Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[RugbyBuck]

It's been several pages and needs to be said:

Fcuk Notre Dame.

The world has passed them by and they'll never admit it. Fine. Even if it hadn't, they still lose against most of their Big 10 schedule every year. They need to hear, or maybe we just need to say, once and for all and very clearly: No thanks, we don't need or want you. Goodbye. ND is like a ridden hard forty-ish woman who used to (20-25 years earlier) be hot and in demand, but who won't wake up to reality. All is change - Heraclitus. "Things move pretty fast, if you don't look around once in a while you might miss something" - Ferris Bueller. Leverage is everything; Everything is leverage - RugbyBuck.

Notre Dame's got to wake up and realize that she's not the dame she used to be. If she wants to go home with someone, it's gonna either be the IT guy in the short-sleeve dress shirt or the douche clown in the plaid jacket with the comb-over.

Texas is the trophy wife that you sign up for keeps.

 

[jwinslow]

There really isn't enough of a sample size out there to buy into the "too often a failure" argument

There's about a decade's worth in the b12, and the b10 would be in serious danger of a similar imbalance if they land Mizzou/Rutgers instead of Texas. That risk skyrockets further if they keep UM & PSU in OSU's division to maintain those rivalries.

 

[Piney]

ORD you want to go Big? I'll give you freaking BIG.

Just WAY TOO big.

But to go big, you go Texas, Texas A&M and Notre Dame. That is plenty big right there, and I believe that combination of 3 teams makes enough money for the conference to offset splitting the money up 14 ways versus 12.

You tell Notre Dame that you got Texas and Texas A&M coming in and when we add a 14th team we are done expanding. So if you want to get in to something special, this is your last chance. I really think that would be the only way to get Notre Dame.

If Notre Dame still says no, you can go either Missouri or Syracuse (That Frank the Tank's Slant article made me realize to get the NY Market, you grab the basketball team versus the football team that grabs that market)

Since ORD is the academic expert, does Texas A&M fit? I did a quick check and it seemed like they weren't an AAU member. But it might have been out of date. I defer to ORD to let us know if that is even feasible.

And really, the reason I am including Texas A&M in this is to grease the politcal machine. While I am sure we can grab Texas by itself, but if we start thinking 14 teams, why not TAMU versus Nebraska or Missouri? It smooths over the Texas state government, it gives Texas a natural rival plus TAMU is pretty decent in most sports. (plus Texas now only needs to schedule Oklahoma as their one OOC rival versus having to schedule both)

 

[kn1f3party]

Piney, I've thought about A&M too. I question their ability to offset transportation costs--however. Plus, A&M would simply be to appease UT otherwise adding them does absolutely nothing for us that Texas wouldn't plus some.

 

[glenn]

you let a&m in and you'll get grease in places you didn't expect to find grease.

good lord! failure of the split conference concept?! look at the sec this year. how many handstands did we see for them to get the matchup they wanted in the end-of-season hay-baler? that charade was one half-nelson removed from professional wrestling style competition. think the networks are willing to reward the sec for delivering? hmmm . . . ?

 

[Buckrock]

TV ratings are the #1 criteria. Missouri or an Eastern School (Syracuse or Rutgers) makes the most sense IMO.

 

[Steve19]

It's been several pages and needs to be said:

Fcuk Notre Dame.

The world has passed them by and they'll never admit it. Fine. Even if it hadn't, they still lose against most of their Big 10 schedule every year. They need to hear, or maybe we just need to say, once and for all and very clearly: No thanks, we don't need or want you. Goodbye. ND is like a ridden hard forty-ish woman who used to (20-25 years earlier) be hot and in demand, but who won't wake up to reality. All is change - Heraclitus. "Things move pretty fast, if you don't look around once in a while you might miss something" - Ferris Bueller. Leverage is everything; Everything is leverage - RugbyBuck.

Notre Dame's got to wake up and realize that she's not the dame she used to be. If she wants to go home with someone, it's gonna either be the IT guy in the short-sleeve dress shirt or the douche clown in the plaid jacket with the comb-over.

Texas is the trophy wife that you sign up for keeps.

I am of a similar mind. The Big Ten doesn't need Notre Dame. Expand the conference and then cut one OOC game so that the teams play more games against each other. Drop Notre Dame from all Big Ten schedules. They see rivalry games with TSUN, MSU, Purdue. I see a cherry-picker who thinks she can use the Big Ten to maintain her mystique. Drop Notre Dame and the Big Ten will help them drop all the way to the bottom.

The Big Ten doesn't need Notre Dame. Storied tradition? Fine. But the stories are old and dusty now. It's time to move on. It would be the reputation smackdown of all time.

My all-time fantasy hope is that the Big Ten would announce that it was not interested in Notre Dame and that they would be dropping Notre Dame from their schedules. Watching them (a) try to maintain their ego while (b) they begged and used every relationship possible to get in would be really something to watch.

But....but...we got Rudy!

 

[glenn]

i think you guys are right about nd. the years when they mattered didn't start with a '2'.

thank you, bkb. if all this fizzles, i'm going to join you and hate me, too.

more: i do think it is important that you guys are bullish on this. this is the only board where i am participating in this discussion, but i'm hoping you guys who post in good standing on other conference boards are taking the attitude to those places. conference types don't ignore the expectations of fans.

more on what you said, steve: i agree about reducing the ooc and playing more ic games. i'm not opposed to dropping all ooc early-season games altogether except a tune-up/revenue-generator or two to kick off the season. what's being done right now is laughable. the reason nobody knows that texas is going to coldcock bama is there is so little consequential ooc competition that it is impossible to establish a true picture of relative conference strength. let's drop that charade altogether and pit the conference heavies against each other late in the season when such a pairing would mean something. heck, we could have several weekends of that, pairing winners until only two are left, and then have them go at it. no playoff, of course. the bowl guys would never allow that. just a series of games among friends.

 

[Muck]

There's about a decade's worth in the b12

An argument based on a single poorly put together conference...are you bolstering my point by intent or accident? :p

 

[Piney]

Piney, I've thought about A&M too. I question their ability to offset transportation costs--however. Plus, A&M would simply be to appease UT otherwise adding them does absolutely nothing for us that Texas wouldn't plus some.

The only real reason I included A&M is to make sure we get Texas. I know most Texas fans don't care about A&M (ie, willing to leave them behind) but if it greased the wheels so it would happen, I can live with it.

With that said... I still prefer just adding Texas. Just threw out the Texas, A&M and Notre Dame as a way to really turn the NCAA on its head.

 

[glenn]

nd doesn't know it, but nd is a nobody in a bright red wig.

a&m fits in the big ten like moe howard would have fit on the supreme court. [ooh, bad analogy. old moe wouldn't be a bad upgrade to many sc's.]

more: a&m would be in a bad way, monetarily, the first year, but after they got their first big piece of your nice pie, they could let the guy who humiliated them the other day go his way. and find somebody worse to take them to the promised land.

moses. moses. moe. yeah! a moe howard is what that program needs. heck, yeah!

gotta go pitch a fit somewhere. back later. i really do have a headache.

i read somewhere that without bad there would be no good, and without good there would be no bad. i am still waiting for that really good headache.

 

[Basebuck]

A&Mis not a good fit for the Big 10 from a cultural standpoint. Great secondary sports but that campus doesnt remind me of anything in the Big 10 unless a Big 10 city has one restraunt (Dixie Chicken) that everyone on campus goes to. Not to mention everyone on that campus looks exactly alike.

Austin reminds me of Big 10 cities. It's the closest city to Columbus that I've been around.

 

[glenn]

A&Mis not a good fit for the Big 10 from a cultural standpoint. Great secondary sports but that campus doesnt remind me of anything in the Big 10 unless a Big 10 city has one restraunt (Dixie Chicken) that everyone on campus goes to. Not to mention everyone on that campus looks exactly alike.

Austin reminds me of Big 10 cities. It's the closest city to Columbus that I've been around.

the man knows what he is talking about. you almost have to live here to believe it.

the ags know they are out there. they have a saying--they have lots of sayings--that makes them feel ok about that. something like: from the outside you can't understand it, and from the inside you can't explain it.

from our angle, it's like having a funny uncle that the family puts up with but outsiders have a hard time understanding. you grow up knowing that things are just going to go kind of weird with that individual but it's hard to imagine him any other way.

believe me, you don't want to get involved.

 

[kn1f3party]

more: i do think it is important that you guys are bullish on this. this is the only board where i am participating in this discussion, but i'm hoping you guys who post in good standing on other conference boards are taking the attitude to those places. conference types don't ignore the expectations of fans.

My letter to Delany is in the mail, requesting he strongly recommend Texas to the COP/C.

 

[glenn]

i don't want to think about this.

i don't like this at all. i want out of that fucking conference.

mangino and now leach. mangino and leach were two of the coaches whose voting helped screw us out of the title game last year.

i really don't want to think about this.