Arkansas and Notre Dame to the Big 12?

Submitted by The Mick on

Haven't seen this posted here yet:

That source went on to say if Arkansas joined the Big 12 and realignment started back up with the SEC having to replace a school and possibly looking to get to 14 or even 16, Notre Dame could be back in play.



Several sources, including a source close to the discussions that took place between Notre Dame and the Big Ten over the past month, indicated Notre Dame would remain independent unless it appeared super conferences were forming.



And now that the Big Ten is at 12 schools already, Notre Dame might be more interested in joining the Big 12, where it might be the 12th school added to the league (along with Arkansas).



Notre Dame could also explore having its own TV network inside the Big 12, whereas that would not be an option in the Big Ten, which has a conference network that requires everyone to share their inventory.

 

Source: http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1095242

aaamichfan

June 17th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^

I suppose Arkansas to the Big12 is a little bit plausible, but Notre Dame makes no sense at all. 

Bottom line, I'm really tired of the "expansion rumor mill"

Baldbill

June 17th, 2010 at 3:56 PM ^

Arkansas left the old SWC because of Texas, now that Texas has a more than dominant position in the new Big12-2, Arkansas would be taking a major step backwards. I don't see this as anything other than rumor for rumors sake.

Geaux_Blue

June 17th, 2010 at 3:32 PM ^

Source: ND refused to entertain the idea of joining the Big Ten when only Boise St, Nebraska and Colorado had move but now that Utah is gone and Arkansas might for absolutely zero reason turn their back on storied rivalries, ND might say 'to hell with it' and join a conference that was unable to maintain their ranks while pouring zero dollar.dollar.bills into their members' coffers. But ND might be able to maintain their current tv ability in a way very similar to neverleavingforanewlycrappyconference. 

Poster: I love it. Posting it now on Texas Rivals and the Unicorns Are Our Friends, Not Our Enemies Facebook page. Have any more Nitrous in that can?

Jedelman11

June 17th, 2010 at 3:48 PM ^

People have such a short memory when it comes to rivalries.

Arkansas was a member of the SWC, playing its then rival Texas. Only since the breakup of the SWC has OU-Texas become the rivalry it is today (as well of OU Nebraska basically dying as a rivalry game).

While Arkansas would be turning its back on Ole Miss and LSU, they would be joining a less "top-heavy" league and ensuring themselves a much better chance at BCS games. Additionally, Arkansas is a team like Michigan State that harbors rivals with better schools who view Arkansas as a blip (2nd, 3rd, or even 4th rivalry). Joining the big XII might give them a chance to get a new rivalry going...

Geaux_Blue

June 17th, 2010 at 3:59 PM ^

i would disagree that the current rivalries with Arkansas are a blip. they're a favorite game for many people down here bc of elements of their fan base, geographic nearness, etc. no way in hell they would leave the sec. 

PhillipFulmersPants

June 17th, 2010 at 4:03 PM ^

only since the breakup of SWC has OU-Texas become the rivalry it is today

Royal-Wilkinson games? Or Royal-Switzer era? Texas-OU has always been a huge game to those fan bases (my mom's from OKC, and I had to deal with Boomer Sooner from legions of cousins, aunts, uncles for the formative years of my life).  Obviously Arkansas to SEC dimished their traditional in conference rivalry with Texas, and obviously in the last decade or so in that OU and Texas have both been title contenders, the RR shootout has gained much more national focus, but this rivalry has been big for about a century.

WilsonHawk

June 17th, 2010 at 3:33 PM ^

Holy hell, is this ever going to end? I don't know if I can take another 6 - 12 months of expansion talk.  ND just needs to finish acsending into heaven  so we don't have to deal with their holy asses anymore.

st barth

June 17th, 2010 at 3:38 PM ^

I thought this was crap but that business about the Big 12 letting ND having their own television network might make some sense.

Nothing would surprise me anymore.

RedGreene

June 17th, 2010 at 3:55 PM ^

"That source went on to say if Arkansas joined the Big 12 and realignment started back up with the SEC having to replace a school and possibly looking to get to 14 or even 16, Notre Dame could be back in play."

So IF Arkansas joins the Big 12 - maybe realignment would start back up and the SEC would possibly  look to go to 14 or maybe 16 teams - and if all of this were to happen, Notre Dame could be back in play.

Sounds like a done deal.  Does a person really need a "source" to come up with this shit?

Don

June 17th, 2010 at 3:58 PM ^

I really don't think that's accurate. They've been playing this game since 1900 and it's been a big-ass deal to both schools the whole time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Rivalry



The Red River Rivalry, commonly known as the Red River Shootout, or the OU-Texas/Texas-OU game, is a common name for the annual college football game between the University of Texas Longhorns and the University of Oklahoma Sooners. The series is considered one of the greatest rivalries in American sports. Both schools consider the game to be one of their biggest rivalries, alongside their in-state rivalries with the Texas A&M Aggies, for the Longhorns, and the Oklahoma State Cowboys, for the Sooners. The name is derived from the Red River that forms part of the boundary between the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma. The game originated in 1900, while Oklahoma was still a United States territory and the Oklahoma campus was still in Oklahoma Territory.



The game typically has conference or even national significance. Since 1945, one or both of the two teams has been ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation coming into 60 out of 65 games. Texas leads the all-time series 59–40–5, with a 46–36–4 edge in Dallas. Since 1946, considered the post war era, the series is very close with Texas holding a 3 win lead 32-29-3. Six of the last ten showings featured one of the participants in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game (2000, 2003–2005, and 2008–2009), including national titles won by Oklahoma in 2000 and by Texas in 2005. Four times during 2000–2004, a loss to Oklahoma was what kept Texas from playing in the Big 12 Championship Game.



In 2005, the Dallas Morning News asked the 119 Division 1A football coaches to identify the top rivalry game in college football. The Red River Rivalry ranked third, behind Ohio State-Michigan and Army-Navy.

Sven_Da_M

June 17th, 2010 at 4:09 PM ^

... this is such utter BS.

Arkansas makes more in the SEC than it ever could in the Big 12, even with the smoke-and-mirrors deal announced this week.  Schools want to jump to the SEC, not leave it.  If Texas A&M wasn't Texas' little bitch and jumped to the SEC as was possible, the Big 12 would have imploded, Texas would have been in play, and perhaps the Holy Rollers at Notre Dame might have been forced to commit as well.

The best guess from observers much smarter than me is that if Notre Dame ever aligns with a conference, it's 80% + guaranteed to be the Big Ten.

I for one am glad Texas and Notre Dame didn't join right now.  The abject greed of Texas and the limitless arrogance of Notre Dame offend my tender Midwest sensibilities. 

[And to the OP: when you feel like posting something with the intro "haven't seen this posted here yet (a) check the boards or (b) stop and think for a second, there might be a good reason why.]

TG7782

June 17th, 2010 at 4:16 PM ^

Like Notre Dame wants to put another team on their schedule that would annihilate them every year like Texas would. 

 

Plus with ND's arrogance they wouldn't go for the way 3 schools got more of the pie after Nebraska and Colorado's departures.

Steve in PA

June 17th, 2010 at 4:36 PM ^

Notre Dame is going to drop football because it is too expensive to field a legitimate D1 football program.  That's why they won't join a conference, the buyouts are just too expensive after all those years of paying Charlie's pizza delivery bill.

 

 

 

 

By heard, I mean completely made up myself because I'm sick of expansion rumors and cannot wait until the UConn game kicks off and we can forget about this silliness.

Njia

June 17th, 2010 at 7:24 PM ^

But what hell: still more evidence that crack does not smoke itself ....

So ND wouldn't "stoop" to join the Big 10, arguably the most prestigious conference in terms of both academics and athletics overall, and they're going to say, "F--k it! We're joining the Big 12, y'all! Gimme some that bar-be-cue!"

No. Effing. Way.

Phuryus

June 17th, 2010 at 9:33 PM ^

I don't see ND going to a conference where they wouldn't have a lot of the influence in decisions.  We've seen how much clout Texas has in the conference.  Not only that, but the money isn't there like it is in the Big Ten.

Red_Lee

June 19th, 2010 at 11:08 AM ^

Do you guys really want Notre Dame in the Big "Ten" anyways? Sure, they'll help the preseason rankings, but when they have to prove it on the field they'll choke. Their chronic mediocrity will not change once they join the conference and then we'd have their underachieving baggage to carry around like they were another little brother. I have never wanted those bastards in the Big "Ten". I'd love to beat them every year still, but not as a conference member, just as a golden domed bastard stepchild.