The PAC-12's realignment push for SMU and San Diego State is well-known, but the Big-12 may make their own splash in realignment. News emerged of the 

Big 12's discussions with Fresno State president Saúl Jiménez-Sandova

l. Adding Fresno State to the Big 12 gives the conference a California market and potentially brings the conference closer to adding Gonzaga. However, it makes Big 12 membership less ideal for West Virginia, Cincinnati, and UCF. 

Big 12 membership is a step up from the Mountain West for Fresno State, but the bowl partners for football are hardly good fits. Below is a table of the distance from Fresno to the Big 12's bowl partners:

The closest bowl game to Fresno is the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix which has the second-to-last selection in the Big 12's bowl order. Even then, the Big 12's Texas schools and BYU are more attractive options than Fresno State. 

If Fresno State joins the Big 12, we may see the Bulldogs rotate in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, the First Responder Bowl, and the Armed Forces Bowl in the next couple of years in the bowl cycle. The Big 12's bowl partners will likely pass over the league's only California school, leaving either the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, or First Responder Bowl to choose the Bulldogs. 

The Bulldogs' possible entry into the Big 12 may force the conference to pursue the Holiday Bowl or Las Vegas Bowl as a bowl partner. BYU and Fresno State have ties to the Holiday Bowl through their past membership in the WAC and the conference would be a better fit than the ACC. The same applies to the Las Vegas Bowl which has the Big Ten or SEC playing the Pac-12, which Fresno State and BYU both appeared in as Mountain West members.

The Big 12 adding Fresno State would cause ripples to the college football landscape, but it could force the Big 12 to make significant additions to its bowl lineup. If the Big 12 does not make changes to its bowl lineup, Fresno State could have some tough bowl trips to make should they join the conference. 

What Adding Fresno State Means to the Big 12 Bowl Picture

Charleston is one of the South’s most beautiful cities and has long been a vacation spot for snowbirds looking to escape the cold of the Northeast. On two separate occasions, the city tried to take advantage of this by applying to host bowl games, proposing the 

. Both attempts failed and the city instead settled for an all-star game in 2013 and 2014.

Now, Charleston can boost its tourism industry thanks to some wild turns in conference realignment. Despite being called the Big South, two of the conference’s football-only members are in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. Robert Morris joined the conference for football in 2020 after departing the Northeast Conference (NEC) for the Horizon League, while Bryant joined for football in 2022 after also leaving the NEC for America East.

Naturally, it’s hard for Robert Morris fans and Bryant fans to be excited about games in the OVC-Big South alliance due to the vast geography of the partnership. Both schools traded regional rivals for games with Eastern Illinois and Lindenwood. However, the Big South and OVC can make the most of this bleak situation by taking advantage of its two most favorable locations in terms of weather.

The Big South and OVC should give each school two permanent matchups per year and in the process have Bryant and Robert Morris play either Charleston Southern or Gardner-Webb every year as one of their permanent matchups. The alliance should mandate that the matchups Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb host against Robert Morris or Bryant be played in November to encourage fans of the two schools to visit.

This idea finds inspiration in the origin of bowls, which served as excuses for tourists from the Northeast and other cold environments to leave their homes for warmer weather in the Winter. While the weather in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and Moon Township, PA is not horrible, I am sure Bryant and Robert Morris fans would love an excuse to get away from the cold and experience Charleston, South Carolina or Boiling Springs, North Carolina.

Increasing fan involvement could make Robert Morris and Bryant less likely to leave Big South. Of course, travel would be a problem with this arrangement, but the OVC-Big South Alliance is full of far trips for the Bulldogs and Colonials. The alliance might as well make these trips worthwhile for alumni, students, and players. In the end, the OVC-Big South Alliance needs to get back to the heart of bowl games to increase Bryant and Robert Morris’ satisfaction.

Big South

How Can the Big South Can Increase Northeast Fan Interest

Despite coming into their home game against Columbia last year as heavy underdogs with an 0-3 record and being outscored 200-45 with two losses by 59 points, the Wagner Seahawks put up a spirited effort against the Lions. The Seahawks trailed only 7-0 at halftime before the Lions pulled away for a 28-7 win in the first meeting between the schools.

This year was supposed to be the return trip to Manhattan. Emphasis on supposed to. Earlier this week, the Northeast Conference released its schedule for the 2023 season. Absent from Wagner’s schedule was their October 7 road visit to Columbia. Losing this game hurts, as in-state and inter-borough rivalries are good for Northeast college football. However, the loss of this game stings beyond losing a regional rivalry.

Since 2017, Columbia has had multiple home games per season broadcast on SNY, the television home of Mets home games. In 2017, SNY aired all five Columbia home games and since 2018, 

Beyond airing games live, arguably the biggest benefit of this contract is SNY’s tape-delay broadcast of Columbia games. In 2018, Columbia home games received eight tape-delay airings, while the Lions’ 2019 game against Penn received 

 from October 19-October 23. For instance, here is SNY’s Columbia tape-delay schedule from 2018:

As mentioned before, SNY is the TV home of the Mets and while RSNs continue to struggle, SNY is not one of them. SNY has a carriage of over 

 nationally, including over eight million homes in the Mets home market of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Northeast Pennsylvania.

Logically, there is likely a large intersection between Mets fans or Columbia fans/alumni in the Mets TV market. The same can be said about Wagner fans/alumni in New York City that happen to be Mets fans. As a result, a Wagner-Columbia game on SNY would have been appointment viewing for several people, potentially hundreds of thousands of them.

SNY usually simulcasts their Columbia games on ESPN+. It is likely that several Mets fans may just pay for a TV provider who carries SNY and not ESPN+, so the network likely gets significant viewership from both sources rather than just one over the other. Of course, live viewership is one thing, but the tape-delay viewership of a Columbia-Wagner game on SNY would have aided the Seahawks immensely. 

SNY would likely have aired the re-run of the Columbia-Wagner game as filler programming multiple times throughout the week, giving the Seahawks significant exposure that their Northeast Conference counterparts lack. A competitive game aired multiple times would have significantly improved the national perception of a Wagner program that has a 2-34 record since 2019.

Instead of facing Columbia on October 7th, the Seahawks now have an open date. The Seahawks lost an opportunity for exposure outside of the 

 with ESPN3, which is separate from ESPN+ and requires a cable subscription or a streaming subscription with a service like YouTubeTV or Hulu, services that both cost over $60/month. 

By losing the Columbia game, the Seahawks lost an opportunity to increase their brand in the New York/New Jersey area and potentially win recruiting battles against their fellow NYC metro NEC school, LIU.

Columbia's Absence From Wagner's Schedule a Huge Loss

Yesterday, St. Francis (Brooklyn) shocked the college athletic world by 

 after this academic year. This puts the Northeast Conference on shaky ground with only eight members. Earlier this week, I wrote about how the other St. Francis, the one in Western Pennsylvania, has even more reason to leave the Northeast Conference, further weakening the conference.

If you’ve read this far, or even read just the title, you know what I am hinting at. Yes, I do realize adding Chicago State, a school with an undergraduate enrollment of 1,502 and an endowment of

 as of 2016, and a location almost 1000 miles away from the furthest east NEC member and 600 miles away from its closest member is a bit wild.

However, I am showing the merit of Chicago State’s case for the conference because there is some. Chicago State was willing to routinely make trips to Las Cruces and Seattle for nearly a decade in the WAC, so they would be willing to join a conference center in the Northeast that has a media deal. 

Furthermore, Chicago State looks to be competitive again going 11-20 with key wins over Coastal Carolina, Valparaiso, and even CBI participant Southern Indiana. Chicago State’s RPI of 305 was better than six NEC teams, more than half of the league, so the Cougars can add competitive value to the NEC.

I am not saying Chicago State is the biggest attraction in the Windy City, but they do provide some presence in the nation’s third-largest media market. This comes in handy when looking at the NEC’s relationship with regional sports networks or RSNs. This past basketball season, the NEC had 

Having Chicago State in the conference could open up a TV deal with Marquee Sports, the home of the Cubs which airs

 five Illinois State men’s basketball games per season

. This would be huge for the NEC’s visibility as Marquee Sports Network is available not only in the Chicago Cubs’ 

, which stretches to Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana but nationally on 

 and over-the-top subscription streaming service 

Not only does this help from a money perspective, but this helps the NEC’s universities from an exposure and enrollment perspective. The NEC’s current members could see increases in enrollment from prospective Midwestern students who would see these programs on their local RSN or playing on a TV at the local Buffalo Wild Wings on a random weekend. Without adding Chicago State, such an application and enrollment increase is likely impossible.

 to consider adding a football program. Chicago State football would increase stability for the NEC in that sport, bringing football membership to nine members. Despite the increased travel costs, an addition of Chicago State could aid recruiting in the conference through one weird circumstance.

with Soldier Field and the city of Chicago

 has been drawn out and looks close to ending with the Bears moving to the 

. So what happens to Soldier Field? Demolishing the stadium looks like an option, but the stadium may have too much history to demolish, even if it's complicated history.

Soldier Field could then become the home of Chicago State football. Rather than spend millions to build a small stadium, the Cougars could use Soldier Field as its home. NEC football coaches would then be able to not only recruit in the Chicago area but promise New England and New York/New Jersey recruits they would be able to play in an NFL stadium twice in their career. Although it’s not much, it’s more than what peer conferences like the Big South and even the CAA can tell their recruits.

The Northeast Conference needs to make a move and after losing members from the strangest of circumstances, it may require outside-the-box thinking to help the conference survive. Chicago State needs a conference and the Northeast Conference needs stability. This may be an awkward, but necessary marriage.

What Adding Fresno State Means to the Big 12 Bowl Picture

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