Big Ten Expansion Talk Heating Up Again

Donate To GopherHole
dpodoll68

dpodoll68

Elite Poster
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
19,310
Reaction score
932
Points
113
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

Did I miss when the B1G extended the offer to UNC? Am I crazy??

Under the guise of geographic footprint being a good thing (my opinion is that it is not), UVA would seem to add a lot less than Georgia Tech would. GaTech brings the Atlanta market as well as the oft-cited recruiting inlet to the whole state. UVA adds perhaps more TV sets in the DC market but not enough to match the increase in TV sets with GT (since Maryland is already confirmed).

Is there ANY way they can lock down whatever it is they're doing now and just stop? 16 teams is a lot. It would be nice to say "These are the 16 teams. This is how many conference games we'll play. Here's the geographic breakdown of the divisions. Here are the protected rivalries (if any). Now, feel confident in going and scheduling games over the next 8 years. And fans, you can settle in to the conference not wondering when things will change up again and who your new rival might be."
 

but if they add unc, then we'll have to play them. maybe that's what jerry was thinking when he dropped them. he's just that ahead of the game :)
 

Wonder if the ACC teams will wait until the Maryland lawsuit it settled. Maybe a little "Home Cooking" to this decision?

A North Carolina judge refused to drop the lawsuit the ACC filed against the University of Maryland for exiting the conference, reports the Baltimore Sun. The conference slapped a $52 million exit fee on Maryland for its plans to leave the ACC and go to the Big Ten; the school’s attorneys filed a motion to drop the lawsuit last month, saying the suit was invalid but was denied.


http://tracking.si.com/2013/02/19/j...ss-acc-lawsuit-against-maryland/?sct=uk_t2_a7
 

I'm starting to seriously doubt this will end at 16 teams.
 


As an alum in Virginia, God is showing His love for me. I was starting to wonder after the drop of the UNC game; I was anticipating a 2.5 hour drive to see my Gophs with great excitement before the multi-million dollar heartbreak.

Now a possible one hour drive from a conference game for my Gophs in C-Ville and a periodic conference matchup in Chapel Hill 2.5 hours away???

Oh, it's too much.

Go Gophers!
 

station19 said:
I'm starting to seriously doubt this will end at 16 teams.
Click to expand...

It may pause at 16 for a few years while things shake out but yeah I would expect 20 teams is not far off on the horizon.
 

At 20 teams, it that even a conference anymore? It's like two conferences. You would have 10 teams in each division, to play each team in your own division, that's 9 games. Doesn't leave a lot of room for playing the teams in the other division. The championship game would essentially become a playoff between two conferences. Even at 16 teams, you're really beginning to become strangers to the teams in the other conference.
 

RodentRampage said:
At 20 teams, it that even a conference anymore? It's like two conferences. You would have 10 teams in each division, to play each team in your own division, that's 9 games. Doesn't leave a lot of room for playing the teams in the other division. The championship game would essentially become a playoff between two conferences. Even at 16 teams, you're really beginning to become strangers to the teams in the other conference.
Click to expand...

True and sad.

Maybe we change the conference name to The National Conference with two divisions; The Big Ten Division and the East Coast Division.
 



RodentRampage said:
At 20 teams, it that even a conference anymore? It's like two conferences. You would have 10 teams in each division, to play each team in your own division, that's 9 games. Doesn't leave a lot of room for playing the teams in the other division. The championship game would essentially become a playoff between two conferences. Even at 16 teams, you're really beginning to become strangers to the teams in the other conference.
Click to expand...

Yep. And inevitably there will be teams from the former B1G we won't be in the same division as anymore. My guess is that if we're going to 20 we would look south-westward for a few of them.. at the very least getting the KC market if not going big and nabbing a team from TX. There's too much population and recruiting down there for the conference big wigs to pass up. That would give us at least 2 more on that side, maybe more. I think the Big 12 is actually doing worse than they like to admit. They're already the most spread out geographically (well, the Big East..). I think Kansas, K-State, Oklahoma, and Texas would not be opposed to a move to the Big Ten if it means lining back up with Nebraska, keeping their biggest rivals (Texas already lost A&M), and access to huge sums of money in our league that would basically cover over half the geographic area of the country and certainly 60-70% of the population.

If that's the case you could expect it to be MN, WI, IA, Neb, TX, OK, Kansas, K-St, Northwestern, and Illinois on one side, the rest over yonder east. Meaning we don't play Michigan, MSU, OSU, Indiana, and Purdue - long time members. Of course this is all conjecture but if you're talking 20 teams total with massive conference consolidation and upheaval it is not that outrageous to assume it could happen...
 

My guess is that things will end at 18-20 but we'll continue looking east and south. I heard a rumor that FSU and GT applied/wanted in but the B1G brass didn't pull the trigger when they opted for Rutgers and Maryland. It'll settle on 4, maybe 5 conferences with each champion getting a slot in the playoffs (not sure how it would work with 5).

I would be surprised if we went south and west, too much talent in the Sun Belt region.
 

Well if they have 20 schools in one conference maybe they should have the "old" Big Ten schools and the all "new" Big Ten schools in each conference.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
Yep. And inevitably there will be teams from the former B1G we won't be in the same division as anymore. My guess is that if we're going to 20 we would look south-westward for a few of them.. at the very least getting the KC market if not going big and nabbing a team from TX. There's too much population and recruiting down there for the conference big wigs to pass up. That would give us at least 2 more on that side, maybe more. I think the Big 12 is actually doing worse than they like to admit. They're already the most spread out geographically (well, the Big East..). I think Kansas, K-State, Oklahoma, and Texas would not be opposed to a move to the Big Ten if it means lining back up with Nebraska, keeping their biggest rivals (Texas already lost A&M), and access to huge sums of money in our league that would basically cover over half the geographic area of the country and certainly 60-70% of the population.

If that's the case you could expect it to be MN, WI, IA, Neb, TX, OK, Kansas, K-St, Northwestern, and Illinois on one side, the rest over yonder east. Meaning we don't play Michigan, MSU, OSU, Indiana, and Purdue - long time members. Of course this is all conjecture but if you're talking 20 teams total with massive conference consolidation and upheaval it is not that outrageous to assume it could happen...
Click to expand...

You don't think KU/K-State would be opposed to joining the Big Ten?! They'd crawl through a desert yesterday for a chance to join the Big Ten today. We wouldn't even have to finish asking the question of whether they'd like to join before they'd drop the phone and run here and answer with a hug.

Go Gophers!!
 



BleedGopher said:
You don't think KU/K-State would be opposed to joining the Big Ten?! They'd crawl through a desert yesterday for a chance to join the Big Ten today. We wouldn't even have to finish asking the question of whether they'd like to join before they'd drop the phone and run here and answer with a hug.

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

Kind of like Missouri was ready to?
 

A twenty team conference might mean a 10 game conference schedule. That would mean the Gophers wouldn't have that many years between opponents in Eastern division.
 

K-State will never be in the B1G.

20 teams will probably only happen if ND is involved somehow, and likely FSU as well.

As outrageous as it sounds 20 teams with 10 conference games wouldn't be the end of the world.

4 pods of 5 teams each means home and homes with everyone every 6 years. Hardly ideal, but with the landscape going the way it is that's the best that realistically can happen.
 

Buttcheeks McGaffigan said:
A twenty team conference might mean a 10 game conference schedule. That would mean the Gophers wouldn't have that many years between opponents in Eastern division.
Click to expand...

Even with a 10 game conference schedule, that would mean the teams in the other division would be virtual strangers. If you played all the other 9 teams in your division, that would leave only one game against the other division. That would mean you play only once a decade, and you would see them at home only once in 20 years. Those teams might as well be in another conference.
 

RodentRampage said:
Even with a 10 game conference schedule, that would mean the teams in the other division would be virtual strangers. If you played all the other 9 teams in your division, that would leave only one game against the other division. That would mean you play only once a decade, and you would see them at home only once in 20 years. Those teams might as well be in another conference.
Click to expand...

There would be 4 five team pods

You would see the other teams 2x every 6 years, once at home and once on the road.
 

Personally I like the idea of Georgia Tech. We need a clear path to another warm water port....wait a minute what the hell am I talking about this is a football conference.
 


BleedGopher said:
You don't think KU/K-State would be opposed to joining the Big Ten?! They'd crawl through a desert yesterday for a chance to join the Big Ten today. We wouldn't even have to finish asking the question of whether they'd like to join before they'd drop the phone and run here and answer with a hug.

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

I said they would NOT be opposed. I think the K schools would come more than willingly. If UNC and GT are added to the Maryland/Rutgers mix then I think Texas and Oklahoma would have a very hard time saying no.
 



I like 20 teams.

B1G East

B1G Somewhere Else.

In a few years, we will revert back to Conferences title:

Big East
Big Ten
Big Eight
Pac Eight

NDSU and friends. this will be the only 3-team conference, IF NDSU can find 2 friends.
 

4four4 said:
Well if they have 20 schools in one conference maybe they should have the "old" Big Ten schools and the all "new" Big Ten schools in each conference.
Click to expand...
My sentiments exactly. I have no love for super conferences - it is all driven by greed.
 

Here's a question... How is 1 conference with 2 divisions of 10 that never play each other except in the title game any different from a TV execs viewpoint as the Big Ten and ACC, 10 members each?? Why would one be worth any more than the other, except for mild passing interest by a few Big Ten fans as to what's going on in the other division?? (which, by the way, these few passing fans already watch other conference college football because we like the sport, just like people watch NFL games on Sunday night and Mon night even if their team isn't playing)

My guess is they'd do something much more radical like being discussed... 4 pods of 5 with a game against each other division that rotates each year. Protect some tight geographical rivalries but mix up who plays where to maximize TV network viewership across the board.
 


F- all this. I get the TV revenue cash cow and the arm's race that is college football/athletics. But this is turning into a horrible money-grab that pays no attention to the history and reasons that made the Big Ten the most powerful entity in college athletics in the first place. People say that Jim Delaney is a genious....god, he fuc&ing better be.
 


JoeDirt said:
F- all this. I get the TV revenue cash cow and the arm's race that is college football/athletics. But this is turning into a horrible money-grab that pays no attention to the history and reasons that made the Big Ten the most powerful entity in college athletics in the first place. People say that Jim Delaney is a genious....god, he fuc&ing better be.
Click to expand...

Seems like people are either in this camp - the "why does all this matter, it dilutes the fan experience, forgets history/tradition (what made/keeps college football awesome), and ignores what made the Big Ten such a powerful brand in the first place" argument (which I agree with). Or they are in the camp of "More money = better. Keep up or be left behind. More money allows for better coaches, facilities, jerseys, scoreboards, etc and will allow us to become a better program. And who cares if we don't play Indiana or tOSU as often."

No one is in between. But the $ will win out.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom