Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[bigdog3300]

Dump Penn State and play a 9-game conference schedule with 3 OOC games. Keep current tie-breakers in case of co-champions. Expansion is bull[censored] and totally unneeded...it serves no purpose other than to appease the media dip[censored]s.

Same reason any conference expands; $$$$$$$$.

 

[bigdog3300]

TCU is not a destination coaching gig. What happens once their head coach gets hired by a top-5/10 all-time program? That's the hangup there.

Patterson seems awfully happy there, and having his school land in a big time conference would make it even better. I think that with success in the Big Ten, TCU would eventually, and quickly, turn into a "destination" gig. But I do not foresee Patterson leaving anytime soon.

 

[jwinslow]

Who has offered Patterson so far?


If the b10's struggles cannot be fixed internally (hiring better coaches, recruiting & executing better in January), then why are we reaching out to Mizzou to help their program with very little in return?

 

[matcar]

I don't see how anyone thinks that Texas would just up and join the Big Ten. They have rivalries as well,and in national title contention year in and out. If there is expansion I seriously doubt it will be with a team of this caliber. Nebraska or Mizzou maybe..

I don't have any real insight into what the chief decision makers at UT think, but I can only assume that they have a whole lot else on their mind above/beyond rivalries. As someone else mentioned, UT is, after all...a university....and a damn good one. What I DO have real insight into is the faculty opinions as I have spoken with many on occasions. They clearly desire the benefits that ORD has spoken at great lengths about in this and other threads.

As to football rivalries...well they could be maintained with OOC games as others have suggested. So, it COULD be done. Now, do I think it will? No. But I can tell you that it would be a win/win academically for the CIC and for UT. ...that alone, makes this type of thing make a lot of sense. But as well all know, making a lot of sense sometimes doesn't amount to a hill of beans...

 

[mross34]

Patterson seems awfully happy there, and having his school land in a big time conference would make it even better. I think that with success in the Big Ten, TCU would eventually, and quickly, turn into a "destination" gig. But I do not foresee Patterson leaving anytime soon.

The Big Ten should not expand their coverage area all the way down to Texas unless Bevo is involved.

 

[methomps]

Academics man. These are colleges we're talking about. Texas sticks out in the Big 12. They'd fit in academically in the Big 10. Texas can keep their rivalries. Play Oklahoma and A&M every year OOC.

UT's OOC the last couple years doesn't look like Oklahoma and A&M:

09
LA-Monroe
@ Wyoming
UTEP
UCF

08
FAU
@ UTEP
Rice
Arkansas

07
Arkie St.
TCU
@ UCF
Rice

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Same reason any conference expands; $$$$$$$$.

And? Just because it may put some more money in the coffers doesn't mean it's the best/right thing to do...

 

[matcar]

UT's OOC the last couple years doesn't look like Oklahoma and A&M:

09
LA-Monroe
@ Wyoming
UTEP
UCF

08
FAU
@ UTEP
Rice
Arkansas

07
Arkie St.
TCU
@ UCF
Rice

Any of those teams could beat aTm

 

[Buckeye86]

UT's OOC the last couple years doesn't look like Oklahoma and A&M:

09
LA-Monroe
@ Wyoming
UTEP
UCF

08
FAU
@ UTEP
Rice
Arkansas

07
Arkie St.
TCU
@ UCF
Rice

replace those with Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern and Minnesota in conference and call it a wash

 

[methomps]

Any of those teams could beat aTm

Maybe they can give Texas some advice on how to do it more consistently. Aggies have been tough for the Horns the last couple years, save last year.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

FWIW: Now that expansion seems to be inevitable, mark me as one who is in favor of putting The Ohio State University and TSUN in the same division. Keeping the stakes of The Game as high as possible, given the new rules of the new world order, is paramount to me. This suggests an east-west split.

Given these pre-conditions, my preference would be:


East
The Ohio State University
TSUN
Sparty
Indi
Purdue
Illinois

West
Nebraska
Missouri
Wiscy
Minne
Iowa
Northwestern

Bye-Bye, Have Fun in the New Big East
State Penn

I actually like this suggestion the best - it adds two teams in the West Division (one a traditional power, the other on the order of Iowa and Wisconsin); it keeps Ohio State and Michigan together in the East Division; it adds teams to the Midwest, which is the heart of the Big Ten; and it gets rids of Penn State, which has never seemed like a "real" Big Ten team to me.

However, I imagine that it would be pretty difficult to boot Penn State out of the conference, even though they more properly belong in the Big East.

Needless to say, TCU would add nothing to the conference in terms of athletics, academics, or geography. The only reason to head out of the midwest would be to snag a super-attractive school like Texas, not some middle-of-the-road pretender like TCU.

 

[CHU]

All-in-all, you have to enjoy how the Big Ten just made itself a news story for the next 12-18 months (if truly expanding). For the next 12-18 months, people can speculate who the conference will attempt to lure.

Just don't change the name, because it would kill a name brand.

 

[jwinslow]

I can't speak for the university, but I'm not sure Texas fans would be too distraught over distancing themselves from Aggy, particularly if they're trading them in for Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State.

Freemethomps does make an excellent point about Mack Brown's preference for an easier road in scheduling.

 

[OSU_D/]

UT's OOC the last couple years doesn't look like Oklahoma and A&M:

09
LA-Monroe
@ Wyoming
UTEP
UCF

08
FAU
@ UTEP
Rice
Arkansas

07
Arkie St.
TCU
@ UCF
Rice

How about you go back to 06 and 05 and see if there is a big time program on the schedule? In addition TCU in 07 and Arkansas in 08 were probably better teams than TAMU. Also, they have Cal and Ole Miss on their schedules in the future... teams better than TAMU. TAMU gives them a good game b/c they are full of kids who wished they could have gone to UT. While they don't have an OSU caliber team on the schedule now, it doesn't mean the won't as proven by their past.

 

[redbenn]

One thing if it is Mizzou, that could give an opportunity to one of the WAC/MtnWest teams to jump to a BCS conference... Boise or TCU to the Big 12... I also heard maybe Arkansas to the Big 12, which would renew Southwest Conference Rivalries.. then maybe Louisville to the SEC. They mentioned it on Rivals Radio this morning... just more interesting chatter.