Georgia Tech to Big Ten rumors gaining a lot of steam

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Some of his tweets:

"Sources are indicating that the #B1G has approved #GT as its 15th member. Stay tuned... @CFravel247 @Clemson247"

"@VTScoopStaff247 It's definitely a situation that requires close monitoring. Could start a snowball exodus if true."

"@TheShoeAtOSU Have heard many rumblings regarding #GT & #B1G down South today. "

"@thekeyplay @cfravel247 @clemson247 Until it's official, nothing. But I believe there is a lot going on behind the scenes. "

"Clarification - Not saying #GT report is done deal. Reported out of Midwest. Worth monitoring as we know the landscape is fluid & changing. "

Go Gophers!!
 


For some reason the only thing I can think of is the old Off Tackle Empire blog tagline about Sherman's March through the South. I guess they will have to distance themselves from that if this goes through.
 

Schnauzer said:
For some reason the only thing I can think of is the old Off Tackle Empire blog tagline about Sherman's March through the South. I guess they will have to distance themselves from that if this goes through.
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I saw a great quote about a week ago when the UMd/Rutgers stuff was going down.

"If Delaney had been one of the founding fathers, Brazil and Chile would be states in the USA"
 


This is speculation from a Georgia Tech blog back in March.

You read that right, there's a rumor with a little more smoke than the other one mentioned that involves said four-letter TV network pushing on the Big Ten (or so) to add Notre Dame, Rutgers, Maryland, and Georgia Tech by the year 2016. Georgia Tech would be offered $25-30 million in TV revenue (from the Big 10 network), meaning travel issues would be nonexistent. The same group expects the SEC to go after NC State and Maryland, also trying to reach 16. (Personally, I get the feeling that if the SEC gets Maryland, the Big Ten goes after Virginia, while the Big Ten getting Maryland would mean the SEC would go after Virginia Tech.) It'll be really interesting seeing where this goes over the coming months and years. Folks expect the scene of conference realignment to heat up again at the end of this season, so we could see something around that time or earlier suggesting this will happen.

My personal opinion is that a move to the Big 10 would be a great one. It'd be a big step up in football, a small step down in basketball, a positive step (if any) in academics, and would make us a big fish in a seemingly small pond in baseball.


http://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/20...i-guarantee-that-you-didnt-see-this#storyjump
 

As for the Georgia Tech rumor itself, it doesn't look very contiguous does it?
 

Iceland12 said:
As for the Georgia Tech rumor itself, it doesn't look very contiguous does it?
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Maybe that means another school will be added to maintain the connection. I didn't look at a map and don't have any idea if it's even possible.

As for the 16th team, personally I would like to see it be Virginia Tech. Been to 1 game there and would love to see the Gophers in Blacksburg on a Thursday night in October.
 

Tim Riggins said:
Maybe that means another school will be added to maintain the connection. I didn't look at a map and don't have any idea if it's even possible.

As for the 16th team, personally I would like to see it be Virginia Tech. Been to 1 game there and would love to see the Gophers in Blacksburg on a Thursday night in October.
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I had to look too. It can't be done with one more state.

http://www.infoplease.com/states.html
 




Iceland12 said:
As for the Georgia Tech rumor itself, it doesn't look very contiguous does it?
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That contiguous rule was always a false rumor.

Atlanta is actually geographically closer to the core of the Big Ten than New York City. I've long said that if we were going to 16, I thought it would be with Maryland, Virginia, UNC, and GT. Rutgers threw a little wrench in that, but otherwise I think this is a smart move that looks towards the inevitable future.
 


I get that all of these expansions are driven by money. But at some point the fans are going to stop being interested in going to games. Adding Maryland and Rutgers ruins all the fan experiences for those two schools. Even Nebraska fans are not that invested in the Big Ten outside of maybe playing OSU or Michigan, and they are going to the Championship Game.

Sports thrives on rivalries. If the U, Wisconsin, or Iowa were to ever pack up and leave for some other conference to get more money (hypothetical, you can't do much better in profit sharing with TV rights than the Big Ten) it is obvious the fans would be up in arms about the rivalries that move destroys. The fact that Nebraska has to schedule a non-conference game with OU and that won't start until 2021/22 is ridiculous. As a fan, you grow up with these rivalries, to destroy the central part of what makes sports great is absolutely unacceptable.

Maryland will no longer be able to play UNC or UVA on a regular basis, and Rutgers football is about as much fun to watch as paint drying. This has to stop.
 



wait!what? said:
PAC12 still does not appeared rankled. oddly quiet.
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Not really, it's all happening to far away to affect them. The ACC started this round by taking Pittsburgh, Syracuse and maybe most importantly Notre Dame, at least for everything except the check from NBC. The Big 12 and maybe the SEC are circling around Florida State. That makes The Big Ten, 12, ACC, SEC and what's left of the Big East battling it out.

Maybe the Pac 12 feels safe or more probably, there's just no school out there that can meet their Academic, Athletic and TV requirements. That could stay that way as long as the Big 12 hangs together.
 

I'm in Atlanta on visit and the local media haven't picked up on it, but the U of Georgia football chat lines are picking up on it. GaT could be 6-7 this year. Good coach, Paul Johnson. Of course, I don't like the idea.
 

I don't know about their academics but isn't Boise State enough of a brand now that it wouldn't be a stretch for the Pac12 to add them? Still leaves an odd team though. They would probably like to secure the growing Nevada market but UNLV and Nevada just aren't big draws.
 

Gopherdrummer said:
I get that all of these expansions are driven by money. But at some point the fans are going to stop being interested in going to games. Adding Maryland and Rutgers ruins all the fan experiences for those two schools. Even Nebraska fans are not that invested in the Big Ten outside of maybe playing OSU or Michigan, and they are going to the Championship Game.

Sports thrives on rivalries. If the U, Wisconsin, or Iowa were to ever pack up and leave for some other conference to get more money (hypothetical, you can't do much better in profit sharing with TV rights than the Big Ten) it is obvious the fans would be up in arms about the rivalries that move destroys. The fact that Nebraska has to schedule a non-conference game with OU and that won't start until 2021/22 is ridiculous. As a fan, you grow up with these rivalries, to destroy the central part of what makes sports great is absolutely unacceptable.

Maryland will no longer be able to play UNC or UVA on a regular basis, and Rutgers football is about as much fun to watch as paint drying. This has to stop.
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How do you suppose those rivalries came to be? They didn't just develop in a vacuum. Sure, rivalries with a geographical proximity basis are more prevalent, but Notre Dame and USC, or Notre Dame and Stanford, or Notre Dame and Boston College, or the Cowboys and Redskins, or the Lakers and Celtics, etc., etc. aren't exactly located near each other. New rivalries will develop and change over time, and they will replace the old rivalries or add onto them. Change is always tough, but it will work out. Would I be disappointed if Becky or Herky left the conference? Sure, but I know something would prop up to replace them (also, no law exists stating we couldn't still play them), and I'll still sleep ok.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I don't know about their academics but isn't Boise State enough of a brand now that it wouldn't be a stretch for the Pac12 to add them? Still leaves an odd team though. They would probably like to secure the growing Nevada market but UNLV and Nevada just aren't big draws.
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Just a step above community college. Also, Boise State really doesn't draw. People know about them, but most don't care to watch.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I don't know about their academics but isn't Boise State enough of a brand now that it wouldn't be a stretch for the Pac12 to add them? Still leaves an odd team though. They would probably like to secure the growing Nevada market but UNLV and Nevada just aren't big draws.
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You're probably right about Nevada. Though neither school there or Boise State would ever qualify for the Pac 12 or Big Ten academically. Boise State wouldn't add many cable hook-ups either. They're heading-up the Big East's "Western Division". With the changes to C-USA and The Sun Belt, UNLV has been rumored to be a target of that 'Western Division".

Hate to believe that the "Good Old Days" were only 7-8 years ago.
 

dpodoll68 said:
How do you suppose those rivalries came to be? They didn't just develop in a vacuum. Sure, rivalries with a geographical proximity basis are more prevalent, but Notre Dame and USC, or Notre Dame and Stanford, or Notre Dame and Boston College, or the Cowboys and Redskins, or the Lakers and Celtics, etc., etc. aren't exactly located near each other. New rivalries will develop and change over time, and they will replace the old rivalries or add onto them. Change is always tough, but it will work out. Would I be disappointed if Becky or Herky left the conference? Sure, but I know something would prop up to replace them (also, no law exists stating we couldn't still play them), and I'll still sleep ok.
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Not to mention that as Gophers fans, I don't know what we'd really have to complain about anyway (though I'm sure a lot of people will find something).

Our rivals are Wisconsin and Iowa, who will we still play every year. We'll also still likely play Michigan and Nebraska every year, though I'd hardly say we are rivals with either.

Beyond that, who cares? So I have to swap Purdue for Rutgers every few years? And this will make my program millions of more dollars? Easy choice. Anything past those four teams listed above and I'm just tuning in to see the Gophers play anyway.
 

If we add Georgia Tech, then we need to go to 18 teams and add North Carolina, Kansas, and Virgina Tech.
2 Nine team Divisions, North and South. South Division, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Kansas, Maryland,North Carolina, Purdue,
Indiana, Ohio State. North Division, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, Rutgers, Illinois, Northwestern,Michigan State.
Each team plays one cross over in football or are guaranteed a traditional rival, 3 non-conference games so 13 games.
Basketball should be guaranteed 1 crossover division game per season from each school and alternate the home and home bieannual.
Any chance Nebraska or Rutgers, Illinois or Northwestern would add Hockey so we can expand the Hockey conference ?
 

So if Boise and the Nevada schools aren't an option it really forces the Pac12 to make a play for Texas, Oklahoma schools or Kansas schools if they ever want to expand.
 

Gopherprof said:
Not to mention that as Gophers fans, I don't know what we'd really have to complain about anyway (though I'm sure a lot of people will find something).

Our rivals are Wisconsin and Iowa, who will we still play every year. We'll also still likely play Michigan and Nebraska every year, though I'd hardly say we are rivals with either.

Beyond that, who cares? So I have to swap Purdue for Rutgers every few years? And this will make my program millions of more dollars? Easy choice. Anything past those four teams listed above and I'm just tuning in to see the Gophers play anyway.
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In addition, to me, one of the most interesting aspects of this will be scheduling and divisions with a 16-team conference. Let's say there are two divisions of eight teams each (hopefully divided by geography). If the Big Ten continues to play 8 conference games in football, then that likely means we will play our 7 divisional foes every year, which would leave only one cross divisional team per season (presumedly on an equal rotation). With 8 teams in the opposite division, it would mean we would get to see Maryland and Ohio State and Rutgers and Penn State play in Minneapolis ONCE every 16 years! Unless there is some other way to go about it.
 

I don't think Virginia Tech is coming into the Big Ten. VT doesn't bring a single new TV set, nor is it a member of the AAU.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
So if Boise and the Nevada schools aren't an option it really forces the Pac12 to make a play for Texas, Oklahoma schools or Kansas schools if they ever want to expand.
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That's probably why they made such a big play for Texas and Oklahoma before they took Colorado and Utah. It also contributed to how agreeable Texas was to suddenly start sharing more of the TV revenue with the other members of the Big 12. Once the Longhorn Network bombed, Colorado and Nebraska bailed and they saw that the Oklahoma schools could really get OUT, Texas became a lot more....reasonable. :)
 

Boise State's mystique has largely come from being the mid major team that goes 11-1 or 10-2 and knocks on the BCS door, often getting left on the steps and claiming it was robbed. That kind of record on a year in, year out basis isn't feasible long term in a major conference. If they had some 7-5 (4-4) seasons, or worse, in the Big East or even in the Big Ten itself, their national profile would drop significantly. At that point do they to warrant a Big Ten spot? Do they regardless? Boise is the #111 TV market and is only augmented in state by the #162 Pocatello/Idaho Falls and #191 Twin Falls markets. Rutgers, even more than Maryland, proved media markets matter. On that basis, there are dozens of other teams that would make better sense for a further expansionist Big Ten than Boise State.
 

Sports_Realist said:
Boise State's mystique has largely come from being the mid major team that goes 11-1 or 10-2 and knocks on the BCS door, often getting left on the steps and claiming it was robbed. That kind of record on a year in, year out basis isn't feasible long term in a major conference. If they had some 7-5 (4-4) seasons, or worse, in the Big East or even in the Big Ten itself, their national profile would drop significantly. At that point do they to warrant a Big Ten spot? Do they regardless? Boise is the #111 TV market and is only augmented in state by the #162 Pocatello/Idaho Falls and #191 Twin Falls markets. Rutgers, even more than Maryland, proved media markets matter. On that basis, there are dozens of other teams that would make better sense for a further expansionist Big Ten than Boise State.
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It was a question about the Pac 12 membership, not the Big Ten.
 

Sports_Realist said:
That kind of record on a year in, year out basis isn't feasible long term in a major conference.
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Why do people say things like this? There is absolutely no way to prove or disprove it, by definition. I say it is feasible. So there.
 

In an ideal world Nebraska, ND, and Pitt would've been added and we could've called it a day, what grinds my gears is these schools who don't fit the B1G or bring hockey.
 

tjgopher said:
In addition, to me, one of the most interesting aspects of this will be scheduling and divisions with a 16-team conference. Let's say there are two divisions of eight teams each (hopefully divided by geography). If the Big Ten continues to play 8 conference games in football, then that likely means we will play our 7 divisional foes every year, which would leave only one cross divisional team per season (presumedly on an equal rotation). With 8 teams in the opposite division, it would mean we would get to see Maryland and Ohio State and Rutgers and Penn State play in Minneapolis ONCE every 16 years! Unless there is some other way to go about it.
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I think it's a given at this point we're going to a 9-game conference schedule.

But yes, that's another thing to keep in mind.
 

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