC isn't going to make basketball a priority.
mail
person
Deciduous Forest Cat
10/19/2025 7:18 PM
SVAC83 wrote:expand_more
i would love to be in a conference with Marshall, James Madison, app state and ODU. Both in football and basketball. especially if the MAC isn't going to make basketball a priority.
"Football drives the boat, Chief!"
mail
greencat
10/19/2025 7:23 PM
I think a MAC-Belt merger is inevitable.

Change or become extinct.
mail
OhioCatFan
10/20/2025 10:04 AM
greencat wrote:expand_more
I think a MAC-Belt merger is inevitable.

Change or become extinct.
The Big MAC! Lot's of endorsement money from McDonald's, of course.
Showing Messages: 26 - 33 of 33
MAC News Links



extra small (< 576px)
small (>= 576px)
medium (>= 768px)
large (>= 992px)
x-large (>= 1200px)
xx-large (>= 1400px)