Stanford leaves Pac-12 for Ivy League?

[billhoward]

As the Pac-12 disintegrates, there has even been talk of the Cardinal joining the Ivy League. Shot down by the Ivy League in roundabout terms. Great story in the Wall Street Journal. (<--free link)

If academic mission is what rules the day, perhaps the only athletic conference on par with Stanford is the Ivy League. These schools don't offer athletic scholarships, but do offer some of the niche Olympic sports, like fencing and sailing, that Stanford does. That doesn't help much with sports such as men's gymnastics, though, a Cardinal program that has produced key members of the U.S. national team in recent years.

The Ivy League indicated on social media that it isn't particularly interested in expansion. As the Pac-12 detonated last Friday, the Ivy League's official account tweeted a picture [below] of its schools' logos with the phrase "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

What are Stanford's options? Remember, Stanford has been the most successful college sports program most of the last 30 years. The Ivy League isn't viable, there's too much travel, and even excluding football, they'd kick our butts in virtually every other sport. They'd have to add lacrosse and that is a sport where the Cardinal could go from Club to D1 Final Four in a decade.

Other options:
* Mountain West conference (likes of Hawaii, San Diego State, Boise State, Air Force).
* West Coast but has not top tier football teams
* Atlantic Coast (per WSJ, ACC made exploratory talks with the Bay Area Pac-12 schools, i.e. Stanford and Cal)
* Go independent. It worked for Notre Dame but the Irish may be unique.

The Journal wrote, "'They have to think about who they rub elbows with academically,' said a major conference commissioner."

All this happens with Stanford sitting on a $38 billion endowment but without a president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, "following revelations of potential data manipulation in published scientific papers on which he was a main contributor. Tessier-Lavigne, who was not found to have personally engaged in research misconduct, or known of misconduct by others." (Instigated by the Stanford paper.) The interim president starts in the fall, Stanford classics professor Richard Saller. But it has enlisted the help of Condoleeza Rice and Yahoo's Jerry Yang.


Ivy League tweet. It'll never happen, so why not say upfront you're not interested:
https://twitter.com/IvyLeague/status/1687584198301753344

[George64]

As the Pac-12 disintegrates, there has even been talk of the Cardinal joining the Ivy League. Shot down by the Ivy League in roundabout terms. Great story in the Wall Street Journal. (<--free link)

If academic mission is what rules the day, perhaps the only athletic conference on par with Stanford is the Ivy League. These schools don't offer athletic scholarships, but do offer some of the niche Olympic sports, like fencing and sailing, that Stanford does. That doesn't help much with sports such as men's gymnastics, though, a Cardinal program that has produced key members of the U.S. national team in recent years.

The Ivy League indicated on social media that it isn't particularly interested in expansion. As the Pac-12 detonated last Friday, the Ivy League's official account tweeted a picture [below] of its schools' logos with the phrase "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

What are Stanford's options? Remember, Stanford has been the most successful college sports program most of the last 30 years. The Ivy League isn't viable, there's too much travel, and even excluding football, they'd kick our butts in virtually every other sport. They'd have to add lacrosse and that is a sport where the Cardinal could go from Club to D1 Final Four in a decade.

Other options:
* Mountain West conference (likes of Hawaii, San Diego State, Boise State, Air Force).
* West Coast but has not top tier football teams
* Atlantic Coast (per WSJ, ACC made exploratory talks with the Bay Area Pac-12 schools, i.e. Stanford and Cal)
* Go independent. It worked for Notre Dame but the Irish may be unique.

The Journal wrote, "'They have to think about who they rub elbows with academically,' said a major conference commissioner."

All this happens with Stanford sitting on a $38 billion endowment but without a president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, "following revelations of potential data manipulation in published scientific papers on which he was a main contributor. Tessier-Lavigne, who was not found to have personally engaged in research misconduct, or known of misconduct by others." (Instigated by the Stanford paper.) The interim president starts in the fall, Stanford classics professor Richard Saller. But it has enlisted the help of Condoleeza Rice and Yahoo's Jerry Yang.


Ivy League tweet. It'll never happen, so why not say upfront you're not interested:
https://twitter.com/IvyLeague/status/1687584198301753344

Big 10 West? Join with USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon.  Can Cal be far behind?
.

[ugarte]

Big 10 West? Join with USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon.  Can Cal be far behind?

If the Big 10 wanted them the phone would have been ringing already.

[kingpin248]

The combination of NCAA rules and Ivy League rules prohibits Stanford from joining the conference.

The NCAA Division I manual. On page 398 (411 of the PDF), Bylaw 20.10.3.2 specifies minimums of financial aid that Division I institutions must award, both in relative terms (percentage of maximum allowable aid awards) and absolute terms (dollar figures). Bylaw 20.10.3.2.7, on the following page, is the grandfather provision that allows the Ivy League to remain at this level:

Member institutions that did not award any athletically related financial aid in any sport as of January 11, 1991, shall be exempted from the minimum requirements.

Any Division I school wanting to cease awarding scholarships that isn't covered by the clause would have to drop to Division III, as the University of Hartford is in the process of doing.

Of course, this could be rendered moot if the former student-athletes suing the Ivy League for antitrust violations in the aftermath of the expiration of Section 568 (discussed in a thread in Other Sports) prevail over the conference.

[French Rage]

Impractical due to distance.

[Trotsky]

Replace Dartmouth.

[Roy 82]

Impractical due to the fact that the Ivy League is not in the Premier League of American Collegiate Football.

[Trotsky]

Impractical due to the fact that the Ivy League is not in the Premier League of American Collegiate Football.

We can get back into BCS now.  After all, the original academic index came from Dartmouth.

I for one welcome the Ivies upcoming interlocking schedule with the SEC.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Impractical due to the fact that the Ivy League is not in the Premier League of American Collegiate Football.

We can get back into BCS now.  After all, the original academic index came from Dartmouth.

I for one welcome the Ivies upcoming interlocking schedule with the SEC.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has a football team?  ::bolt::

[Trotsky]

Impractical due to the fact that the Ivy League is not in the Premier League of American Collegiate Football.

We can get back into BCS now.  After all, the original academic index came from Dartmouth.

I for one welcome the Ivies upcoming interlocking schedule with the SEC.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has a football team?  ::bolt::