More talk of 12 teams in the Big Ten

Donate To GopherHole
S

shikenjanski

Urinal Donor
Joined
Nov 22, 2008
Messages
244
Reaction score
0
Points
16
It is Paterno sounding the horn this time. He mentions teams in the northeast as possible candidates for inclusion.

His comments were interesting regarding how the Big Ten is a "conference that's dominated by a couple of people". And that it would only take a little bit of change (get rid of those people or persuade those people) to get a 12th team into the Big Ten. Who are those people? Is this common knowledge?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4118848
 

This is just a wild guess (Delany & Michigan)

But I'd say the "couple of people" JoePa's referring to are Jim Delany and (the higher-ups at) the University of Michigan. I actually like Jim Delany, I think he's an excellent conference commissioner, but I could see how he'd rub JoePa the wrong way.

As for Michigan, it is the one school in the Big 10 more than any other that thinks its s*it doesn't stink. Big Blue probably likes the status quo, and in this conference if there's something Big Blue wants (Lloyd Carr and his incessant whining about officials being the shining example), Big Blue gets. My guess is Michigan puts up a stink every time there's talk of expansion. Again, nothing to base this on, just a gut feeling.
 

SS I was going to go with O$U not Michigan. I have heard that the BTN is facing so financail problems and the rest of schools are willing to make it work while O$U is having a fit and being difficult about not getting there money promised in the end even if the BTN goes under. Right now they are the football team and have a decent basketball program so I would think they would have more say on issues like this than people like Maturi.

As for Delany, he hasn't been a bad commish, but there are 2 things I wish he would do.

1. Grow a pair and suspend some players when they are get intential fouls. See the string of about the 5 or 6 incendents in basketball season. Started with Krabbenhoft tossing an elbow in Lewis Jackson face while setting a screen.
2. Fire Hightower.
 

Speaking of Hightower

Did anyone else notice that he was conspicuously absent from the NCAA Tournament? He may have officiated a game or two, but if he did I didn't see him. He usually gets some of the bigger officiating assignments. Perhaps his supervisors & a lot of coaches finally got tired of his showboating?
 

>>'Let's get a 12th team -- Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt...<<

Papa Joe,
The Big Ten is a Midwest conference. Always has been. Moving east isn't the answer. How 'bout Iowa State, Missouri, or (egad) Notre Dame? Each of these would enhance existing natural rivalries.
 


Missouri won't happen due to their rivalry with Kansas. Realistically, the only midwestern programs who might fit the bill are Iowa State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska (because they don't have any natural rivals in the Big 12 that would be broken up). I wouldn't have said Nebraska when the Big 8 was still the Big 8, but the Big 12 has changed the dynamic.

I also could see Syracuse, Rutgers, or Pitt, but both Rutgers and Syracuse do seem a bit east coast. Although, they touch Pennsylvania and isn't that a requirement? To touch a current Big Ten state?

Unfortunately Iowa State doesn't have very good athletic programs, because in my semi-OCD mind, they would be the tidiest answer.

My order of preferences:
1) Notre Dame
2) Pitt
3) Iowa State
4) Nebraska
5) Syracuse
6) Rutgers
 

We wouldn't have this mess if Penn State hadn't been welcomed in. That's what stretched the conf eastward.
 

Sour1729 said:
Missouri won't happen due to their rivalry with Kansas. Realistically, the only midwestern programs who might fit the bill are Iowa State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska (because they don't have any natural rivals in the Big 12 that would be broken up). I wouldn't have said Nebraska when the Big 8 was still the Big 8, but the Big 12 has changed the dynamic.

I also could see Syracuse, Rutgers, or Pitt, but both Rutgers and Syracuse do seem a bit east coast. Although, they touch Pennsylvania and isn't that a requirement? To touch a current Big Ten state?

Unfortunately Iowa State doesn't have very good athletic programs, because in my semi-OCD mind, they would be the tidiest answer.

My order of preferences:
1) Notre Dame
2) Pitt
3) Iowa State
4) Nebraska
5) Syracuse
6) Rutgers
Click to expand...

Shouldn't Nebraska be on this list higher? Or Missouri?
 

I'm more concerned with the Big10 logo!!! What will they do? How can you put a 12 into Big10?
 



The Big 10 has a problem. Now that the Big 8 became the Big 12, the ACC expanded to 12, the SEC expanded to 12, and the Big East expanded to 37 (in basketball), the Big 10 no longer is assumed by the rest of the country to be the preeminent conference. Indeed, we get ripped all the time.

To put the Big 10 back on top, the next expansion cannot be to let in some middling school like ISU or Nebraska, it has to be Notre Dame. It should be obvious to all parties - ND sits right smack in the middle of B10 country and their athletic programs are good enough to compete. But obviously the problem is those greedy catholics don't want to give up their football money.

So my guess is we stay with the status quo for a long time.
 

anticallihan said:
Shouldn't Nebraska be on this list higher? Or Missouri?
Click to expand...

No. Missouri will not leave the Big 12. Do people not realize how big the rivalry between Kansas and Missouri is?

Nebraska could maybe swap with Iowa State because of prestige and revenue reasons, but again these are just my preferences. It bothers me that Iowa is in the Big Ten and Iowa State is in the Big 12. Geographically they make the most sense.
 

Notre Dame probably makes sense, but there is no school that I hate more and I wouldn't want to hear all the Irish BS any more than we do now.
 

I agree with G4L -- the addition of Penn State caused the problem. It's ironic that Joe Pa is the one complaining. Of course he wants to add an eastern team, PSU's travel budget must be huge. But, again agreeing with G4L, this is a midwestern conference and PSU obviously knew what they were getting into when they signed on. Go to 12 teams and miss yet another team on the home schedule? No thanks.
 



94Gopher said:
I agree with G4L -- the addition of Penn State caused the problem. It's ironic that Joe Pa is the one complaining. Of course he wants to add an eastern team, PSU's travel budget must be huge. But, again agreeing with G4L, this is a midwestern conference and PSU obviously knew what they were getting into when they signed on. Go to 12 teams and miss yet another team on the home schedule? No thanks.
Click to expand...
My preference would be going back to a 10-team conference (Penn St would be my choice to leave), but IMHO, a 12 team schedule works better than 11.

12 teams - 2 divisions (west/east say) of 6 teams.

Football: 5 games against fellow west teams, 3 against east opponents (playing each team every other year on the average) for an 8-game conference schedule.

Basketball: Home & away against fellow west teams (10 games) and one each against the 6 east teams for a 16-game conference schedule.
 

Basketball: Home & away against fellow west teams (10 games) and one each against the 6 east teams for a 16-game conference schedule.
Click to expand...

I would not like this. We just got to 18 Big Ten Conference games.Taking 2 BTC games away again and adding a game each with Tennessess Tech and Florida International is not a good thing.

Leave it at 11 in my opinion.
 


I was 5-years old when PSU joined the Big 10. Why were they ever invited?
 

bigmwc said:
I was 5-years old when PSU joined the Big 10. Why were they ever invited?
Click to expand...

Money and tv markets. The same reason BC and Miami were invited to the ACC. I wish we lived in a world where those things aren't the driving factors but we don't and it is what it is.

I still think in the next 20 years we're either going to see one of two things: a drastic change in the NCAA in terms of how they see the student-athlete relationship with a university or the withdrawal from the NCAA by the Big 6 and the formation of "Super Conferences". I wouldn't be shocked if we eventually see a Euro-club style arrangement among Universities where the athlete becomes dominant over the student and players are paid stipends outside of the traditional Grant in Aid package.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom