Realignment OT: Is there any scenario where we can purge Rutgers?
Dead serious. It looks like the seismic realignment is coming one way or another, so wondering if there's any precedent for booting a team from a conference.
It's been clear that this was a terrible impulse decision as part of the last alignment. And if the B10 has to begin beefing up it's footprint to compete with the UT/OU/SEC conference, could we potentially get some better schools and right that wrong?
Probably smart to do that before they start beating Michigan too.
just go away
Tie a billion-dollar check to them and toss them in the SEC pen.
This is like the worst idea ever. It's a war to which conference makes the most money, and the best and only bet for the B1G is to hope Rutgers does well and wakes up NYC and New Jersey subscribers. Its a huge school with 70k attendance and millions of alumni throughout New York.
By 2030, the SEC revenue will be ginormous, and they'll likely try to raid the ACC.
The B1G needs to grow its revenue and beat them to the punch. And the northeast TV/subscriber market is its best bet, no matter how shitty Rutgers has been.
This. Eyeballs matter. We should actually want Rutgers to be relevant - so people watch them in the Northeast. Imagine having Waco, Manhattan, KS, among others in your viewing area. Not good, Bob.
It doesn't get rid of them, but my idea gets them (mostly) out of our lives.
Add 6 teams, 2 divisions based on seniority in the conference. Each division plays a round robin schedule, preferrably no conference championship game. Call the divisions 'Classic' and 'Mo Money'.
Sorry Penn State.
A 20 team conference, where you can barely play half the teams each year, isn't about the sports. It's about the money, building a mini-NCAA. Essentially it is a revenue sharing agreement between two sub-conferences. "Classic" and "Mo Money" are accurate names for the sub conferences. But being money driven, there will be a conference champ game.
If the SEC is going to keep getting bigger, it is self-defense for the B1G to do the same. The logical conclusion to this is that the NCAA will wither away. Most likely mega-alignment IMO is Big 10/Pac 12 combine and ACC and Big 12 break up and split between SEC and BigPac.
Please.
I'm sure someone knows a guy who can make them disappear... they are in Jersey after all.
It was revenge for adding so many bad teams to the conference, among other things. Because Nebraska was a made team and Rutgers wasn’t. And Rutgers had to sit still and take it.
Among the Big 10 it was real greaseball shit.
You deserve millions of upvotes
Rutgers does deserve to sleep with the fishes
I don't love Rutgers but there are reasons for them to be there. They give us access to a big, talent-rich state.
Nebraska is the addition that makes no sense and I don't know why MGoBlog gives them a pass. There is no reason to believe they'll ever get back to their football glory days given how the sport has changed, and they bring nothing to the table in other sports, recruiting-wise, or academically.
Adding Nebraska was a nostalgia add. They were a traditional powerhouse, long history, passionate fanbase, similar values to the rest of the midwest.
But the modern game is about TV revenue and $$$ and adding the smallest TV market and the 38th most populous state did nothing to help the Big Ten.
And ironically, adding Nebraska for that 90s nostalgia probably put the last nail in the coffin on them every being elite again. Without being able to tell kids they'll play in Texas several times a year, they're basically just another midwestern Big Ten team without access to fertile recruiting grounds
And they are a great research institution and may not suck forever, much less next year. I'd rather ditch both Nebraska and UMD over Rutgers.
Meanwhile, Nebraska is notably not a great research institution.
I like Nebraska being in the B1G. Much more than MD or Rutgers. I’m cool with picking up some other teams from the Big XII. Just don’t want to get Kansas, Texas Tech, etc.
They're basically the University of New Jersey. That means something.
Good point. This is often overlooked. There is more to it than just athletic fit. Academic fit matters also. As far as geography is concerned I actually don't think New Jersey is much more of a stretch than Nebraska.
The whole "...but Nebraska is a Midwestern school" thing is overdone and based more on history than present day reality. Its the same reason that The Victors uses "Champions of the West". When it was written it was accurate because Michigan was part of the then Western Conference and people thought of Michigan as being in the west. Not so anymore. Most of the Big Ten would currently be classified as the Upper Midwest and probably have more in common demographically with Pennsylvania and upstate New York than states like Nebraska and Kansas, which are really part of the prairie-belt, not the Upper Midwest. Again, this is debatable, but as much as I don't like Jersey or Butgers, its hard to say they don't belong anymore than Nebraska doesn't belong.
We need to be adding teams that we can beat. Not be getting rid of them .
Lets work to get rid of tOsu first .
If the SEC is going to add Texas and Oklahoma, maybe as a condition of adding two powerhouse programs to your league, you also have to take Rutger.
Rutgers being in the BIG is great for the conference. There are so many BIG alumni here who have a chance to see their team play here in NJ.
And it's not as if they have been super awful...
NYC alum, and it I want to agree with you, but have you been to that piss poor excuse for a gameday?
I thought it would be cool, but now I don't even bother. I'd rather just make the drive to PSU.
Most importantly, this the gateway to getting B1G Network on NJ and NY Cable lineups. Without them, you miss out on the largest TV market in the country.
7,452,620 homes in the NY metro means $$$. It's a business. I know we hate to admit it, but it's a business.
As somebody who lives in New Jersey, I know a lot* of people** who would be upset*** if Rutgers left the Big Ten.
*maybe like 1
**it's actually a dog
***the dog wouldn't actually care
I think that boat has sailed. In basketball, they’ve basically beaten every team except Michigan over the past two years. The football team took Michigan to OT last year, and now has the the #12 recruiting class in the nation according to 247. BTW, right now, the #11 team plays in Ann Arbor.
With Greg Schiano at the helm at Rutgers, they will trend up and rise to respectability. They won't be barn burners or contenders in the East Division but they will have a few more unexpected victories. They could be a better fit than Nebraska with a few years.
I'm for keeping Rutgers and do not look at them as were only a few years because with the #12 recruiting class, their stock is going up.
Prior to booting out Rutgers (or anyone else), the question is who would you ideally want to add?
The list typically revolves around: ND, UNC, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Pittsburg
If you are adding those 5 teams, then you need to get rid of one. In that scenario, I would probably boot Nebraska and keep Rutgers. It makes sense geographically and aligns the conference equally across the midwest and east coast. It also pulls in good recruiting areas, good demographic growth areas as well as TV markets. They are easily travelled markets as well. Nebraska is none of those things.
THis is the path, IMO: 18 teams. But pass on Pitt. GT brings nothing athletically, but is wheelhouse re: academics and brings the ATL/south market. Virginia and UNC ditto but they do bring athletics.
I say pitch those 4 and bring them into the B10 for two 9 team divisions for an 8 game schedule.
MidWest: Iowa, Minn, Ill, NW, Wisc, M, MSU, OSU, Neb,
MidEast: PSU, RU, Maryland, ND, UNC, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Purdue, IU,
8 conf games, leaves to MAC OOC games plus two more OOC games or 2 cross divisional games.
B10 title game for divisional winners.
20 is doable as well if you can get OU and Tex. I don't think Duke is a fit (private like NW but the conf as a whole doesn't look for privates unless it's ND). NCSt maybe, Syracuse could be good as well but they are also private. Pitt is meh IMO.
It's been clear that this was a terrible impulse decision
I wasn't a fan of inviting Rutgers for geographic reasons, but in what way is it "clear" to the people who would make the decision—the BIG university presidents—that they should boot Rutgers?
TBH, we need a Rutgers on our schedule. The grind with OSU, PSU, MSU and an improving Maryland means we need a "9 times out of 10" cupcake on the schedule. I would make a play for ND and Syracuse to join up and kick the tires on Georgetown and St. John's joining up for all sports outside football. If you really want to make a play for NYC $$$, that's how you do it in a basketball-centric part of the country.
Honestly, Rutgers is fine. I'd much rather boot Nebraska, a school that academically behind I think every other school in the conference and athletically is one of the worst as well. Plus, they give you nothing in terms of recruiting or reach.
I don't want better schools. I'd like 10 schools, maybe 11 in this conference.
- Send Nebraska back to Big8/12
- Send Maryland back to the ACC
- Send Rutgers back to the A10 or something
- See if Penn State wants to be an east coast school again
- Get off my lawn
My realignment plan…
Rutger, Maryland, Penn State and Nebraska all get booted.
No more divisions, play every school every year, regular season champ is the champ.
Get off my lawn
Unless you know of a way to pick up the entire Rutgers university system and move it somewhere where its not within earshot of the NYC market, then no there isn't.
Rutgers was added for its geographical convenience. Nothing more. But that was/is incredible leverage to have, so they're not going anywhere.
NYC alum here, and having Rutgers in this TV market does nothing. Every person I know who went to Rutgers does not care about watching Rutgers.
You're going to get way more UM/Wisc/PSU alums in NYC who care about getting BTTV than you will Rutgers.
I hate that Maryland and Rutgers are in this conference, but it is awfully nice having Michigan games at two schools within driving distance that have such moribund programs that it's basically a Michigan home-away-from-home game to attend for us east coast fans
I mean I enjoy a Rutgers joke as much as the next guy, but it feels like it's not totally fair to kick them when they're finally starting to look like a football-ish substance.
Nebraska is the addition that looks like the mistake. Rutgers at least gives Big 10 schools games live in front of NJ HS recruits and keeps those kids away from ACC schools.
I don't think college athletes should be making NIL $$$. Coaches (including assistants) shouldn't be making 7(8!) figure salaries. Grandma shouldn't be charged an extra $10/month on her cable bill for ESPN/B1G Channel. There never should have been a BCS or this playoff thingie. Now get off my lawn.
It really depends on the contract/conference bylaws that govern this sort of thing. One would think it could be possible, though potentially expensive. I would certainly support the removal of Rutgers.
I still think the answer to this question is smaller conferences and a separate league for football.
Nebraska isn't too bad for money. It's a smaller market, but it is a market that's passionate about Nebraska athletics. NYC cable systems do not pay nearly as much as Omaha or Lincoln per subscriber. Still, what little they pay adds up.
Conference-wise, the Big Ten has always been more about academics than other conferences this side of the Ivies. AAU membership (not the youth athletics league, the research group) is a must. And Nebraska had that until they let standards slip - I don't think any other university has ever lost AAU membership like that. Which means it was probably a mistake, though for sports it is a good fit. Rutgers is a much more solid academic fit.
Everyone else just looks at the academic question and wonders why a concept that works for the Ivies has any relevance in the power five. However, if you look at the endowments of Big Ten schools, you get an idea of why this works so well.
If geography still matters (it certainly does for every sport other than football, and, again, I think college football belongs in a separate athletic world), choices are very limited. I've always thought Pittsburgh was a good fit. I know the Pittsburgh market is already part of the Big Ten world because of OSU and PSU, but it seems like it could still add a lot. Missouri would be a great add, but they wouldn't leave the SEC at this point. Kansas and Iowa State are also interesting choices, but would add even less than Pitt for the television argument. Notre Dame is not in the AAU, though it's strong academically and the brand is worth a lot nationally. But I don't think they'd join without inducements that would otherwise be untenable. Boston College seems too far away and also is not AAU.
It's a tough situation, and if the SEC expands in this way, which would essentially kill off the Big XII, I'm not sure the Big Ten should react at all.
Who would actually be a Rutgers fan?
Why do you think adding Rutgers was a "terrible impulse decision?"
According to my research, every year, every conference has a last-place team. If they get the boot, somebody else becomes the worst team. So then we boot the new last-place team? Soon we will have a very exclusive organization.
Rutgers has a huge student body and a correspondingly huge alumni population. The academics are sterling and they are located in an attractive destination neighborhood. When selecting a new conference member, FB won/lost record isn't everything.
Texas and Oklahoma will give the best possible boost in media value. The B1G should be deliberate and focus on maximizing media revenue with the existing roster. Adding schools will not necessarily make the conference more profitable. Notre Dame is a money-maker, UNC and Virginia are somewhat marginal. Anybody else is a step backwards.
If Rutgers didn’t have a name that was easy to make fun of with their struggles, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal. If they had always been the “University of New Jersey” they wouldn’t be looked at much differently than Maryland.
The mere presence of the last two teams to join the Big Ten reminds of of a line from Elwood Reid's book "If I Don't Six", a fictionalized version of the author's experience as a U-M football player.
When the protagonist is getting recruited by Boston College and they are telling him how great they are, he thinks, "I start to wonder how come they manage to lose a handful of games each year to shitbird teams like Rutgers and Maryland."
Megaconference
West: Old Pac 10 schools
Mountain: UT, Colo, Neb, Iowa & Kansas schools, BYU, Boise, San Diego/Jose State?
Corn: Old Big 10 schools
Money: ND, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, PSU, Rutgers, Maryland, BC; Cincinatti? Va schools?