October 28th, 2011 at 11:00 PM ^
Go Maroons, beat the Spartans!
October 28th, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^
Still, it would be nice to give Greg Schiano a good ass kicking year in and year out.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:23 PM ^
Just curious, when does everyone think all of this craze started? When the Pac10 mentioned 16-team conferences? When the B1G decided to look for a 12th team? When the BTN was created and shown to be a good idea? When the SEC went to 12 teams and a championship game? I was thinking about it on the way home the other day and I lean toward the BTN being the starting point.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:47 PM ^
I think two things caused the current craze:
- The BTN giving the B1G the chops to add a 12th team worth adding.
- The LHN destabilizing the Big 12.
That was an explosive combination. Minus the LHN, most of the Big 12 probably would've stayed intact even if the Big Ten had grabbed a Mizzou or a Nebraska. The BTN was the real catalyst, though, IMO. It showed other conferences the power of creative TV thinking, and then the power of expanding your footprint to expand your revenue. The BTN caused a couple pebbles to roll down the mountainside; the LHN loosened up the rocks.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:23 PM ^
I think Pitt and ND make the most sense.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^
The best bet is to definitely keep at 12 teams. If we were to add, I'd add Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. Some other teams I'd prefer the Big Ten to invite before Rutgers: Missouri, Boston College, Marquette (which doesn't even have a football team), Colorado, Boise State, Akron
October 28th, 2011 at 9:17 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^
Not really a fan of the idea. First, it's a geographic outlier and don't know how much of the NYC/NJ market you'll really get with such a move. Second, I really do think the B1G is OK where it is right now without further expansion. We're still in a liquid conference and it competes well enough on its own even with realignments both occurring and looming in other conferences.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:30 PM ^
Rutgers wouldn't be in my top 15 schools to add to the conference. Not a chance.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:30 PM ^
Just not an elite enough university or athletic department
October 28th, 2011 at 3:30 PM ^
No way.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:34 PM ^
Other than ND, I don't see any reason to expand. Just because the PAC>10 want(ed)(s?) to go to some outlandish number doesn't mean everyone should do so. I have a question, though: There seems to be a disagreement on here about Rutgers academics. My sense is that it's mediocre, but I claim no real knowledge. Any numbers to back up one way or another? As far as market, NYC is a huge market, obviously, but it isn't like you see Rutgers jerseys all over Manhattan. Now if we could sell Michigan jerseys in NYC...
October 28th, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^
I went to school in New York. In '06 you saw a few bumper stickers when they made their brief run. Otherwise people there could not care less, NYC is a pro sports town
October 28th, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^
What major city supports a college team though? Do people in Boston overwhelmingly support BC football? Does Atlanta blindly support GaTech?
<br>
<br>What you really get is alumni, but their loyalties are already claimed.
October 28th, 2011 at 4:56 PM ^
Detroit is pretty good about supporting college sports (predominantly U-M but also MSU).
October 28th, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^
Locals are more receptive to college football in the detroit metro, primarily because the disparity of success between U of M and the Lions. I can agree with that, but I mean, I was talking about the LA's, Miami's, Chicago's... I guess if you have to carve out the college crowds, New York is less of a college town, but by how much, really?
October 28th, 2011 at 9:02 PM ^
On the other hand, the crowds in actual college towns like Gainesville don't all come from Gainesville.
October 28th, 2011 at 11:50 PM ^
Chicago was a big ND town back in the day. My sense has always been that if they actually "return to glory", Chicago will be buying all of the most disgustingly green/blue and gold shit you can imagine. The Sun Times does a lot of ND coverage, as do the local suburban papers and talk radio.
October 28th, 2011 at 4:25 PM ^
Off wikipedia, and given these rankings are not great measures of grad programs especially, but in terms of research and grad studies (again, the only thing the CIC really cares about...
The Top American Research Universities an annual statistical report by The Center at the University of Florida ranks Rutgers 39th.... Eleven of Rutgers' graduate departments are ranked by the National Research Council in the top 25 among all universities: Philosophy (2nd), Geology Ranked 9th Nationally based on NSF funding 9th, Geography (13th), Statistics (17th), English (17th), Mathematics (19th), Art History (20th), Physics (20th), History (20th) Comparative Literature (22nd), French (22nd), and Materials Science Engineering (25th).... According to U.S. News & World Report, in the top 25 among all universities: Food Science (2nd), Library Science (6th), Drama/Theater (12th), Mathematics (16th), English (18th), History (19th, with the subspecialty of African-American History ranked 4th and Women's History ranked 1st), Applied Mathematics (21st) and Physics (24th).[16] Also in the 2006 U.S. News & World Report ranking of Computer Science Ph.D. programs, Rutgers was ranked 29th....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutgers_University And it's an AAU member. IMO, it's a solid research institution. Not great, but would be around the low-middle of the CIC. This doesn't, however, mean that they would be a great addition.
October 28th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^
Good info. We let Nebraska in, and Rutgers seems at least as qualified, so academics wouldn't be an issue, but I still think no reason to add them unless it was required in order to nab ND.
October 28th, 2011 at 11:58 PM ^
With the caveat that I don't know how CIC presidents feel about counting research grants to off campus medical schools (and with the caveat that this drags Rutgers research productivity by a significant amount) they would be third to last in the current CIC spending hierarchy, ahead of only Nebraska and IU, two other schools with off-campus medical schools.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
No thanks.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:50 PM ^
i live in the ny metro area, which means i could attend a game every couple years. that would be AWESOME!
i know, i know, it's selfish of me because i completely agree with the reasons for not having rutgers in the B1G. if i lived elsewhere, i would be totally up in arms with pitchforks and torches.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:50 PM ^
No. If ND comes we can poach an ACC team to be our 14th. With our currently schools plus the ND fanbase, the BTN would produce an insane level of profit. That would give us the ability to lure an ACC school or Missouri onboard.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:55 PM ^
Still think the ACC teams are going nowhere. If ND were to come aboard, I say go after Missouri. Stealing a team from the SEC, where Missouri will be, would be awesome, and we already know Missouri has the hots for the Big Ten real bad.
October 28th, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^
It depends on what you want out of your 14th team I think. As is stands we're solid on football. Assuming #13 is ND, B1G hockey and basketball get a boost. At that point consider that #14 is being brought along more for the CiC benefits. Figure out who brings in the most billions in grant money and go get them. If they have middle of the road athletics it's okay because they can work to built them up overtime with BTN money.
ND and UT are the only two teams that really add anything on the sports revenue side. For #14 I assume we go shopping for a basketball program or the school with the most research funding. The ACC has some likely candidates in those areas.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:58 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 3:59 PM ^
No reason to really expand right now as far as I'm concerned
October 28th, 2011 at 4:00 PM ^
Yes: 0%
<br>No: 100%
October 28th, 2011 at 4:05 PM ^
Rutgers NO
Notre Dame YES
October 28th, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^
No, Get Mizzou and Oklahoma. F Notre Dame, and then poach Syracuse and Pitt from the ACC. That would essentially tell the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and ND that they are the B1G's bitc*es
October 28th, 2011 at 4:19 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^
Why does everybody keep mentioning Pitt? They're gone to the ACC. During this whole process I can hear a Garmin device telling College Football "turn back, you are off course, there may be no way back" to a sane alignment of conferences.
Short of the BCS actually granting two autobids to a "bigger" conference, I don't see the B1G expanding either, especially with Pitt off the table. ND and Pitt would have been ideal ... They obviously never wanted KU or Mizzou although I think those four would have made a sweet B1G 16.
As it goes now, especially if dogs and cats continue sleeping together and WVU goes to the Big XII and Mizzou to the SEC, I think the best we can hope for are five "major" conferences with 10-14 teams and the sixth auto-bid goes to the champion of the MWC-Big East-CUSA unholy alliance that could stretch from Hawaii to UConn.
Howeva ... if by whatever factor, conferences are "forced" to expand to 16 teams there will be a bloody scrum to tear apart the remains of the Big XII (sorry ... it's Halloween). That's where the B1G probably knows it's well positioned to grab KU, KSU, ISU and ND if they really need to, so for now they're standing pat.
But if they B1G would have been pro-active like the ACC, they could be positioned with Pitt and Missouri with a good shot, subsequently, at ND and Kansas. Again ... Pitt going to the ACC is going to make further expansion for the B1G a slippery slope.
Oh ... and to address the OP's question. Rutgers no.
October 28th, 2011 at 4:27 PM ^
The schedule is getting tough, and teams with National Championship aspirations can always use another tomato can in their conference. They would be a great break between, for example, Nebraska and Ohio.
October 28th, 2011 at 4:40 PM ^
So I've been reading all of this discussion of conference realignment, and people sometimes say "We shouldn't add this school, they've got terrible academics". What sort of difference does it make academically that two schools are in the same football conference? Why do we care about that? Are schools in the same football conference more likely to collaborate academically?
Also, why do people have any particular loyalty to a conference? I mean, I guess you definitely want to be in a BCS conference for sure, I get that totally. You'd also like to be in a conference where if you win out, you go to the national championship. But past that, when people chant S-E-C, what are they celebrating? Are they celebrating their strength of schedule?
October 28th, 2011 at 4:59 PM ^
Are schools in the same football conference more likely to collaborate academically?
Yes they are, Sherlock. Look up the CIC. Also, what did you think the Ivy League was if not an athletic conference?
October 28th, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^
No, We already have Northwestern and Indiana.
October 28th, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^
They add nothing but another body.
October 28th, 2011 at 5:09 PM ^
Rutgers? Why? No. Not a great get.
Notre Dame? Who says that they want to be part of our conference? They're a much, much better fit in the ACC when it comes to the type of school and program they are. As is Pitt.
Mizzou isn't leaving the SEC to join the Big Ten after we essentially kicked them in the 'nads last year by ignoring them and going with Nebraska.
Oklahoma would be fun for football, but bad for academics. Texas is often mentioned, but we know what they are.
There are no other schools worth thinking about. The B1G should stand pat, and I think it will.
October 28th, 2011 at 5:22 PM ^
How many *great* programs do we need in the conference?
If we were to add Notre Dame we would have FIVE of the top ten programs in terms of winning percentage: 1 UM, 2 ND, 5 OSU, 8 NU, 10 PSU.
I guess I'm just not as concerned with watering down the competition as others seem to be. Add a geographical, cultural, and academic ft that is *decent* at football and has a *decently* sized fanbase and stadium and I'll be happy (provided Notre Dame is involved).
October 28th, 2011 at 5:44 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 6:35 PM ^
The only schools that add any value to the B1G are Notre Dame, Texas, and (marginally) North Carolina. Unless we get two of these schools to commit, 12 is the perfect number.
October 28th, 2011 at 9:14 PM ^
No, they would give the B1G some good East Coast exposure, but I dont think its worth it
October 28th, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^