Most desirable expansion candidates
- Thread starter njm8845
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You need to add Texas A&M to that list. Aggies may be POed enough to get out of the SEC and they are the best addition the B1G could make other than Texas and ND. Land Grant school, AAU member, preseason polls have them ranked #2 in the SEC behind Bama, adds the state of Texas to the BTN footprint (population 29 million), #6 nationally in football attendance (ahead of Texas and ND) and it opens up the state of Texas for B1G recruiting. Also, check out this list of Forbes most valuable football programs:
Forbes
You might also add Mizzou to the list. They also had huge heartburn with Texas in the Big XII and may prefer the B1G to the SEC if UT joins the latter.
Forbes
You might also add Mizzou to the list. They also had huge heartburn with Texas in the Big XII and may prefer the B1G to the SEC if UT joins the latter.
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Kentucky. West Virginia, Or...better yet, go back to 10.
Personally I think the Big Ten means more than sports. I only want schools that have good academic reputations in addition to solid sports. Notre Dame, Virginia, UNC, Pitt (location gives Pitt a boost)
Most likely addition IMO is Georgia tech. Academics are there and it puts B1G Network in Atlanta market. Then maybe UNC to grab the Charlotte market. Remember this is all about $$
The ACC teams have signed over their media rights to the conference through the length of their tv deal, which goes well into the next decade. They aren’t moving.
That is correct. Also, there is no buyout at all from the SEC. Any school can quit without paying a dime.
All it takes is the right amount of money to move any school out of an agreement. It happens all the time in business, and this is business.
I’d love to go back to the Big11Ten. Purdue fans seem to want to add teams that will push our stature within the conference down
“Yeah! Let’s add Texas and Oklahoma .. so instead of it being another 34 years (from 2000) before we go to the rose bowl … we just never go back again!!”
speaking of Kansas, Robby Steinhardt the violinist and founding member of the band Kansas passed away at 71 on July 17th.
RIP Robby Steinhardt from Kansas. Funny scene when Will Ferrell sang this in “Old School”: You’re my boy, Blue!
Should anyone care about this? Especially rooting for anyone who has a chance to be above us in stature?
ACC schools are locked into GOR until 2036. They aren't an option for B1G or SEC, unless everything explodes. If it did explode UNC and UVA would be the B1G prime targets, of course. I also don't think B1G would poach PAC. It's too rabbit hole. The B1G and PAC are simpatico and have been for 100 years. Could it happen?!? Of course! Who the hell knows. Realistically speaking;
Best case for B1G - add white whale Notre Dame & AAU/basketball blueblood KU
B1G will pray for ND to fully commit to a conference and return home to their Midwest historical rivalries (with new east coast members RU and MD and JHU in Lax to satisfy their Atlantic coast desires). ND is already an affiliate member for B1G Hockey, and they will slide into B1G Lacrosse w another affiliate member Johns Hopkins (along w MD UM OSU PSU RU). In a world of Super Conf, B1G is the best fit for ND case closed. UM, OSU, PSU, WIS, MSU, NEB vs CLEM and FSU?? Please.
#2 Best Case - KU and OKST. OKST doesn't have the academics but they do have the athletics. Football and basketball are both stout. Wrestling blueblood to fit w B1G wrestling. Rabid fanbase. OKST is in the vein of U of Louisville Community College and WV. OKST >>>> IAST even with IAST being AAU. Why double up in IA when you could add OKST?
edit; Oh, and I do think there's an outside chance B1G contacts Mizzou (or vice versa) bc Mizzou wanted B1G first in 2012 or whenever the B1G picked NEB instead. Mizzou flirtation w B1G was what set the ball rolling for CO, A&M, NEB, Mizz. They might not want to play along w TX again and flip to B1G. Just not sure B1G would even pursue them.
***All opinions subject to change on an hourly basis
Best case for B1G - add white whale Notre Dame & AAU/basketball blueblood KU
B1G will pray for ND to fully commit to a conference and return home to their Midwest historical rivalries (with new east coast members RU and MD and JHU in Lax to satisfy their Atlantic coast desires). ND is already an affiliate member for B1G Hockey, and they will slide into B1G Lacrosse w another affiliate member Johns Hopkins (along w MD UM OSU PSU RU). In a world of Super Conf, B1G is the best fit for ND case closed. UM, OSU, PSU, WIS, MSU, NEB vs CLEM and FSU?? Please.
#2 Best Case - KU and OKST. OKST doesn't have the academics but they do have the athletics. Football and basketball are both stout. Wrestling blueblood to fit w B1G wrestling. Rabid fanbase. OKST is in the vein of U of Louisville Community College and WV. OKST >>>> IAST even with IAST being AAU. Why double up in IA when you could add OKST?
edit; Oh, and I do think there's an outside chance B1G contacts Mizzou (or vice versa) bc Mizzou wanted B1G first in 2012 or whenever the B1G picked NEB instead. Mizzou flirtation w B1G was what set the ball rolling for CO, A&M, NEB, Mizz. They might not want to play along w TX again and flip to B1G. Just not sure B1G would even pursue them.
***All opinions subject to change on an hourly basis
I don’t agree. Get the BIG and ACC to “partner” and have the beginnings of the first “super conference”. BIG has 14 teams and the ACC has 15. Make a couple crossover games each season. The BIG still has a Championship game and the ACC does too. The two Champs play each other.
The revenues from this would be astronomical. The TV $ could be huge and you force ESPN to work with the BIG again instead of having them constantly cutting it down on air. ESPN already has the ACCN.
Doing this doesn’t force a breakup of either the ACC or the BIG. It just makes the two conferences stronger. Now ND is incentivized to play more BIG teams. You’ll get matchups like OSU/Clemson, Michigan/Miami, and PSU/FSU fairly often. ND can play Purdue, Michigan, Michigan, etc.
Also, I do believe that if 2 conf decide to partner it would be B1G and PAC (historical ties and Fox Sports ties as Fox underpins both of their networks), but B1G has great revenue that will be on par w the SEC even with TX and OU. B1G would be subsidizing lesser conferences by joining w them. We really don't need to do anything like that.
PAC-12 makes no sense in the big scheme of things anymore. Guess how much PAC-12 teams make per school right now. $3.75M. BIG pays $55M. Our next TV contracts will only go up.
The ACC is not a lesser conference overall (especially when you factor in BB) AND the population shifts are only going to make the ACC MORE valuable over time, not less.
I agree RE PAC. I'm not for it at all. Like I said, B1G gonna do fine. We don't need to rescue other conferences.
Problem as I see it w the ACC is ESPN and the ACCN etc etc etc. It's as much Fox v ESPN at this point as Conferences vs each other. They're invested in which schools go where, and they make the payments.
I agree with you on the networks issue somewhat. Guess what. The BIG is negotiating new TV deals for 2024 and on, right? At worst, having some ESPN competition will only drive the TV money up from FOX. If we have a deal with the ACC, ESPN will want to be in on that action, no?
I just don't think the ACC can even go anywhere bc their deal with ESPN runs thru 2036 and the ACCN is dependent on that. Unless they want to scrap everything and start from scratch??
And, the next round of negotiations could include Amazon, YouTube, and Netflix for all we know. ESPN does get some B1G games, so they are already involved in negotiations.
I feel like there are thousands of angles to consider. The real weeds of all of this is above my pay-grade.
I just saw an article about USC being interested. USC and Oregon would be good gets if the PAC 12 falls apart. Add UCLA, Arizona, Washington, and Colorado to make 20. That seems more exciting than Kansas and Iowa St. Sub one of the last 4 with Florida St and we keep recruiting open in that state.
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Syracuse is a total wildcard. Sleeping giant potential or permanently third fiddle? Would their programs and by extension their fan base be awakened by inclusion in a big revenue conference? A situation that bookends the NY market with Rutgers and provides each other with a regional rival? The sheer prospect of making college football matter (and be the conference to reap the benefits) in that heavily populated part of the country has to have some appeal. But you’re facing decades of apathy. It would be a gamble, essential doubling down on the Rutgers move.
Who says the big will be we if we included the powers? 😉
This is probably already planned snd being rolled out to rubes who think they won’t get left outside of the club lol
