OT: James Madison joining the American

[rutgersguy2]

Guess those rumors from a month or two ago were real.

 

[rutgersguy2]

 

[Knight Shift]

Guess those rumors from a month or two ago were real.

So UConn not getting in, and Rutgers will not be kicked out of the B1G and relegated to The American?

 

[Nyagentman]

Good to see what our future head coach is up to doing

 

[MADHAT1]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the American bring in Colorado State as the 16th team

 

[Doctor Worm]

I think the American would take UConn back on an all-sports basis, but not football only.

 

[SF88]

The giant alignment thread on the FSU Warchant board says the dominos are lining up. USF will be taking the FSU spot in the ACC. Their board "guru" says FSU will be out of the ACC soon, along with others. B1G and SEC to be adding schools.

 

[M.Sherrane]

I think the American would take UConn back on an all-sports basis, but not football only.

Agreed. The report I read was that UConn for football only and Miami, OH were rejected and James Madison applied. The American is now contiguous states of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, South Carolina (Coastal Carolina) or Georgia (Georgia State, Georgia Southern) to join with Florida (USF, FAU)?

 

[rureadyforsomefootball]

Has the Big Ten ever removed a school?

 

[mdk02]

Has the Big Ten ever removed a school?

If they didn't remove Northwestern in the 70s or 80s I doubt it.

 

[RUChet]

So UConn not getting in, and Rutgers will not be kicked out of the B1G and relegated to The American?

We will never get kicked out being the only P4 team in NY metro - that saves us

 

[RUChet]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the American bring in Colorado State as the 16th team

Why would Col St want the American over the new Pac12?

 

[RUChet]

I think the American would take UConn back on an all-sports basis, but not football only.

Zero chance UConn does that as basketball (men’s and women’s) need to be in power 5 basketball conference

 

[bigmatt718]

Zero chance UConn does that as basketball (men’s and women’s) need to be in power 5 basketball conference

UConn in limbo in football because they won't give up Big East basketball to be allowed to park football in the American or MAC and their football program isn't good enough either with ratings or with actual W's on the field to warrant an P4 spot unless the ACC is gutted by the B1G and SEC. They're like a Bizzaro World Notre Dame. A power team in hoops and a team nobody wants in football.

 

[rutgersguy2]

From the article:

UConn athletic director David Benedict told The Athletic in September that he and American commissioner Tim Pernetti go way back and have had conversations since Pernetti got the job in 2024.

One person briefed on the conversations with UConn said American schools would like some nonconference basketball games scheduled with UConn in exchange for welcoming back the football program, but the Huskies see that as a drag on their men’s basketball schedule.

JMU had an athletics operating budget of roughly $78 million in 2025, one of the highest among Group of 6 schools, and much of that budget comes from student fees — JMU is the most subsidized athletic department of any public university in the country.

 

[bigmatt718]

From the article:

UConn athletic director David Benedict told The Athletic in September that he and American commissioner Tim Pernetti go way back and have had conversations since Pernetti got the job in 2024.

One person briefed on the conversations with UConn said American schools would like some nonconference basketball games scheduled with UConn in exchange for welcoming back the football program, but the Huskies see that as a drag on their men’s basketball schedule.

JMU had an athletics operating budget of roughly $78 million in 2025, one of the highest among Group of 6 schools, and much of that budget comes from student fees — JMU is the most subsidized athletic department of any public university in the country.

Lmaooo UConn truly WILL be Basketball Notre Dame under that scenario. Hope Pernetti tells them to pound sand if their ego won't let them save football by having basketball play like 5-6 games in the American per year.

 

[Knight Shift]

We will never get kicked out being the only P4 team in NY metro - that saves us

Yeah, I was being facetious. Tired of that narrative. Northwestern, Purdue and Indiana have had long periods of futility. RU is just getting started with their futility, and as we have seen, it is totally correctable with the right head coach.

 

[Nycrusupporter]

The giant alignment thread on the FSU Warchant board says the dominos are lining up. USF will be taking the FSU spot in the ACC. Their board "guru" says FSU will be out of the ACC soon, along with others. B1G and SEC to be adding schools.

The warchant guys have been saying this for the past 4 years. They aren’t to be taken seriously.

 

[RUChet]

UConn in limbo in football because they won't give up Big East basketball to be allowed to park football in the American or MAC and their football program isn't good enough either with ratings or with actual W's on the field to warrant an P4 spot unless the ACC is gutted by the B1G and SEC. They're like a Bizzaro World Notre Dame. A power team in hoops and a team nobody wants in football.

Correct! But American May have said no but they could try the pitiful CUSA or the MAC or SunBelt for football only. They cannot stay independent

 

[bigmatt718]

The warchant guys have been saying this for the past 4 years. They aren’t to be taken seriously.

So they're basically the P4 equivalent of UConn's Conference Realignment board on The Boneyard lol

 

[bigmatt718]

Correct! But American May have said no but they could try the pitiful CUSA or the MAC or SunBelt for football only. They cannot stay independent

The only school that can survive Indy status long term is Notre Dame. And they're the Moby Dick to the B1G's Captain Ahab...and you know damn well they're trying to squeeze ND out to force them into the B1G.

 

[rutgersguy2]

The warchant guys have been saying this for the past 4 years. They aren’t to be taken seriously.

 

[RUChet]

The only school that can survive Indy status long term is Notre Dame. And they're the Moby Dick to the B1G's Captain Ahab...and you know damn well they're trying to squeeze ND out to force them into the B1G.

I 100% do not want ND in the B1G. Another football team likely Never beat .id rather we add UVA, UNC, NC St, GA Tech..

I don’t get why many posters want power teams like ND or Miami to join. Why? Just more losses for us

 

[bigmatt718]

I 100% do not want ND in the B1G. Another football team likely Never beat .id rather we add UVA, UNC, NC St, GA Tech..

I don’t get why many posters want power teams like ND or Miami to join. Why? Just more losses for us

Scratch NC State unless they get AAU status. But yeah, wouldnt mind UVA/UNC/Duke/GT in.

 

[RUChet]

Scratch NC State unless they get AAU status. But yeah, wouldnt mind UVA/UNC/Duke/GT in.

Nebraska isn’t AAU though

 

[bigmatt718]

Nebraska isn’t AAU though

They were when they entered to be fair. Not to mention Nebraska has just a tad more of a fan following in sports than NC State.

 

[mdk02]

I 100% do not want ND in the B1G. Another football team likely Never beat .id rather we add UVA, UNC, NC St, GA Tech..

I don’t get why many posters want power teams like ND or Miami to join. Why? Just more losses for us

On top of that Notre Dame would probably want the entry fee paid TO THEM, not from them to the Big 10. Possibly ask that all Big 10 games be played in South Bend.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Nebraska isn’t AAU though

They were when they joined the Big 10. And to be fair, they lost their AAU status when the governing body redefined rules on how to count research spending.

 

[RUChet]

They were when they joined the Big 10. And to be fair, they lost their AAU status when the governing body redefined rules on how to count research spending.

Pretty laughable B1G cares about AAU when they are phasing athletes millions and award degrees to players that transfer 5 times in 5 years so what kind of education can they possibly get?

But AAU is important! Lmao at the hypocrisy

 

[DJ Spanky]

Nice tangential hijack.

 

[MADHAT1]

Why would Col St want the American over the new Pac12?

good point
I did a google search and the PAC is better for them.
I had forgot that they had joined the PAC and based my opinion on Mountain West membership
but anywho , will show that you were right to ask and I should have known better
Comparison Breakdown

Conference	Estimated Annual Media / Total Payout Per School	Details & Sources
New Pac-12 (2026–27 onward)	~$13.2 million (total combined projection) / $7M–$10M+ (TV core)	Includes media deals with CBS Sports, The CW, and USA Network, plus CFP and tournament revenues
American Athletic Conference (AAC)	~$6.87M – $7.0 million	Based on current media distributions (ranging from ~£4M to $8M+ depending on tier structures)

 

[rutgersguy2]

JMU had an athletics operating budget of roughly $78 million in 2025, one of the highest among Group of 6 schools, and much of that budget comes from student fees — JMU is the most subsidized athletic department of any public university in the country.

This is just to add some color to how much JMU uses student fees for their AD budget. I didn’t realize.

This article is from 2024 and the budget is a little bigger now.

From the article:

The James Madison athletic department spent $68 million on athletics in fiscal 2023 and reported funding $53.3 million of it via mandatory student fees, charged annually to every JMU student as part of their tuition. It's by far the largest sum of any public school in the country, $23 million more than Old Dominion's student fee subsidy.

JMU's undergraduate tuition is $30,790 per year for out-of-state students and $13,576 per year for in-state students. The mandatory student fee, which is included in those totals, is $5,662 for 2024. That fee covers a number of things—transportation services, student health initiatives, facility maintenance—but by far the biggest piece, $2,362 per student per year, is earmarked for funding athletics.

https://sports.yahoo.com/james-madison-record-53m-student-004812524.html

 

[MADHAT1]

From the article:

UConn athletic director David Benedict told The Athletic in September that he and American commissioner Tim Pernetti go way back and have had conversations since Pernetti got the job in 2024.

One person briefed on the conversations with UConn said American schools would like some nonconference basketball games scheduled with UConn in exchange for welcoming back the football program, but the Huskies see that as a drag on their men’s basketball schedule.

JMU had an athletics operating budget of roughly $78 million in 2025, one of the highest among Group of 6 schools, and much of that budget comes from student fees — JMU is the most subsidized athletic department of any public university in the country.

James Madison is a good addition for the AAC

UConn proved they think they yo big in M&WBB and playing AAC teams would be a drag
The truth is UConn wants cupcake home games and the AAC would expect home and home series ..

A google search shows UConn Athletics isn't in bad overall financial shape
despite the football team being independent and not getting any revenue but from what the football program brings in in its own

>Overall, the University of Connecticut athletic department reported a financial surplus for Fiscal Year 2025, with total department revenues of $117.3 million against total expenses of $109.7 million (leaving an on-paper operating surplus of roughly $7.6 million), though the department as a whole relies on $32.3 million in direct institutional support (university funding) and $5.2 million in student fees.<

 

[Captain Hogleg]

Pretty laughable B1G cares about AAU when they are phasing athletes millions and award degrees to players that transfer 5 times in 5 years so what kind of education can they possibly get?

But AAU is important! Lmao at the hypocrisy

Look at it this way. The schools in the BIG care about being good to elite at everything. From academics to athletics, it’s part of an identity. They’ll do what they have to. Athletics is just another (albeit highly visible) component. I have friends that are alums from just about every school in the BIG and even the nerds let me know that Rutgers sucks at sports. Rutgers continues to under emphasize athletics and we are a running punchline.

 

[Captain Hogleg]

This is just to add some color to how much JMU uses student fees for their AD budget. I didn’t realize.

This article is from 2024 and the budget is a little bigger now.

From the article:

The James Madison athletic department spent $68 million on athletics in fiscal 2023 and reported funding $53.3 million of it via mandatory student fees, charged annually to every JMU student as part of their tuition. It's by far the largest sum of any public school in the country, $23 million more than Old Dominion's student fee subsidy.

JMU's undergraduate tuition is $30,790 per year for out-of-state students and $13,576 per year for in-state students. The mandatory student fee, which is included in those totals, is $5,662 for 2024. That fee covers a number of things—transportation services, student health initiatives, facility maintenance—but by far the biggest piece, $2,362 per student per year, is earmarked for funding athletics.

https://sports.yahoo.com/james-madison-record-53m-student-004812524.html

And it’s money well spent. My daughter just graduated JMU and I’m thrilled to have been able to support the cause. Nobody down there gives a s—t about this they just want to win and grow the program.

 

[RUinPinehurst]

App State (western NC) may be the next to move to the AAC, joining conference members East Carolina (eastern NC) and Charlotte (central NC), to cover the state from the mountains to the sea. Interesting that App's valuation was significantly more than JMU's. Based on reported 2022–24 football media valuation: App is $116.6 million; JMU is $86.6 million. And, after all, it's all about media $$$.

 

[RUChet]

Look at it this way. The schools in the BIG care about being good to elite at everything. From academics to athletics, it’s part of an identity. They’ll do what they have to. Athletics is just another (albeit highly visible) component. I have friends that are alums from just about every school in the BIG and even the nerds let me know that Rutgers sucks at sports. Rutgers continues to under emphasize athletics and we are a running punchline.

But Nebraska, Iowa, Oregon - these really aren’t very good public universities

B1G went after Nebraska because of their past football success. Same with Iowa so lets not pretend academics are such a driver.

I see hypocrisy

 

[RUChet]

App State (western NC) may be the next to move to the AAC, joining conference members East Carolina (eastern NC) and Charlotte (central NC), to cover the state from the mountains to the sea. Interesting that App's valuation was significantly more than JMU's. Based on reported 2022–24 football media valuation: App is $116.6 million; JMU is $86.6 million. And, after all, it's all about media $$$.

It’s just maddening. Sun belt and CUSA should all just go back to FCS. It’s ridiculous. Their quality is like top 20 FCS quality anyway