ijohnb

November 20th, 2012 at 11:01 AM ^

Rutgers is a really good school.  Hey, it is not their fault that the Big Ten made this move.  We can't be mad at Rutgers for this.  And despite their competition, they are 10-1 in football this year and have a pretty decent team.  I don't think calling them shitty is going to help anything.  If anybody from Rutgers reads this, welcome aboard, let's try to make the best of things, huh.

ShockFX

November 20th, 2012 at 11:12 AM ^

A commuter school that is having one good year beating up a trash conference that has no fans, millions in debt, and has the sole virtue of being next to the very large Ney York DMA for cable, which may disappear once the bullshit model of force cable carriage gives way to true on demand and ala carte channel selection.

Yes, this was a tremendous add to the B1G.

UMRecruitingFannatic

November 20th, 2012 at 11:56 AM ^

No, if anyone from Rutgers is reading this:  WE DON'T WANT YOU OR YOUR DAMN SCHOOL.  All we want is the "market" which the guy above me has already pointed out will not be relevant in 2-5 years.  Congrats on going 10-1 in the Big LEast and beating no one this year.  I hope someone boos at this press confence. 

Your school is bad and you should feel bad.

IPFW_Wolverines

November 20th, 2012 at 1:58 PM ^

You make good points. The problem is you are trying to convince people who are currently hiding in bomb shelters that the world isn't going to end. Good luck with that.

BlueHills

November 20th, 2012 at 11:15 AM ^

They're ranked higher than several B1G schools, but that's not the point.

They're not a great football program, and that's not the point, either.

It's not about being the best football conference any more. It's about being the richest and most stable one. Delany is making a big play. I hope it works.

I'm guessing that their thinking is also that the richest schools will be able to upgrade facilities and build on their recruiting bases as time goes on. We shall see.

Meantime, while I like the traditional B1G teams and games, I think it's a lot of fun to see different teams play at the Big House. I think more teams also makes the championship game more interesting; there's a greater chance that the two teams won't have played each other in the regular season.

Joshisbowler

November 20th, 2012 at 11:34 AM ^

guys, i can't blame the schools for accepting the invitation, but i just think we could have done slightly better, and i thought 12 teams was a perfect amount, I'm a traditionalist and i really dislike change sometimes. I'm not upset with the schools, I'm upset with the Big Ten and the rest of college football. college football has become nothing but a money game and it makes me sick

MichiganStudent

November 20th, 2012 at 11:00 AM ^

Well lets all celebrate with some jäger bombs and fist pumps.



I like that we will get to play these teams and potentially generate more money for our athletic programs but I'm not pumped that they are full fledged BIG members. Only time will tell how good or bad a move this will be. They do have potential at being solid members but both need to improve. Adding another Illinois or Purdue doesn't get me all warm and tingly. That's where these programs are at best over the past 10 years.

smwilliams

November 20th, 2012 at 11:36 AM ^

See I lived in the Maryland and College Park specifically for a while and I can tell you why not on the level of Michigan or Ohio State there is a sizable and passionate fan base in the region. If the team improves and guess what they are sitting on a hotbed of local talent, the fans will show up.

Brodie

November 20th, 2012 at 12:42 PM ^

this is the opposite of the reality of the situation

Maryland is a real flagship university with the potential to fit in to the B1G mould and develop a strong fanbase in two large urban areas, Rutgers is a commuter school which engenders no loyalty from their alumni base and will never win over the local populations. 

MLaw06

November 20th, 2012 at 11:13 AM ^

Laquon Treadwell joining B1G tomorrow as the 15th school!!!  David Dawson coming in as the 16th school on Friday!!!!

Both of them have finances (consisting of parental allowances) that far exceed MD's and Rutgers' athletic programs.

Tuebor

November 20th, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^

Indiana schools go east, Michigan schools go west. Maintain rivalries with permanent cross over similar to current set up. This also opens up some potentially new and exciting games. I love the Wisco VaTech matchup and UVA-Northwestern.

 

I tried to list these in competitive rank (historically speaking).

East:           West:

Ohio State  Michigan

Penn State Nebraska

VaTech       Wisconsin

Rutgers       MSU

UVA            Northwestern

Maryland     Iowa

Purdue        Illinois

Indiana        Minnesota

turd ferguson

November 20th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^

I'll assume that where there's smoke, there's fire with Georgia Tech.  Then, since this is all about TV markets, I'll put Boston College in there, since it introduces a big market in a way that Virginia Tech doesn't.

 

EAST

Michigan

Ohio State

Michigan State

Penn State

Boston College

Rutgers

Maryland

Georgia Tech



WEST

Nebraska

Iowa

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Northwestern

Illinois

Indiana

Purdue

The balance there isn't horrible, partly because the East has been watered down so much by the new additions.

If not Boston College, it'd still probably work for any non-elite Eastern program.

Indiana Blue

November 20th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^

 

from the Rutger's football website ....

"The Rutgers Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced that High Point Solutions has acquired the naming rights to Rutgers Stadium, the 52,454-seat home of the Rutgers Football program.

The crown jewel venue of Rutgers Athletics is now called High Point Solutions Stadium. The first event in High Point Solutions Stadium was on September 1, 2011, when Rutgers defeated North Carolina Central 48-0."

Just think ... the Maize and Blue will get to play there once every 12 years !!!!!

Go Blue!

MLaw06

November 20th, 2012 at 11:51 AM ^

The stadium is kind of small, but they do have some nice upgrades (new suites and a modern looking recruiting section (i.e., a suite for recruits and bigger donors)).  They also have a trophy hall downstairs which shows their current NFL players (mainly Ray Rice) and some other tidbits of history.

High Point Solutions is a big pharma consulting firm and pharma is big in that part of NJ and the areas around Philly.  Another big donor is J&J, which is huge in NJ (and Woody owns the Jets, etc.).

LSAClassOf2000

November 20th, 2012 at 11:52 AM ^

For the education / entertainment of the MGoCommunity, here are some of the select comments on NJ.com coming ahead of this move by Rutgers:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/rutgers

Interestingly, many of the comments highlighted here approve of the move for various reasons, with some mentioning Rutgers shaky financial situation, and others saying that they are excited by the opportunity to play some of the Big Ten teams on a regular basis. There are also some dissenters, with one person saying that they haven't really proven themselves in the Big East (probably the case), and one person who would rather they joined the ACC. A common theme as well, and not surprisingly, is their doubt in the future of the Big East.

justingoblue

November 20th, 2012 at 11:52 AM ^

this means we should be adding two more middle-tier bowl tie ins, right? So far we've got:

Rose

Orange (sometimes)

Capital One

Outback

Gator

BWW

Meinike

Dallas

Pizza

for fourteen teams. I wonder if this means we'll look to start something out west, maybe below the Outback or the Gator.

roosterbaan

November 20th, 2012 at 11:55 AM ^

not happy about these additions, but i don't think this happens unless delany thinks it is necessary for long-term health of the conference. can't help but think there is a power play left to get ND to commit to being a full time member, and delany is banking on ND only choosing the big ten when it comes to football. 

the good news: rutgers has been on an upward trajectory for about 8 years now, so while not a dominant program, at least they are not on continual life support. we have a lot of big ten alumns in both nyc/nj and dc/baltimore, and i think that will actually energize the RU and MD fan bases in football. 

i am clearly in the bargaining phase right now, but as brian said, it is better than full on depression!

Brodie

November 20th, 2012 at 12:33 PM ^

I want answers on what Delaney meant by opening offices out there

is this going to be a situation where the conference eventually moves to Manhattan? 

bighouseinmate

November 20th, 2012 at 12:33 PM ^

I posted this in a topic yesterday, but the board was adding so many new topics that it may have gotten lost. Anyways, on the move to add both Rutgers and Maryland, there is this;

-Out of the Rivals top 100 2013 football prospects, 16 of them are from  Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. You must include VA in this group because of the heavy concentration of players from the suburbs of DC, where Maryland has some influence.

Out of those 16 players, only four of them are currently committed to B1G schools, with one other kid looking at us. That is five out of sixteen. The other 11 kids are mostly committed to ACC schools, with a couple heading out west and a couple to the SEC.

Having greater access to TV, via the BTN, the B1G schools can increase their own influence throughout that region of the country, which has, most years, a sizable number of talented kids in football. Being able to get more of those kids to come to a B1G school will/should make the B1G football product, on the field, even better.

And, with the TV markets there, Rutgers and Maryland themselves should be able to attract better talent, which should improve their own football product they put on the field.

 

So, it isn't near the disaster, footballwise, that many people are suggesting it is. Looking at the current product both schools field is just too short-sighted, in my opinion.

Overall, I think this move by Delaney and the B1G will turn out to be a very good move. And that includes the effect it will have on B1G football.

bighouseinmate

November 20th, 2012 at 12:56 PM ^

..........."what's driving college athletics" so much as it is what is driving the two main college athletic sports of football and men's bball.

I include bball because of the Syracuse and Pitt moves to the ACC, as well as ND's move to the ACC in bball, and the near implosion in just a few short years of what was considered the most powerful bball conference, arguably, for the past few years.

It's about the money and conferences trying to achieve as close to a monopoly in a region as they can, both in dollars and conference footprint.

 

And as much as I love the tradition of the Big Ten, staying ahead of the game makes much more sense than being the one reacting to the moves from other conferences and finding out that the B1G is the odd man out. And as long as they attempt to preserve some of the traditions of the past, such as the UM/OSU last game of the year, I'll be ok with things.

 

What's more, increasing the numbers of teams will almost certainly force the schools to have 9, or even 10, in conference games, resulting in tougher schedules, and more competitive games on the field. It's hard to stomach watching 63-7 games against the Baby Seal U's most schools load up on OOC. And after the pushback the SEC garnered after last weekends slate of games against those types of schools, tougher schedules will be looked on favorably, even if some of the schools in the conferece are handing out those 63-7 beatdowns to in-conference teams.