Pitt to Big10 for football only?

The relatively silent MGoBlog veteran comes with the thunder!

That thread says nothing about their possibly joining for football and not basketball.

I completely agree... A rumor is actually getting information from a source close to the story... Just stating your own opinion on twitter is known as 'Navel Gazing' or 'Twiddling your dick'...

What part of the 16,000 threads on this haven't you read that this is a really long process? See the Big Ten press release on this process...

Dec 15, 2009

PARK RIDGE, Ill. – The Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors (COP/C) discussed the future of the Big Ten Conference at its winter meetings on Tuesday. The following statement is issued by the Big Ten office on behalf of the COP/C.

Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in June of 1990 and its addition has been an unqualified success. In 1993, 1998 and 2003 the COP/C, in coordination with the commissioner's office, reviewed the issue of conference structure and expansion. The COP/C believes that the timing is right for the conference to once again conduct a thorough evaluation of options for conference structure and expansion. As a result, the commissioner was asked to provide recommendations for consideration by the COP/C over the next 12 to 18 months.

The COP/C understands that speculation about the conference is ongoing. The COP/C has asked the conference office to obtain, to the extent possible, information necessary to construct preliminary options and recommendations without engaging in formal discussions with leadership of other institutions. If and when such discussions become necessary the COP/C has instructed Commissioner James E. Delany to inform the Chair of the COP/C, Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon, and then to notify the commissioner of the affected conference(s). Only after these notices have occurred will the Big Ten engage in formal expansion discussions with other institutions. This process will allow the Big Ten to evaluate options, while respecting peer conferences and their member institutions. No action by the COP/C is expected in the near term. No interim statements will be made by the Big Ten or the COP/C until after the COP/C receives the commissioner's recommendations and the COP/C determines next steps, if any, in this area.

Let us compare the Big Ten and Big East:

The Big Ten is a prestigious conference both academically and athletically. And by prestigious, I mean that the Big Ten brings in a ton of revenue both academically and athletically. The Big East does neither. They have a tiny football contract that requires a bunch of Thursday night games to even get televised and live in fear of losing their BCS auto-berth. Meanwhile, the Big Ten brings in more revenue than any other conference.

The Big Ten enjoys boatloads of wealth, financial stability, and intraconference academic cooperation and excellence. The Big East doesn't have any of those characteristics, and Pitt would be foolish to allow a chance to join the Big Ten to slip through their fingers.

That makes no sense for multiple reasons.

1) Why would the BE screw themselves in football by letting Pitt go?
2) Why wouldn't the B10 want Pitt for basketball as they are a really solid basketball school?
3) How do you split B10 revenue?
4) What happens to all other sports (e.g. ones that lose money)?

I understand that some random idiot posting on Twitter is probably not worth reposting to the board, but why should we ban Big Ten expansion as a topic when we are putting up random comments from different recruits' Facebook pages and unsourced Internet rumors about recruiting as a matter of course. There isn't a lot of substantial stuff to talk about this offseason, so why shouldn't we discuss a potential move that will probably affect Michigan for the next century and beyond.