Big Ten Expansion

Donate To GopherHole
M

mplsbadger

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 11, 2009
Messages
2,267
Reaction score
43
Points
48


The obvious choice is Bemidji State University. US News and World Report ranks BSU Tier 1 at #71, which makes it tied with Iowa. Ok, there are a few other factors where Bemidji State doesn't match up. They would have to move up to D-I, and the stadium would need to be at least 25 times larger. And not be made of old wooden bleachers on an old concrete stadium. And they would probably need to increase enrollment by 10 times. And it really wouldn't give the Big Ten any new market.

Other than that... :D
 

Rampage...lakesbison suggests that North Dakota State Univ. be invited to join. :)
 

Pittsburgh or Notre Dame are the best choices in terms of academics and quality of their athletic departments. We know that Notre Dame is not going to give up their NBC contract and ability to schedule whoever they want. Pittsburgh would help east coast viewership and renew a rivalry with Penn State.
 


PapaHawk21 said:
Pittsburgh or Notre Dame are the best choices in terms of academics and quality of their athletic departments. We know that Notre Dame is not going to give up their NBC contract and ability to schedule whoever they want. Pittsburgh would help east coast viewership and renew a rivalry with Penn State.
Click to expand...

did u even bother reading the article??? definitely a great read.

F**k ND and bring on the horns lol
 

Wouldn't it be great if ND kept staying independant because of their NBC deal, then we get Texas to join the Big Ten. Then in three years NBC pulls a Conan on ND and they're left with nothing!
 

Well the title of this thread is a bit misleading. I thought we were talking about my morning wood.
 





There have been some really good articles on the Big Ten expansion and this is one of them. In my mind, Texas is a better candidate than Notre Dame for the Big Ten. And the Big Ten may be the best option for Texas. And hey, we already have our conference games with them scheduled. ;)
 

Isn't it a Big Ten rule that in order to join the school must be either a)already in a state w/a Big Ten school or b)boarder a Big Ten state?
 

goldygo4 said:
Isn't it a Big Ten rule that in order to join the school must be either a)already in a state w/a Big Ten school or b)boarder a Big Ten state?
Click to expand...

According to one of the links in the article, it is not a rule but would be taken into consideration. I was surprised to learn that Austin is farther from Champaign than Minneapolis is from State College. It is very far from all the other Big Ten schools.

It would be interesting to see if it saved Big Ten baseball or ruined Texas baseball if it happened.
 



" The Big Ten will only consider programs that have large and real hardcore fan bases that will stick them in good times and bad as opposed to programs that have bandwagon fans that will bolt when there’s a 7-5 season."

Good thing we're already in.

Good read. Thanks
 


Texas is a ridiculous option. Nebraska would be far better.
 

magpie said:
Texas is a ridiculous option. Nebraska would be far better.
Click to expand...

Just curious, what makes you believe that Nebraska would be better for the Big 10? The only advantage Nebraska has over Texas that I can think of is lower travel costs for other teams to go there.
 

I got a feeling it's gonna be Notre Dame. Until I read this article I would have thought not. I never realized how little they made from their deal with NBC. They almost went for last time and they already play Michigan, MSU, and Purdue every year. I can't imagine negotiating deals per season is much fun for their AD. Outside of USC and the Big Ten their biggest 'rivalries' are with Navy and Army. I think the ND fans wouldn't mind seeing Iowa or Penn St in their place. It is really win-win for ND and the Big Ten.
 

Texas politics make this move very problematic. The chances of Texas dumping the other Texas schools, A&M, Baylor and Tech to go to the Big Ten are probably zero. It would be pretty tough for any Texas Governor, regardless of party, to not demagogue on this.

(Monk10, how'd I do?)

That's probably why they'll never be Big Ten hockey. It would be tough for Minnesota, Michigan and Michigan State to abandon their fellow state schools to get it done.

THEE Ohio State though, would have no problem knifing their guys, huh CC? ;)
 

According to the article the two key factors are football tradition and market population with geography not as important.

If that's the case why take Texas- take USC.
 

This is the best article I have ever seen written on the topic of Big Ten expansion. Most people fail to recognize what the real factors are behind a conference expansion, how much has changed in the last decade, and how tenuous the Big 8/U.Texas relationship has been over the last 15 years.

People seem to forget that Texas was considered the oddball when the Big 12 formed. Rural midwest sports fans have been far more willing to adopt the idea of "The Big XII" than the suits who decide things like this. I wouldn't be surprised if the Big Ten and Texas started talking about this as long ago as the Texas-Oklahoma debacle of 2008.

There have been a lot of signs that the Big Ten has been looking at a future with the Longhorns since about the time Notre Dame chose not to join. Then ND had their football program completely collapse. Meanwhile, the Longhorns left the rest of their state's college-football powerhouses in the dust.

The one aspect that is difficult for me to imagine is how the Women's Tennis and Rowing teams (for example) are going to feel about traveling up to the Midwest twice as often as they already do.
 

Wow. Given those factors. I wonder why the Big Ten doesnt drop everyone except OSU, Mich, and PSU. Then they would be free to pick up Texas, USC, Miami (Fl), Florida, LSU, Alabama, and North Carolina (gotta have a hoops school).

The TV ratings would be off the charts! Who cares about natural rivalries, right??? It's all about money and branding and don't forget the influential, successful, wealthy alumni (which is the only reason academic prestige plays any role in this). Why would Alabama want to play Auburn every year when they could play Texas??!! Or why have Michigan play Minnesota? Who cares about the jug?? We should just let Michigan and USC play instead! Wouldnt that be spectacular?

Point is.... screw Texas! The state barely wants to be part of America anyway.... why should we consider them a part of the Midwest?? What will red-neck wannabe Iowa fans cling to if there is an actual redneck school in the conference?? How awesome and convenient will it be when our conference title game is held in the new cowboys stadium?
 

Boston College? Maryland?

Wonder why we never hear about these two schools as possibilities. Maybe not major TV markets, but Boston has to be good sized. Also I think option #1 is to bring in ND, but option two should be expanding by an additional 3 teams. Nebraska makes sense as one, either Pitt, rutgers, syracuse, boston college, kentucky, louisville as the other two. Try to make a power conference that sets a new level of competitiveness.
 

Hopefully if it is TX we can put the b10 hockey thing to bed. I still would only expand for TX, ND, Pitt, Navy, and Army. To me, nobody else is worth considering.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom