Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[Meyer]

DaveyBoy, that all sounds really nice. We would have a great, great basketball conference. But in football, if the SEC gets the Oklahoma's or whoever, they become an even better football conference than us. Which I guess isn't really that bad because they would all knock each other off. Some of those really good teams every year would have average records. But the main thing that I really want for the Big Ten is to add another power that can compete on our level every year. Hopefully we can get Notre Dame and Nebraska because both of those teams should be on the way up but it's just too bad we can't get a Texas without having to go through all their bullshit.

 

[DaveyBoy]

DaveyBoy, that all sounds really nice. We would have a great, great basketball conference. But in football, if the SEC gets the Oklahoma's or whoever, they become an even better football conference than us. Which I guess isn't really that bad because they would all knock each other off. Some of those really good teams every year would have average records. But the main thing that I really want for the Big Ten is to add another power that can compete on our level every year. Hopefully we can get Notre Dame and Nebraska because both of those teams should be on the way up but it's just too bad we can't get a Texas without having to go through all their bull[censored].

I think we agree...but except for Notre Dame & Nebraska, there are no near elite programs to choose from without reaching waaaaay out of our footprint (Texas, Oklahoma)

Nebraska is as close to a lock for BigTen admission as any team I can think of.

Notre Dame - they just won't come....so the B10 should all agree to not schedule them in any sport so as to drive up ND's cost to operate and alienate them a bit from their closest fanbase.

after that, you have these programs on the radar:

Missouri - as much as they fit culturally and geographically, they are blah
Colorado - this has a good possiblity - they were once a NC caliber FB program
Pitt - decent FB but no net markets
Kansas - decent FB but good markets
Maryland - mediocre FB but huge market
Rutgers - decent FB bu huge POTENTIAL markets....though largely untapped

 

[cincibuck]

after that, you have these programs on the radar:

Missouri - as much as they fit culturally and geographically, they are blah
Colorado - this has a good possiblity - they were once a NC caliber FB program
Pitt - decent FB but no net markets
Kansas - decent FB but good markets
Maryland - mediocre FB but huge market
Rutgers - decent FB bu huge POTENTIAL markets....though largely untapped

How bad do we need a 16 team conference? We already have the football problem of teams not playing each other-- this would lead directly to the fact that there is no guarantee that #1 will play #2 for all the marbles -- something which gets played out in the SEC and Big 12 each year -- also raises the ugly specter (in my mind) of having to re-play a team you've already beaten.

As long as state legislations are involved you can bet that taking Kansas will mean taking K-State too and I wouldn't be surprised if the folks in Iowa won't demand help for Iowa State.

 

[OSU_D/]

Orangebloods.com - Pac-10 ready to make moves; Nebraska's decision is key

A Big 12 athletic director told Orangebloods.com the Pac-10 has indicated it might be willing to invite Baylor instead of Colorado to avoid a political storm that could hold up the other Big 12 South schools from joining the country's first 16-team super conference.

It appears the only way Texas and the other Big 12 schools aren't headed west is if they get assurances from Nebraska in the next 10 days that the Cornhuskers are committed to staying in the Big 12.

 

[jwinslow]

The Texas Legislature's actions have unfortunately confirmed what I was worried about - namely, academic standards don't matter.
-
If Texas truly cared and wanted to get into the Big Ten for academic reasons as well as athletic they would have said so by now. Maybe their politicians would have done differently, I don't know. I doubt it. The Big Ten has a stigma attached to it apparently. Either way I give up on Texas ever being in the Big Ten - it's not going to happen.

no, the legislature simply doesn't care what is good for Texas if it comes at the expense of the other local members. They put the group first.

Delaney will have whiffed on Texas (and I would assume Ntre Ame too), opened up this can of worms and failed and will have left his conference at both a competitive disadvantage AND open to ridicule for not coming through. He should be fired if this indeed comes to pass.

So basically he is going to be fired because:

A) he wouldn't go nuts and accommodate 4 bad neighbors just to get one great member and one solid one.

B) he couldnt get notre dame to stop being hopelessly arrogant or realizing the consequences of that.

 

[Gatorubet]

Good points all, Cinci. I am/was a big proponent of UT to the Big Ten, but Texas arrogance and "me -first" attitude is really coming out in spades. I think they really might have been a disruptive and divisive force within the conference, even without their legislature demanding that we take along unworthy schools in bargain.

Only fans to surpass the Gumps' level of arrogance...

Which is quite a feat.

 

[woofermazing]

no, the legislature simply doesn't care what is good for Texas if it comes at the expense of the other local members. They put the group first.
So basically he is going to be fired because:

A) he wouldn't go nuts and accommodate 4 bad neighbors just to get one great member and one solid one.

B) he couldnt get notre dame to stop being hopelessly arrogant or realizing the consequences of that.

I agree, even if Delaney made wrong moves, the Texas legislature was going to get involved no matter what and bundle all their schools. They did it before.

I would rather have new members that want to join to be a part of the conference, not control it.

 

[Buckeye513]

Only fans to surpass the Gumps' level of arrogance...

Let's not exaggerate.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I agree, even if Delaney made wrong moves, the Texas legislature was going to get involved no matter what and bundle all their schools. They did it before.

I would rather have new members that want to join to be a part of the conference, not control it.

Let the P10 get stuck with the cheatingest school in history (Oklahoma), the Baptist BYU (Baylor) and an academic backwater (Tech) in order to land Texas. Let them then deal with their newfound prize plopping himself down at the table, putting his cowboy boots up on the table and immediately acting like he owns the place.

Texas is not worth the trouble, political meddling, arrogance and general bullsh!t.

Delaney, however, does need to step the Big Ten's response up and hit the home run he promised. To me that's playing hardball with the fucking domers and knocking them off their high horse and into the Big Ten. If he has to destroy the Big East in the process, well...chips fly when you're cutting wood. Then, out of Colorado, Mizzou, Nebraska, Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers (maybe even make a play for BC to give the domers a natural rival) take the four that make the most sense.

 

[Gatorubet]

Let's not exaggerate.

Who is worse?

The Irish are annoying, but their lack of success makes them look deranged instead of arrogant.

 

[MaliBuckeye]

Orangebloods.com - Pac-10 ready to make moves; Nebraska's decision is key

When the Big 12 conference was formed 15 years ago, Nebraska was at odds with Texas over things like partial qualifiers. Nebraska wanted the old Big Eight schools to continue accepting an unlimited number of partial qualifiers. Texas opposed it. Texas prevailed.

What's Ohio State's/Big T1e1n's position on partial qualifiers?

The non-super conference schools would sue to get into these playoffs, but by then the NCAA might have nothing to do with supervising college football.

At that point, the four superconferences could be appointing their own governing body, creating their own rules and breaking away from the NCAA and the rest of college football.

Lawsuits would be filed by those left out, and there'd likely be government hearings into the legality of it all.

But the playoff field of 60 to 64 teams would basically be set at the beginning of every football season with the race to get to the quarterfinals (conference championship games), then the semifinals and national title game.

This is what I'm most interested in... since the NCAA has proven again and again that it is either unable, unwilling, or uninterested in monitoring and supervising football (the very reason Roosevelt had it created, interestingly enough), it's no surprise that the schools could tell the NC2 to take a flying leap; and they'd have the power (via television) to do it.

 

[CleveBucks]

Pac-10 may be stepping up both the Big Ten and ND's timelines.

Big Ten Officials Mum on Expansion

PARK RIDGE, Ill. (AP)—The Big Ten did not take formal action during a meeting Sunday about conference expansion, although officials say their timeline may change after the Pac-10 revealed plans for their own expansion.

The 11 school presidents and chancellors along with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick met for about 4 1/2 hours, and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney said the majority of time was spent on expansion dialogue.

cont...

I could see ND being the only addition, which would leave the Big 12 intact as is, and all this megaconference expansion fizzles.

 

[Meyer]

Looks like it was quite premature to say ND isn't coming.

 

[woofermazing]

Indeed.

 

[MaxBuck]

... Texas arrogance and "me -first" attitude is really coming out in spades.

Frankly, Texas's arrogance and "me-first" attitude" line up quite well with tOSU and Michigan - along with their striving for excellence in both academic and athletic endeavors. Like it or not, they're a lot like us. That's why I want them so badly in the Big Ten.