What conference you want to be in

3,211 Views | 23 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by stu
wvitbear
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10:50a, 2/28/26
One of the problems with what you want to do is that Cal sponsors 26 teams. All but two lose money. not just women's basketball. So if you are talking about financial worth, you could cut all the programs except football and men's basketball. Plus some are sponsored like rugby by donors. Add to this that certain conferences require you have certain sports to stay in the conference. So have to have women's basketball and volley ball and i don't remember the rest.

And you have title IX which says you have to have equal participation of women and men. Football is the problem as it produces revenue to keep the women's sports and some men's sports alive. So at Cal, we have 12 men's sports and 14 women's sports with women's teams having more scholarships tha men to counter the offer. Mens BBall has 13 spots and women's 15 spots.

So if we moved to a lesser conference, many of our other sports would be dropped. Wouldn't have the TV revenue. wouldn't have the football revenue. So the question is what do you want?

The Big Ten has ruined college sports. Never watch a Big Ten school.
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annarborbear
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10:59a, 2/28/26
UC Davis has more sports than we do, supported by student fees and a university contribution. And their players stay and graduate. So there is another model, just not on a big-time stage.
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wvitbear
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11:37a, 2/28/26
I count 24 teams. which is less. And mens teams re definitely less .
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wvitbear
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11:38a, 2/28/26
Woud you attend more games if we went that away? I think the season ticket holders have some say about who they see us play against.
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annarborbear
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In reply to wvitbear • 11:58a, 2/28/26
wvitbear said:
I count 24 teams. which is less. And mens teams re definitely less .

That's a lot of teams with real student athletes. And Lyons has already said we will have to cut teams that cannot come up with major donors.

No model is perfect, but the Davis model is working.
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annarborbear
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In reply to wvitbear • 12:05p, 2/28/26
wvitbear said:
Woud you attend more games if we went that away? I think the season ticket holders have some say about who they see us play against.

Our total ticket revenue was $261,000 last year. If the season ticket holders can come up with another $6 million, then they should have their say. In the mean-time, we need to find a more sustainable financial model. It is a new world, and this one isn't working.

Davis averages attendance of 700 per game. The last time they published program expenses their annual expenses for their women's basketball program totalled $1.7 million versus our own $8.6 million last year.

We will likely spend even more money this year and end up in the WNIT. The last time we played in the WNIT, we drew only 700 fans ourselves to those games,
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ethan0l
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In reply to annarborbear • 12:25p, 2/28/26
I imagine we could also blend the two models. Club and NAIA for some teams ... and ACC (Big 2/4) teams in football, men's basketball, women's basketball, swimming and more.
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stu
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12:28p, 2/28/26
I'll attend home games regardless of what league we play in. And maybe if our budget decreases we'll have to save electricity by turning down the amplifiers.
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annarborbear
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In reply to ethan0l • 12:33p, 2/28/26
ethan0l said:
I imagine we could also blend the two models. Club and NAIA for some teams ... and ACC (Big 2/4) teams in football, men's basketball, women's basketball, swimming and more.

My career was in strategic planning. Sort out all of the options and make a ten-year forecast instead of going one year at a time. Determine what will best achieve your objectives given the money likely to be available.

The biggest problem with NIL is that it is not a one year phenomenon. It has to be generated at very high levels year after year after year.

Your option is one of those that should be evaluated.
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ClayK
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7:46a, 3/1/26
I think annarbor has a key point: NIL is going to change, and we don't know how. It's pretty much illegal as it stands, along with the whole eligibility issue, so there will be adjustments and shifts.

Here's something: The North Coast Section -- the local high school governing body -- has split football from all other sports. The leagues for football will not be the leagues for track or girls' basketball, etc.

So let's say a decision was made, and it might be, to create two tiers of collegiate sports: Football and men's basketball. There would be common leagues for those two sports, and then all other sports would from regional leagues.

That would seem to me to be the most rational and least expensive solution, which would put women's basketball back in a league with USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, for starters. Or you could go an all-California league, but it's important to factor in other sports.
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Woodacre
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In reply to annarborbear • 7:52a, 3/1/26
Just a technical point: Cal is more likely to end up
In the WBIT, which is sponsored by the NCAA, and considered to be a higher tournament than the WNIT https://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-women/wbit
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wvitbear
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8:14a, 3/1/26
I agree with Clay. The question is not about women's basketball, but about what does football want?
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annarborbear
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In reply to Woodacre • 9:54a, 3/1/26
Woodacre said:
Just a technical point: Cal is more likely to end up
In the WBIT, which is sponsored by the NCAA, and considered to be a higher tournament than the WNIT https://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-women/wbit

It will still be a tournament that no one watches or cares about. If you can't make the 68 team NCAA tournament, you are not relevant.
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Woodacre
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11:39a, 3/1/26
That's your opinion. Happy to say that I feel different. Post season "do or die" games are fun for the fan, and good experience for young developing players. To each his/her own.
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wvitbear
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11:41a, 3/1/26
When jo Anne boyle was here, we won that tournament. Was very exciting and led us to the final four in a few years.
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SFCALBear72
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In reply to wvitbear • 11:56a, 3/1/26
wvitbear said:
When jo Anne boyle was here, we won that tournament. Was very exciting and led us to the final four in a few years.

Must have been another tournament because the WBIT Tournament has only been around since 2024.
Big 10 teams have won both tournaments. Minnesota and Illinois.

WBIT Tournament History | NCAA.com
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wvitbear
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12:11p, 3/1/26
It was a post season tournament tourney that was not the NCAA'a.
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BearBint
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In reply to wvitbear • 12:26p, 3/1/26
wvitbear said:
When jo Anne boyle was here, we won that tournament. Was very exciting and led us to the final four in a few years.

That really was exciting--it was the WNIT, though, not the WBIT--and the final game was played at HAAS; A.D. Sandy Barbour, among others, was calling fans at home and urging them to come.
"Don't get distracted, myself. Don't get distracted." Self-talk from a young relative
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Finnish Oski
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12:39p, 3/1/26
I agree. Any games that the team plays are relevant to me and if they're at Haas I'll show up to root 'em on.
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stu
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In reply to wvitbear • 12:39p, 3/1/26
wvitbear said:
When jo Anne boyle was here, we won that tournament. Was very exciting and led us to the final four in a few years.

That was the NIT. I remember the first game against UC Davis. They were beating us until Joanne pulled our two bigs and put in Gennifer Brandon and Lauren Greif. That fixed our unenthusiastic defense and we went on to win.
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annarborbear
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1:51p, 3/1/26
I would call it relevant when you can draw 3000-4000 fans to an important post season game. Two years ago we had 761 fans at our first WBIT game and 607 at the second. Probably not enough attendance to even open the concession stands. That's the reality.
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wvitbear
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4:34p, 3/1/26
id anyone draw 3 to 4 thousand to aWtbI game? Maybe we should just drop Cal basketball .
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Ashfield63
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In reply to stu • 9:31p, 3/1/26
stu said:
wvitbear said:
When jo Anne boyle was here, we won that tournament. Was very exciting and led us to the final four in a few years.


That was the NIT. I remember the first game against UC Davis. They were beating us until Joanne pulled our two bigs and put in Gennifer Brandon and Lauren Greif. That fixed our unenthusiastic defense and we went on to win.

I like the WNIT because Cal had all home games, since we kept winning including the Championship game. It was in 2010 and I remember Alexis Gray-Lawson, she must have been a senior. So, was Layshia Clarendon a freshman on that team? It was fun having the games at home!!!!
GGV
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stu
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In reply to Ashfield63 • 10:43p, 3/1/26
Ashfield63 said:
stu said:
wvitbear said:
When jo Anne boyle was here, we won that tournament. Was very exciting and led us to the final four in a few years.


That was the NIT. I remember the first game against UC Davis. They were beating us until Joanne pulled our two bigs and put in Gennifer Brandon and Lauren Greif. That fixed our unenthusiastic defense and we went on to win.

I like the WNIT because Cal had all home games, since we kept winning including the Championship game. It was in 2010 and I remember Alexis Gray-Lawson, she must have been a senior. So, was Layshia Clarendon a freshman on that team? It was fun having the games at home!!!!

Yes, freshies Layshia and Eliza had taken over from seniors Lauren and Natasha.
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