Josh Pate On CFB Conference Realignment - Tuesday Updates (Late Kick Cut)

conference realignment has been the biggest Collective story in college football for like five years now it was at this event SEC media days three years ago that Texas and OU three years later they're going to come to the SEC so I've been waiting with baited breath as have many of you what's the next Domino to fall now I've been cryptic intentionally I've been vague intentionally when I've spoken about this not because I'm sitting on some big story quite the opposite it's because I'm sitting on general information and otherwise I'm looking through a cloud of fog just like everyone else is so this morning Brett McMurphy of Action Network puts out a really really comprehensive Story number of University presidents quoted athletic directors quoted uh TV network executive types quoted and it didn't sound good for the prospects of let's say Florida State going to the big 10 or Florida State going to the SEC that falls right in line with the feeling that I've had for a month and a half or so there was a point where I thought Florida State to the Big 10 or the SEC made a lot of sense in fact I still think it makes a lot of sense but it makes a lot of sense from a fans perspective doesn't make a lot of sense from the perspective of the people making these decisions uh and whether that's right or wrong or indifferent we'll talk about that we can we can hash that out another time but the big 12 or Independence has been where I thought Notre Dame and Clemson may be headed for a while uh I I had it told to me Point Blank by someone in a very authoritative position in the Big 10 they're not coming here whatever that means to you is whatever that means to you and that was weeks ago okay uh I certainly wasn't given permission to say that on the record well now MC Murphy's run with this so I'm telling you that's what was told to me that's the sentiment that I've heard from anyone I would believe on this it was FSU and it was Clemson now here's the thing most people I've spoken to stop there they don't include North Carolina in that they don't include Virginia in that I think there's good reason for that because while those to Florida State and Clemson may not have current access or a current invitation to one of the big two maybe if the ACC dissolved maybe North Carolina would be more attractive maybe Virginia would be more attractive for reasons that don't necessarily interest you and I but interest you know the suits that are in these rooms making these decisions there was very strong language in this Brett McMurphy piece today about how uncooperative a member institution Florida state has been and I took note of that because they didn't mention anyone else Florida State's been disruptive Florida State through no fault of their own I'd be the same way if I were you guys so I'm not faulting you at all but uh the powers that be in these other conferences that have their hands on the lever they made sure to say in this Brett McMurphy piece oo do do we really want Florida State I mean look at how look at how look at how much they misbehaved over there what would they be like in our conference they'd give you really good football games that's what they'd be like I I don't I don't really know what else to make of that you still don't know okay that's the headline here I saw some of you who were sharp enough to go back in time and find media pieces once upon a time that had people anonymously quoted as saying the big 10's not interested in Oregon the big 10's not interested in Washington both Washington and Oregon will play a big 10 schedule this year cuz they're in the conference so there were a few PE there were a few people anonymously quoted in this Brett McMurphy piece who did Say Never Say Never that's not the takeaway though I'm telling you I've been around hundreds of media types today and the takeaway has been wow well now that the SEC and the Big 10 are out the window is FSU really going to go to the big 12 is Clemson really going to go to the big 12 hey the door's not absolutely slammed shut on that okay I don't believe it's about to happen I don't believe that's eminent that door's not shut on that in other words it's easy to say that now that status quo is what it is if the ACC were to crumble tomorrow I don't know how that would happen just humor me if the ACC were to just implode in on itself and Florida State's just sitting there and Clemson's just sitting there you're telling me those conferences are really going to look as they drive by and say oh man I hope someone picks that guy up we got to get to the next town though I doubt that maybe maybe that's the case I doubt that having said that I now want to talk about the difference between how we think you and I largely versus how they think the people who are making these decisions I don't want any of this to happen let me put it perfectly clear because I don't think I've been clear enough on this I'd like to hit the rewind button not only do I not want any more realignment I'd like to undo the realignment we had I don't think Oregon has any business plan in the Big 10 okay I don't I wish Texas and know you were still the Big 12 in fact I wish the Southwest Conference and the big eight were still around so I'd love to go back to a time before I was born we can't do that though so speaking in Practical modern-day terms I think it's pretty wild how a lot of these folks make their decisions there's two schools of thought one school of thought is all right we've got the markets and the footprints and the media landscape and we want to make sure we lock down this market and that market why would we want this school we've already got those media markets that's one way to think and there used to be a lot of Merit in thinking that way nowadays and the train of thought that I buy into is an inventory based mentality and that basically sounds like this if you're the SEC or you're the Big 10 you already matter Coast to Coast whether the Big 10 has someone in Florida or not people in Florida are watching major Big 10 games so you shouldn't make your moves once you've saturated the market nationally your moves shouldn't be to go grab as many media markets as you can as much as it should be go grab as much precious inventory as you can so if I'm the SEC for example if I added Florida State and Clemson no I don't grab a huge market share in the State of Florida or South Carolina that I didn't already have what I do is I put FSU versus Oklahoma on my schedule I put Clemson versus Alabama on my conference schedule I put those pieces of inventory on the Shelf just like I put Texas versus Georgia or Oklahoma versus Auburn on the Shelf with this last round of realignment that's what realignment should be about to me and I guarantee you 98% of people watching or listening to this that's all you care about you don't care about media markets you don't care about aaou accreditation and half of you don't even know what that is and that's fine cuz it Doesn't interest you it's it's not why you watch a show like this it's not why you turn the games on on Saturday which brings me to my last Point have you noticed one of the drums we like to beat whenever this conversation is brought up have you noticed how distant the concept of fans and players has been in this conversation it always seems to be that when the biggest decisions are made in college athletics sports that ideally center around players and are built to be as big as they are because of fans when the biggest decision getting made no one mentions the player no one mentions the fan because really at the end of the day yeah we've come along and we've watched for a long time we've built these up to be major value propositions and players have come through and they've built universities up to be major value propositions But ultimately what happens is someone who really wasn't responsible for doing either of those things gets placed in a chair and they throw on a suit worth more than your wardrobe and they make these calls and I can either be upset about it I can scratch my head at it I can nod an approval at it that's the way it's going to happen I will say again as I've said for the entirety of this ordeal no one knows ultimately where this is going and I've been saying that and I've been accused of either not telling you the whole story or being intentionally vague or or click baiting whatever that means in this entire context no I really mean that there is no definitive answer there's still not today the most informed people there's several of them here guys the most informed people they'll give you their opinion you know the opinion I got a lot was hey Florida State if they do Pony up that money to get out get out of the ACC they're not doing that just to go to the big 12 okay if they don't have anywhere else to go where do they go like you know that's an impass but everyone's got their opinion no one knows every conversation wraps with I don't know man we'll see yeah we will but at least we had Brett McMurphy deliver a lot of the stuff that everyone's been whispering about in an actual piece that everyone could read publicly that's over at Action Network by the way if you want to go read that [Music]