Will The Big 10 Add Teams?

May 11, 2010

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Big 10 … errr … 11 … errrr 15 … errr … 16?

Big news that has been speculated for awhile hit the ESPN newswire yesterday afternoon.  According to a radio affiliate in Kansas City, the Big 10 conference has extended offers for Missouri, Rutgers, Notre Dame, and Nebraska to join their conference.  If all schools say yes, it is also reported that the conference will extend an offer to one more school.

The Big Ten is a conference I have disliked forever.  For a group of institutions with such alleged high standards of academics, they can’t even count to 10 (they have 11 member schools currently).  Doesn’t this make them the Big 11?  And why do you want to add 4 schools to make 15 … just get it to 16, which is where you will need to be for any sort of competent divisions and scheduling of any of your sports teams which is why you are making this move in the first place.  But truth be told it is time for my beloved Huskers to make the move and stick it to the University of Texas on their way out the door.

Will it happen?  I hope so.  Texas has run the show, literally, since the Big 12 conference was formed, using their mightier than thou attitude and pushing through a variety of things that favor the University of Texas in particular, and not necessarily the other member schools.  If Nebraska and Missouri leave the Big 12, Colorado is reported already to being courted by the Pac 10 conference.  This would leave the “old” Big 12 high, dry and screwed.  They would either have to disband the conference entirely, or add some schools such as perhaps, Houston, TCU, and SMU?  Boy that makes up for losing the likes of Nebraska and Missouri on the national scene.

All of these schools should move as it would mean much much more revenue.  The Big 10 has its own television contract in place that covers EVERY football game played by every team in the conference.  Nebraska is the largest grossing pay per view college football team in the nation.  Although it is a very small state by population, it has a national following second to likely Notre Dame, who also is being discussed in the mix.  Missouri gains you the St Louis market, and Rutgers adds another East Coast team to bring even more TV sets into the game.  Notre Dame needs to join a conference anyway, and get away from NBC – the Notre Dame broadcasting network – who I am sure is really excited they have paid hundreds of millions of dollars the last 10 years to exclusively cover what has been a .500 ball club.  No patsies Golden Domers, you would have to play some good teams on your schedule.  No room for the service academies three weeks out of the year. 

The moves of these schools would shake up the college football landscape and send a few other schools scrambling and left holding the bag.  I sincerely hope it happens.

My only question is … would they have to change their name to THE Notre Dame?

6 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. Martin Kelly
    May 11, 2010 @ 10:07:08

    I have been watching all of this speculation haveing to bite my toung. The ‘experts’ keep talking about how great the Big Ten and Pac 10 are, which is true to an extent, but not to the exclusion of all others. Although the lure of bigger TV contracts could attract schools such as Nebraska and Colorado, the theory that they could pick up large markets is misleading. If the goal was really to pick up market, you would have to pick up Dallas and Houston, both signifcantly more important than St. Louis or Kansas City.

    If it is all about money, would the Big Ten drop Purdue and Northwestern to grab even more big name programs? My believe is that there may be some moves from smaller or failing conferences such as the Big East or ACC, but these will be few. There may even be one or two teams leaving the Big XII, such as Colorado, but there will be pick ups as well, although I agree that reconstituting the South West conference would be a major mistake. If mega conferences are the future, you have 4 conferences to make them from; South East, Big Ten, Big XII and Pac 10.

    On another note, I just don’t get the talk of Utah joining the Pac 10. If they had to play ten games against the bigger teams, there chances of competing for a BCS bowl are significanly reduced. They already get profit sharing when they play the big boys during the season and of course with the bowls.

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  2. The Angry Squirrel
    May 11, 2010 @ 14:24:55

    Yea I have heard the talk on this issue for a couple months now and it seems to be getting to the decision point for the schools pretty soon.

    From what I have made of it Missouri and Nebraska are going to the we can’t count conference and also would be joining Syracuse and Rutgers and Notre Dame.

    That is the first domino that needs to fall before the blowing up of the Big XII begins.

    Texas, Texas A&M, and Colorado would be off to the PAC 10 from what I make of it.

    Texas Tech and Baylor would be off to either the WAC, Mountain West or C-USA is my guess.

    I am not sure where Oklahoma and Oklahoma State fall into the equation but i would guess in the domino effect they would migrate to the SEC.

    as for the rest of the north Kansas would be a wildcard, it would make sense with the addition of Mizzou and Nebraska t take KU, but that has not been mentioned at all yet. My guess is that they would become an independent at the beginning as I know that a mid mar would not be something the would join.

    As for Iowa State and Kansas State I see a move to FCS and the Missouri Valley Conference calling their names.

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  3. kosmo
    May 11, 2010 @ 14:35:39

    How about this.

    The Big 10 and Big 12 merge. Then they pick up Notre Dame, Rutgers, Pitt, USC, Cincinnati, Louisville, West Virgina, Utah, and Stanford. Voila! 32 team superconference. The next year, they can swallow up the SEC.

    Maybe I’m biased, or maybe it’s the games I see here, but I think the Big 10 network’s coverage of games sucks. Shoddy camera work and substandard football knowledge. It might be more profitable than the previous deals, but I’m not sure that it’s better for fans.

    What will probably happen is that 2 of the teams accept the offers and you end up with a 13 member conference.

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  4. kosmo
    May 11, 2010 @ 22:07:08

    @ Squirrel – You do realize that ISU made a bowl game last year, right? 🙂

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  5. The Angry Squirrel
    May 12, 2010 @ 00:31:25

    It was no offense to Iowa State, just from every scenario I have seen K-State and Iowa State are left as the lone duo of teams on the outside looking in.

    Reply

  6. kosmo
    May 12, 2010 @ 07:39:28

    I understand what you’re saying, but there’s no way on earth that they jump down to 1-AA. They’d just become 1-A independents if they couldn’t find a conference.

    I’m hoping the Big 10 adds just Rutgers and Notre Dame, so that they have an odd number of teams 🙂

    Reply

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