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Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

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Which Teams Should the Big Ten Add? (please limit to four selections)

  • Boston College

    Votes: 32 10.2%

  • Cincinnati

    Votes: 19 6.1%

  • Connecticut

    Votes: 6 1.9%

  • Duke

    Votes: 21 6.7%

  • Georgia Tech

    Votes: 55 17.6%

  • Kansas

    Votes: 46 14.7%

  • Maryland

    Votes: 67 21.4%

  • Missouri

    Votes: 90 28.8%

  • North Carolina

    Votes: 39 12.5%

  • Notre Dame

    Votes: 209 66.8%

  • Oklahoma

    Votes: 78 24.9%

  • Pittsburgh

    Votes: 45 14.4%

  • Rutgers

    Votes: 40 12.8%

  • Syracuse

    Votes: 18 5.8%

  • Texas

    Votes: 121 38.7%

  • Vanderbilt

    Votes: 15 4.8%

  • Virginia

    Votes: 47 15.0%

  • Virginia Tech

    Votes: 62 19.8%

  • Stay at 12 teams and don't expand

    Votes: 27 8.6%

  • Add some other school(s) not listed

    Votes: 25 8.0%
  • Total voters
    313
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ESPN's 'lowball' offer triggered B1G expansion
But uncovering the true origin of Nebraska joining the Big Ten ? which becomes official Friday ? requires a trip in the way-back machine and involves champagne and bruised egos.

The date: April 30, 2004. That's when a posse of ESPN executives, led by Mark Shapiro, John Wildhack, Loren Matthews and Chuck Gerber, met with conference honchos at Big Ten headquarters in Park Ridge.

The Big Ten's long-term deal with the network had three years remaining, but Commissioner Jim Delany wanted to dip his toe in the pool. Turns out the water was ice cold. And shark-infested.

...

Shapiro also was a cutthroat negotiator, as chronicled in the book "Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN," and his style rankled the likes of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NBA's David Stern.
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"The shortest one I ever had," Delany told the Tribune. "He lowballed us and said: 'Take it or leave it. If you don't take our offer, you are rolling the dice.' I said: 'Consider them rolled.' "

...

Had ESPN stepped up and paid BCS-type dollars, I think we could have prevented the network. In retrospect, that might have been the right thing to do. Jim is making a nice penny on that."


Said Delany: "If Mark had presented a fair offer, we would have signed it. And there would not be a Big Ten Network."
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The BTN, profitable in its second year, doled out about $7 million to each Big Ten school in 2009-10. Without that chunk of a $22 million per school TV revenue distribution pie, the conference might not have had schools such as Nebraska thirsting for an invitation.


The network's formation also encouraged new thinking from the universities' typically conservative presidents and chancellors. A 12th team would lead to two divisions and a conference championship game in football and another giant payday. Fox purchased the rights to the first six title games for between $20 million and $25 million per season.
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Feeling emboldened, Delany sent a package to Shapiro that included champagne and a note. Shapiro said the note read: "See, I did it."


"My reaction was: Who does that?" Shapiro said. "It was so juvenile. I sent the note to Bodenheimer and poured the champagne down the drain."


Delany said Shapiro's recollection of the note isn't accurate: "That's not how I would express myself. What I wrote was tongue-in-cheek. I believe it was: 'Enjoy the champagne while enjoying the network.'


"It wasn't juvenile at all. We did toast to Mark, and I was thanking him. If it hadn't been for him, we never would have pushed ourselves to do (the Big Ten Network). It was a continuation of the conversation. He left (ESPN), so I didn't get to tell him that in person."
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:lol: anyone else remember that significant shift in OSU commentary around that time?
 
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Fox purchased the rights to the first six title games for between $20 million and $25 million per season.
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Fuck.

Not only does their coverage blow, but the only three games that have been broadcast by fox in my recent memory were the bowl games after the 2006, 2007, and 2008 seasons.
 
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jwinslow said:
ESPN's 'lowball' offer triggered B1G expansion


:lol: anyone else remember that significant shift in OSU commentary around that time?
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It might just be my slight bias....but I always wondered why the CFB world hated Ohio State while schools like Oklahoma got a free pass. This all but confirms it for me.

CFB fans as a whole are idiots.
CFB fans as a whole watch ESPN.
ESPN tells CFB fans as a whole that Ohio State is evil.
Idiot masses accept it without realizing they're being told what to think.
 
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jwinslow;1947532; said:
ESPN's 'lowball' offer triggered B1G expansion


:lol: anyone else remember that significant shift in OSU commentary around that time?
Click to expand...

BuckeyeNation27;1947542; said:
It might just be my slight bias....but I always wondered why the CFB world hated Ohio State while schools like Oklahoma got a free pass. This all but confirms it for me.

CFB fans as a whole are idiots.
CFB fans as a whole watch ESPN.
ESPN tells CFB fans as a whole that Ohio State is evil.
Idiot masses accept it without realizing they're being told what to think.
Click to expand...

I just went from ignoring ESPN to evangelizing against them. If you're an Ohio State fan and you watch anything ESPN that is not an Ohio State game, you might as well be Shawn Crable.
 
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DaddyBigBucks;1947649; said:
I meant only being a traitor; not being funny looking, playing like ass in big games or getting a snake's-eye-view of a Buckeye running back scoring.
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You forgot not covering your inside gap on the field goal team....

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOF6-GScIGo"]YouTube - ‪Appalachian State vs Michigan 2007 - Blocked Field Goal‬‏[/ame]
 
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A couple of thoughts.....ESPiN's lowballing the B10 for TV rights (serving the most population), and the result makes sense for the hatred we're receiving.

One door closes, and another opens to something better. W/o that fateful meeting, the B10 network would still be a pipedream. That's something no one is going to write in the history books, but is exactly what happened to create it. Now we've got the SEC network, and the Univ of Texas network as well, with the Pac10(12?) to come. Arrogance actually caused their demise, a la the start of individual networks......

:gobucks3::gobucks4::banger:
 
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calibuck;1947657; said:
A couple of thoughts.....ESPiN's lowballing the B10 for TV rights (serving the most population), and the result makes sense for the hatred we're receiving.

One door closes, and another opens to something better. W/o that fateful meeting, the B10 network would still be a pipedream. That's something no one is going to write in the history books, but is exactly what happened to create it. Now we've got the SEC network, and the Univ of Texas network as well, with the Pac10(12?) to come. Arrogance actually caused their demise, a la the start of individual networks......

:gobucks3::gobucks4::banger:
Click to expand...

pride comes before the fall
 
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