I really think Notre Dame should go, TV deal be damned. Thinking about it, if ND went to the Big 10 they could drag NBC (and their mega-dollars) along with em. Would be a good situation for all involved, IMO
By Adam Rittenberg
ESPN.com
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Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez says the Big Ten will soon make a more aggressive push toward adding a 12th member.
Speaking to Wisconsin's athletic board on Friday, Alvarez, the former longtime Badgers football coach, said the conference already has investigated possibilities for expansion "from all over the country." And though he places no timetable on the search, Alvarez thinks conference commissioner Jim Delany will respond to a group of athletic directors and coaches who want expansion.
"I have a sense he is going to take this year to really be more aggressive about it," Alvarez told the board. "I just think everybody feels [expansion] is the direction to go, coaches and administrators."
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been the most vocal advocate of a 12th Big Ten team, and he has support from several of his fellow coaches.
A 12th team would allow the Big Ten to split into divisions and hold a conference championship game. The Big Ten typically ends its football season two weeks before the other BCS conferences, though the addition of a permanent bye week in 2010 will shrink the gap by a week.
"We're irrelevant for the last three weeks of the football season because we're not playing," Alvarez said Friday.
Paterno has stumped for expansion several times, but Delany -- who was unavailable for comment -- told ESPN.com this spring that the league has no immediate plans to add a 12th team.
"There's not an obvious move," Delany said in May. "There might be to some coaches, including Coach Paterno, but it's not as obvious to the university presidents and to the athletic directors.
"There are a lot [of schools] that could take a lot away, but there aren't a lot that could bring so much to make the choice an easy one. You have to have a lot to make something go like this, and it's broader than really a championship game or a basketball tournament."
The Big Ten most recently expanded with Penn State, which began competing as a league member in football in 1993. The league has made runs at Notre Dame but hasn't had serious discussions for several years.
I really think Notre Dame should go, TV deal be damned. Thinking about it, if ND went to the Big 10 they could drag NBC (and their mega-dollars) along with em. Would be a good situation for all involved, IMO
I would agree. It won't happen though with the current landscape. I think if the BCS stepped in and said you have to be part of a conference to be included...that would change ND's tune in a heartbeat.
i predicted this in another thread somewhere around here
oh here it is. i found it in the big 12 conference champ thread.
that would be so geographically messed up, TCU needs to go to the big 12, then the Big 10+2 can have Iowa State![]()
TCU is in mountain west and was in WAC. i think theyre used to it by now.
I like that....put TCU in the south, send OSU to the north and ISU to the Big 10. Perfect.
there going to take mizzu ... and byu or utah will go to big 12
calling it now
Last edited by Dr Cox; 12-15-2009 at 01:28 PM. Reason: idk...lol
I'd prefer to keep Iowa State, it's one of the few conf. games we can actually win.
I do agree that Iowa State leaving with TCU replacing them would be awesome. Make the Big 12 South an all Texas division except for OU. OSU could then dominate the North, racking up North division les to go along with its numerous golf, wrestling, and cross country championships. T. Boone is getting wet just thinking about it.
We're actually looking at the first time in the history where it would make financial sense for ND to join a conference.
It's already been shown how 1/12 of the SEC's TV contract is worth more than ND's exclusive network deal (that's right, Vanderbilt and Kentucky made more TV revenue than the Irish did this year).
I don't see any reason that the Big Televen couldn't get there as well - especially if it added the Irish.
Meanwhile, the Big 12 will continue to cater its deals specifically to Texas and Oklahoma.
It won't be BYU cause they won't allow any teams to play on Sunday's. This is the biggest reason why BYU will never move into a BCS conference.
neither brings in a big enough market to offset the travel costs. teams already hate having to go out to boulder once a year.
i don't think any of this comes close to happening, but i would look to schools that are already within the geographic region. memphis might be considered as well, and don't completely dismiss missouri st. out of hand (they would have to take some steps to get there, but they are one of the nation's fastest growing schools/market).
I've said a few times already that this is what I think should happen too, if only the B12 could drop Colorado outright and pick up Houston: all Texas division, and a balance of powers in the divisions, perfect
I think we've had this talk before. You have to remember that the Big 10 has really solid academics before banishing the Cyclones. I don't know if Iowa State qualifies but Mizzou certainly does. It would be great if they took the Tigers and TCU stepped in. Notre Dame is the obvious target but they have to give up too many rivalry games.
This is the best news for CFB in a long time. We're one step closer to a tourney.
I don't hate this idea, but there's no Texas division. You can't split the Okie schools.
UT
A&M
Tech
UH
Baylor
ISU
Nebraska
KU
Mizzou
OU
Okie State
K-State
Send off ISU and Mizzou, keep Colorado and add TCU to the South Division along with UH. 12 teams, good geographical split, MUCH higher level of compe ion.
What games would they have to give up? They could still play USC & Navy every year. Most of their other rivalries are with existing Big Televen schools (Michigan, MSU, Purdue).
In what way would losing the Denver market and dropping an original Big 8 school while picking up an urban campus located in a market that the Big 12 already dominate be a good thing?
The conference already owns the state of Texas, adding teams from within is redundant. If the conference were to willingly drop a school (which WON'T happen), it would actually subtract a Texas school in Baylor.
Do you know anything about the financial goings on with the Big Ten and their cable network? I'm not too much into them, but I've always been impressed by the network whenever I see something on it.
yeah the big 10 network is sharp, i find myself watching indiana purdue all the time, its all HD, commentators who arent dumb as , they dont try to be funny or extreme, no ads all game long, no stupid junk stories, no promos, no bull , its a model network
According to wikipedia, Notre Dame renewed its contract with NBC a year ago, which now runs through 2015. It would be difficult to get Notre Dame to join the B10 with that hurdle in the way.
One thing not mentioned yet is that Notre Dame is already part of the big east for most of its other sports. Would it make more sense for them to try to join them, or would they be discontinuing too many rivalry games?
If Mizzou leaves, kiss the Big 12 goodbye. That t.v. market is much to valuable to it's existence.
Talk around Columbus is the Big Ten will try to pursue Rutgers and tap into the NY TV market, which is worth way more than the St. Louis market. Rutgers is a large school and is consistent with the academics.
The Big Ten already has the Pittsburgh market with Penn State, so I think Pitt is out. Syracuse is in a remote area and hard to get to and their sports programs other than basketball are not up to par with the Big Ten's standards.
Notre Dame fits well, but no way they give up that NBC contract. Plus the big wigs at Notre Dame remember when they asked to join the Big Ten 60 years ago and the Big Ten rejected them, so they are holding a grudge so to speak.
I heard this too. I also heard about trying to convince Villanova to get their football to FBS and do an expansion after the moratorium ends.
I still think they chase Mizzou down.
I also can see this, with the Dozen tearing apart and forming two BCS leagues with CUSA, WAC, and MWC schools. The same guy that told me about Nova said that a post-SWC shakeup might happen again.
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