ND AD Says D1 Breakup is Inevitable

[sutomcat]

But he is saying there will be two camps. One for schools with sports as a business and one for schools who still consider their sports programs part of the school.

Sounds like he sees ND siding with the latter. Might be ND’s first hint they are headed towards B1G membership.

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick says total Division I realignment is ‘inevitable’ - Sports Illustrated

Wholesale change is unavoidable in college athletics. The Fighting Irish athletic director thinks a total realignment of Division I is coming with it.

www.si.com

 

[rrlbees]

But he is saying there will be two camps. One for schools with sports as a business and one for schools who still consider their sports programs part of the school.

Sounds like he sees ND siding with the latter. Might be ND’s first hint they are headed towards B1G membership.

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick says total Division I realignment is ‘inevitable’ - Sports Illustrated

Wholesale change is unavoidable in college athletics. The Fighting Irish athletic director thinks a total realignment of Division I is coming with it.

www.si.com

Good but sad article.

 

[Newhouser]

I think he's right...not sure I see ND in the have not pack though. Believe that when I see it.

 

[NJCuse97]

I think he's right...not sure I see ND in the have not pack though. Believe that when I see it.

I just can’t get over how he and people like him in these positions can claim that they didn’t see this coming! We all saw this as the “levy break” moment. They all claim to be smart people and I assume they are. I can’t help but think this tearing apart is what they wanted.

 

[gmoney44]

College football slowly dies if it turns into a south and Midwest sport only. Right now most of the country has a local routing interest if they can catch lightning in a bottle. Take that away and the major college football world shrinks tremendously.

 

[kcsu]

It will be determined by economics.
He is 100% correct. Also as much as ND loves its football program it will always put academics first as will every team in the Big. All Catholic, and other religious institutions ( BYU) the entite FCS and ill assume all private colleges and Universities. I hope that this happens sooner than later.
Let the SEC become the G league of football. Isolate the pay for play schools and get back to amateur athletics that focus on education.
Let kids make money off NIL but have the conferences hammer schools that use it to recruit. The issue isnt NIL its the lack of governance.
The NCAA and its total incompetence is to blame.
Schools that are like minded can self govern. Its going to take time and unfortunately for many on this board we will only witness the mess before this gets fixed but hopefully 20 years from now things will swing back.

 

[MSOrange]

College football slowly dies if it turns into a south and Midwest sport only. Right now most of the country has a local routing interest if they can catch lightning in a bottle. Take that away and the major college football world shrinks tremendously.

Agree. The number of games I watched that I didn't have a direct rooting interest already decreased big time this past season.

 

[gmoney44]

Agree. The number of games I watched that I didn't have a direct rooting interest already decreased big time this past season.

Me too. I watched game day and multiple games in every time slot every Saturday. I would watch games from every major conference. Last year I watched only SU games and zero bowl games for the first time since I was like 7 years old.

I’ve always been an NFL fan but college football was king for me. The direction of college football has pushed me all in with the NFL.

 

[sufandu]

What he says about NIL is hilarious. How could they not have expected exactly what has transpired, when people like us that have no inside knowledge saw it coming from a mile away?

 

[sufandu]

Me too. I watched game day and multiple games in every time slot every Saturday. I would watch games from every major conference. Last year I watched only SU games and zero bowl games for the first time since I was like 7 years old.

I’ve always been an NFL fan but college football was king for me. The direction of college football has pushed me all in with the NFL.

Even gameday has become nearly unwatchable. I can only watch them talk about Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State so much. I used to like watching the whole thing. Last year when I watched at all, I recorded it and fast forwarded about 3/4 of it.

 

[All4SU]

I’ll bet I haven’t watched a college game day in more than a decade. I almost never watch other ACC teams play. I haven’t watched a complete bowl game or national championship game in years.

Some of this is because SU has been struggling and some is the move to the ACC. But mostly it’s just college sports trying very hard to lose my interest.

I’ve already stopped watching the NFL, other than a few Bills games that my wife wanted to watch. I’ve never been a big pro sports fan anyway, but it’s largely unwatchable now.

It’s a shame college sports are going the same direction. Oh well, more time for other things.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

always put academics first as will every team in the Big.

LOL. They don't even put the school ahead of gymnastics, let alone FB. They (like most) lower admissions standards, compromise classroom integrity, let players of questionable character, and cover up wrongs, all in the name of winning.
I am sure there are many more Larry Nassars and Jerry Sanduskys running around, unimpeded, because they help winning

 

[Horn88]

I just can’t get over how he and people like him in these positions can claim that they didn’t see this coming! We all saw this as the “levy break” moment. They all claim to be smart people and I assume they are. I can’t help but think this tearing apart is what they wanted.

Swarbrick is 68 and my guess is behind closed doors the candid truth for many of these P5 leaders has been “Cash the checks now and the inevitable issues down the road will be someone else’s problem.”

 

[CousCuse]

The B1G is a paragon of collegiate virtue, and Notre Dame? LOL.

 

[CU44SE]

college sports is at a cross roads. The SEC is doing everything to monopolize sports and looks to be breaking off from the NCAA. This NIL and 1 year free transfer portal has completely decimated the college sports system. It is in shambles right now. You have teams completely using NIL to bring kids in and then you have thousands of kids transferring in both sports if they don’t play in their first year. Not to mention a ton of tampering to get kids to go to the transfer portal, knowing they can play immediately if they do transfer. Tampering was harder before because you would have to sit out a year if you transfered mostly. I can’t imagine the amount of tampering has quadroopled since kids can play right away and dont have to sit out a year.

College athletics is about to die as we know it. A lot of change is coming.

 

[Hoo's That]

I disagree with the premise the B1G is devoted to academics. NWern, 100% yes. Wisconsin, 90% probably yes. The others go down the percentages until you get to OthatSU which is at 0%. Michigan is one of USN&WR's top state schools, but they wouldn't have much of a problem with franchising the Michigan name. When (not "if") D-1 breaks up along the lines the ND AD mentions, the conferences will dissolve themselves and there will be another realignment along more regionally centered lines. ND will still go the independent route until it becomes no longer feasible. The breakup may make it even more feasible to be an independent.

 

[CousCuse]

I disagree with the premise the B1G is devoted to academics. NWern, 100% yes. Wisconsin, 90% probably yes. The others go down the percentages until you get to OthatSU which is at 0%. Michigan is one of USN&WR's top state schools, but they wouldn't have much of a problem with franchising the Michigan name. When (not "if") D-1 breaks up along the lines the ND AD mentions, the conferences will dissolve themselves and there will be another realignment along more regionally centered lines. ND will still go the independent route until it becomes no longer feasible. The breakup may make it even more feasible to be an independent.

Won't Notre Dame want to play in the top echelon?

 

[OrangeFoo]

I’ll bet I haven’t watched a college game day in more than a decade. I almost never watch other ACC teams play. I haven’t watched a complete bowl game or national championship game in years.

Some of this is because SU has been struggling and some is the move to the ACC. But mostly it’s just college sports trying very hard to lose my interest.

I’ve already stopped watching the NFL, other than a few Bills games that my wife wanted to watch. I’ve never been a big pro sports fan anyway, but it’s largely unwatchable now.

It’s a shame college sports are going the same direction. Oh well, more time for other things.

Personally I think pro sports are better than they have been in years. As a Bills fan the 2nd round of the playoffs was tough, but I can’t remember a better set of 4 games in one weekend. Most of the season was like that.

The NBA is a much better product than college hoops… the offensive play making from night to night is incredible. The main thing the NBA suffers from is too many regular season games, but the playoffs are amazing.

 

[Hoo's That]

Won't Notre Dame want to play in the top echelon?

Nope. I'm sure TerryD will testify to that. What Swarbrick is really talking about is the Legacy of Father Hesburgh. What they are now is all because of him. Without Hesburgh, they probably would go to play in the semi-pro league. But not anymore. Father Hesburgh made sure everyone understood that ND was a school that had a football team and not the other way around. IIRC, there's a story that when he was named the president of ND, the photographers at the press conference wanted him to get over a football like a center and he absolutely refused. They will probably lose USC as their rival because USC will go semi-pro. I'm hoping that when they audition for a replacement that UVa gets a shot at the October in SB, November at home rotation.

 

[WoadBlue]

It will be determined by economics.
He is 100% correct. Also as much as ND loves its football program it will always put academics first as will every team in the Big. All Catholic, and other religious institutions ( BYU) the entite FCS and ill assume all private colleges and Universities. I hope that this happens sooner than later.
Let the SEC become the G league of football. Isolate the pay for play schools and get back to amateur athletics that focus on education.
Let kids make money off NIL but have the conferences hammer schools that use it to recruit. The issue isnt NIL its the lack of governance.
The NCAA and its total incompetence is to blame.
Schools that are like minded can self govern. Its going to take time and unfortunately for many on this board we will only witness the mess before this gets fixed but hopefully 20 years from now things will swing back.

It is not just the NCAA's incompetence that is to blame. It also is the fact that the NCAA kept getting greedier, which meant making deals that benefitted it as organization, which meant its execs kept getting richer.

 

[sutomcat]

I disagree with the premise the B1G is devoted to academics. NWern, 100% yes. Wisconsin, 90% probably yes. The others go down the percentages until you get to OthatSU which is at 0%. Michigan is one of USN&WR's top state schools, but they wouldn't have much of a problem with franchising the Michigan name. When (not "if") D-1 breaks up along the lines the ND AD mentions, the conferences will dissolve themselves and there will be another realignment along more regionally centered lines. ND will still go the independent route until it becomes no longer feasible. The breakup may make it even more feasible to be an independent.

I agree with you. But I think is this the rationale ND is going to go with if they abandon independence and join the B1G.

 

[WoadBlue]

Nope. I'm sure TerryD will testify to that. What Swarbrick is really talking about is the Legacy of Father Hesburgh. What they are now is all because of him. Without Hesburgh, they probably would go to play in the semi-pro league. But not anymore. Father Hesburgh made sure everyone understood that ND was a school that had a football team and not the other way around. IIRC, there's a story that when he was named the president of ND, the photographers at the press conference wanted him to get over a football like a center and he absolutely refused. They will probably lose USC as their rival because USC will go semi-pro. I'm hoping that when they audition for a replacement that UVa gets a shot at the October in SB, November at home rotation.

Charlottesville is not a prime game location Thanksgiving weekend. But Miami is. Playing in the dome in Atlanta would work as well.

So if semi-pro is coming, the matter is not one of SEC and BT getting ever richer, but of how many schools now in a P5 will make that leap. I doubt Vanderbilt would, but I assume that the other 15 in the SEC would. I can't see Ohio St allowing itself to be cut off from a shot to dethrone the SEC, and if Ohio St goes semi-pro I can't see Michigan letting the Buckeyes go without them. I can't see PSU allowing that pair to leave without it. Nike money likely would mean Oregon takes the plunge.

If SC, and 15 of the SEC, and at least the 3 BE teams with 100K stadiums all go semi-pro, I expect the vast majority of ND football boosters to demand the same move.

 

[orangenauburn]

Personally I think pro sports are better than they have been in years. As a Bills fan the 2nd round of the playoffs was tough, but I can’t remember a better set of 4 games in one weekend. Most of the season was like that.

The NBA is a much better product than college hoops… the offensive play making from night to night is incredible. The main thing the NBA suffers from is too many regular season games, but the playoffs are amazing.

I gave you a like but I disagree about the NBA slightly.

Players taking time off when they feel like it, and half assed D has taken away from regular season.

NBA playoffs are good though

 

[WoadBlue]

I disagree with the premise the B1G is devoted to academics. NWern, 100% yes. Wisconsin, 90% probably yes. The others go down the percentages until you get to OthatSU which is at 0%. Michigan is one of USN&WR's top state schools, but they wouldn't have much of a problem with franchising the Michigan name. When (not "if") D-1 breaks up along the lines the ND AD mentions, the conferences will dissolve themselves and there will be another realignment along more regionally centered lines. ND will still go the independent route until it becomes no longer feasible. The breakup may make it even more feasible to be an independent.

So how many BT teams do you think would make the move? Neither Rutgers not Maryland has the money or the fan base to do so successfully.

But what about BT pride? The BT prided itself, with the pride of Satan, on being the richest and most powerful from its inception until this very time. Wouldn't the BT want to try to move up with everyone but Northwestern to prove to the SEC that the BT is its equal in money and power? And wouldn't ND replacing Northwestern make the BT get the best feeling possible for the BT?

Is this going to be about SEC and BT as the only 2 conferences in this new division, with each having 20-24 teams? Is this division also going to be semi-pro in basketball? Baseball?

 

[kcsu]

So how many BT teams do you think would make the move? Neither Rutgers not Maryland has the money or the fan base to do so successfully.

But what about BT pride? The BT prided itself, with the pride of Satan, on being the richest and most powerful from its inception until this very time. Wouldn't the BT want to try to move up with everyone but Northwestern to prove to the SEC that the BT is its equal in money and power? And wouldn't ND replacing Northwestern make the BT get the best feeling possible for the BT?

Is this going to be about SEC and BT as the only 2 conferences in this new division, with each having 20-24 teams? Is this division also going to be semi-pro in basketball? Baseball?

Research schools are not going lose that