football

The case for expansion is simple; adding teams means more yearly revenue per school.  Adding a 12th team allows the Big Ten to hold a championship game that should generate something on the order of $1 million per school.  The real profits, however, come from expanding the conference footprint, putting the Big Ten Network on basic cable in more markets.

Unfortunately, this seems to mean expansion beyond 12 teams.  Does anyone actually want a ManBearBigEast of a conference with 14 or 16 teams where we only see Minnesota or Iowa twice a decade?  I most certainly do not.

So I pose this question to the MGoBlog Community: Is there a way to expand the markets in which the BTN is on basic cable, without adding more schools?

What if the BTN were to approach the Big XII, a conference with a large number of untelevised conference games and strike a deal?  Would 2-3 games each week be enough to see the BTN put on basic cable in Big XII markets?  What if individual schools were contracted to provide ~2 non-conference football games per year, in addition to football and basketball coverage?  In short, could the BTN grow revenues without expanding the conference?

I know some of you hate talking about anything relevant, but it's life and there are only so many videos of shirtless 17 year old boys to keep us occupied until September. 

I was reading some old stuff regarding the debate that's been recycled about 3.4 trillion times about whether or not Yost "let termites eat the cupboard", and it piqued my e-pinion in this e-question.

I'm interested to hear what you all think FY's record would have been if Yost had anyone weighing over 200 pounds starting every game for Michigan...

But in the interest of drawing a comparison to the situation Edwin R. "Sweetest Man That Ever Lived" Sweetland encountered (i.e., no B10-caliber ass on the roster), I'm also interested to hear what you guys think FY's record would have been if John Henry "Harry" James had  a season-ending explosive diarrhea before the Case game.

Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

h/t M4B

Or, at least he thinks he does. 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=5203...

Pat Forde does his best at trying to not sound like an SEC homer.  Just kidding, he says that the Big Ten shouldn't expand to 14 or 16 teams because they won't get Notre Dame or Texas and no matter what they do the SEC will raid the best schools in the south in reaction.  He Completely ignores the fact that the ACC just signed a huge deal (with ESPN, his employer, mind you) which will make their member schools that much less likely to jump ship.

I know some of you hate speculative hypotheticals, but it's the offseason and there are only so many recruiting videos to keep us occupied until September. 

I was reading some old stuff regarding the debate about whether or not LC "left the cupboard bare", and it piqued my interest in this question.

I'm interested to hear what you all think LC's record would have been if Mallet had started every game for Michigan...

But in the interest of drawing a comparison to the situation RR encountered (i.e., no B10-caliber QB on the roster), I'm also interested to hear what you guys think LC's record would have been if Mallet had experienced a season-ending injury before the Utah game.

I ran into Myles Wade this morning at a local coffee shop.  He is a Junior JC defensive tackle transfer to Texas Tech with 3 years of eligibility left.  I talked briefly with him and his dad.  What a solid young man.  I came away extremely impressed.  He has a compelling  story. This guy is going to make waves, and I wish him the best.

Michigan is ill served by not reaching out to players like this at and in positions of need.  We have gone through hard times that could offer kids like this opportunity.  There is more to these men than grades and test scores can document. 

I've heard that Michigan does not look at JC players (the exceptions prove the rule) mostly due to transcript problems.   It has been a revelation seeing Football interact with Admissions with some pushing and pulling going back and forth recently.  This is definitely less an issue as the talent level rises, but JC transfers deserve more of a look than the current policy seems to allow.

OK, the whole Hayes hoopla got me thinking.  MSU barely finished .500, has a coach who got worse record wise in his third year than his second with the majority of the team his recruits, lost complete disciplinary control and suspended/ cut loose 15% of his team this off season, and we are the sinking ship?  They snuck out two close wins against us in the worst two seasons we have had in the last 50 years, and didn't look great doing it.  Even with the looming NCAA stuff, our program is still at an equal or better status than MSU.  However, with the expectations lower for MSU, they are perceived to be right about where they should be and we are a sinking ship.  Are we getting to the point where our own (meaning the alumni / fanbase) bitching is making our opponents situations look better?  Maybe we are the outside sources badmouthing Michigan to all of the recruits.