WOW: ESPN reports that Maryland, Rutgers in serious talks to join Big Ten

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Tubtastic said:
You do realize that the big programs need the so-called "loser" programs to perpetuate their "greatness".

A "super" conference, like every conference, would eventually also have traditional "loser" and "winner" programs too.
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But the amount of money to be made is a major factor. It will soften the blow of a losing season. And with an NFL-style playoff system there won't be as many losers as you would think.
 

CP Gopher said:
Look for Ohio State, Michigan and perhaps Michigan State, Wisconsin and Nebraska to exit the Big 10 in the near future.
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Simply the dumbest post in the history of GoperhHole. Yes the dumbest ever.
 


Maryland, I can live with. Rutgers is the one that I'm initially lukewarm about. Their success in athletics seems to be far below Big10 standards. Syracuse would seem to have been a better target, provided the Orange would have been interested. However, has anyone looked at the two schools beyond the playing field? We know that for the Big 10 brass AAU membership is a factor for any school wishing to join the Big 10. Both Rutgers and Maryland are AAU members so they fit the group from an educational standpoint. When comparing Rutgers to Syracuse, Rutgers has a far bigger enrollment over 42,000, compared to Syracuse which has an erollment around 20,000. This translates to a far bigger alumni footprint in the NY/NJ area for tv dollars. So, Rutgers does make sense from that standpoint when compared to the Orange.

For those unhappy with Rutgers and Maryland, if the conference "must" expand to keep pace where do you think the teams are coming from if you find Rutgers and Maryland unacceptable? Yes, I too would love Notre Dame but the Irish put that to bed when they made the deal with the ACC. Forget about ND ever being in the Big 10. So, what teams are you going after? No major brand school (Texas, Alabama, etc.) is going to leave their current conference. Do you want to attempt to raid the SEC or Big 12 of some of their second tier schools? If so, do you see any of them leaving to come here? I don't. I would like to expand south. Georgia Tech and North Carolina would be awesome and fit the Big 10 from an educational standpoint. I think it is a pipe dream however to think either school would leave the ACC, especially the Tar Heels who have so much tradition with their neighboring state schools in the ACC. Our options are limited so you better look at which schools give you a chance for the biggest dollar grab if you are going to expand. I'm fine if we stay put at 12 teams. While the addition of Rutgers and Maryland will have zero WOW factor, I do think they are solid additions to the group if it happens.
 

thanks for that, Nostrodumas. But who knows? They actually crawl English soccer scores (soccer scores$%$#^$%$!) across the bottom of the screen when I'm watching NFL football on free television. Never thought that would happen. Dying doesn't seem so bad after all.
 



Mick Turition said:
thanks for that, Nostrodumas. But who knows? They actually crawl English soccer scores (soccer scores$%$#^$%$!) across the bottom of the screen when I'm watching NFL football on free television. Never thought that would happen. Dying doesn't seem so bad after all.
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Nothing pisses me off more than those socceer scores on the bottom of the screen!!!!! :mad:
 

U2Gopher said:
Maryland, I can live with. Rutgers is the one that I'm initially lukewarm about. Their success in athletics seems to be far below Big10 standards. Syracuse would seem to have been a better target, provided the Orange would have been interested. However, has anyone looked at the two schools beyond the playing field? We know that for the Big 10 brass AAU membership is a factor for any school wishing to join the Big 10. Both Rutgers and Maryland are AAU members so they fit the group from an educational standpoint. When comparing Rutgers to Syracuse, Rutgers has a far bigger enrollment over 42,000, compared to Syracuse which has an erollment around 20,000. This translates to a far bigger alumni footprint in the NY/NJ area for tv dollars. So, Rutgers does make sense from that standpoint when compared to the Orange.

For those unhappy with Rutgers and Maryland, if the conference "must" expand to keep pace where do you think the teams are coming from if you find Rutgers and Maryland unacceptable? Yes, I too would love Notre Dame but the Irish put that to bed when they made the deal with the ACC. Forget about ND ever being in the Big 10. So, what teams are you going after? No major brand school (Texas, Alabama, etc.) is going to leave their current conference. Do you want to attempt to raid the SEC or Big 12 of some of their second tier schools? If so, do you see any of them leaving to come here? I don't. I would like to expand south. Georgia Tech and North Carolina would be awesome and fit the Big 10 from an educational standpoint. I think it is a pipe dream however to think either school would leave the ACC, especially the Tar Heels who have so much tradition with their neighboring state schools in the ACC. Our options are limited so you better look at which schools give you a chance for the biggest dollar grab if you are going to expand. I'm fine if we stay put at 12 teams. While the addition of Rutgers and Maryland will have zero WOW factor, I do think they are solid additions to the group if it happens.
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Rutgers is a sleeping giant, 50 years out they would be a much better get than Maryland. I'm hopping for Notre Dame and Rutgers.
 




Rutgers in the B1G!, Maybe the Mayans were right!, It's the end of the world. I'm guessing that the formal announcement comes on the 20th of December.
 

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I am trying to figure out who in this thread deserves the dpodoll award. There are too many to decide yet. Carry on.
 

mattw1067 said:
+1



I agree, I would MUCH rather have Mizzou than either of these 2, but that's not happening now. What's wrong with 12 teams? I don't understand why 16 is so much better.
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You obviously do not understand the powers of 2 when it comes to tournament brackets?
 

We can beat Maryland and Rutgers in football...I would take them.
 



I'm not sure we as Minnesota fans can make much of an argument about diluting the league.

First and foremost, I'm a fan of this program, and if adding these two TV markets (and that's all it about) brings more money to the department, then it's just fine with me.
 


This news depresses me. Here's hoping it's just ESPN bs.
 


Unregistered User said:
? Dan Wetzel byline.
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I hate being the butt of the joke: :mad:

"Maryland (4-7) is an also-ran in the weak ACC and would immediately become arguably the worst team in the Big Ten. And if not the worst, well, does anyone actually want to watch a Maryland-Minnesota game to find out otherwise?"

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
I hate being the butt of the joke: :mad:

"Maryland (4-7) is an also-ran in the weak ACC and would immediately become arguably the worst team in the Big Ten. And if not the worst, well, does anyone actually want to watch a Maryland-Minnesota game to find out otherwise?"

Go Gophers!!
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Didn't realize this realignment would send Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue elsewhere.
 


I have a degree from Maryland, but I don't want to see them in the Big Ten (did enjoy watching my two schools play in a bowl in Birmingham in '77, though). No interest in Rutgers, either. Notre Dame or even Missouri, which made a big mistake going to the SEC (as Colorado did in going West - although maybe they get a better money deal, but they're getting their brains beat out and don't play historic, geographic foes).
 

By adding Rutgers and Maryland we could get rid of the Legends and Leaders Divisions. We could have the East Division and the Flyover Division.
 



Gopherprof said:
I'm not sure we as Minnesota fans can make much of an argument about diluting the league.

First and foremost, I'm a fan of this program, and if adding these two TV markets (and that's all it about) brings more money to the department, then it's just fine with me.
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Diluting the league has less to do with quality of opponent and more to do with diluting the number of times we play traditional and geographically close opponents. Ohio isn't a quick drive, but much quicker than New Jersey or Maryland. I'd rather play a bad Iowa team than a mediocre to bad Maryland team. I'd rather play Purdue, who we don't have a particular strong history or rivalry with, than Rutgers simply because we always have.

To what IS this additional revenue going toward anyway? Will it bring down the price of my season tickets since the U instantly sees an influx of ca$h from a better TV deal? Will it lower the donation minimums for the parking lots making gameday atmosphere better? Will it make more people magically buy season tickets? I think the answer is no. In fact, one could argue it would make all those things worse - removing games where our fans care about the opponents and visiting fans can more easily make a drive and adding teams that not only aren't that good but ALSO are further away and have no history. And it would almost assure a 9 game B10 season, eliminating ANY hope we had of a quality NC opponent each year.
 


RailBaronYarr said:
Diluting the league has less to do with quality of opponent and more to do with diluting the number of times we play traditional and geographically close opponents. Ohio isn't a quick drive, but much quicker than New Jersey or Maryland. I'd rather play a bad Iowa team than a mediocre to bad Maryland team. I'd rather play Purdue, who we don't have a particular strong history or rivalry with, than Rutgers simply because we always have.

To what IS this additional revenue going toward anyway? Will it bring down the price of my season tickets since the U instantly sees an influx of ca$h from a better TV deal? Will it lower the donation minimums for the parking lots making gameday atmosphere better? Will it make more people magically buy season tickets? I think the answer is no. In fact, one could argue it would make all those things worse - removing games where our fans care about the opponents and visiting fans can more easily make a drive and adding teams that not only aren't that good but ALSO are further away and have no history. And it would almost assure a 9 game B10 season, eliminating ANY hope we had of a quality NC opponent each year.
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+19
Excellent points
 

RailBaronYarr said:
Diluting the league has less to do with quality of opponent and more to do with diluting the number of times we play traditional and geographically close opponents. Ohio isn't a quick drive, but much quicker than New Jersey or Maryland. I'd rather play a bad Iowa team than a mediocre to bad Maryland team. I'd rather play Purdue, who we don't have a particular strong history or rivalry with, than Rutgers simply because we always have.

To what IS this additional revenue going toward anyway? Will it bring down the price of my season tickets since the U instantly sees an influx of ca$h from a better TV deal? Will it lower the donation minimums for the parking lots making gameday atmosphere better? Will it make more people magically buy season tickets? I think the answer is no. In fact, one could argue it would make all those things worse - removing games where our fans care about the opponents and visiting fans can more easily make a drive and adding teams that not only aren't that good but ALSO are further away and have no history. And it would almost assure a 9 game B10 season, eliminating ANY hope we had of a quality NC opponent each year.
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Paying coaches and upgrading facilities. Paying coaches and upgrading facilities. All over the country and over-and-over again..
 

If this actually happens, I think Maryland should be required to leave their "beautiful" uniforms in the ACC.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
Diluting the league has less to do with quality of opponent and more to do with diluting the number of times we play traditional and geographically close opponents. Ohio isn't a quick drive, but much quicker than New Jersey or Maryland. I'd rather play a bad Iowa team than a mediocre to bad Maryland team. I'd rather play Purdue, who we don't have a particular strong history or rivalry with, than Rutgers simply because we always have.
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We'll still play Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, and Northwestern every year.

If we swap a few games with Purdue for games with Rutgers, I can't say I really care at all if the end result is more money for our department.


The overreaction that people have to these types of things is always baffling. You'd think we were being sent down to the MAC. And, frankly, it's a bit hypocritical to complain about "diluting" the league when we've contributed almost nothing to it in 40 years.
 

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