08-05-2023, 12:01 PM
(08-04-2023, 10:38 PM)BillBradley Wrote: If a Power-4 option doesn't materialize and Stanford decides to go the Independent route for football, what would be the best conference choice for basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, etc?
I think the question to ask before that one is "Which sports will Stanford drop because it can no longer afford 36 sports"?
The 11 sports that Stanford dropped in 2020 are obvious candidates - men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling.
Beyond that, men's gymnastics and men's water polo could go. More men's sports will have to be sacrificed to save football. There are very few men's gymnastics and water polo teams across the country anyway. Men's swimming might be next. UCLA gave up on men's swimming a while ago.
What would be left?
Men's sports - football, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, cross country, track and field, soccer
Women's sports - basketball, beach volleyball, volleyball, softball, cross country, track and field, gymnastics, golf, tennis, water polo, soccer, lacrosse, rowing, swimming
Some of these women's sports might also have to go.
Once you decide how many teams remain, you can speculate on where they land, conference wise.
"We have an unwritten rule around here not to do anything stupid."
-Casey Jacobsen, Feb 3, 2000