Jon

The Texas Rivals site is reporting that the Nebraska board of regents have "informally agreed to leave for the Big Ten" and will make an announcement Friday. There's going to be so much going on between this and the World Cup.

There's really no way to tell what kind of value Rutgers adds if the Big Ten eventually adds Notre Dame. There was a Bloomberg article the other day about its impact on New York and New Jersey cable subscribers, in addition to Philadelphia. It's still possible there could be some additional value there. Probably not to the extent of Notre Dame and Missouri, though. And regardless, Big Ten Network revenue was just under 25% of the money that each athletic department took in from revenue sharing. There are other factors. Here's how I'd currently summarize the Big Ten situation based on reports over the last 24 hours: Nebraska will most likely be the first change. Their addition would bring the Big Ten up to 12, meaning they'll take either 2 or 4 more schools right now, but not 1 or 3. This would likely trigger other Big 12 schools to jump to the Pac-10, most likely resulting in the collapse of the conference. Notre Dame doesn't want to join the Big Ten, yet they know they'll be screwed in a world of super conferences. But they also don't want to be part of a large Big Ten. Their preference is to be the 12th team and have it stop there, which, of course, isn't something they actually want to happen. If the Big Ten doesn't invite a 12th team, the dominoes may never start to fall and Notre Dame stays independent. If they invite Nebraska, Notre Dame would probably be part of a pair of additional schools to bring it up to 14. Some lucky school like Missouri or Rutgers would get to go along for the ride in part because odd numbers are not divisible by 2. Notre Dame would probably make the rest of the Big Ten agree to not go beyond 14 (by the way, right now 8 of the 11 schools would have to be in favor of inviting a school). That would leave an expanded but not bloated Big Ten. And also a really rich Big Ten. In my opinion, I don't see Notre Dame biting the bullet and becoming the 12th team. And I'm sure Jim Delaney and the rest of the Big Ten would prefer if things fell out as I outlined above to get to 14 instead of stopping at 12. Then there's Texas and the rest of the Texas schools, who seem to be playing a different game right now.

One more:

Joe Schad of ESPN is saying that the Big Ten likes either Rutgers or Maryland for that 14th school, not Missouri.

You try coming up with a country not named America, let alone one in the World Cup.

I would think that 2011 is more likely if there's significant realignment across the country. If everyone has to make these changes, there's nobody trying to hold things up in efforts to prevent certain changes. Every party, including the conferences, the bowl committees, and the TV outlets, would be in the same boat.

Some of the speculation I've seen, though there hasn't been much out there recently, is that it would at least take roughly 18-24 months for the transition, if not longer. It's conceivable that the new Big Ten would begin to operate in time for the 2011 football season, but that seems to be a stretch. 2012 is probably more realistic. There are obviously lots of things that need to be worked out just from a football perspective: what happens to the current bowl lineup (set for the Big Ten through 2013), how long will the season be (expand to 13 games?), how many conference games, what happens to the non-conference contracts that Big Ten teams already have worked out over the next 5-10 years if the number of non-conference games gets reduced, etc. Expansion is just the first step in a series of rather crazy changes. That doesn't even touch on the TV situation, which is especially important since I'm sure ESPN is going to have its say on how the transition takes place.

Some are speculating that if they add Notre Dame, that'll be it for right now. The Big Ten has always wanted this expansion to be gradual. I just don't think it's terribly realistic. Adding Notre Dame probably won't do much, if anything, to expand the footprint of the Big Ten Network. Adding Nebraska would, though. I'd be shocked if they added more than Nebraska and Missouri if Notre Dame joins, though. It might not expand the footprint of the BTN, but I'm sure adding NBC as a partner wouldn't hurt that very much. Besides, ND does have a pretty spread out fan base, its possible the BTN can expand because of that. I don't think there's any implication with NBC. They'd be out of the picture (I assume both sides would opt out, but even if not, it ends in 2015). I haven't seen any real analysis on the impact that Notre Dame would have on the BTN. It's quite possible that Notre Dame being added would push the BTN over the top and cause it to get added to cable plans from coast to coast in all of the big markets, meaning a ton more money in cable subscriber fees. I just haven't seen anything to really suggest whether or not that would be the case. Plenty of reports in the last day, but not much to say. Notre Dame is in deliberations, Notre Dame denying it, Notre Damn not budging on any of their demands, etc. Most people seem to agree that things are picking up quickly for the Big Ten, though. And the fact that they announced that each school can vote electronically or by phone for any future candidates is a big deal since it means it can happen at any time. No meeting necessary.

Got to get pumped for Saturday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38T0BF2WAHk

Pete Thamel of the NYT: Some are speculating that if they add Notre Dame, that'll be it for right now. The Big Ten has always wanted this expansion to be gradual. I just don't think it's terribly realistic. Adding Notre Dame probably won't do much, if anything, to expand the footprint of the Big Ten Network. Adding Nebraska would, though. I'd be shocked if they added more than Nebraska and Missouri if Notre Dame joins, though.

$30 million is a nice start.

The AP report about Swarbrick being in attendance is apparently BS.

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick was included in today's 4.5 hour Big Ten meeting.

They only wore them when they came out on the pitch. Chelsea Dagger played after the Fire's 2nd goal. Possibly the first, couldn't hear.

Also, Clark wasn't injured yesterday. They're saying it was just cramps.

Just wait until they play in a real stadium with adults behind those vuvuzelas instead of kids. I think I saw the ball bounce straight off the grass about 3 stories into the air at one point. And speaking of that grass, it looked like a Bears game out there. No wonder Australia is fed up with it. That last hard follow on Dempsey was ridiculous for a match like this, particularly in the 76th minute.

Not that there was much doubt, but Drogba is admitting he'll miss the World Cup and Ferdinand has officially been replaced. Also, Pirlo suffered a calf injury two days ago and may miss the World Cup for Italy. Just have to keep our fingers crossed on Altidore (and at this rate, everyone else).

The Fire and Club America are considering having a game at Wrigley Field in the next few years.

It sure looked like Joyce knew he effed up. He took a like of crap from Cabrera during that last AB, too.

A nice match at Toyota Park tonight between the Fire and AC Milan. Unfortunately a real bad defensive lapse led to a 1-0 defeat, but the Fire had plenty of good chances