This is from the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, in enemy territory. I have not read it, but you can surely go ahead and shoot the messenger anyhow.
Tipsheet: Big Ten prepares to blow up major college football as we know it
Michigan running back Hassan Haskins certainly had a lot to celebrate about Saturday — he scored five touchdowns in a victory over rival Ohio State.
Tony Ding, AP photo
Jeff Gordon
Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren wants to rule the college sports world.
OK, he is willing to be co-ruler with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, the man he affectionately calls G-Sank.
During Big Ten Media Days Warren served fair warning that he was ready for his league to expand, expand and expand some more. Various media reports have him targeting additional Pac-12 schools (Cal, Oregon, Stanford and Washington) as well as some Atlantic Coast Conference targets (Miami and Florida State) and, of course, Notre Dame.
“From a strategy standpoint, this is not the old college athletics,” Warren said. “For the individuals and the conferences and schools that are not thinking that way, they’re going to be [bankrupt] Sears and Roebuck. That’s straight, blunt. That’s where this deal is going. We have about three or four more years of perpetual disruption. During that period, either you’re going to embrace change and build a business and get stronger, or not.”
Once the Big Ten added UCLA and USC, it became a national, coast-to-coast conference – like the AFC and NFC in the NFL. Once the league took that step, all things became possible.
“I think sometimes later time zones on the West Coast, people looked at it as a negative, and I always looked at it as a positive,” Warren said. “So for us in the Big Ten to be -- we're in four time zones, we will be in 2024: East, Central, Mountain, and West. So now we'll be able to provide content all the way from the morning into the night and lead into some really incredible programming. So I think the value of being across four time zones for multiple reasons is really important.
“We haven't finalized the financial impact, and ironically this probably will shock you, the numbers and finances associated with it are typically the last thing that I kind of consider and analyze. It's important for me from a business standpoint, but from a decision-making process standpoint, always look at all the other reasons why because, if all the other reasons make sense, the finances will take care of themselves.
“So I'm looking forward to building a brand to be fortified and strong from Los Angeles to New Jersey and everywhere in between.”
That ambition could prompt to SEC to add to its footprint as well, to maintain its lofty standing. Some pundits see a college football scenario where the Big Ten and SEC operate on their own plane with its own playoff, leaving the rest of the major colleges in a second tier.
If realignment gets to that level, you can’t help but wonder if the SEC will look to subtract some schools (Missouri, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State) so it can add more powerful programs to keep pace.
Stay tuned for further developments.
Here is what folks are writing about all of this:
Brandon Marcello,
247 Sports: “The Big Ten is positioning itself to become college athletics' ultimate superpower with a new broadcast deal and expansion, and the yet-to-be-decided moves the conference make over the coming months could shape college athletics as we know it into something unrecognizable over the next several decades. Commissioner Kevin Warren certainly did not appear daunted by the task, particularly in the wake of the substantial additions of USC and UCLA from the Pac-12 beginning in 2024. Buoyed by the promise of a new gigantic broadcast rights deal expected to eclipse $1 billion per year with FOX and other media partners, Warren puffed out his chest and flexed the conference's mighty muscles at Big Ten Media Days. While repeating the need to be innovative and bold, he made it clear to his colleagues across college athletics that anything is possible for his conference and he wants to lead college athletics into the future without limitations on thinking.”
Pat Forde,
SI.com: “In the coming weeks the league will announce its new media-rights deal, one that will factor in the revenue windfall of adding USC and UCLA from the West Coast in 2024. Projections have put the total worth of the upcoming contracts at $1 billion or more. That would further differentiate the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference from the rest of Division I college athletics, and specifically from the rest of the Power 5. It’s a move that threatens all of college sports as we now know it, but Warren is in the business of strengthening his league—even if it’s at the expense of others. And that might mean more expansion to come. Warren left open the possibility of growing beyond 16 members.”
Dennis Dodd,
CBSSports.com: “The idea of adding Cal, Oregon, Stanford and Washington would be to establish a Western bulkhead that would be academically appealing enough for Big Ten presidents to approve further expansion. However, it's uncertain whether any of the Big Ten's future rightsholders would find value in such a move. Financially, those four programs are not worth near the money now expected to be distributed to Big Ten schools with USC and UCLA in the fold ($80 million to $100 million annually). Competitively, though, it would be a lifeline for the Pac-12's next-best football brands. Oregon has played for championships, Washington claims two titles, and Stanford is considered the next-best Pac-12 football prospect due to excellence established under Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw. Stanford and Cal are also known for their widely successful athletic departments. CBS Sports previously reported Oregon's desperation, and Cal being ditched by UCLA has even drawn the ire of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. A 20-team Big Ten would be arguably the largest assemblage of football brands major-college sports history. It would also give pause to a collegiate enterprise trying to figure out its future these days.”
Zack Barnett,
Football Scoop: “Stanford falls well below Pac-12 rivals Oregon and Washington in terms of football passion. That much is obvious. But the Cardinal are actually even with the Ducks and Huskies as a TV draw, and outside of that you have a dream candidate: the No. 6 university in the nation in the latest
US News and World Report rankings, the perennial winner of the NACDA Directors' Cup for the top overall athletics department in the country, a location among a hub of Big Ten graduates, pre-existing relationships with newcomers USC and UCLA and hypothetical newcomer Notre Dame and, most importantly, the opportunities for the presidents of Iowa, Minnesota and the like to pretend like they're on the same level as Stanford. And that's what realignment is really all about, isn't it?”
Brett McMurphy,
Action Network: “If the Big Ten adds more Pac-12 teams, the Big 12 could pursue Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the Pac-12, sources said. Warren said he has developed a close relationship with new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark. Ironically, both Warren and Yormark’s leagues could take teams from the Pac-12. So, if the Pac-12 were no longer a power league, a key question immediately jumps out: Could the Rose Bowl actually pivot in the future to a Big Ten-Big 12 matchup?”
Rob Oller,
The Columbus Dispatch: “To conference bean counters, the No. 1 right reason is money, but that creates a potential dilemma. It may be that adding West Coast teams would do more financial harm than good; dividing $1 billion among 20 schools means each school receives less than if the TV media money was split 16 ways. The dilemma? How to remain at 16 teams and not make it look like it’s all about money instead of the academic and physical welfare of athletes crisscrossing the country? Luckily for Warren, help is on the way. It’s called the Southeastern Conference. A possible scenario: The SEC aligns with the Big Ten for playoff purposes, with each conference expanding to as many as 24 teams that compete for a conference title, similar to the NFL. Each conference will have its own TV network – ESPN for the SEC; FOX and possibly NBC for the Big Ten, depending on what happens with Notre Dame. In this 24-team format, the Big Ten ultimately adds Oregon, Washington, Stanford, Cal and possibly Utah, then raids the Atlantic Coast Conference for North Carolina and Georgia Tech, or whatever teams have not already joined the SEC. As for the Baylors and Iowa States of this world, enjoy playing in the B-league.”
MEGAPHONE
"We need some intervention, and then my bigger concern is: Who's going to do it, right? Where's it going to come from? Where's that leadership going to come from, because we're all busy?"
Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, on the state of college football.
