Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[bigdog3300]

Big Ten Expansion

Big Ten Expansion: The Next Frontier

n newfangled pop culture it has become in vogue to mock and ridicule the old school playing tactics of the Big Ten conference. Three yards and a cloud of dust, the stylish swagger of sweater vests, old man Joe Pa and his exquisitely modern glasses, epic bowl failures, and team speeds that are reminiscent of old ladies in some of those Hoveround Power Chair commercials.

Alright, all of that may be slightly exaggerated (except the sweater vest) but the reputation of the Big Ten has taken quite a beating lately and that’s no secret. You want to know a secret though? The Big Ten is on the precipice of being the envy of all other conference directors. No longer will they be considered old school bordering ancient; goodbye Christopher Wren, hello Frank Lloyd Wright! But what exactly could the Big Ten do to differentiate itself so severely in a day and age when it’s so hard to do exactly that?

Answer? Become college football’s very first super conference. Yes, the mythical super conference brainstorm that has been floated around on internet boards and minds alike for years is on the verge of becoming a very real reality.

Let me know what you think.....

 

[TheRob8801]

Let me know what you think.....

I desire only two things in regards to the expansion that's seemingly more inevitable each week...

1. Go big or go home.

If the expansion is going to happen, there's absolutely no reason academically, athletically or monetary that it shouldn't be to 16 teams. Seeing as the Big Ten is a brand name that has it's own network, it would be unwise to expand to 16 and then change the name...but as mentioned multiple times on this thread, expanding to 10 states would solve this non-issue easily. 16 teams provides for the ultimate in conference continuity and strength as the regular season doesn't have to be padded with soft OOC games (tough titty for the mid-majors and d-2 schools that have their annual one night stands) and it also allows for a conference championship game, something that in the current BCS system would prove extremely beneficial to the perennial tops of the conference. [see: Us]

2. Don't !#&@ up.

It would be very easy to ruin a great thing by doing it incorrectly. Divisions should be well-thought out and done with regards to the fans as much as possible. I understand that certain minor rivalries may have to become out-of-division games, but that's to be expected. Balance should be maintained not only in terms of football prowess but geography and recruiting pipelines. But most importantly REMEMBER TRADITION. The Big Ten has some of the most prestigious schools in the country, with some of the more recognizable traditions in all of college football. It goes without saying that in a divisional split, it would be BLASPHEMOUS to put Michigan and Ohio State on separate sides...but it would also be unwise to overload a conference with "the big dogs" and leave the other side a loose dangling turd. [see: Big XII].

It would seem to me that a split right down the Illinois/Indiana border would be perfection.

For the sake of argument, take a look at how the conference would pan out using some of the hypothetical schools in this article and in this thread.

Big Ten Northeast:

• Ohio State
• Michigan
• Penn State
• Michigan State
• Purdue
• Indiana
• Syracuse
• Rutgers

Big Ten Southwest:

• Texas
• Texas A&M
• Illinois
• Minnesota
• Iowa
• Wisconsin
• Northwestern
• Missouri

With the talk coming out of South Bend, I believe Notre Dame to be too arrogant/ignorant/stupid to do what everyone is saying they should do. So in this scenario I gave their spot up to Missouri. Seeing these two divisions even in a hypothetical format gives me goosebumps thinking about how exciting the season would be not only for fans within the Big Ten but for all of college football.

All-in-all, I've said it before and I'll say it again. We've talked this thing up, down, left and right...and until anything is done all we can do is "talk"...so I'm hoping that whatever happens happens SOON, so we can get down to business...

 

[Buckskin86]

Big Ten football notebook: Expansion not a matter of if, but how big, coaches say
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
By Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


One by one, they spoke of how minimal their influence is. One by one, Big Ten football coaches who were asked about the league's foray into expansion said they were too immersed in their own jobs to pay much attention to it.

But if expansion does happen, the coaches sound supportive, either because they endorse its merits or figure that it doesn't matter if they don't.

"I think expansion is coming," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said during the league's spring football teleconference yesterday.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said he has had no discussion with any officials, but he also figures that expansion is likely.

"I sense that in college athletics, as in most things, the status quo does not last forever," Tressel said.

The prevailing view among the coaches is that if expansion is an issue nationally, the Big Ten ought to be its driving force. With the Big Ten Network a vehicle for exposure and the league blessed by its central location and solid academic reputation, coaches believe the conference is well-positioned to lead.

"I think the Big Ten sits in an enviable location," Tressel said. "There are people to our south and west and east that might have interest in being in this group."

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany is in charge of the expansion process. University presidents would have to give their approval.

Even the most esteemed of the league's coaches professed to be mostly in the dark.

"I'm not privy to that," Paterno said. "Unfortunately, the athletic directors and conference commissioners forget that I've been in this thing for 60 years. So I don't get a lot of input. They don't call me and ask what I think of this or that.

"But I think the trend is that they're going to be bigger conferences. I think there's going to be 12- or 14-team conferences and maybe even 16-team conferences. Do I know what I'm talking about? Who knows?"

Big Ten football notebook: Expansion not a matter of if, but how big, coaches say | BuckeyeXtra

 

[martinss01]

if this had happened just a little sooner coop would still be our coach.

 

[Buckskin86]

Lucrative Big Ten Network could be driving force for expansion
April 16, 2010
By Dennis Dodd
CBSSports.com Senior Writer

CHICAGO -- How much is Woody worth?

How about Bo?

Or Joe?

If you have to ask for last names, then you're not worth your merlot-stocked tailgate in Big Ten country. Buried deep in closets and storage areas of conference schools are potential revenue streams no one would have dreamed of a few years ago.

"We're going to have classic episodes of Joe Paterno's coaching shows in the '70s -- Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler [too]," an excited Mark Silverman said from the eighth-floor downtown Chicago offices of the Big Ten Network.

Silverman is the president of the BTN, one of the driving forces behind what could be the biggest upheaval in college athletics since the NCAA banned the flying wedge about 100 years ago. The network is the first conference-run national cable network. Launched in June 2006, it has become a monster that needs to feed. Translated, that means it needs programming -- programming to lure advertisers, improve the network's cable presence and, oh yeah, fill league coffers.

To get that programming, Silverman will listen to anything. Right now, those coaches shows seem a like a vein of gold that hasn't been mined. Think of those iconic figures on DVD. Think of them sold in a BTN store. Think of them available to download. Think of them as classic TV, restored decades later. Silverman has.

"Do we put it on TV?" said the 46-year-old breathlessly, suddenly in brainstorm mode. "Do you sell it? Do we do both? Do we take clips of it and do something else?"

Whatever the case, next fall you will see those legends on the BTN. It doesn't stop there. Old Rose Bowls, all those Michigan-Ohio State classics. Silverman has hired a firm to digitize all of them. In the end, he says gleefully, "we have a license to monetize all those games."

In other words, get paid for Woody Hayes barking at a co-host in decades-old black-and-white.

The league joined with News Corp., parent of Fox Broadcasting, in a 20-year deal that could be worth $2.8 billion to the conference. That estimate was made two years ago by Sports Business Journal which included a five-year option in its estimate. Over 25 years, according to the publication, the partnership (51 percent Big Ten, 49 percent News Corp.) could earn the conference $112 million per year, which translates to $10.2 million per school. That's before factoring in other rights holders' deals.

The BTN is available in 73 million homes, which compares favorably to CBS College Sports (89 million) and The Mtn. (30 million). The Big Ten found space in a national historic landmark, a renovated former Montgomery Ward catalog center built in the 19th century on the Chicago River. A full-time staff of 100 may or may not know it is on the bottom floor of college athletics' next revolution.

Lucrative Big Ten Network could be driving force for expansion - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com

 

[jwinslow]

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

"I'm not privy to that," Paterno said. "Unfortunately, the athletic directors and conference commissioners forget that I've been in this thing for 60 years. So I don't get a lot of input. They don't call me and ask what I think of this or that.

Nor should he be. This is a decision of the university presidents...not some senile, pants shitting old man.

I love that saying about the Big Ten. Ohio State has 1 vote. Michigan has 1 vote. Joe Paterno thinks he has a vote, and the rest of the schools combined have 1 vote.

 

[mross34]

Big Ten expansion push heating up - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN

Looks like the rumor mill is about to start spinning.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

Here is the Chicago Tribune article quoted in Rittenberg's blog entry.

Kudos to him for doing what the Trib could not and determining that Delaney is, in fact, in Washington. While it is impossible to know what that means at this point, it is an interesting piece of info.

 

[Gatorubet]

I don't see five. Three maybe. One and a championship game is every easy to do.

What y'all do about The Game can only be saved if they keep you in the save division, and let you play the last week of the year against each other. Otherwise, you could meet for The Game and then have to play them a week or two later, diminishing the earlier win.

If y'all go that direction, then we will too. I'd like to see the SEC make a play for Virginia and Texas. But I doubt the Horns can go anywhere without taking little brother A&M with them, so that will be a sticking point with any conference trying to steal the Texas television market.

 

[jwinslow]

If you can move to 14, it should be about the same to grab 16, and that would let them gamble on Rutgers or Syracuse.

Virginia and Texas don't fit the academics or culture of the sec.

Oklahoma & Florida St do.

I'd say the opposite is true for those teams and the big ten.

 

[Gatorubet]

If you can move to 14, it should be about the same to grab 16, and that would let them gamble on Rutgers or Syracuse.

Virginia and Texas don't fit the academics or culture of the sec.

Oklahoma & Florida St do.

I'd say the opposite is true for those teams and the big ten.

Well, we'll just try to get by with our own opinions about what fits our conference and the reasons for and against.

Interesting to see how big a leap the Big-10 will make, and how much the increased TV audience will be the determinitive factor in it.

 

[CHU]

It's a small and minor point, but the three schools of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Rutgers in relation to the Director's Cup standings keeps popping in my head. Small point meaning it can be construed as how strong your total athletic department is and it can't be.

Big Ten teams have an average ranking of about 29.53 over five years (including 2009-10 through April 8). Those three schools have an average ranking of: Syracuse (82.40); Pittsburgh (83.40); Rutgers (84.20).

Lowest Big Ten team is Iowa at an average of 54.60. Very big difference in terms of performance of all athletic programs.

 

[Gatorubet]

It's a small and minor point, but the three schools of Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Rutgers in relation to the Director's Cup standings keeps popping in my head. Small point meaning it can be construed as how strong your total athletic department is and it can't be.

Big Ten teams have an average ranking of about 29.53 over five years (including 2009-10 through April 8). Those three schools have an average ranking of: Syracuse (82.40); Pittsburgh (83.40); Rutgers (84.20).

Lowest Big Ten team is Iowa at an average of 54.60. Very big difference in terms of performance of all athletic programs.

The cynic in me thinks the football and basketball television audience will mean more than the success of golf, women's lacrosse or bowling in the director's cup standings.

The money from the big sports helps pay for the little ones, and smaller schools have a problem funding the requisite number of sports. Moreveor, since Title IX, you just can't suddenly fund a bunch of programs to keep up with the Stanfords and UCLAs of the world, that have a bazillion sports that we simply don't even field a team to compete with them.

 

[jwinslow]

The BTN airs a ton of those small sports though, so it could be a realistic factor, even if it is a smaller one.