Friday B1G Expansion and Coaching Changes Thread
General discussion thread, but some interesting points. First, on the B1G Expansion, Barry Alvarez candidly said that Penn State was thinking of leaving the B1G (no idea why, the B1G doesn't have an exit fee, as schools make more money in the B1G than they can elsewhere) and the additions of Maryland and Rutgers were somewhat to placate PSU.
Barry also said that an additional school was interested, but told "No thanks" due to academic concerns.
This according to multiple people on Twitter.
Also, with Butch Jones out at Cincy, MSU DC Narduzzi is their leading candidate.
Also, this picture was tweeted out by (EDIT, a FAKE account, but still, in my heart I believe that's a picture of him) Brett Bielema about growing up on a Pig Farm
December 7th, 2012 at 4:49 PM ^
Rutgers and Maryland both tend to rank above MSU, for what it's worth (note: college rankings need to be taken with a grain of salt)
December 8th, 2012 at 9:31 AM ^
From what I've gathered, Maryland is just a notch below the elite publics. You have the first tier of Michigan, UC-Berkley, UCLA, Texas and UVA. After that, you have the Marland, UWash, and some others.
December 7th, 2012 at 4:43 PM ^
Regarding the Penn State thing, the ESPNblog had some quotes directly from Jim Delany:
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/67531/alvarez
When asked about it around the time of the Maryland-Rutgers annoucements:
No, not in my view," Delany said. "But I do think that you need to build, and this build really solidifies the expansion we’ve done in the past. We've done one in the East, we've done one in the West [Nebraska in 2010]. I would say the driving force is demographics, but when you look at it, you can't help but think this is good for Penn State as well."
Like the author, I find interesting that Delany would have made the last part of the statement - the ACC was starting to encroach on Penn State, so I wonder if there was a small thought at least given to this. By small, I mean, "In the 1% probability, if even this, that Penn State would be dim enough to walk away from the Big Ten money..."
December 7th, 2012 at 5:31 PM ^
Penn State can leave and take Maryland and Rutgers with them and then along with BC and Syracuse can form a conference called Hey Homestates, Please Pay Attention to Our Teams. There Is Football Outside of the NFL
December 7th, 2012 at 5:40 PM ^
Florida State had to be the school we said no to.
December 7th, 2012 at 6:08 PM ^
that was the team.
December 7th, 2012 at 7:00 PM ^
Is that pig wearing a wool coat?
December 7th, 2012 at 8:13 PM ^
The rest of the larger schools of the BigEast have already fled the sinking ship:
Syracuse: ACC
Louisville: ACC
Pittsburgh: ACC
Rutgers: B1G
WVU: Big12
December 7th, 2012 at 8:23 PM ^
Mind going after Oklahoma, doubt they would budge, but it would certainly improve the b1g...
December 8th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^
Qualification of comments: 2nd generation Michigan grad, (Michigan native), who has attended PSU grad school, lives and works in Eastern Pennsylvania, and has a child currently attending PSU.
I work with literally dozens of PSU grads. Few were familiar with this story and their response to me is talk of PSU leaving the B1G for the ACC was a thought that never entered their mind and the whole concept is illogical from a prestige or financial standpoint.
Most are consdering the expansion as mildly interesting but a current step down competition-wise. Many look forward to attending PSU games at Rutgers or Maryland as it cuts 1-2 hours off of the game day drive(each way).
I have heard the comment that they hope they can get decent PSU away game tickets without having to buy a several game package (a current problem with the Temple competition relationship).
The key gripes I hear from the PSU students and Alum are with respect to the NCAA rush to judgement and general disgust with the University administration, past and present.
I think most folks on the thread know that PSU has a new hockey arena on the way and they are looking forward to the B1G hockey league. (They also love their PSU Women's Volleyball team).