Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[TampaBuckeyes]

I kind of see this as the first step to bringing them into the B1G. This hockey thing is just going to lay the groundwork for more cooperation between Ntre Ame and the B1G, and the eventual end game (at least in my IMO) is an invite to Ntre Ame and another school (my guess would be either Virginia or Oklahoma) into the B1G.

I'm probably wrong, but that was the first thought that popped in my head. Can't say I'm on board with the idea.

Let's hope so

 

[cincibuck]

Just matter of time before ND joins the B1G. Yes, they currently are semi-aligned with the ACC in football (and are a member of the ACC in all other sports except hockey), but I think they will eventually slide over from the ACC. The only problem will be how they maintain their annual football rivalries with USC and Navy. They almost always play Navy the last Saturday of October or first Saturday of November, right smack in the middle of B1G conference play. Their games at home against USC are almost always played on the third Saturday of October while games at USC are played the last Saturday of November. Their rivalries with Michigan and Michigan State, although not annual ones, would be restored by their joining the B1G.

Don't really think Navy will have any problem taking whatever date the Irish give them - They've won - what, two games - in the last sixty, but it puts food on the mess hall table.

As for the football Irish joining the Big 10 - I bet they'll insist on being in the west with an added condition that OSU, PSU, Michigan and MSU remain in the overloaded east. Probably want a full share of BTN revenue and the right to keep their exclusive deal with NBC just for themselves. BUT, it sure would lock up the TV Market along the east coast out to the Mississippi.

 

[kujirakira]

No thanks. Already have 2 schools in that state and never a cultural fit.
Go East old man.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Don't really think Navy will have any problem taking whatever date the Irish give them - They've won - what, two games - in the last sixty, but it puts food on the mess hall table.

Navy won three of four 2007-2010.

As for the football Irish joining the Big 10 - I bet they'll insist on being in the west with an added condition that OSU, PSU, Michigan and MSU remain in the overloaded east. Probably want a full share of BTN revenue and the right to keep their exclusive deal with NBC just for themselves. BUT, it sure would lock up the TV Market along the east coast out to the Mississippi.

I'm pretty sure ND would be put in the West, regardless of what they wanted, since the East is already overloaded. As for getting full BTN TV revenue and keeping their exclusive deal with NBC, that ain't gonna happen...you can bet that will be one of the conditions of their being accepted into the conference.

 

[Muck]

I'm pretty sure ND would be put in the West, regardless of what they wanted, since the East is already overloaded.

I'm not so sure. The overriding factor in all of the expansion decisions so far is monetary. Notre Dame playing along the East Coast would arguably be huge. I agree that we wouldn't see Ohio State, TSUN, Sparty, PSU & ND all in the East, but I'm not positive ND is the one that would end up in the West.

Something like:
TSUN
ND
Sparty
PSU
Indiana
Purdue
Maryland
Rutgers

Ohio State
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Illinois
Northwestern

....could potentially tie things together for the West much better than the current setup. It would give those teams much better exposure to fertile recruiting grounds they currently lack. No I don't think Ohio State & TSUN will get split, but from a theoretical standpoint those divisions definitely have potential.

I also agree with there being no way ND would receive a full BTN share on top of the NBC deal.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

I'm not so sure. The overriding factor in all of the expansion decisions so far is monetary. Notre Dame playing along the East Coast would arguably be huge. I agree that we wouldn't see Ohio State, TSUN, Sparty, PSU & ND all in the East, but I'm not positive ND is the one that would end up in the West.

Something like:
TSUN
ND
Sparty
PSU
Indiana
Purdue
Maryland
Rutgers

Ohio State
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Illinois
Northwestern

....could potentially tie things together for the West much better than the current setup. It would give those teams much better exposure to fertile recruiting grounds they currently lack. No I don't think Ohio State & TSUN will get split, but from a theoretical standpoint those divisions definitely have potential.

I also agree with there being no way ND would receive a full BTN share on top of the NBC deal.

You have a point about ND being big on the east coast (as they already are), but I just can't see Ohio State going to the West Division when you can have the same level team (brand name wise) in ND being in that division where they are a more geographic fit. If Wisconsin can stay decent and if Nebraska can get back to a semblance of its old self, the West can be a decent division with ND in it, especially if Oklahoma also joins and obviously ends up in the West. If both ND and Oklahoma do join to bring us to 16 teams, here's how I see it ending up:

EAST DIVISION
Illinois (comes over from West Division)
Indiana
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Rutgers

WEST DIVISION
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Notre Dame
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Purdue
Wisconsin

Also, with ND and Oklahoma joining and going to the west, we'd have six of college's top eight all-time winningest teams (Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Oklahoma) in the B1G, and have three in each division (Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State in the East and Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Oklahoma in the West). You also have the divisions aligned exclusively by geography: All teams from Indiana eastward (except Notre Dame) in the East and all teams from Illinois westward (plus Notre Dame) in the West.

I think that works out almost perfectly, at least on paper...

 

[Muck]

Of course it's one of those things that won't become clear until the actual new pieces are revealed, and what the landscape looks like at the time they joined. The decisions that led to 'East' & 'West' were made in a slightly different environment than the ones that gave us 'Leaders' & 'Legends'.

I'm still very skeptical of Notre Dame ever becoming a full member, but regardless of personal feelings regarding the program it would be a massive coup to bring them into the fold.

 

[AKAK]

Bull[Mark May]. This isn't about being petty and vindictive, it's about making B1G hockey as compelling as possible, which adding ND does. I couldn't care less what ND does in other sports. People are entitled to not want ND in the league, but saying "Delany screwed up" is silly.

If we can't be petty and vindictive toward Notre Dame then why am I even here?

I'm going back in the bomb shelter. Fuck this shit.

 

[colobuck79]

And please just stop with the projected conference lineups.

 

[jwinslow]

I'm not so sure. The overriding factor in all of the expansion decisions so far is monetary. Notre Dame playing along the East Coast would arguably be huge. I agree that we wouldn't see Ohio State, TSUN, Sparty, PSU & ND all in the East, but I'm not positive ND is the one that would end up in the West.

Something like:
TSUN
ND
Sparty
PSU
Indiana
Purdue
Maryland
Rutgers

Ohio State
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Illinois
Northwestern

....could potentially tie things together for the West much better than the current setup. It would give those teams much better exposure to fertile recruiting grounds they currently lack. No I don't think Ohio State & TSUN will get split, but from a theoretical standpoint those divisions definitely have potential.

I also agree with there being no way ND would receive a full BTN share on top of the NBC deal.

Every time someone splits up the east, they're almost always cancelling many of the best B1G games, which naturally involve OSU. You'd be cancelling the epic OSU-MSU and OSU-PSU series (and making OSU-UM awkward) all based on some guess about conference balance (other splits leave OSU & PSU alone in the east, cancelling MSU-PSU and UM-PSU which are solid TV). That kind of gamble suggested that powerhouse PSU wouldn't be Northwestern and Nebraska wouldn't be a freaking basketball school when they joined. Oklahoma should be good but we've heard that before, and frankly if they were in the B1G their rampant failures on the big stage would be held against them. There's also the question of how well they will recruit when their texas kids are no longer playing games nearby (assuming Kansas isn't brought in).

 

[Muck]

Every time someone splits up the east, they're almost always cancelling many of the best B1G games, which naturally involve OSU. You'd be cancelling the epic OSU-MSU and OSU-PSU series (and making OSU-UM awkward) all based on some guess about conference balance (other splits leave OSU & PSU alone in the east, cancelling MSU-PSU and UM-PSU which are solid TV).

For me it wasn't about conference balance, it was about what is potentially good for the conference as a whole for the long term (albeit arguably bad for Ohio State). Getting away from PSU was a feature, not a bug. There is plenty of potential epicness in yearly tilts with Nebraska & Oklahoma.

The Game definitely would be a potential casualty, and I hate the idea of a rematch.

A final weekend of ....
The Game
Nebraska vs Oklahoma
Notre Dame vs PSU

....would blow everyone else out of the water in ratings.

 

[Muck]

And please just stop with the projected conference lineups.

Ohio State
TSUN
Indiana

Notre Dame
Sparty
Purdue

PSU
Maryland
Rutgers

Illinois
Northwestern
Missouri

Wisconsin
Minnesota
Iowa

Nebraska
Oklahoma
Kansas

At the end of each season the pods would be arranged into two divisions for the following season using whatever process would most annoy colobuck.

 

[jwinslow]

OSU's MUCK opponents would be 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, 7.8, 11.8, 12, 13.3 hrs away. AVG? 9 hrs away.

OSU trek if they joined the SEC East? 2.9, 5.1, 5.6, 7.8, 9.1, 9.1, 13.2. AVG? 7.5 hrs away.

Current B1G East travel? 3.2, 3.6, 4, 5, 6.2, 7.7. AVG? 4.95 hrs away. The outlandish Rutgers trip would be closer than 4 of the OSU Muck West voyages.

 

[jwinslow]

Ohio State
TSUN
Indiana

Notre Dame
Sparty
Purdue

PSU
Maryland
Rutgers

Illinois
Northwestern
Missouri

Wisconsin
Minnesota
Iowa

Nebraska
Oklahoma
Texas

At the end of each season the pods would be arranged into two divisions for the following season using whatever process would most annoy colobuck.

I'm a big fan of pods.

 

[Muck]

OSU's MUCK opponents would be 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, 7.8, 11.8, 12, 13.3 hrs away. AVG? 9 hrs away.

OSU trek if they joined the SEC East? 2.9, 5.1, 5.6, 7.8, 9.1, 9.1, 13.2. AVG? 7.5 hrs away.

Current B1G East travel? 3.2, 3.6, 4, 5, 6.2, 7.7. AVG? 4.95 hrs away. The outlandish Rutgers trip would be closer than 4 of the OSU Muck West voyages.

The Ohio State athletic department made 14.1 Trillion dollars last year. That is more than the net worth of Australia.

Turning that into something that is more seriousness....travel time isn't that big of an issue for football when they're flying everywhere anyways. Sucks a bit more for fans of course.

And again....less PSU on the schedule trumps everything.