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So a guy named Steve Deace retweets a guy who tweets under the name "Bluevodreal" who is tweeting out expansion rumors. Neither of these guys are anybody. Do you think the hypothetical University Presidents who would be involved in these talks are leaking rumors to "bluevodreal" but to nobody else?
No.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:20 AM ^
March 26th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
Some of these "edge of the internet" people had actual, proven connections within the athletic department and the Michigan community. Others who called "Harbaugh to Michigan" were just making educated guesses, and fortunately got it right.
If anybody can show me that this guy has any actual connections with Big Ten University Presidents (who will be the first people to discuss expansion), I'm willing to listen. Until then, he's just some guy throwing crap at the wall and praying that it sticks.
March 26th, 2016 at 11:50 AM ^
It is possible that these talks are early. No point in the league breaking something some news here in March '16 if the change wouldn't take place until July '17 anyway. We already know that the major leagues will just keep expanding. The precedent has already been set.
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It wouldn't surprise me if there was truth to this. Delaney has been all about acquiring power for the Big Ten. The ACC is cleaning up in the NCAA Tourney, but the Big Ten has more money thanks to population and BTN. So why not try to raid some ACC schools? Places like Virginia, Georgia Tech, Fla State, Syracuse would have to think hard about it. Texas would be a tougher add because of Longhorn Network, I would imagine. Hard to see anyone leaving the SEC, the way it's rolling in football.
is not an insider. Bluevod has an accuracy rate substantial below most long-term weather forecasts.
March 26th, 2016 at 11:11 AM ^
Is that you, Bluevod?
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Steve Deace is a gigantic fucking douchebag.
If there were actual details, then maybe I could form an opinion on it. Instead, we get, "My inside source says something will happen sometime."
@HawkeyeHunz if you are in Texas, Flordia, DC and Atlanta market your in play. I would also not be shocked to see a Cali poach.
— Bluevod (@Bluevodreal) March 25, 2016
Wow dude. Let's cover all the bases so then you can proclaim to be an insider. What a joke.
March 26th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
LOL woah...
March 26th, 2016 at 10:00 AM ^
Well at least he didn't say the MExico City, Toronto, Sydney, and Lagos markets....that would have definitely made me suspiscious of his "insider" status
March 26th, 2016 at 10:04 AM ^
March 26th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^
I'm in the "Flordia" market, so this certainly means I'm in play.
/s
March 26th, 2016 at 11:13 AM ^
March 26th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^
If this were a dumb prediction contest, he'd get my vote. Whenever someone says something that stupid, I can't believe anything else they claim to know.
March 26th, 2016 at 12:12 PM ^
your in play
Yeah, I'm sure this guy is an insider in an academic institution.
Any insider that doesn't know it was a North Dakota fan flipping off the michigan player is clearly not an insider. His tweets remind me of a teenager. Not taking this serious.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:57 AM ^
I don't understand why ND is still holding out. BTN schools make more money now than ND's NBC contract... http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/btn-over-27-mm-school-2015
They would be in the west division, which pretty much guarantees them a spot in the B1G title game. The only problem is they would have to drop playing their traditional games against the service academies and Stanford (playing a traditional power like Nebraska should make up for that). They could move the USC game to the start of the season, basically like they used to play Michigan.
March 26th, 2016 at 11:33 AM ^
If it were ND would have joined the Big Ten long ago. You're looking at football money, but that's dwarfed by the money they stand to gain on the academic side.
ND cherishes it's unique position in CFB. That would be lost, or at least diminished if they joined a conference. The only way it'll happen is if they would be ineligible for the playoffs as an independent.
March 26th, 2016 at 12:04 PM ^
I can't fathom a situation where ND willingly comes to the B1G. Hurts their national recruiting prowess by making them a 'regionally locked' team. They know that in they would have to make it through OSU, MSU, PSU, Neb, Wisc, Iowa and Michigan. I suppose their best case scenario for the B1G is they join and go to the weaker West where they become instant contenders.
However, in our current format it is much more beneficial to ND's overall objectives to remain independent where they can beat an average ACC schedule, survive the naval academies and hopefully do enough to throw them into a 4 way playoff. ND remembers what happened to PSU when they made the transition.
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March 26th, 2016 at 12:04 PM ^
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March 26th, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
March 26th, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
So now we know that Owosso wolverine is bluevod.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:03 AM ^
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March 26th, 2016 at 10:47 AM ^
March 26th, 2016 at 10:05 AM ^
Yeah, there's a secondary murmur on Twitter that the reason for any talks right now is that there has been some contact between the ACC and the Big 12 with both the Big Ten and the SEC, so if you were to take that at face value, then there would potentially be huge changes down the road. That being said, there's no real good source on any of this and I'll believe it when I see it really.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:13 AM ^
That means that the person is not the source, but that the person heard it from another person, right?
March 26th, 2016 at 10:09 AM ^
The last time someone posted his tweets as a rumor he was claiming Non-AAU schools were involved. He has no idea what's going on, just throwing out names.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
That's what undercuts any validity to these supposed rumors. Every member of the BIG is an AAU member except Nebraska, and they were a member when they were brought into the conference. The AAU booted them out after their admission to the BIG, and Nebraska's chancellor has stated that NEB wouldn't have gotten into the conference if they hadn't been an AAU member at the time. "Flordia State" isn't an AAU member. Neither is Oklahoma.
What clowns like bluevod never keep in mind is that the BIG conference is also an academic consortium, and that matters very much to all the university presidents, who come from academic backgrounds and are at the top of huge research institutions. That doesn't necessarily mean that they would never invite a non-AAU member, but doing so would represent a huge change in the philosophy undergirding conference membership, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
I think the notion that UNC or UVA would abandon their historic ties to Duke, NC St, and the other long-time ACC schools is far-fetched, but at least UNC and UVA are AAU members and are considered top-notch research institutions. Same with GT.
I think it would make much more sense from a geographic consolidation standpoint to bring in Pitt and Missouri, but then I don't give a shit about expanding the footprint.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:29 AM ^
For what it's worth, Notre Dame is not an AAU member, and they just joined for hockey. They're the first institution to become part of the Big Ten in any capacity that's not in the AAU.
IIRC, the earlier invitation for ND to join in all sports (in the early 2000s) would have required them to beef up graduate programs and apply for AAU membership. I'm guessing the current hockey only arrangement doesn't have this requirement.
I wouldn't be surprised that, if there is further expansion, the Big Ten and the CIC (the academic component) are formally separated so that institutions could join the athletic conference without being incorporated into the academic consortium.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:40 AM ^
That's an interesting scenario that I hadn't considered, and would be the way for the conference to put a fig leaf on admitting non-AAU members. However, it would undercut the conference's constant assertion about academics being a critical part of membership. Splitting the two would underscore how conference membership would be now solely about money.
I'm not sure that the university presidents are ready to endorse that—it's easy for them to make speeches about how awesome membership in the BIG is for the academic component, but blathering about CIC membership would leave most people scratching their heads.
I remember reading that at the time ND was considering membership in the BIG that a good part of the ND faculty was opposed specifically because they did not want ND to become a large research institution, since in their eyes it would take the emphasis away from teaching and redirect it towards the endless chasing of research dollars by both faculty and their graduate students.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^
I had a friend who was an assistant prof on the ND faculty when the previous expansion was being discussed, and he described a fairly even split among faculty about joining the Big 10 that broke along the lines you describe.
Faculty who saw the institution primarily as a liberal arts school, particularly people who were both faculty and clergy, saw it endangering ND's mission. Others saw it as a tremendous opportunity to mesh the liberal arts and research, with increased funding and cooperation providing new scholarly opportunities for faculty and students. My friend thought it was a lost opportunity created by ND's overly insular nature and self-regard. (He's since left for another position, largely because South Bend is a tough place to be young junior faculty).
March 26th, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^
Would have brought extraordinarily perfect, natural rivalries in (Illinois-Mizzou, Pitt-PSU), some decent TV markets and better all around programs. Huge missed opportunity. Could have also done ND and Kansas along with that ... smh, Delaney is a moron.
March 26th, 2016 at 10:47 AM ^
it's been sneered and mocked precisely because they don't expand the footprint. That attitude got us Rutgers and Maryland.
I've also heard that PSU would fight tooth and nail against admitting Pitt, but frankly I'd be happy with PSU leaving the conference if we got Pitt in return. Wouldn't be good for the BIG hockey conference if PSU left, though.
My affection for MIssouri is partially due to family ties, but it also makes sense as long as we've got Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois in the conference. Pitt is a natural rival for OSU.
Missouri isn't highly regarded as an educational institution, but they are an AAU member, FWIW. Pitt is considered to be a much better institution, I think.
March 26th, 2016 at 11:01 AM ^
Not really, I mean ND and probably Arizona State are joining B1G hockey.
March 26th, 2016 at 11:40 AM ^
also leads to ND joining. If anything, it would have made it less likely than adding Maryland and Rutgers, since ND doesn't want to be pigeonholed into being a midwestern team.
March 26th, 2016 at 12:09 PM ^
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March 26th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
Nebraska was voted out of the AAU because they do not have an on campus medical school. The AAU also disregarded Nebraska's signifciant USDA funded agricultural research. The lack of those two items dragged down Nebraska's research metrics and led to Nebraska's dismissal.
Interestingly, had all B1G schools voted for Nebraska's inclusion, Nebraska would have remained in the AAU. However, Michigan and Wisconsin voted against Nebraska.