Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[ORD_Buckeye]

Texas is starting to remind me a lot of this guy....

 

[korchiki]

I look at it this way.

Legacy

Like it or not ND is going to have to commit to a conference or risk becoming an afterthought. Jack Swarbrick is faced with a big problem. What if he fully understands all of this and even wants to move to the B10? His problem is that even though it is absolutely the right decision (money, non revenue sports, hockey, etc.) he will be alienated by angry alumni and his legacy will forever be the guy who lost ND's independence and thus admitted that they are on the same level as everyone else in the B10.

Facing this reality will be tough for any ND fan to face.

So now to my conspiracy theory. Delany and Swarbrick got to talking. They both want to make this happen but need to do it right. Basically they need to make it look somewhere betwen ND realizing they didn't have another option (no control) AND ND chose to do it within their power (control). Essentially what I am saying is that it needs to look like even though long term ND knew this decision was going to happen long term, they need it to appear that they chose to join and weren't forced to.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

They also share our affinity for cold weather football. A gameday trip for the weekend with half-day skiing on saturday & sunday would be nice (as long as it's not too early), even if the snow is man made.I have to snub PSU once in awhile or 27 will permanently shun me.

 

[Oh8ch]

Why does the Big 10 "need" Nebraska and Mizzou? Answer; they don't. Nice folks, nice schools, but it's simply more of what the Big 10 already has plenty of, two small market major league cities, cows and corn fields.

Why is there a need for a playoff? Because the SEC has one? Wait till the three loss SEC East/West team upsets the undefeated East/West team (hopefully in a re-match game they lost 42 - 7 the first time around).

Notre Dame would increase the league's national media visibility, especially along the East coast, balance out the Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State football match up - Ohio State gets Penn State and Michigan - Michigan gets Notre Dame and OSU - Penn State gets Ohio State and Notre Dame - Notre Dame gets Michigan and Penn State and a graduate/research program worthy of their undergrad.

I'm not sure what is going to happen to other conferences. The Big East is on shaky ground because it has no anchor --no better evidence of that than the fact that Cincinnati has been their champ the last two years-- They NEED Notre Dame or they go to ACC land --medium scale football and big basketball. Maybe you take away their automatic BCS bowl bid and give them two more guaranteed tourney seeds. Any ACC team with hopes beyond the Peach bowl wants nothing to do with the SEC. Academically and in terms of athletic ethics they are echelons above the SEC --apologies to Florida and Vandy--exceptions noted to Miami and Florida State. The Big 12 is in no need to change with the possible exception of putting Oklahoma in the North so that the conference playoff game has some merit, or simply change the format to "the two conference teams with the highest BCS rankings." The more I think about it and read Shaggybevo the more I believe that much of what motivates Austin is the [censored]ty way Oklahoma was given the BCS vote in 08.

What motivates the PAC 10 is the indifference to the college game. It takes UCLA, Notre Dame or Ohio State vs USC to fill the Coliseum. Oregon can fill Autzen, but can't get any national attention and Washington is still staggering from the loss of Don James. In short, geography and the lack of college football fans are killing the Pac 10. They can well afford to accept Texas and the sisty uglies.

I think you are selling Nebraska short because of a few off years. They have won more NCs since 1970 than the entire Big Ten.

No, they are not sun belt or East coast. But they are not Iowa or Wisconsin. They absolutely raise the profile of the conference and would have a significant impact on TV ratings.

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

I think you are selling Nebraska short because of a few off years. They have won more NCs since 1970 than the entire Big Ten.

No, they are not sun belt or East coast. But they are not Iowa or Wisconsin. They absolutely raise the profile of the conference and would have a significant impact on TV ratings.

And it would bring B10 football that much closer to Ft Collins. :pirate1:

 

[RugbyBuck]

AKAK's and others' points are well taken. I'd like to see what Nebraska and possibly Mizzou do with the extra cash from the upgrade and I'm sick of living in the SEC and constantly hearing its bullsh*t.

Nebraska, Missouri and a rejuvenated ND (because of conference affiliation, regardless of what they say/think) with the rest of the conference on the upswing will go a long way toward shutting the SEC up.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Texas papers: Don't blame Texas if the BIG XII falls apart, it would be all Nebraska's fault.

If Nebraska won't commit to Big 12, everything will fall apart

The ultimatum countdown continued Monday for the Big 12, marking maybe the most significant week since the conference was formed in 1994.
Nebraska and Missouri have only a few days to commit to the Big 12 through 2016, with the Cornhuskers viewed as the deciding factor in the conference's future. The Friday deadline might be flexible.

Entire article: If Nebraska won't commit to Big 12, everything will fall apart | Sports News | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News

Linehan: Could Tech's athletic future be in this man's hands?

Somewhere in eastern Nebraska, Tom Osborne sits behind a big red desk in a big stone football stadium, one hand curled around a grenade and the other squeezing the linchpin between his fingers.
The Big 12 Conference may soon explode, and the Cornhuskers' athletic director sits at the epicenter, bomb in hand.

Entire article: Linehan: Could Tech's athletic future be in this man's hands? | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Funny how they don't really care if Missouri leaves for the BIG 10, it's all about Nebraska. Talk about not showing Missouri any love here.

 

[AKAK]

You might want to follow NDSMC78 on their Rivals board. He's a beut' Says ND should drop football before joining a conference. He's like an obstinate "special needs" child. Nobody--not even other domers--can engage him. It's just pure, "conference bad" "conference never happen" "conferences always give notre dame what it wants."

And no, I'm not posting. Just enjoying the show.

Oh my goodness... yeah, he's special all right.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Now the South has got itself protected. Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have unionized around Texas to form the basis of an eastern arm of a new super-conference on par with the Big East.

 

[Dryden]

Funny how they don't really care if Missouri leaves for the BIG 10, it's all about Nebraska. Talk about not showing Missouri any love here.

What's to love, the Women's softball titles?

Missouri is the Big XII's Purdue. They are along for the ride because they deliver the St Louis and Kansas City TV markets. They'll gladly accept second class citizenship in the Big Ten if it means they at least get a decent bowl game when they finish with 10 wins and take their half of whatever division they're in. Ask a Missouri football fan how the last four years in the Big XII North has treated them.

In 2008, two of their games weren't televised and one was on pay-per-view. In 2007, four of their games weren't televised, even though they were good enough to be ranked #1 at one point in the season, finished in the Top 5, won 12 games, and were awarded a Cotton Bowl appearance for their trouble.

Think a Top 5 Big Ten team would ever be snubbed by the BCS? At least Purdue and Northwestern got to go to a Rose Bowl in the past 15 years.

There is no love lost between Missouri and the rest of the Big XII. They can't leave soon enough, and they'll take St. Louis with them, which is a huge blow.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

The fact that Texas Tech stands to benefit from this (and aTm to a lesser degree) is maddening...

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

[quote='BusNative;171327;0]The fact that Texas Tech stands to benefit from this (and aTm to a lesser degree) is maddening...[/quote]

TT and Baylor's(?) gain will be someone's loss. I'd be shocked if the PAC10 admitted them, frankly. aTm has a bit more....credibililty

 

[PlanetFrnd]

TT and Baylor's(?) gain will be someone's loss. I'd be shocked if the PAC10 admitted them, frankly. aTm has a bit more....credibililty

Yep... Baylor, too...

I'm confused, frankly, by the Pac 10's overtures to the entire state of Texas... I can see any number of scenarios where a school votes against 1-3 of those other Texases... You think Berkeley wants aTm? You think Stanford respects Tech or Baylor? You think UCLA does?

Does anyone think Berkeley would care about going against the grain in a voting scenario??

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

TT and Baylor's(?) gain will be someone's loss. I'd be shocked if the PAC10 admitted them, frankly. aTm has a bit more....credibililty

There seems to be two schools of thought for Texas' putting up no fight over Tech and Baylor being attached.

The "Good Texas" scenario: that UT views Baylor as a poison pill to several P10 schools (Stanford, Cal, UCLA, UW). Baylor's inclusion will blow up the whole deal allowing Texas the political cover to say, "stop meddling" to the legislature. Texas is then free to join the Big Ten (or Pac 10) with no strings attached other than possibly Aggy, which they can stomach.

The "Bad Texas" scenario: UT has no interest in being any kind of equal partner. They view this as a hostile takeover of the Pac 10 similar to the one the engineered of the Big 8 when the SWC imploded. UT views Colorado as an alien school whose culture and alumni base would lead it to vote with the existing Pac 10 schools against UT interests. Baylor is viewed as a subservient Texas school whose very continued existence as a D1 football program will be tied to Texas' generosity and protection. They--along with the rest of the B12 South--will provide a reliable rubber stamp vote for UT interests: unequal revenue sharing, "longhorn network," moving the championship game to the Jerry Dome and so on. Bring the Arizona schools over to the dark side, and UT now runs the Pac 10.

People of the Pac 10: The University of Texas is of Peace...Always.

 

[ScriptOhio]

What's to love, the Women's softball titles?

Missouri is the Big XII's Purdue. They are along for the ride because they deliver the St Louis and Kansas City TV markets. They'll gladly accept second class citizenship in the Big Ten if it means they at least get a decent bowl game when they finish with 10 wins and take their half of whatever division they're in. Ask a Missouri football fan how the last four years in the Big XII North has treated them.

In 2008, two of their games weren't televised and one was on pay-per-view. In 2007, four of their games weren't televised, even though they were good enough to be ranked #1 at one point in the season, finished in the Top 5, won 12 games, and were awarded a Cotton Bowl appearance for their trouble.

Think a Top 5 Big Ten team would ever be snubbed by the BCS? At least Purdue and Northwestern got to go to a Rose Bowl in the past 15 years.

There is no love lost between Missouri and the rest of the Big XII. They can't leave soon enough, and they'll take St. Louis with them, which is a huge blow.

....which is why (if snubbed again by ND) I think Missouri is an ideal fit and should get the first invitation.

looks good to me....