The U Presidents care most about academic profile, networks want new money.
Geography does play a role as most conferences want to be contiguous to keep travel cost down and rivalries up, but it is behind the first two.
The first two drive more money in the minds of the Presidents that vote and the networks that are paying most of the bills. Affiliating yourself with high academic schools helps the Presidents raise money for the University. They know this from experience. The networks like ESPN are looking to get new states and new money to combat their decline. They can either eat in the other dogs bowl (other networks) or find new ways to get money from passionate fans that they don't have already.
Thus the days of just getting the schools close by are the opposite of what we have seen the last 10 years for the most part.
Follow the money, how do the University Presidents raise more money for their schools and how do the networks make more money? That's the conversation that keeps both of them awake at night.
They have to feed the beast that always wants more! [Post edited by Stech at 08/15/2016 07:37AM]
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Posted: 08/15/2016 at 07:37AM