Big 14....we may be right, Tribune reports

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December 17th, 2009 at 12:09 PM
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M-Wolverine
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Big 14....we may be right, Tribune reports

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-17-big-ten-brite-dec17,...

"So if the Big Ten expands, what would it be named?

Don't discount this: the Big 14.

Seriously.

Multiple Big Ten sources told the Tribune Wednesday that 14 teams, even 16, could be in play as it relates to the Big Ten's potential expansion. "Anything is possible," one source said, beyond the conventional wisdom of simply adding a 12th school.

A conference statement spoke of an "evaluation of options for conference structure and expansion."

One option the Big Ten will not pursue is an odd number of schools -- again.

But don't be shocked if the conference of Bo and Woody adds three plates -- or more -- to the table."

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

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December 17th, 2009 at 12:12 PM | i hope they decide to go to (Score:1)
TrppWlbrnID
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Joined: 10/29/2009
MGoPoints: 7889

i hope they decide to go to the big 20, then we could split into two ten team divisions.

just grab the entire football big east plus ND.

2013 resolution - make it onto the 2014 favorite MGoPosters post, not ironically
December 18th, 2009 at 5:01 PM | The Big Borg Collective? (Score:1)
I Bleed Maize N Blue
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Joined: 09/27/2008
MGoPoints: 4858

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Michigan Resurgent?  Michigan Resurgent!

The beatings will continue until the uniforms improve!

December 17th, 2009 at 12:16 PM | seriously? (Score:1)
Crent
Joined: 12/17/2009
MGoPoints: 344

I love the idea of a 12th team. Adding three I can deal with, but adding 5? That would be pointless. I think it wouldnt give you an accurate assessment of the best teams in the conference. If we added five teams and played 9 conference games, that would still leave 6 teams unplayed. If that were to happen they should look into four divisions of 4. Then from there turn it into a "mini playoff." But even then it is not logical.

This expansion talk is starting to get out of control with too many pipe-dreams

"Þetta Er Ágætis Byrjun"     Turtles!!!  Formerly Dlash15

December 17th, 2009 at 1:18 PM | I doubt 5/16 is seriously in play (Score:1)
rugbypike11
Joined: 12/02/2008
MGoPoints: 2

The only way it's considered is if you have a few schools that you just can't turn down. For example, if Texas, Maryland, Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Kansas all want to join, who do you turn away? All of those are unlikely options IMO, but if you have five national schools that would also add five different strong local markets, the Big Ten might consider going to a mega sized conference.

In other words, I think the expansion number is largely dependent on the quality of schools that wish to join. I don't think we'll take 3-5 mediocre schools just to add size to the Big Ten.

December 17th, 2009 at 1:29 PM | I am thinking that if they (Score:1)
joeyb
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MGoPoints: 11301

I am thinking that if they were to go to 16, they would basically have a round robin in each division, then have the championship game between the two divisions. What would be interesting is if they had evenly ranked teams between the divisions all play on championship weekend to give an overall ranking in the conference. It would be a Merge Sort :)

December 18th, 2009 at 5:28 PM | !! (Score:1)
octal9
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+eleventy billion for mergesort

December 17th, 2009 at 12:19 PM | Who? (Score:1)
Blue_Bull_Run
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Joined: 11/25/2008
MGoPoints: 299

There aren't any obvious choices, much less 3 or 5...

December 17th, 2009 at 2:13 PM | I've got two... (Score:1)
allHAILthedeath...
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Joined: 04/13/2009
MGoPoints: 47

Missouri and Pitt. After that, maybe you can convince ND. And if not someone will come out of the woodwork I'm sure...(maybe Nebraska)

----------
the Original Deathbacker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyxdEv_XDjs#t=3m32s

December 17th, 2009 at 12:32 PM | 16 has already failed on the (Score:1)
formerlyanonymous
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16 has already failed on the smaller scale recently. The WAC tried a 16 team conference and it ended up causing the split to form the MWC. There is such a thing as too big.

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December 17th, 2009 at 12:48 PM | "There is such a thing as too big." (Score:1)
Sgt. Wolverine
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Somebody should tell that to certain Michigan high school conferences.

Sportscenter.com raves: Sgt. Wolverine, "Michigan's biggest fan"!

December 17th, 2009 at 12:49 PM | aaaaand that's what she said (Score:1)
BleedingBlue
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aaaaand that's what she said

'Murica & Footbaw: That's what Michigan Does

December 17th, 2009 at 12:53 PM | Frick....posted at the same (Score:1)
sedieso
Joined: 09/12/2008
MGoPoints: 526

Frick....posted at the same time Bleeding....at least we think alike.

December 17th, 2009 at 12:45 PM | Twelve should be enough (Score:1)
Crime Reporter
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MGoPoints: 8047

I would not like the idea of so many teams crowding the conference. People would start complaining about how one team never faces the other and so on. If they add another school, I just hope they change the name to something more suitable.

Christ in me arise and dispel all the darkness.

December 17th, 2009 at 12:58 PM | Conclusion (Score:1)
Ziff72
Joined: 07/07/2008
MGoPoints: 5145

The Chicago Tribune is more worthless than the Freep. How many times have they been linked here in the past month and been completely off base?? Stoops is coaching ND I think was their best call of many idiotic ones.

December 17th, 2009 at 1:15 PM | I think this was the Sun-Times... (Score:1)
Wolv2004
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MGoPoints: 274

The Sun-Times was the newspaper pushing that Stoops was a serious candidate for the ND job. The Trib has an article in their archives on December 1 with this line:

...potential successors ranging from Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and ex- NFL coach Jon Gruden to a list of perhaps more attainable candidates such as Cincinnati's Brian Kelly and TCU's Gary Patterson.

The key there is that the Trib identifies Kelly as "more attainable." In fact, I can't find a single article on the Trib site that indicates Stoops was ever interested in the ND job. The Sun-Times has a number of them.

Let's not throw the Trib under the bus unfairly.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-01-notre-dame-weis-chic...

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/1908423,CST-SPT-nd28.article

December 17th, 2009 at 1:54 PM | Apologies (Score:1)
Ziff72
Joined: 07/07/2008
MGoPoints: 5145

This seems like a farfetched idea and when I clicked and saw a Chicago newspaper again reporting it, I quickly popped off assuming they were all from the same place. I guess my argument was a little strawman, but I it seems a lot of trash coming from the edge of Lake Michigan lately.

December 17th, 2009 at 1:15 PM | Wasn't that the Sun-Times? (Score:1)
M-Wolverine
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Wasn't that the Sun-Times?

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

December 17th, 2009 at 12:59 PM | I think 14 would be (Score:1)
bcsblue
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I think 14 would be great.

This might allow you to bring in some schools that are not happy in their leagues but want to keep rivalries. I think the dream scenario in all of this would be...

Colorado
Nebraska
Missouri

All three of these school just seem like "Big Ten" type school. ie large state school great at academics and athletics. Much better "fits" in my opinion than Pitt Rutgers and Syracuse.

December 17th, 2009 at 1:58 PM | It Will Happen (Score:1)
TheOtherOneGoes...
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Joined: 12/01/2008
MGoPoints: 663

As I have posted before, I think the conference will go to 14. And the push will be into the huge media markets of the northeast. Therefore, think:

Maryland
Boston College
Rutgers

Flag this and see me in 18 months when this deal is done.

Adams Axiom: The major difference between something that might go wrong and something that can not possibly go wrong is that when a thing that can not possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.

December 17th, 2009 at 2:26 PM | Big Ten-centric (Score:1)
raleighwood
Joined: 11/26/2008
MGoPoints: 1031

I live in ACC country and just don't see any way that Maryland would jump on the Big Ten bandwagon. Admittedly, I don't know the finances involved (football vs. basketball) and obviously that would play a hugh role. I just think that Maryland is way too entrenched in ACC basketball to give up playing UNC and Duke in hoops just to play PSU, OSU and/or UM in football. Boston College could be a different story since that don't have a lot of ACC history.

Does anybody really want Rutgers?

December 17th, 2009 at 5:36 PM | I did say "we" in the subject (Score:1)
M-Wolverine
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I did say "we" in the subject line. ;-)

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

December 17th, 2009 at 1:02 PM | A 14 or 16 team conference (Score:1)
MMB 82
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MGoPoints: 1367

would actually preserve many of the rivalries, instigate new ones, and keep the importance of The Game (in order to win that division) while adding a playoff game that may actually help the Big Ten-Four Teen in bowl games. This may not be the worst idea- each division would play a round-robin to determine a true champion for the playoff, while still leaving room for inter-sectional and OOC games. Hmmmm.......

December 17th, 2009 at 1:08 PM | starting to get out of control with too many pipe-dreams (Score:1)
Don
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Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 19212

But (puff-puff) the conference-expansion opium (puff-puff) is oh so addicting and pleasant (puff-puff-puff)... Navy... Colorado (puff)... Virginia Tech... South Florida (puff-puff)... Nebraska (puff)... Texas (puff-puff-puff)...


December 17th, 2009 at 2:13 PM | don... (Score:1)
Crent
Joined: 12/17/2009
MGoPoints: 344

Haha thank you for the laugh. After listening to all the theories from the press and bloggers, I feel you may be on to something.

"Þetta Er Ágætis Byrjun"     Turtles!!!  Formerly Dlash15

December 17th, 2009 at 1:36 PM | I think (Score:1)
Wide Open
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Joined: 07/02/2008
MGoPoints: 585

It should *still* be called the Big Ten.

Just to piss everybody off.

December 17th, 2009 at 2:34 PM | My son had the best suggestion (Score:1)
InterM
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Joined: 01/16/2009
MGoPoints: 1102

"Big Ten Plus 2." But maybe it should be slightly modified, to keep all our options open: "Big Ten Plus N."

December 18th, 2009 at 9:46 AM | BTC Conference (Score:1)
jeag
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Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 558

They should just call it the BTC Conference to preserve the acronym. Then they can buy the Big East, have them make Mexican food, and call it BTC Cantina.

December 18th, 2009 at 5:41 PM | I personally (Score:1)
octal9
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Joined: 11/11/2008
MGoPoints: 5717

can't help but wonder what they do with the hidden 11 in the logo.

It'd be like FedEx having to change away from their hidden arrow.

December 17th, 2009 at 2:56 PM | Stop!! (Score:1)
Northern Fan
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Joined: 12/04/2009
MGoPoints: 13

Stop at 12 teams!! We have the tradition, don't look desperate. Gamedays, fight songs, "HAIL TO THE VICTORS", Recruting, The Big House, Winged Helmets.....why make college football like Sunday's?

"Hey OSU, stop spelling O-H-I-O and try a 5-letter word...State!"

December 18th, 2009 at 5:39 PM | Conference re-alignment fallout (Score:1)
Gulo Gulo Luscus
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MGoPoints: 404

What happens to the Big East if Pitt joins? They would be down to 7 teams and likely steal from C-USA or the MAC (UCF? Temple?) to fill out an 8 team league. The 13-team MAC could afford to lose one, but if C-USA does, they drop to 11 teams and need to find a replacement (steal Troy from the Sun Belt?).

Now let's replay this in a scenario where Pitt and some combination of Big 12 or ACC teams boost us to the Big 14/16. This amounts to re-organizing the entire landscape of college football. The Pac-10 and SEC are likely to be unaffected, but otherwise FBS conferences would be significantly re-aligned.

In a world where a 16-team playoff decided what is now the "bowl subdivision", I could envision 8 massive 14-team conferences (112 teams, which assumes a minor contraction of the subdivision). Until I consider the possibility of expanding the "Big 10" beyond 12 is complete speculation and ridiculously implausible.

"Hey Now!"

December 19th, 2009 at 2:00 AM | It's happen before (Score:1)
M-Wolverine
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MGoPoints: 38825

That's how the current Big East and ACC were formered. There was a flurry of movement after we added Penn State. The key is to be on the proactive end and causing the change, rather than reacting to it.

TCU going to the Big 12 to fill in, maybe sling with Boise if we were to steal 2,, Utah and BYU to the Pac 10, these are all possibilities and maybe eventualities. The small conferences can scramble desperately; I don't want my conference to do so.

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

December 19th, 2009 at 12:05 PM | Anything is possible can't be (Score:1)
aenima0311
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Joined: 11/21/2008
MGoPoints: 538

Anything is possible can't be used to deem anything likely.

If anything is possible, we may just merge with the Ivy League....

Pronounced Ahh-Neh-Muh

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