[SumItUp]

Three straight posts in a thread- albeit over many days. I guess I'm the only one interested in this anymore, haha.

This article discussing the expansion even connects to Stony Brook!
http://dailymail.com/Sports/WVUSports/2 ... uild=cache

Where's the connection to Stony Brook????

Pitt, Rutgers and Syracuse are AAU schools, as are Missouri and Nebraska - also considered prime Big Ten potential members. UConn is not. Texas is (as are Kansas, Maryland and SUNY-Stony Brook, if you want to dig deep into Division I).

The link was to the 2nd page of the article. Go to the first page at http://dailymail.com/Sports/WVUSports/2 ... uild=cache

[LUconn]

At this point I think this is 100% about a new media market for the Big 10 network. I don't think AAU status will have anything to do with who's chosen other than it being a bonus.

[JK37]

That was the most interesting part of the article, and it really does boil down to one of those two motivations. But don't forget: 11 of the 13 committee members are the presidents, and you know how academians can be...

[Innocent Bystander]

At this point I think this is 100% about a new media market for the Big 10 network. I don't think AAU status will have anything to do with who's chosen other than it being a bonus.

The fact that they wanted to add Notre Dame (who is not an AAU member) proves this to be true. If the money is right, they will work around the AAU issue.

[Sly Fox]

It is my position that most university presidents today tend to be more concerned about finances than academics.

[ATrain]

Article on the possibility of 4 Superconferences:
http://www.roanoke.com/sports/college/wb/244980

[JK37]

Article on the possibility of 4 Superconferences:
http://www.roanoke.com/sports/college/wb/244980

Good piggy-back article by that journalist.

I've thought for years that we're headed towards 4 or 6 superconferences. Like he said, such an alignment includes a playoff system. As long as lesser conferences still get an autobid, how is that any different than the NCAA Division I basketball tournaments?

I realize their are great issues in the way of a playoff system. But if a superconference alignment streamlines the development of one - and as long as the smaller conferences still have an autobid each - I'm all for it.

[JK37]

It's happening...

Tom Dienhart, national college football writer for Rivals/Yahoo, just Tweeted this information:

Big Ten expansion buzz has league adding Mizzou, Nebraska, Pitt, Rutgers and Syracuse and splitting into four, four-team divisions

The Big Ten divisions:

*Syra, Pitt, Rut., Penn St.
*Mich., Wisc., Mich. St., Mnn.
*Ohio St., Pur., IU, Ill./North.
*MU, Iowa, Neb., Ill./NU.

[ALUmnus]

I don't see how that even makes sense. Four-team divisions? What the heck would be the point of that?

[LUconn]

bah, Uconn is screwed. They're gonna wind up in some deformed ACC good basketball/weak football league.

[LUconn]

I was initially annoyed at this news, but I think I'm going to remain skeptical for the time being. Any expansion that includes Pitt makes no sense. Not a new market and PSU would be very much against it. That doesn't rule them out but puts them behind a lot of other schools in my opinion.

[JK37]

Is the Big East strong-arming Notre Dame into joining a football conference?

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/ ... -ultimatum

[blwall1416]

They're gonna wind up in some deformed ACC good basketball/weak football league.

Yeah, but those basketball games between UCONN, Carolina, dook, Merryland, & once every 4 years Wake would make some good TV.

Plus, UCONN's football program seems to be in the lower part of the Top 25, which is where Carolina hangs out now.

UCONN actually makes more sense in the ACC than friggin' Boston College.

Now, if the ACC could pull in WVU as well..................nice.

[JK37]

What about a 24-team superconference? Nebraska's chancellor chimes in:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100424/BIGRED/704249814

[JK37]

Now, if the ACC could pull in WVU as well..................nice.

West Virginia fans seem to think their best opportunity for movement would be for the Big 10 to grab Maryland (DC TV market is their reasoning), and the ACC to then invite WVU.

I still believe that when Missouri and/or Nebraska go, the Big 10 takes Arkansas and another school back, and WVU goes to the SEC. To me, it's more likely that if Maryland does get invited by the Big 10, South Carolina gets an invite back into the ACC before WVU. USC folks have been talking about going back to the ACC since the early 90's.

[LUconn]

alright, this is just getting ridiculous. Why not just make the NCAA a big conference?

[blwall1416]

USC folks have been talking about going back to the ACC since the early 90's.

Not the USuCk fans I know. They despise the ACC. You should have heard them when they came to Chapel Hill a few years ago for a football game....or when they played the Pack in Raleigh. If their AD puts them back in the ACC, the fighting roosters booster club might just cut funding.

That being said, I think geographically/rivarly it makes sense for them to look at the ACC. But, I'd rather the ACC keep what they have now, then add WVU & UCONN, etc.... Having WVU & Md. in the same conference would make for some heated games/fights.

I would be okay with this scenario:

North: Boston College, Connecticut, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia

South: Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest

That's strong academically & economically.

[JK37]

USC folks have been talking about going back to the ACC since the early 90's.

Not the USuCk fans I know. They despise the ACC. You should have heard them when they came to Chapel Hill a few years ago for a football game....or when they played the Pack in Raleigh. If their AD puts them back in the ACC, the fighting roosters booster club might just cut funding.

That being said, I think geographically/rivarly it makes sense for them to look at the ACC. But, I'd rather the ACC keep what they have now, then add WVU & UCONN, etc.... Having WVU & Md. in the same conference would make for some heated games/fights.

I should have clarified my statement. It's not so much a desire to return to the ACC, as a realization it might have to, or be made an offer it can't refuse. But, you know, who can say?

By the way, with regards to how the 16-team Big Ten mentioned above would affect basketball, this article is a must-read for LUconn, blwall, and anyone else who - like me - is a Big East or NCAA basketball fan:
http://espn.go.com/blog/CollegeBasketba ... oops-weird

[Sly Fox]

Expansion? What about a Pac-10-Big 12 partnership?

May, 6, 2010
By Ted Miller

Most of the expansion talk on the West Coast has focused on the Pac-10 luring Colorado away from the Big 12, but there's increasing evidence that the Pac-10 and Big 12 also are interested in a potential partnership.

Big 12 and Pac-10 administrators and athletic directors met Wednesday in Phoenix, and afterwards Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott used terms like "strategic alliance" and "pooling TV rights" and "joint network."

Click Here for Full Story

[JK37]

The Big Ten has extended their first four offers:

http://810whb.com/article/3531

[Sly Fox]

And so it begins ....

There really is no surprise that Mizzou & Nebraska were invited. It is a little surprising that Notre Dame would be publicly invited as well considering their constant declarations that they aren't going anywhere. I doubt the Big Ten would make this move unless they either felt that perhaps the Irish would finally give in or to force them to formally state their intentions in order to remove them as a distraction for other targets.

Rutgers as the 4th invitation is a little strange. Clearly the Big Ten sees the nation's largest market as a prize. But I think it might be a stretch to believe Cablevision or Time Warner would force the network onto its basic tier in order to get more Scarlet Knights game on the air. Does anybody in the Big Apple care at all about what happens in Piscataway?

Pitt & Syracuse have to be bummed to have not been on the short list. But this certainly forces the hand of the Big East & Big XII to do something to either keep their lineups intact or to begin their own pillaging of other leagues.

I would guess that Mizzou is likely accepting the bid. Sure they will miss their rivalry with KU but the Illini make an even better primary rivalry. Nebraska will be in no hurry to make up their mind because frankly they are player who sits in an enviable position. They could force the Big XII to invite another northern school. But frankly the options are limited.

How this first round plays out will determine how deep the repercussions go toward us.

[ALUmnus]

I've never understood the Rutgers infatuation. Sure, the school is close to New York City, but that doesn't mean anything. There are probably more Duke fans in New York than Rutgers fans.

[JK37]

And so it begins ....

There really is no surprise that Mizzou & Nebraska were invited. It is a little surprising that Notre Dame would be publicly invited as well considering their constant declarations that they aren't going anywhere. I doubt the Big Ten would make this move unless they either felt that perhaps the Irish would finally give in or to force them to formally state their intentions in order to remove them as a distraction for other targets.

Rutgers as the 4th invitation is a little strange. Clearly the Big Ten sees the nation's largest market as a prize. But I think it might be a stretch to believe Cablevision or Time Warner would force the network onto its basic tier in order to get more Scarlet Knights game on the air. Does anybody in the Big Apple care at all about what happens in Piscataway?

Pitt & Syracuse have to be bummed to have not been on the short list. But this certainly forces the hand of the Big East & Big XII to do something to either keep their lineups intact or to begin their own pillaging of other leagues.

I would guess that Mizzou is likely accepting the bid. Sure they will miss their rivalry with KU but the Illini make an even better primary rivalry. Nebraska will be in no hurry to make up their mind because frankly they are player who sits in an enviable position. They could force the Big XII to invite another northern school. But frankly the options are limited.

How this first round plays out will determine how deep the repercussions go toward us.

I feel the Notre Dame move is the latter of the two options you proposed...

Also, don't look for the Big East and Big XII to be the only conferences moving in a second round of maneuvers. Look for the ACC to proactively pursue a couple more members themselves - namely Connecticut, West Virginia, and/or Pitt.

[LUconn]

I know that the inevitable cave in of the BE is still looming, but I think it's funny out of all of the proposed scenarios, they're trying to steal Rutgers. I can't help but giggle.

[Sly Fox]

Big 12: No heads-up from Big Ten on reported offers

Posted at 6:48 PM on Mon., May. 10, 2010
Chuck Carlton / Reporter

The report of Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Rutgers receiving offers to join the Big Ten dominated afternoon discussion today.

Here's what we know about the report from 810 WHB-AM in Kansas City:

1. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany had promised to notify any conference whose teams might be receiving offers. So far, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe has not been contacted by anyone at the Big Ten regarding an offer to a member school, league spokesman Bob Burda told me this afternoon.

2. Nebraska issued a statement, denying the report. The statement reads:

"We recognize the intense speculation about conference realignment and the possible impact it may have on Nebraska. Both Chancellor Harvey Perlman and Athletic Director Tom Osborne have indicated that the university would consider any opportunity that would advance the interests of the university.

"The University of Nebraska has not been offered any opportunity to move from the Big 12. We remain committed to the success of the Big 12 Conference. Until the Big Ten Conference makes and announces its decision on expansion, the University of Nebraska will have no further comment and we do not intend to continue to respond further to questions or speculations on this subject."

Click Here for Full Story