NCAA Conference Realignment

[SouthSideRyan]

So is there any good reason behind this besides a title game?

 

This is stupid.

[hawkeyecub]

So is there any good reason behind this besides a title game?

 

This is stupid.

 

I can't think of one. And I agree.

[fromthestretch]

How the hell are they going to work a subliminal number "12" into the conference logo?

[jersey cubs fan]

So is there any good reason behind this besides a title game?

 

This is stupid.

 

I can't think of one. And I agree.

 

A lot of people said that about Penn State but that turned out well.

 

Trouble is they shouldn't add a school like Missouri.

[SouthSideRyan]

So is there any good reason behind this besides a title game?

 

This is stupid.

 

I can't think of one. And I agree.

 

A lot of people said that about Penn State but that turned out well.

 

Trouble is they shouldn't add a school like Missouri.

 

Penn State football was a huge addition. Syracuse basketball and Notre Dame football are the only additions that will mean anything to the conference.

[hawkeyecub]

So is there any good reason behind this besides a title game?

 

This is stupid.

 

I can't think of one. And I agree.

 

A lot of people said that about Penn State but that turned out well.

 

Trouble is they shouldn't add a school like Missouri.

 

Penn State football was a huge addition. Syracuse basketball and Notre Dame football are the only additions that will mean anything to the conference.

 

Exactly. If Notre Dame were willing to come I would be all for it. Adding Rutgers or Mizzou doesn't really do much besides get you a football championship game. Yeah there's the NY/NJ market (and to a lesser extent KC/STL) but do they really care that much?

 

Let's just drop Northwestern and have a round robin schedule in football and basketball.

[Jon]

You're that desperate for one less Iowa loss each year?

 

 

I'm mostly against a possible move. None of the potential schools make all that much sense to me from an academic/non-revenue sport perspective. And I'm sure that a school like Syracuse or Rutgers would just love sending their non-revenue athletes on 15 hour bus trips to Iowa City.

 

I'd imagine that the BTN is salivating about getting into the NY market, though, and the Big Ten would like to squeeze some more money out of ESPN in their next deal.

[Andy]

The Big Ten's official statement on expansion is at this link.

 

Basically, it says "we are going to start looking around to see who wants to join and if it's cool with our presidents if they do".

[jersey cubs fan]

You're that desperate for one less Iowa loss each year?

 

 

I'm mostly against a possible move. None of the potential schools make all that much sense to me from an academic/non-revenue sport perspective. And I'm sure that a school like Syracuse or Rutgers would just love sending their non-revenue athletes on 15 hour bus trips to Iowa City.

 

I'd imagine that the BTN is salivating about getting into the NY market, though, and the Big Ten would like to squeeze some more money out of ESPN in their next deal.

 

Penn State is big here. Rutgers is not. Syracuse is kind of, when they are good. But Rutgers has to be 11-0 and on the verge of a national championship to get any attention.

[Jon]

You're that desperate for one less Iowa loss each year?

 

 

I'm mostly against a possible move. None of the potential schools make all that much sense to me from an academic/non-revenue sport perspective. And I'm sure that a school like Syracuse or Rutgers would just love sending their non-revenue athletes on 15 hour bus trips to Iowa City.

 

I'd imagine that the BTN is salivating about getting into the NY market, though, and the Big Ten would like to squeeze some more money out of ESPN in their next deal.

 

Penn State is big here. Rutgers is not. Syracuse is kind of, when they are good. But Rutgers has to be 11-0 and on the verge of a national championship to get any attention.

I believe that a big part of it is being able to reinvigorate the existing NY-area Big Ten alumni base. I don't know how well that would work out for the BTN, though.

[hawkeyecub]

You're that desperate for one less Iowa loss each year?

 

If you can't beat 'em, get rid of 'em.

 

As jersey said, I suspected that no one really cares about Rutgers in NY now and in general NY isn't big on college sports. At least if you added Mizzou it would be adding mid-level markets that actually care. Though KC is probably higher than STL. You get the BTN on in more homes with NY and more regional ABC games I guess.

[Derwood]

Local paper had an article about this today, and said one of the driving forces behind this is that Big Ten AD's (and presidents) don't like the fact that Big Ten football is out of the national spotlight 3 weeks before the rest of college football is over. Adding a bye week next year at least gets them to play after Thanksgiving, but there is a strong desire to have the Big Ten on a national stage along with the other BCS conferences who have a title game, with the game likely to take place either in Indy or Soldier Field

[Derwood]

Link to the Dispatch article:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/12/15/oller_12-15.ART_ART_12-15-09_C1_FAG0G3J.html?sid=101

[bukie]

Gasaway talks expansion, and makes a lot of sense.

[CubColtPacer]

Gasaway talks expansion, and makes a lot of sense.

 

The one thing I disagree with is that I don't see the Big 10 going back to 16 conference games with this move even if they use basketball divisions. I really cannot see them using divisions at all in basketball because there is still so much emphasis on winning the regular season Big 10 crown that isn't quite the case in some other conferences. For that some reason, I can't see them going back down from 18 conference games.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

Although the new stadium in Indy is great, the championship game must be played in Chicago. Chicago has the largest hub of Big Ten alumni, and is the cultural center of the mid-west. If the Big Ten does this they cannot small town it. Do it right or don't do it at all.

[CubbieBum]

Although the new stadium in Indy is great, the championship game must be played in Chicago. Chicago has the largest hub of Big Ten alumni, and is the cultural center of the mid-west. If the Big Ten does this they cannot small town it. Do it right or don't do it at all.

 

Indy is a small town? That is news to me. It also happens to be very well liked by just about everyone when they host any kind of big sporting event. A lot of that has to do with the fact that every sports venue is downtown (Speedway is close enough). If the United Center wasn't out of the way and next to nothing Chicago would probably have it every year. Also Chicago is so big that it won't revolve around the tourney when it is there. When the tourney is in Indy that is all there is in town.

[CubbieBum]

Let's just drop Northwestern and have a round robin schedule in football and basketball.

 

Not possible.

[E.J.]

Although the new stadium in Indy is great, the championship game must be played in Chicago. Chicago has the largest hub of Big Ten alumni, and is the cultural center of the mid-west. If the Big Ten does this they cannot small town it. Do it right or don't do it at all.

 

Indy is a small town? That is news to me. It also happens to be very well liked by just about everyone when they host any kind of big sporting event. A lot of that has to do with the fact that every sports venue is downtown (Speedway is close enough). If the United Center wasn't out of the way and next to nothing Chicago would probably have it every year. Also Chicago is so big that it won't revolve around the tourney when it is there. When the tourney is in Indy that is all there is in town.

 

That and the fact that they probably won't want to have a Big Ten Championship game held outdoors at Soldier Field in December. Much better to have the game in a dome.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

They'd probably rotate it like the Big 12 does, they go between Texas sites and KC.

[Andy]

They'd probably rotate it like the Big 12 does, they go between Texas sites and KC.

This would be the best move. They could move it between Ford Field*, Lucas Oil and Soldier Field. If they wanted to branch out further they could include the Bengals' stadium, the Browns' stadium, and/or the Metrodome into that rotation.

 

* There is the MAC title game there so that could create some conflicts, but the MAC should be holding their title game elsewhere anyway, and I'm sure Ford Field would jump at the chance to have a Big Tweleven title game.

[UMFan83]

So is there any good reason behind this besides a title game?

 

This is stupid.

 

I can't think of one. And I agree.

 

A lot of people said that about Penn State but that turned out well.

 

Trouble is they shouldn't add a school like Missouri.

 

Penn State football was a huge addition. Syracuse basketball and Notre Dame football are the only additions that will mean anything to the conference.

 

Exactly. If Notre Dame were willing to come I would be all for it. Adding Rutgers or Mizzou doesn't really do much besides get you a football championship game. Yeah there's the NY/NJ market (and to a lesser extent KC/STL) but do they really care that much?

 

Let's just drop Northwestern and have a round robin schedule in football and basketball.

 

Adding Rutgers for the NYC market is like the Big East adding DePaul for the Chicago market. If hardly anyone cares, do you really gain anything?

[UMFan83]

Yeah I honestly don't know if the Big Ten would even consider Chicago for a title game location. Not only because of the weather factor, but also because the capacity of Soldier Field is so small (smallest venue in the NFL IIRC). As much as I'd absolutely love it here, I don't know if they'd do it.

[CubbieBum]

Didn't realize we were talking football championship. Sorry in basketball season for me now.

 

I would say Lucas Oil would have to be the front runner to be the host for the reasons already mentioned.

[TruffleShuffle]

Gasaway talks expansion, and makes a lot of sense.

 

he makes a good point that i hadn't considered - boeheim will not allow syracuse to leave the big east. syracuse is a basketball school and boeheim is syracuse basketball.