Big Ten expansion

The University of Chicago (#8 rank & charter member of the conference, back in the day) still belongs to the Big 10 research consortium, as well.

 

If luring ND were the primary/main consideration, the Big Ten would go for Pitt, which has been a semi-traditional opponent for ND, so bringing them in would be attractive from an ND scheduling standpoint. PSU is also lobbying for Pitt to give it a real conference rivalry game, something they don't currently have.

Pitt would add no untapped TV territory, but snapping up 2-3 football schools from the Big East would effectively finish it as a BCS-eligible conference.

Looking 10 years down the line, when we could very easily have four 16-team superconferences (The SuperACC, the SuperSEC, the SuperBig Ten and the SuperPac Ten), it's very foreseeable to see the BCS bids all coming from those conferences.

ND can either get on the bus, or get thrown under it.

 

I thought Rutgers was in play for the Fat Sandwiches at the grease trucks on campus.

 

I have a question about the future four 16-team super conferences.

Right now, counting Notre Dame, there are 66 "BCS" schools. Which two schools will be kicked out in order to form those four leagues?

Keep in mind that it's pretty tough to unilaterally kick a school out of a conference. Conference by-laws normally don't allow it.

 

They could create a new conference and not invite certain schools, like what the Metro and Great Midwest schools did when they formed Conference USA.

 

They need five 16-team conferences. Here's how I would do it...

The former Big 10
1. Wisconsin
2. Iowa
3. Illinois
4. Northwestern
5. Notre Dame
6. Minnesota
7. Missouri
8. Ohio State
9. Indiana
10. Purdue
11. Nebraska
12. Penn State
13. Pittsburgh
14. Rutgers
15. Michigan
16. Michigan State

The former Pac-10
1. Washington
2. Washington State
3. Oregon
4. Oregon State
5. Cal
6. Stanford
7. UCLA
8. USC
9. Arizona
10. Arizona State
11. Colorado
12. Kansas
13. Utah
14. BYU
15. Texas
16. Texas A&M

The former Big 12
1. Iowa State
2. Kansas State
3. Oklahoma
4. Oklahoma State
5. Texas Tech
6. TCU
7. Boise State
8. Baylor
9. Arkansas
10. UNLV
11. SMU
12. Memphis
13. Cincinnati
14. Houston
15. Louisville
16. Tulsa

The former SEC
1. Florida
2. Florida State
3. Miami
4. Georgia
5. Georgia Tech
6. Alabama
7. Auburn
8. Tennessee
9. Vanderbilt
10. LSU
11. Ole Miss
12. Mississippi State
13. Kentucky
14. South Carolina
15. Clemson
16. Virginia Tech

The former ACC/Big East
1. Boston College
2. Connecticut
3. Syracuse
4. Virginia
5. North Carolina
6. North Carolina State
7. Duke
8. Wake Forest
9. West Virginia
10. Marshall
11. South Florida
12. Central Florida
13. Maryland
14. Southern Miss
15. Memphis
16. Tulane

 

There's no perfect way to do it and every conference needs some "lesser" schools.

I don't think South Florida or Memphis are "lesser" schools by any stretch. UCF, Tulane, SMU maybe...

You could do five 14-team conferences and trim some of the fat, maybe UCF, Tulane, SMU, Southern Miss, Tulsa, UNLV, Marshall, Houston, and a couple others...

 

It doesn't really matter whether you think they're lesser schools or not. It matters whether the presidents at Duke, Wake, UVa, Carolina, etc., think they're lesser schools. I just don't see any way the core of ACC presidents wants to be associated with Memphis, Tulane, UCF, Marshall, etc.

 

C'mon, Mizzou, what the hell do schools like Tulsa and Tulane have to offer the BCS conferences? They're not gonna agree to share their money with a new member unless they're getting something in return, and many of the school you listed have nothing to offer. They'd never be invited.

 

Well, every year we hear bitching about teams who aren't in major conferences who are about to run the table, whether it's Utah, Boise State or a place like TCU or Fresno State. This is the way you avoid that.

The better way is to just do an eight or 16 team playoff, but that's just crazy talk, so why bother?

 

Well, now you're talking about separate issues. If the question is whether non-BCS teams should be provided a fairer shot at the national championship, I agree with you. The current system sucks, and the way to fix it is with a playoff.

But conference affiliation is a seperate matter. Bringing a new member into a conference is the same as an agreement to split your money with them. They won't do that unless they feel the new member has something to offer in return, and I can't imagine what benefit the Big 12 would get from letting someone like Tulsa into their club.