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Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

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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ScriptOhio;2157896; said:
Hell no!!!

Oh come on! They have the best fans!

94%20The%20Next%20Generation%20of%20Juggalos_thumb.jpg
 
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There are 8 legitamite options for the B1G expansion... I will list them from least to most likely:

1) BC

Academics: Good, but it's a private, christian university. Would stick out like a sore thumb among the large state institutions. Yes, we have Northwestern, but they are not religiously based. Much of the sticking points exist here as they do with ND, just with less appeal overall.

Athletics: Boston is a pro sports town, just look at their spring game numbers, pitiful. The university has never shown a dedication to any sport except hockey. As a last ditch 16th member, I guess, but BC will be there at the end if we have to resort to it, no need to make an offer early.

2) NCSt

Academics: Midiling. Worst out of the big 4 in NC and possibly worse than ECU. Not a university that we would be thrilled to have in the CIC.

Athletics: See BC. They only really care about basketball, but not enough to really upgrade their facilities to compete with UNC and Duke. Have some history, but the fanbase support is TINY compared to UNC or Duke. Not really the gateway to the state. Won't get an offer. Might have issues taking UNC if NCSt doesn't have a place to land. If that is the case, we may have to bite the bullet and take them as a package with Duke/UNC. Think the relationship of TAMU and UT.

3) Virginia Tech

Academics: Good. Not as good as GT, but a solid engineering school.

Athletics: Decent. Football has been good under Beamer but that is about it. They have become the dominant force in the DC area, but this team is SEC bound, count on it.

4) Georgia Tech

Acdemics: Excellent. Would fit in VERY well with the rest of the CIC, Purdue's kindred spirit of the South.

Athletics: Decent. Don't dominate the state, or even their market of Atlanta, but there is some alumni support. Would suffer in most sports in the B1G, becoming very Iowa-like (minus wrestling). Might get an offer, but would be contigent on landing UVA and UNC to provide some geographic continuity.

5) Maryland

Academics: Excellent and improving rapidly. UMD has pumped some SERIOUS money into their research and it is showing. They have shot up the ranks rather quickly but have a good foundation where it seems they are here to stay as an elite state flagship institution (on the same level as a Penn St).

Althetics: Eh. Facilities are crummy, fan support is crummy, don't even dominate their own market (VT owns most of the DC market and that would only go up if they go to the SEC). I say they get an offer to help geographically with some promises made to use the money to really push facilities upgrades. The UnderArmour connection should not be overlooked here.

6) Duke

Academics: Well, you know, they're Duke. Top notch.

Athletics: Better than you would expect. Many believe that the football team could get to ok from dismall, but it's the rest that intrigues. Most people forget that the BTN works so well because we have such good winter programming with nearly nightly basketball games, most that are actually REALLY good. Imagine what adding Duke to that would do? You bet your ass that people would be tuning in to see that. Get an offer contingent with UNC coming.

7) North Carolina

Academics: See Duke.

Athletics: Really the prize of the ACC. Very large fanbase, and a football program just waiting to dominate. They are in VERY fertile recruiting areas. If UNC can put up a fence like Tress did with Ohio, this could be an elite team in a matter of seasons. Add in top notch basketball and baseball, this is a no brainer. They WILL get an offer, probably from all 3 of SEC, B12, B1G.

8) Virginia

Academics: I always thought of UVA as the south's version of Michigan, just not full of assholes. VERY proud university with excellent academics. Anybody who is high-acheiving in the DC area wants to go here for school.

Athletics: Much like UNC, this is a sleeping giant. Right now the athletic department isn't putting the money where it needs to go, but one could argue that the ACC isn't really providing them with enough money to fight off VT. Another prime recruiting area that if UVA can dominate (the DC area), they will quickly become a solid program. I expect this to be the first offer the B1G makes.

The Cavs are a founding member and if they leave, that will truly be the end of the ACC. I expect FSU and Clemson to go making the ACC VERY weak. If the SEC grabs VT and NCSt (which I expect) then UVA may make the decision to leave. I could very well see ESPN coming in and stabilizing the ACC much like they did the B12 and allowing the ACC to add RU and UConn to get back to 12 (in addition to Cuse and Pitt). If that is the case, the ACC will survive. BUT, if UVA goes, then all bets are off. I personally thing that the SEC and B12 will go to 16 while the B1G and Pac12 stay at 12. No need to change. Let the dominoes fall a bit.
 
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Good analysis rampageripster, although I would argue that the tidewater area of Virginia is also a solid recruiting area for much of the ACC, and UVA is also very close to the Fork Union Academy, from where we have pulled some recruits before.
 
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HorseshoeFetish;2157636; said:
Thanks just threw up in my mouth a little...other than beating UNC in Basketball on a regular basis this doesn't appeal in anyway. However The BIG will never let this happen and miss out on a Championship game that could feature tOSU and scUM...ever.

Might be a bullet the Big Ten would have to bite, if you are talking about having 2 divisions of 8 teams you aren't left with a lot of room for protecting cross divisional rivalries, even if you play 9 conference games that's only 2 cross divisional games per team. This is why 16 teams from a football competition standpoint is just stupid, barely playing over half your conference and most likely going 6-7+ years without seeing a particular team. The money is driving the bus here though unfortunately
 
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rampageripster;2157913; said:
There are 8 legitamite options for the B1G expansion... I will list them from least to most likely:

1) BC

2) NCSt

3) Virginia Tech

4) Georgia Tech

5) Maryland

6) Duke

7) North Carolina

8) Virginia

Bump VaTech to the bottom. They're going SEC if the ACC falls apart. NC State second to last. No interest unless they're a requirement to land UVA-NC-Duke.

Boston College may be Catholic but--like Georgetown--they're Jesuit. They don't toe Rome's line on academic freedom issues. ND is not Jesuit and would possibly be much more of a sticking point in this regard. BC should be higher on the list because of the market and providing a natural rival should the domers join. I'd say above Maryland.

Duke and Maryland I might flip since there's way more upside to Maryland football, but Duke might be part of a UVA-UNC package.

Agree that UVA and UNC are 1 and 2.
 
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The addition of Nebraska was squarely about football. So, I'm warming to the balance that the UVA/UNC/Duke trio brings. As someone mentioned earlier, that balance is important to the offseason B1G channel programming.

Plus it would potentially make the B1G the premiere lacrosse conference (UVA, UNC, Duke, OSU, PSU, Mich).
 
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Pretty much... if we added those four unc/uva/gt would ne tops every year woth neb right behind them... would also open up the possibility of a B1G lax leagues men: tOSU, UM, PSU, UNC, UVA, Duke (MD?) would be formidable... as would womens (subtract UM add powerhouse NW)... we might not win tennis every year anymore either
 
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JBaney45;2157941; said:
Might be a bullet the Big Ten would have to bite,

Um....lemme think...NO! I guess I can live, or just about don't care anymore, with whatever schools might join. None of which I might add threaten my confidence in our football team in the least. My main point is that THE BIG will never, ever, put Us and scUm in the same division as shown below. I'm sure they would toss "THE GAME" ending the regular season before they ever removed the chance that THE BIG CHAMPIONSHIP GAME was a tOSU vs scUM showdown. Call me crazy if you want but If they did...I'd probably lose my mind anyway.

Do you really want to have an B1G (East Division) of

Ohio State

Michigan
Michigan State
Penn State
Maryland
UNC
UVa
BC
 
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