Supposedly Notre Dame is on the clock
Article is behind paywall. Basically it says that Notre Dame is on a similar time frame as Nebraska and Missouri to let the Big ten know whether it wants to join. If they join, Big Ten expansion stops at 12 teams.
Yes. I think it'd be great to have a traditional first Big Ten game and a traditional final Big Ten game. Also, the main reason I want Notre Dame in the Big Ten is then it will allow Michigan to schedule different OOC teams. ND has some cache to the name, and a victory goes a long way (regardless of how well the team is doing), but i'd love to see a couple of home and homes a la OSU and Texas/USC/etc.
Michigan vs. Notre Dame in Sept. is one of my favorite traditions, and almost always the first "big" game of the year. I would definitely keep it there, either way.
Honestly, it would be sweet to start the conference season against ND and end it with OSU every year. That would be quite a bookend of hatred.
ND having to play MSU last each season would round that out nicely.
I really really like that idea. That would mean:
Michigan-Ohio State
Michigan State-Notre Dame
Illinois-Northwestern
Indiana-Purdue
This would leave four teams without permanent dance partners for their year end game under this scenario:
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Iowa
Penn State
I say we give Iowa and Penn State some form of trophy and make their last game of the season a rivalry game.
I'm not going to get into divisional alignments because we've been there, but that is what I see as the one downside of making MSU/ND the new last game of the season.
I'm pretty sure Wisconsin and Minnesota play at the end of the season right now anyway.
UM-OSU
MSU-PSU
Minn-Wisc
Indiana-NW
ND-Purdue
Illinois-Mizzou
Iowa-Nebraska
Boom.
read Orson's take on this at Everydayshouldbesaturday.com
I just about pissed my pants reading this.
Missouri has rankled members of the Big 12 with its outward affection for the Big Ten. One member of the Big 12 said, "It's as if they'd crawl on broken glass to get there."
I don't want to put it in a new thread, but this made it's way onto Twitter via DocSat:
http://interact.stltoday.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=726140
Basically it's Mizzou and Nebraska to the Big Ten, done deal. We'll see how right it is in the next 48 hours.
I bet the 14th team would be either ND or Texas.
but its not Texas. The drama with the Pac 10 should kill any notion to Big Ten fans that UT is coming since they're going to have to drag their three brothers with them anywhere they go per the Texas Legislature. Big Ten isn't taking Texas Tech or Baylor. Period. And if you doubt the power of the Texas Legislature, you are a moron.
Neg. Once the PAC-10 rescinds the offer because Stanford and Cal say no to TT/Baylor/OK/OKState, then the Texas legislature can either let UT and A&M join big boy conferences or let them try to be independent, or be idiots and have an all Texas conference and add Rice/Houston/TCU/SMU or something. Actually, they'll probably make an all Texas conference.
UTEP. They could make a Texas/Oklahoma Conference and add OU, OSU, Tusla. I think that makes 12.
It was called the Southwest Conference, and was disbanded in 1996 largely b/c it was the most corrupt entity in sports. The SWC's members at its end in 1996 were:
- Texas
- A&M
- Baylor
- TCU
- A "Tech" problem
- Rice
- Houston
- SMU
In the work The National Collegiate Athletic Association: a Study in Cartel Behavior by Arthur A. Fleisher, Brian L. Goff, and Robert D. Tollison, the authors state:
The Southwest Conference during the mid-1980s provides an example of more recent intracartel struggles. Almost all the schools in the conference found themselves on some type of probation, the major exception being the University of Arkansas....[Arkansas was in the SWC until 1991.]
Hence the "or they will be idiots" part. Next time I'll add the word "again" so it's clearer what the joke is.
I got it; that's why I alluded to the old SWC. I wasn't arguing with you, my brotha.
The indepth citation threw me off. Sorry.
How does this impact recruiting? If some teams become less relevant on the national stage will their recruiting hot beds be picked clean by the super conference powers?
but the top recruits will want to play on the biggest stages... the super Mega Streisand conference ideas being pushed will definitively setup a big boys and little boys situation, and yes that would impact recruiting but more so for the teams not in the mega conferences since the TV opportunities for non mega conference teams will be few / far between / on Thursday nights on ESPN Ocho.
Reports are saying that ND is not budging and Jack Swarbrick at ND is denying deliberations are occurring.
... then this will be Notre Dame when the big dance is over and the house lights go up:
Remember this guy?
I'd like to be the first to thank the PAC-10 for making this all possible. This whole charade was only possible when they bought in and made the batshit crazy, out of nowhere semi-offer to the Big12 South 6. That gives Nebraska plausible reason to say they HAD to take the Big10 offer, Mizzou as well, then ND's hand is forced.
Think about it. Utah and Colorado are the ONLY schools outside of Texas that make sense for the Pac10, and the Pac10 isn't going to take OK State, OK, and Texas Tech/Baylor to get them. Stanford, Cal, USC, and UCLA don't want to be associated with that, and Stanford and CAL don't even care about football that much.
Everyone can safely say they had no choice, then UT can decide how they are going to ditch TT and Baylor and either move with A&M to the Big16 or Pac-10.
I think those 3 would be perfect. I just hope they don't screw it up and invite Rutgers+1 right now. I would much rather let this dust settle a little and get 2 good fits in another few years to push us to 16.
notre dame now not in BT talks.
If ND joins the B10, when would they start playing a B10 schedule? 2012?
The guy on the Mizzou boards claiming that Mizzou and Neb are done deals is saying 2012.
Every single report on Missouri being a done-deal is coming from Missouri... I think they're desperate, especially being a Tier-2 school that is far lower ranked (#102) than the lowest ranked Big Ten school (MSU #73), looking to get into a Tier-1 conference.
The gap between MSU and Mizzou is much less than the gap between Northwestern and MSU. I don't just mean in rankings, reality as well.
I just found this gem on Twitter:
"Texas is that cute chic at the bar you take home ... and then you notice she has 3 kids"
I'm sorry, what do the 3 kids have to do with anything? You're not really looking to marry the girl you take home from the bar, you're looking to have some fun.
How much fun are you going to have with her if her 3 kids are hanging around you all night?
What time do you get back from the bar that the 3 kids would be awake?
Good nights usually see me home at 7.
Yea. I'm not sure why you're arguing with me on this though. I just thought it was funny and posted it. I didn't write it.
Oh, and the prettiest girl -- she's extremely high maintenance and if you marry her you will quickly find out she is going to make your life a living hell.
Haven't we learned anything from Beautiful Mind? If you go after the ugly girls, you're going to succeed. Missouri and Rutgers, you ugly.
USC is hoping they can time publishing a laundry list of NCAA sanctions to coincide with big, definitive conference expansion announcements such that their sanctions get buried on page 8-D somewhere. (Bets, anyone?)
More on topic.... my personal preference is B10 adds Mizzou, ND, Nebraska. No more than that, and only ND or Mizzou if they just go with one team. I've always liked that the B10 is a bunch of teams in the midwest, and I'd like to see it stay that way. I could be sold on Pitt, if for no other reason than to watch the rekindling of a once-fierce PSU/Pitt rivalry. But I have zero interest in Rutgers, Syracuse, Maryland, etc.
FYI... Syracuse and Penn State have a long-standing rivalry as well...
Black Shoe Diaries' History of the Penn State-Syracuse Rivalry
Part IIMoved