Because I am bored

[DonAndy]

Clearly Communist.

You lost me with that one lol.

 

[Cleatortoises]

If the money was the same I would pick the ACC. I have been watching UK football for 40 decades, I am beaten down. If UK was in the ACC this year and had UL's schedule they would end the year with one loss, in the championship game against Miami. I don't care if it is the ACC or not tell me you would not be excited to finish the regular season with one loss and be preparing to watch UK in the CFP?

Ok Methusela. 40 decades is a lot of suffering.

 

[Cleatortoises]

Where did you get those numbers? 541-594-36 is what I'm seeing.

Kentucky Wildcats College Football History, Stats, Records | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

Check out the Kentucky Wildcats College Football History, Stats, Records, Polls, Bowls and More College Football Stats at Sports-Reference.com

www.sports-reference.com

Ok buzzkill...

 

[Cleatortoises]

You lost me with that one lol.

Big ten fan= pinko commie

 

[DonAndy]

Big ten fan= pinko commie

Aw really not a fan. Just getting to where its obvious the sec hates kentucky

 

[Hush4872]

So just the AAC with the actual good football programs replaced with more commuter schools like Cincy? That conference would go bankrupt. SEC is currently the best top-to-bottom conference in football and dare I say basketball as well? Every game is basically a good game to watch. No idea why anyone would want to leave for snoozers against the likes of Wake Forest.

 

[Get_over_it]

So just the AAC with the actual good football programs replaced with more commuter schools like Cincy? That conference would go bankrupt. SEC is currently the best top-to-bottom conference in football and dare I say basketball as well? Every game is basically a good game to watch. No idea why anyone would want to leave for snoozers against the likes of Wake Forest.

Yeah I can see your point, it is much more fun to watch your team get waxed 52 to 21 or something by the likes of Alabama or Georgia every year.

 

[Get_over_it]

Ok Methusela. 40 decades is a lot of suffering.

On the bright side, thanks to Stoops I had 2 years of not suffering.

 

[Get_over_it]

So just the AAC with the actual good football programs replaced with more commuter schools like Cincy? That conference would go bankrupt. SEC is currently the best top-to-bottom conference in football and dare I say basketball as well? Every game is basically a good game to watch. No idea why anyone would want to leave for snoozers against the likes of Wake Forest.

ChatGPT doesn't agree with you:

Yes. A 14-team “Heartland Conference” made up of those schools could absolutely make serious TV money. In fact, if you’re imagining an alternate-realignment scenario, I think it could be one of the more commercially viable 14-team leagues outside the SEC/Big Ten.

Your lineup:

• Kentucky
• Louisville
• Cincinnati
• West Virginia
• Virginia Tech
• NC State
• Pittsburgh
• Virginia
• South Carolina
• North Carolina
• Georgia Tech
• Wake Forest
• Syracuse
• Duke

is basically a regional, football-heavy ACC/Southeastern hybrid.

The TV value​

The current numbers give us a useful benchmark. The ACC's current ESPN arrangement is worth roughly $240 million per year in base media rights, while the broader ACC generated about $826.5 million in total revenue in FY2025. The Big 12's current media deal is about $380 million annually. E

Every CRS Report+2

Your hypothetical league actually has some things going for it that the current ACC doesn't:

1. Huge concentration of population and TV markets

You've got:

• Charlotte/Raleigh
• Atlanta
• Washington, DC/Virginia
• Pittsburgh
• Cincinnati
• Louisville
• Lexington
• Charleston/Columbia
• Syracuse
• Morgantown

That's a very attractive footprint for ESPN, FOX, NBC, CBS, or a combination of them.

2. Lots of recognizable brands

North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, NC State, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are all schools with substantial football audiences.

And you'd have natural rivalries everywhere:

• Kentucky–Louisville
• Virginia–Virginia Tech
• North Carolina–NC State
• Pittsburgh–West Virginia
• Cincinnati–Louisville
• South Carolina–Kentucky
• Duke–North Carolina
• Virginia–North Carolina
• Georgia Tech–Clemson (if Clemson were added, which I'd strongly consider)

That's exactly the kind of inventory television networks like.

I'd estimate something like $450–600M/year​

If this conference were created today, I'd roughly put its initial media-rights value at:

Scenario	Annual TV/media rights	Per school
Conservative	$350M	$25M
Realistic	$450–500M	$32–36M
Strong bidding war	$550–650M	$39–46M
Exceptional	$700M+	$50M+

That's media rights only, before CFP money, NCAA tournament money, conference network revenue, bowl revenue, sponsorships, etc.

For comparison, the current Big 12 deal averages around $380M/year, while the SEC is around $710M/year and the Big Ten around $1.15B/year. E

Every CRS Report

So I'd expect your Heartland Conference to land above today's Big 12 but below the SEC/Big Ten, assuming the market values the teams approximately as they are today.

But there's one HUGE issue​

I would actually change your membership.

Clemson is the obvious omission.

If you're trying to maximize TV value, I'd take Clemson over at least one of the lower-value schools.

For example:

Heartland — 14

1. Clemson
2. South Carolina
3. North Carolina
4. NC State
5. Duke
6. Wake Forest
7. Virginia
8. Virginia Tech
9. Louisville
10. Kentucky
11. Cincinnati
12. West Virginia
13. Pittsburgh
14. Georgia Tech

Then I'd leave Syracuse out.

That gives you an incredibly compact geographic footprint and a ridiculous number of rivalry games.

 

[Hush4872]

ChatGPT doesn't agree with you:

Yes. A 14-team “Heartland Conference” made up of those schools could absolutely make serious TV money. In fact, if you’re imagining an alternate-realignment scenario, I think it could be one of the more commercially viable 14-team leagues outside the SEC/Big Ten.

Your lineup:

• Kentucky
• Louisville
• Cincinnati
• West Virginia
• Virginia Tech
• NC State
• Pittsburgh
• Virginia
• South Carolina
• North Carolina
• Georgia Tech
• Wake Forest
• Syracuse
• Duke

is basically a regional, football-heavy ACC/Southeastern hybrid.

The TV value​

The current numbers give us a useful benchmark. The ACC's current ESPN arrangement is worth roughly $240 million per year in base media rights, while the broader ACC generated about $826.5 million in total revenue in FY2025. The Big 12's current media deal is about $380 million annually. E

Every CRS Report+2

Your hypothetical league actually has some things going for it that the current ACC doesn't:

1. Huge concentration of population and TV markets

You've got:

• Charlotte/Raleigh
• Atlanta
• Washington, DC/Virginia
• Pittsburgh
• Cincinnati
• Louisville
• Lexington
• Charleston/Columbia
• Syracuse
• Morgantown

That's a very attractive footprint for ESPN, FOX, NBC, CBS, or a combination of them.

2. Lots of recognizable brands

North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, NC State, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are all schools with substantial football audiences.

And you'd have natural rivalries everywhere:

• Kentucky–Louisville
• Virginia–Virginia Tech
• North Carolina–NC State
• Pittsburgh–West Virginia
• Cincinnati–Louisville
• South Carolina–Kentucky
• Duke–North Carolina
• Virginia–North Carolina
• Georgia Tech–Clemson (if Clemson were added, which I'd strongly consider)

That's exactly the kind of inventory television networks like.

I'd estimate something like $450–600M/year​

If this conference were created today, I'd roughly put its initial media-rights value at:

Scenario	Annual TV/media rights	Per school
Conservative	$350M	$25M
Realistic	$450–500M	$32–36M
Strong bidding war	$550–650M	$39–46M
Exceptional	$700M+	$50M+

That's media rights only, before CFP money, NCAA tournament money, conference network revenue, bowl revenue, sponsorships, etc.

For comparison, the current Big 12 deal averages around $380M/year, while the SEC is around $710M/year and the Big Ten around $1.15B/year. E

Every CRS Report

So I'd expect your Heartland Conference to land above today's Big 12 but below the SEC/Big Ten, assuming the market values the teams approximately as they are today.

But there's one HUGE issue​

I would actually change your membership.

Clemson is the obvious omission.

If you're trying to maximize TV value, I'd take Clemson over at least one of the lower-value schools.

For example:

Heartland — 14

1. Clemson
2. South Carolina
3. North Carolina
4. NC State
5. Duke
6. Wake Forest
7. Virginia
8. Virginia Tech
9. Louisville
10. Kentucky
11. Cincinnati
12. West Virginia
13. Pittsburgh
14. Georgia Tech

Then I'd leave Syracuse out.

That gives you an incredibly compact geographic footprint and a ridiculous number of rivalry games.

The ACC isn't commercially viable and this theoretical conference is missing the biggest markets from that conference for WVU, Cincy, a second school in SC, and a second school in Kentucky.

LLMs work by telling you what you want to hear so they can keep making money. You clearly like the idea of this conference, so it will tell you it would be viable. It wouldn't be. The few desirables in this conference would be picked out by the SEC/B1G and it would be left with scraps.

 

[BlueVelvetFog]

Yeah I can see your point, it is much more fun to watch your team get waxed 52 to 21 or something by the likes of Alabama or Georgia every year.

I'm not sure I want to do this. I realize UK had a ton of success historically in basketball--as the conference was always a rec league for hoops, but I want to get better in football and excel in the league's big spotlight sport.

 

[Get_over_it]

I'm not sure I want to do this. I realize UK had a ton of success historically in basketball--as the conference was always a rec league for hoops, but I want to get better in football and excel in the league's big spotlight sport.

I mean I was just bored and just posted what AI showed me. I didn't expect people to get so riled up. I thought it would just be a fun discussion. I would love for UK to be a top SEC school also, but I just don't think we have the resources to accomplish that.

 

[BlueVelvetFog]

I mean I was just bored and just posted what AI showed me. I didn't expect people to get so riled up. I thought it would just be a fun discussion. I would love for UK to be a top SEC school also, but I just don't think we have the resources to accomplish that.

Oh no...actually I respect the amount of research you put into this. Since we're investing so much in football and the landscape the way it is-I'd like to try to hang in there. I actually liked your media research

 

[Get_over_it]

Oh no...actually I respect the amount of research you put into this. Since we're investing so much in football and the landscape the way it is-I'd like to try to hang in there. I actually liked your media research

Thanks, but that was all AI. lol.

 

[Goingfor9]

ChatGPT doesn't agree with you:

Yes. A 14-team “Heartland Conference” made up of those schools could absolutely make serious TV money. In fact, if you’re imagining an alternate-realignment scenario, I think it could be one of the more commercially viable 14-team leagues outside the SEC/Big Ten.

Your lineup:

• Kentucky
• Louisville
• Cincinnati
• West Virginia
• Virginia Tech
• NC State
• Pittsburgh
• Virginia
• South Carolina
• North Carolina
• Georgia Tech
• Wake Forest
• Syracuse
• Duke

is basically a regional, football-heavy ACC/Southeastern hybrid.

The TV value​

The current numbers give us a useful benchmark. The ACC's current ESPN arrangement is worth roughly $240 million per year in base media rights, while the broader ACC generated about $826.5 million in total revenue in FY2025. The Big 12's current media deal is about $380 million annually. E

Every CRS Report+2

Your hypothetical league actually has some things going for it that the current ACC doesn't:

1. Huge concentration of population and TV markets

You've got:

• Charlotte/Raleigh
• Atlanta
• Washington, DC/Virginia
• Pittsburgh
• Cincinnati
• Louisville
• Lexington
• Charleston/Columbia
• Syracuse
• Morgantown

That's a very attractive footprint for ESPN, FOX, NBC, CBS, or a combination of them.

2. Lots of recognizable brands

North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, NC State, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are all schools with substantial football audiences.

And you'd have natural rivalries everywhere:

• Kentucky–Louisville
• Virginia–Virginia Tech
• North Carolina–NC State
• Pittsburgh–West Virginia
• Cincinnati–Louisville
• South Carolina–Kentucky
• Duke–North Carolina
• Virginia–North Carolina
• Georgia Tech–Clemson (if Clemson were added, which I'd strongly consider)

That's exactly the kind of inventory television networks like.

I'd estimate something like $450–600M/year​

If this conference were created today, I'd roughly put its initial media-rights value at:

Scenario	Annual TV/media rights	Per school
Conservative	$350M	$25M
Realistic	$450–500M	$32–36M
Strong bidding war	$550–650M	$39–46M
Exceptional	$700M+	$50M+

That's media rights only, before CFP money, NCAA tournament money, conference network revenue, bowl revenue, sponsorships, etc.

For comparison, the current Big 12 deal averages around $380M/year, while the SEC is around $710M/year and the Big Ten around $1.15B/year. E

Every CRS Report

So I'd expect your Heartland Conference to land above today's Big 12 but below the SEC/Big Ten, assuming the market values the teams approximately as they are today.

But there's one HUGE issue​

I would actually change your membership.

Clemson is the obvious omission.

If you're trying to maximize TV value, I'd take Clemson over at least one of the lower-value schools.

For example:

Heartland — 14

1. Clemson
2. South Carolina
3. North Carolina
4. NC State
5. Duke
6. Wake Forest
7. Virginia
8. Virginia Tech
9. Louisville
10. Kentucky
11. Cincinnati
12. West Virginia
13. Pittsburgh
14. Georgia Tech

Then I'd leave Syracuse out.

That gives you an incredibly compact geographic footprint and a ridiculous number of rivalry games.

If you add Clemson then you also need to add vandy.

 

[BlueVelvetFog]

Thanks, but that was all AI. lol.

Oh well." fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."