Big 10 (11) possibly looking to expand to 12

[Daddy Duck]

Heres an interesting read. I'm not quite sure Syracuse or Rutgers makes total sense. Big Ten Network has conference thinking expansion again - USATODAY.com

[Daddy Duck]

Originally Posted by inSTAALed

Notre Dame would still make the most sense.

Agreed.

I'm not sure Syracuse makes any sense at all.

Rutgers, i guess could be smart. You bring in the Jersey market plus a significant amount of the New York market. If they played in an esteemed conference such as the Big 10, recruiting would shoot through the roof.

[hit_'em88]

i think they should stick with the midwest and find a team there. but outside of notre dame there isn't much there

[NightHawk11and81]

What I'm not sure about is how they'd break up divisions, some rivalry would have to be split up. My roommate and I used Pittsburgh as the new team and I elected to use the SEC model and include one primary rival in each division resulting in the following:

East
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Indiana

West
Iowa
Northwestern
Illinois
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Purdue

The order of the teams is in accordance to who their primary rival would be, for example, Michigan and Minnesota would keep playing for the Little Brown Jug.

While it works for football, this wouldn't be acceptable for basketball and they'd have to use the ACC model for that, although my roommate suggested that Indiana-Illinois is a better rivalry than Indiana-Purdue and would be better for the league to axe that rivalry if needed.

[y2joey]

I'd put OSU and Michigan in seperate conferences^

[picksandspreads]

I think he means seperate divisions within the conference.
Here what Id do if PITT entered the Big 10:

Div 1:
Michigan
Michigan St.
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Purdue
Indiana

Div 2:
Ohio St.
Penn St.
PITT
Iowa
NW
Illinois

[OregonDuckFan]

It seems like the trend is to move to 10 12-team conferences...

What would the BIG-10 be called if it went to 12 teams...since the 'BIG-12' is already taken?...Would it become the MWC(Mid-West Conference)?...'Cept there already is a MWC(Mountain West Conference)...

So?...The GLC(Great Lakes Conference)?...

Whatever gets done...Since there is now a 12-game rule in effect?...I think that it must be mandatory that schools must have at least 9 games scheduled within conference for a season...This adding another patsy **** has got to go...

For the Big-East(w/ 8 teams)...Damn it...It's time to join 'em ND...

Do it...Or?...Notre Dame be no longer allowed to play in the BCS
(As if they've shown they've belonged in the BCS bowls recently anyways)...

[NightHawk11and81]

Originally Posted by inSTAALed

If Ohio State and Michigan are in seperate divisions, they won't play eachother every year.

That cannot and will not happen.

Put them in the same division and keep the game scheduled as the last game of the regular season.

Tradition is good.

Actually, they still could. You would simply use the SEC model of one permanent rival. For example, Georgia and Auburn are not in the same division, but they end their SEC slate with each other every year. Here's what they'd look like with that divisional setup proposed above, with their permanent rivals:

Ohio State-Michigan
Penn State-Michigan State
Iowa-Wisconsin
Purdue-Illinois
Indiana-Northwestern
Minnesota-Pittsburgh

The top four are all legitimate rivalries, and the other four schools are just thrown together like Kentucky-Mississippi State and South Carolina-Arkansas. I think that setup could work, the divisions are balanced, and you keep all the best rivalries in the conference intact.

[BigdaddyQH]

The two schools that would make the most sense is either Pitt, or Iowa State, but there is a question as to how good Iowa State's total athletic program is. If the Big 8 loses another school, be it Pitt, Louisville, Cincinnati, Syracuse, or Rutgers, they are going to have a major problem legitimizing their claim as a BCS Conference.

If the Big 10 went to 12 teams, the Pac 10 would follow along withing a year or so, leaving 5 BCS conferences with 12 teams. The Pac 10 would have easy pickings, with teams like San Diego State, Fresno State, Utah, B.Y.U. and others more than willing to join. This would result in more headaches for the head coaches, and more money for the schools.

If this happens, the Big East's hand is forced, but they have a major problem. The Big East has many schools that do not have Division 1-BCS fooball teams, such as Villanova, Georgtown, Providence, and others. They already have too many teams in their hoops conference. How cluttered will it be if they have to add more teams to fill out their football conference?

[Rick Astley]

Originally Posted by inSTAALed

If Ohio State and Michigan are in seperate divisions, they won't play eachother every year.

That cannot and will not happen.

Put them in the same division and keep the game scheduled as the last game of the regular season.

Tradition is good.

Florida State plays Miami every year.

[BigdaddyQH]

No need to worry about that. This is what would happen if the Big 10 expanded. If they take Iowa State:

Big 10 West. Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin.
Big 10 East. Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Penn St.

If they take a Big East school, say Pitt:

Big 10 West. Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota Northwestern, Wisconsin.
Big 10 East. Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Penn St. Pitt.

Either way, Michigan and Ohio State stay in the same division.

[NightHawk11and81]

I like the idea of Iowa State in the Big Ten, but then who does the Big 12 add to replace the Cyclones? TCU? That would cause a split of the Oklahoma schools and would require us to go to the SEC model. We should probably do that anyway.

[BigdaddyQH]

Oklahoma State is the furthest team North, so they would go to the Big 12 North. OU remains in the South. Like Florida State and Miami, OU would play Okie State every year.

[picksandspreads]

If Ohio State and Michigan are in seperate divisions, they won't play eachother every year.

Sorry about the CAPS but this is

THE MOST RIDIDCULOUS THING I HAVE EVER HEARD.

Being in the same conference, but Seperate Divisions does NOT mean they won't play each other every year.

The will ALWAYS play each other every year, the same weekend as it has always been.

[Hawknut5]

Originally Posted by BigdaddyQH

The two schools that would make the most sense is either Pitt, or Iowa State, but there is a question as to how good Iowa State's total athletic program is.

Iowa States athletic program is not good at all. I doubt they would compete much in the Big Ten. I know that the Big Ten has not been a great as of late but if Iowa State has to "survive" teams like UNI they wont be anything in the Big Ten. Plus they are not good financially. Last summer they were so bad in funds that there was talk of moving down to D1-AA. So I dont think moving Iowa State to the Big Ten is a good idea at all.