MGoQuestion: You're BigTen commissioner for a day... what do you do?
Slow news day, so I'm throwing this question out there.
You're the BigTen commish for a day and can enact a single rule. Assuming that the USC/UCLA alignment is inevitable, what do you do?
If I'm commish, and I give ND the ultimatum that they join the BigTen (under the same conditions as every other school) or USC/UM/MSU/Purdue are no longer scheduling them.
Enjoy the whole independence thing when your schedule is just service academies and whatever's left of the ACC once Clemson buys their way out.
How about you?
Boot Maryland and Rutgers.
Also Nebraska.
But then who will out-hit everyone in the league?
You guys need to be more creative. Get some expensive lawyers and find a way to kick Sparty out.
And Penn State, if we're being honest
They will add more "value" then say... Purdue over the years.
Double the price for television ad time. Cut the amount of ads in half.
That's two rules, professor.
It’s really not. It’s just worded poorly.
But what will I do without a touchdown>commercial>kickoff>commercial sequence?
It's often Touchdown>Official Review>Commercial>TD Confirmed>PAT>Commercial>Kickoff>Commercial.
Yeah, when is an old guy supposed to run to the bathroom nowadays?
Invite Stanford and Notre Dame to the B10
ND is already invited.
No shit... just connecting the pair officially.
Cash out.
There's a lot of "cooler" answers.
This is the right answer.
Hire and train good refs and pay them good.
well, pay them well
At some point I have to believe part of officiating is going to be taken over by robots.
Heck, I don't even understand why right now, you can't put a microchip in the ball that tells you exactly and without any form of dispute where the ball is in when the player's knee hits the ground. That's one area of officiating that can be easily streamlined and resolved right now, and can save so much time otherwise going back and forth from the booth on determining if he was short or he wasn't.
Guessing there is some referee union that would stonewall that initiative immediately, but still, how many games have been decided on the refs making the wrong call on where the ball was down? I can think of one in 2016 right off the top of my head.....
Absolutely. The system will be called Skynet. It will work really well until fans get mad at the robots. It will then decide on the most efficient way to solve the fan anger problem.
put a microchip in the ball that tells you exactly and without any form of dispute where the ball is in when the player's knee hits the ground
Ridiculous. First off, it’s not just the players knee. Are you putting sensors on their knees, buttocks, forearms, etc. and not just a sensor but it has to be complete coverage of any surface that could result in a player being ruled down. As for the old “sensor in a ball” BS, again it would have to cover the entire ball. How many times have we seen a first down “by a nose”. And then there’s the question of how a referee spots the ball to the EXACT point where technology has deemed a player to be down.
THINK, McFly!
Edit-Can’t wait for 1st time that replay clearly shows grass moving after a players knee touches it but it wasn’t enough contact for it to register!
Grammer aside, this is the answer. Improve the overall state of conference officiating across all sports. If nothing else, the B1G - as one of the only two super-conferences - should have game officials every bit as good as any professional league can provide. There is zero reason that game officials (and their replay counterparts) cannot be well paid and accountable.
The fact that they are not is a fact that says the B1G just doesn't give a shit about the integrity of game conduct or results.
Yes. Hire well refs and pay them good.
"Grammer aside..." Well, you definitely put spelling aside, if not grammar.
I hope you are just a fan boy and not a Michigan grad.
Agreed. The B1G should hire full time refs to address ALL sports. These refs would be full time conference employees, and cross trained to cover a variety of sports, so - it would be a full time job.
Referees would be evaluated by the coaching staff of both teams after a contest / game. The “highest rated” referees would then be requested to officiate Conference Championships, and - if there are National Championships - to be considered by the governing body to officiate them.
The amount of money available to the conference is immense, and this might be the first, or next, step to provide a balanced field for competition.
And fire John O'Neill into the sun.
Overturn the results of the 2016 edition of The Game.
JT was short. I know it. You know it.
Prioritize non-rev sports as much as possible. Just for one day. And find policies that would take sports/programs that are almost profitable and enact them so we can push those programs into the black. There are great products out there but the schools, conference and NCAA don't support them enough.
Do a thorough review of Big 10 refs. I would like to determine which refs should continue to have a job, and which are horrible. In that review, I would like to determine if some refs have a statistical call bias in favor or against certain teams. I would also try to determine if call/non calls played any roll in determining the outcome of a game, and if a particular team benefitted or suffered more than other teams.
Mostly, I would like to figure out if my irrational homer fandom towards refs has any basis in reality because it certainly feels that way.
This is the correct answer. At a MINIMUM they need to be more transparent about the officiating. The referee should be made available to the media following every game. They require the HC and players to be available, the same should apply to the lead official. Same applies to the B1G Director of Officiating, Bill Carollo. Require him to do a weekly press conference every Monday or Tuesday during the season.
Make the refs face the media. If they are so sure they made the right call, they shouldn't have any problems explaining themselves in front of the cameras.
boot ohio from the B10 - force a transfer for them to the SEC.
Straight trade for Vanderbilt. Win-Win.
I would make ND buy their way into the conference. Their leverage is not as strong as it was and probably lessens as the megaconferences grow. At this point, ND needs us more than we need them. Actually, I'm not sure what ND does for the conference that we cant get with other alliances (eg additions from PAC and ACC).
I think they're still a national brand, way more than any team in the ACC. Seriously, despite all of Clemson's success, do people outside of South Carolina actually care about them?
But yeah, the longer ND waits, the stronger the SEC and Big Ten get, and the less leverage they have.
Fair enough. Rereading my post only reveals its hot-takeyness. Of course ND is a get for the B1G. I'm increasingly bearish on ND's benefit to Michigan for reasons. But, yeah, having a national profile is obviously important to every conference and that's ND's biggest asset right now.
I think ND has already put themselves between a “rock and a hard place”.
First, I think the ACC, and ND’s agreement to play five ACC teams annually should be dealt in the following manner. The ACC Athletic Directors should vote to determine which two teams play in their Conference Championship Game. The choices are: 1) Atlantic Division champ, 2) Coastal Division champ, or 3) ND. You get to pick two from those three. That aligns ND with the ACC for the CFP.
As for conference affiliation / membership - if it comes down to a decision between the SEC and the B1G - what association do you feel the ND alumni will accept? Regularly Playing Mississippi State, South Carolina, Arkansas, etc. OR - the B1G conference members. I don’t think it’s a choice. ND wants to be associated with premiere academic and athletic institutions - and, the SEC doesn’t hold up on one side of the equation.
I would absorb the entire pac 10 and big 12. It is one day, no consequences and that is what the B1G is now.
Edit: Crisped reminded me of the ACC. So I would also swallow them whole (and spit out ND if they qualify as ACC).
Fire John O'Neill.
Thread Jack: you are the Pac 10 commissioner for one day, what do you do?
Look on LinkedIn for B1G jobs
Ok that is a good one!
Ban Urban Meyer from the B10 Network.
Bring back Teddy Valentine.
Immediately set up a call with Greg Sankey and develop a project plan for taking over college football. Standardize rules (including NIL), controlling the playoffs while banishing the NCAA and taking all the money. The rest of CFB will fall in line..they will have no choice. Best of all it probably not all that far-fetched.
Deer Hunter: picks up phone and calls Sankey.
Sankey: Hello.
DH: Hi, this is DH new B1G commissioner. I'd like to take to you about our student-athletes.
Sankey: Did you say "student"?
DH: Yes. (Hears click) Hello?? Hello??
Nice, that's probably how it would go down LOL.
I would probably take the initial approach of "I'd like to talk to you about $$$. Student -athletes are an outdated facade for the NCAA, let's do something for long term sustainability of CFB that's advantageous for both athletes and our schools". "The old model had its run and we all got fat, the NCAA is toothless now and in mortal combat (finish him mode). We need to lead change instead of being a victim and just bitching about it later and we have the opportunity for a win-win situation now for all of us".
Any referee who has demonstrated a clear and obvious rooting interest for one particular conference team shall never be allowed to officiate a game involving that team.
