Wild Speculation: BigTen looking at FSU & Miami
Greg McElroy thinks the BigTen is not done expanding and the wild speculation from SI is that the BigTen would get the most bang for its buck by getting into Florida via Miami and FSU from the ACC. Both schools are allegedly looking behind the scenes to jump ship.
Wouldn't there be a footprint limit due to the distance between the Midwest, Los Angeles, and Florida - especially for nonrevenue sports? Unless the TV deals make it worthwhile.
How many heavyweights can one conference have before their all destroying each other's record?
Let's just call it College AFC, and the SEC can be College NFC
The SEC would look like a very regional--i.e. southern--construct in comparison.
If you look at the way the US is growing, it is the southern half of the country where the migration is headed. Florida is a huge market.
I have felt for some time that UT-Austin would have been a very good get for the B1G. It would have gotten the Texas market for the B1G (30 million people) and Texas is similar to many of the current B1G schools in terms of academics and research.
The problem is that Texas doesn't play well with others.
Fuck Texas.
Well sure, why not, unless of course you don't like making money. IMO, universities will sooner than later be paying players for their services. The more money you bring in, the better your ability to recruit.
Conference expansion for the B1G is going to become limited very quickly. It's all about market size and most of the large markets are already spoken for. UCLA and USC was a major coup.
Florida, which is still available, is a huge market, as was Texas which is now gone. Not sure where the Texas hate comes from I would have welcomed Texas with open arms. And yes, they would have played nice because that is exactly what they will do in the SEC.
The Texas hate comes from Texas football being grossly overhyped and the state generally being maybe the meanest in the country.
Meaner than Guam? Oh right, states.
Texas is the extremely narcissistic hot chick (or guy) whose demands and expectations are so over the top that you quickly stop caring how good-looking they are and regret ever hooking (hahaha) up with them in the first place.
Screw you, we’re from Texas.
~ ray Wylie Hubbard
Leave Miami & FSU for the SEC and then it can simply be the North vs. South again.
Hey! The South might actually win this time!
You mean, Shall Rise Again.
Not really. The BIG could add the following 4 teams...Washington, Oregon, Virginia and North Carolina and they will have the entire old B1G footprint plus the west coast and the mid-Atlantic seaboard. THAT against the South.
Yes, You add those teams but not before the 2 Florida teams. remember, this has to make financial sense in what each school brings to the table. I think once you firmly control the market/money from the markets that bring in the most revenue, Then you cherry pick the rest based on footprint, prestige, tradition etc.
Yes, You add those teams but not before the 2 Florida teams. remember, this has to make financial sense in what each school brings to the table. I think once you firmly control the market/money from the markets that bring in the most revenue, Then you cherry pick the rest based on footprint, prestige, tradition etc.
Ah yes. A traditional B1G game played between Miami (YTM) and UCLA on the BigTen Network.
right after BIG NOON with RUTGER and USC!!1!
FEEL the RIVALRY
Greg McElroy is a peabrain. This is NEVER happening.
The B1G has never admitted a new school that was not a member of the American Association of Universities and I'm pretty sure it will not waiver from that rule.
If you want "wild speculation" lets throw out these names (these are all members of the AAU)
-Georgia Tech, huge TV market and how great would it be to have a B1G school in Georgia?
-University of Pittsburgh, another huge TV market.
-Boston University, see above.
-The University of Kansas, underrated TV market.
-University of Florida, meh, TV market.
-The obvious, UW, Berkeley, Stanford, CU, Oregon. All are great to good TV markets but could make for a very nice geographic alignment.
I've said all along, how about three divisions of seven teams, East, Central and West.
East, UofM, little sister, Rutgers, PSU, Maryland BU and ohio.
Central, Northwester, Minnesota, IU, Illini, Purdue, Wiscy and Iowa.
West, Nebraska, UCLA, USC, CU, UW, Berkeley and Stanford.
Nebraska is not in the AAU. Miami is an excellent school - way better than Nebraska - but agree that FSU is not Big Ten material academically.
Nebraska was in the AAU when they were admitted to the B1G.
Nebraska WAS in the AAU up until recently and WAS in when they joined.
Miami is a good academic university but the fact they don't even have their own stadium.......?
This is not technically true. Yes, Nebraska applied for Big Ten membership in 2010, one year before they were expelled by the AAU in 2011. However, their admission to the Big Ten was not effective until 2012. Furthermore, there had been active discussion of the expulsion for years prior, so the Big Ten knew there was a good chance they were admitting a school that did not meet the AAU standards, and then even after the expulsion, allowed Nebraska to join anyway.
Nebraska was accepted in 2010. There would have been immense legal and financial ramifications if they decided not to allow them to join after that.
That does not change the fact that the Big Ten knew or should have known they would be expelled.
I think it's pretty tenuous to argue that the Big Ten knew or should have known they would be expelled.
Nebraska was invited to join the Big Ten in June 2010. Nebraska, along with Syracuse, was put on notice in the fall of 2010 that their membership was under review. In May 2011, the AAU narrowly voted to expel Nebraska. It required 42 votes (a two-thirds majority), and 44 voted for expulsion, including Wisconsin and Michigan. Nebraska had been a founding member of the AAU in 1909, and the organization had never expelled a member. Nebraska had successfully fought off an earlier expulsion attempt in 2000. And while Nebraska had lagged behind in the AAU's requirements, there were credible arguments to allow them to stay -- the university's medical research didn't count because their med school is on their Omaha campus, and their agricultural research (of which they do a lot) didn't count because bureaucratic technicalities.
When you consider all the factors -- the timeline, the fact that Big Ten schools were inexplicably complicit in Nebraska's ouster, the unprecedented nature of the expulsion, the fact Nebraska was a founding member and had already successfully defeated one expulsion attempt, and the arguable unfairness of expulsion -- I think it's far from a "fact" that the Big Ten should have known Nebraska would be expelled.
C'mon, Nebraska was (and is) so far below the rest of the conference academically that it was and is clear that academics were overlooked at the time of their admission.
You know AAU doesn’t just mean they have good academics, right? Plenty of top flight academic schools aren’t members.
It's just like talking politics, they see a headline on their favorite propaganda laden news/entertainment channel and suddenly they are experts in Keynesian economics.
"What do you mean, they aren't in the AAU, I saw them ranked really on on the US News and World Report list of top academic institutions of higher learning".
The B1G is supposed to know what another organization is going to do a full year+ later?
What are we basing FSU not being up to par academically on?
I see FSU ranked 55 which would have them in the top half of Big 10 schools.....but maybe US World News isn't the gold standard which is what I used. I honestly don't know.
I'm obviously partial to FSU as not only do I live in Florida but my son graduated from there as well. I must admit though he was unable to get into Florida so they're obviously higher on the rankings.
I can't figure out why this is so difficult to grasp. It's not about academic ranking by US News or any ranking, it's them not belonging to the AAU. It's really not that complex, yes or no, do they or do they not belong to this group. It doesn't matter if the Queen of Sheba has anointed them the Grand Poobah of academia, they MUST belong to the AAU.
IIRC Notre Dame does not belong to the AAU and the B1G would take them in a hearbeat.
Dude what? None of the teams you mention, outside of FL, bring competitive football programs. The B1G needs to be strong if they want to compete with the SEC for best conference.
Do you really think this is about "competitive football programs"? Is that what they were thinking when they added Rutgers and Maryland?
Uhhhh NO!!
It's about media markets and academics and then sports. If they dont meet the first two, the others are moot.
This is not about academics at all. It's about viewers and football is what brings people to the TV.
Don't need more "competitive football programs" as the SEC is top-heavy and regularly drumbeats the "best conference" narrative. What matters is TV markets and recruiting bases, with travel logistics probably third.
The BIG absolutely needs more competitive football teams. It just so happens that those TV markets and recruiting bases are in the South where there are good football programs ripe for the picking.
A school needs to bring a huge market to even move the needle for the B1G at this point in time. CU Stanford, Oregon Kansas and pretty much all the other ones don’t do it. Basically the only school out there that will add large viewer ship at this point in time is Notre Dame. Eventually they will have to join the B1G to keep competitive in the arms race
"Basically the only school out there that will add large viewer ship at this point in time is Notre Dame" Really? Only Notre Dame? Do you live in the mid-west because this is a rather myopic view?
San Fransisco/Oakland is 6, Atlanta (Ga Tech) is 7, Boston is 10, Seattle/Tacoma is 12, Denver is 16 and Pittsburgh is 26.
Four of the above are bigger than the Detroit market.
How many SEC teams top those markets?
Boston University is a really weird inclusion on this list. I’m assuming maybe you meant Boston College?
Umm NO. Do you guys not get this?
If a school is not in the AAU, they will not be invited to join. PERIOD. Next criteria is media market, BU is the number TEN media market in the US and would be a HUGE market for ratings, and the obvious, TELEVISION CONTRACTS.
Why is BU unusual? Size? How big is Northwestern?
The fact that they don’t even have a football team would be the main reason it’s unusual…
Then there’s the fact that they compete in the Patriot League in their other sports. Why they’re even being mentioned as a potential B1G member is… unusual. The B1G isn’t going to go after a non-P5 school, let alone a school from the bottom of the D1 conference ranks.
It’s much more likely the B1G moves away from the AAU requirement than it is for them to add a small conference school without a football team
Brett McMurphy thinks it's going to happen.
Not saying it's not going to happen eventually, both FSU and Miami are solid academic schools and they generate enough revenue to raise the Big Ten's average, but remember that when USC and UCLA were added, the news came out of nowhere and there wasn't a whisper or rumor about it until it was already a done deal.
It seems they are looking for a good athletics and academics balance for expansion. Other schools in the ACC would boost academics more: UVA and Ga Tech for example, but they don't bring the athletic prowess. Both are in good markets, but can't compete with North Florida and Miami-Dade area
As much as it pains me to say this, Notre Dame is the biggest non big ten or SEC fish left in the pond. One would think they would eventually need to land somewhere if the ACC starts getting stripped for parts.
Screw ND. They've gone this long without joining a conference so they dont deserve to be in the B1G.
This is not a "deserved" proposition. This is a WIN - WIN for all parties. ND brings in their share and fits in all ways. I have no love for ND but I love Michigan and the B1G so I can tolerate the lemon parts yet savor the honey.
ND needs to see it the same as the academic benefits the B1G provide will enhance an already challenged ND in retaining faculty as opposed to the lack there of in the SEC.
Fuck Notre Dame.