Gordon Gee afraid of Cincinatti?
In his recent comments, Ohio’s president Gee reveals a fear far more interest than his highly publicized insults. He was defensive when discussing the possibility of Cinci to to the B1G. He said: “We want (Cincinatti) to be an Ohio State city. They’d have to take (athletic director) Gene (Smith) out and shoot him to let Cincinnati into the Big Ten.”
But if Cinci is really so bad, then why does Gee need to be so defensive? Here's my guess
First, Cincinnati has a more than respectable athletic history. It has 2 NCAA BB titles; Ohio has one. it was actually Cincinnati—and not Ohio—that played the first FB game in the state (in 1888). Even though it is in the Big East, it still produced 35 All-Americans and more than 90 NFL players Also, from 2009-11, Cincinnati had 33-7 record and went to BCS bowls 2/3 years. By contrast, the great Ohio had a 17-10 record . It was ineligible for a bowl in 2012, lost one in 2011, and had its record expunged in 2010.
It also sounds a bit hypocritical when Gee claims he wants B1G schools of “like-minded academic integrity,.” He just uses the argument to rule out schools that would provide him with regional competition:likeLouisville, Kentucky, or Cincincati. Indeed, this Ohio President who supported a corrupt FB coach –and who constantly embarrasses the school--hardly appears motivated by reputation. And at least Cincincati’s has a president that students can respect: a medical school professor who had appointments at Johns Hopkins, the University College London, and Harvard Medical School.
Granted, Cincincati’s academics, even under their recently appointed president are still a work in progress. Yet, is its academic status really all that far from Ohio’s? Both admit 2/3 of applicants. Both have comparable avg SAT component scores (550 Ohio, 500 Cincinatti). And Ohio now is the only state school with the advantage of being in the B1G. .
So, what would happen to Cinci if they had a similar advantage? Maybe it would raise their profile and make them even more competitive, both on and off the field. Why? ”In fact, Cincinnati is truly a major league city, with the NFL Bengals and Cincinnati Reds. Its tri-state area is the corporate headquarters of at least 9 Fortune 500 companies. It’s a top ten Fortune Magazine city. With concert facilties, big-name entertainers and an Octoberfest surpassed only by Munich, it’s #7 on Esquire’s list of "Cities that Rock." By contrast, the only “rock” in Columbus is the one in Gee’s head.
Gee will argue that the addition of Cincinatti, would not expand the B1G media market. Yet, Cincinnati sits at the border of three states,so it does expand the B1G market southward. Indeed, what Gee is worried about is that Cincinnati would put the squeeze on his own school—sitting as it does between Cincinnati and Michigan. In addition, he’s worried that Ohio would finally have an instate rival: much like UM –MSU, Pur-Ind, NW-Ill. So, even if Ohio built a wall to prevent recruits from leaving the state, it could lose them anyway. Indeed, Cinci’s Tuberville could become a much bigger thorn in Ohio’s side than Dantonio ever was for UM.
Certainly, Cinncinati does pose problems. As an east division B1G addition, it could further the imbalance. It's also lacks the same media and academic appeal as Duke, Va, or NC. Yet, if the B1G ever wants to include a school that will increase competition in Ohio. and extend the B1G toward the southern Midwest, then Ohio may have something more to worry about. And more worries are something that Gordon Gee does not want.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2010/05/23/osu-keeping-c…
Cincinnati**
THANK YOU!!! CIN-CIN-NATI!
Size of octoberfest - check
Spelling the name of the city - meh
I really just want my MGoPoints back now.
OSU is just trying to strangle Cincy while it is still in the crib, just like we tried to strangle MSU in the 1940s.
The SEC schools all feel the same way as well. They don't want in-state competition. So SEC expansion is not going to include schools like FSU, Miami, Clemson, that would oterwise be a good fit. There is no news here.
Ohio has one NCAA BB title not none.
thanks
Cincinnati would be an awful addition for the big ten. They are already in our footprint and have a really small fanbase. I believe their stadium only seats 35,000.
Plus they're not all that impressive academically or in terms of research funding.
But . . . they are still much better off expanding it than moving across town to the Bengal's pro stadium, ala Pitt. That would be death for Cincinnati football. An on-campus stadium is a real asset to a CFB program, especially one on the rise.
BTW, I've been there and I don't think it is all that bad of a stadium. The setting and atmosphere are pretty good. Much better than some sterile half-empty pro stadium miles away from campus.
Three "n"s, one "t".
I changed the sspeling.
enough.
They just want all the people in that state rooting for them and don't want to split the fans with another school instate, more than afraid I'd say they want no competence instate, as does PSU with Pitt and Mich did with MSU.
You really overcomplicated this.
This gets a health, who cares from me. Pretty much anything that comes out that man's mouth should not be taken seriously and frankly not analyzed on a Michigan blog like it effects anything at all.
This is horrible thread and should be deleted.
parity?
Ohio produces well over twice as many D1 recruits as Michigan year in year out, and the state is recruited heavily by all the national players. The 2/3 star players that Cincinnatti can pull in aren't guys who wind up at Ohio State. We always have been and always will be the biggest threat to pluck top Ohio recruits.
OP sounds like a big time Cincy shill. Cincy doesn't offer the B10 anything. No new TV market and average (at best) in basketball and football.
And trying to compare UC to OSU academically is like trying to compare MSU to UM...there is no comparison. UC isn't even in the top 125 in the country. It's pretty much a commuter college. If the ACC didn't want them why should the B10?
if Cinci is really so bad, then why does Gee need to be so defensive?
I think the answer is obvious.
I think it would be interesting and would like to see a school in that state threaten ohio.
People can play the academics trumpet all day long, but conferences are expanding for money and football. I don't see how bringing an inferior school academically into the B1G effects the standing of Michigan or any other school. The B1G's superior academics ego just takes a hit.
Gee is an idiot. But you don't need me to tell you that. If he thinks Delaney wouldn't jump from the Sears Tower to South Bend to get them in the conference, he's a bigger idiot.
I would take ND, Louisville, Cincinnati or UConn over Maryland and Rutgers. At least MD brings basketball and some other good sports. Rutgers sucks at everything and they have morons running the athletic department. There literally isn't a sport they are that good in.
All this talk about Cincinnati and you don't mention Skyline Chili... Maybe Gee didn't want Cincy to join the Big Ten so fellow members could avoid heartburn if they ate it. /end sarcasm
Note: OSU recorded a bowl victory and appearance in 2010 (Rose Bowl) not 2009 (Fiesta Bowl).
Edit: Not sure why the OP took out the comment about OSU last bowl appearance and victory being in 2009. This is what my comment was referencing just so its known I'm not rambling on....
you can dismiss and sneer at the academic/research criteria for membership in the conference from now until doomsday, but it won't change the fact that it's the university presidents/upper administration who decide which schools get invited, not athletic directors, and the presidents all take the academic side of things very seriously. If the conference presidents decided to admit second-tier academic institutions like Louisville or Cincinnati, it would be a radical departure from everything the conference has ever said about its membership. It ain't happening.
The only school that's not currently a member of the AAU which has ever had a ghost of a chance to be admitted to the conference is Notre Dame, and that's only because of its unique status as a football power, and if they were admitted it would only be with the expectation that they would ramp up their research expenditures. It's irrelevant since ND is never joining the conference anyhow.
Neither Rutgers or Maryland were great additions to the conference athletically, but in the eyes of the existing conference presidents they fit the primary criteria of being major research institutions in their respective states, and also expanded the footprint vis-a-vis the network.
Cincinnati won't be coming to the B1G simply because they wouldn't be a very good addition. The best we can hope is they join the Big 12 or ACC to raise their profile a bit.
If the B1G is not going to invite Pitt, they are certainly not going to invite Cincy.
Cincy would give Ohio a "little brother" rivalry. They would beat them once every three or four years, and brag about it incessantly. That one victory could be in a year that helps Michigan.
Nope. I grew up in Cincinnati. Cincinnati is the one area in the state where OSU is NOT dominant. Cincinnati is a Reds / Bengals / Bearcats town. You see red and black all over town, not scarlet and grey. I suspect that's a reason OSU did their spring game there. To try to squash UC. (It didn't work ...)