Big 10 Presidents to Approve Expansion on Sunday?

Submitted by Wolves on

According to this Chicago Breaking Sports article, the Big 10 presidents could approve moving forward with expansion as soon as Sunday, with negotiations with schools during the next couple of months and a potential announcement by the end of June. The article also seems to indicate they are leaning towards 14 or 16 teams. Do we believe the article?

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/04/big-ten-reps-to-talk-expan…

Wolves

April 18th, 2010 at 6:03 PM ^

I think the 14 team league is picking up steam, because ND would most likely be one of the teams. They have already said that if the football landscape changes then they would have to consider joining a conference. Most people agree that if the Big 10 moves to 14 teams others will follow suit. That means ND would be forced into deciding which conference they want to join. I can't imagine them not thinking the Big 10 would be the best fit for them. Thus I think it is likely that the Big 10 might move towards 14 teams just to get ND.

brad

April 18th, 2010 at 7:20 PM ^

Call me crazy, but this could have some great benefits, specifically approaching an unofficial national championship playoff if other conferences follow suit.

Right now, there are I believe 69 BCS teams, plus ND, plus a few consistently high quality non-BCS teams in D 1A. If the Big Ten goes to 16 by poaching four from the B12 and the Big East, plus ND, it is not a big step to foresee others doing the same. Four 16-team conferences, each split into two eight team divisions hold 64 of the 75 or so worthy contenders.

With a setup like that, you have some real organization, eight 8-team round robin divisions producing a legitimate division champ, conference championship games doubling as a simile to national quarterfinals, and the BCS system providing the semi-finals. All you need to add is the Plus One concept, and voila, a real national championship playoff. Or close to it in any case, and without the idiocy of a 16-team postseason tournament.

Perhaps that is an unlikely scenario, but it is the biggest benefit that I see for fans from such a large expansion.

Blue boy johnson

April 18th, 2010 at 9:35 PM ^

Who are the Big Ten Presidents? I'd have to say
1. Gerald Ford
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. George Washington
4. Ben Franklin
5. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
6. Teddy Roosevelt
7. Ronald Reagen
8. John Kennedy
9. Andrew Jackson
10. Thomas Jefferson

BlueNote

April 19th, 2010 at 1:04 AM ^

that Ben Franklin was never the US President.

I assume this because you were clearly joking when you listed Gerald as the biggest of the big ten presidents.

If we are going by sheer size, I'll bet that Gerald was indeed on the larger side. After all, he did play center for U of M.

But the most rotund of all might have been William Howard Taft:

"Theodore Roosevelt remarked that Taft should give up riding because it was doing him no good and because it was 'cruelty to the horse'"

"During one cross-country Presidential trip, Taft's aide was appalled by 'the bad manners of our children [in addressing the President]. It was better when we reached the South, but even there we sometimes heard saucy little brats yell out, 'Hello, Bill,' and sometimes, 'Hello, Fatty.'"

Taft was from Ohio.

Blue boy johnson

April 19th, 2010 at 9:33 AM ^

Good stuff. Rumor has it that Taft is the originator of the 7th inning stretch.

Franklin would have been prez had he not been so damn old, so I gave him some props. Franklin died about a year after Washington was inaugurated.