Ok... so if Rutgers is out (they won't be), who's in?

[shakes3858]

It's insanely boring at work, so I'll pose a question... If Rutgers does get kicked out, who do you want in the Big Ten in an ideal world? Who would you want that you think the Big Ten can actually get? Who wouldn't you want?

Who I want?
I'd really want to stick it to the SEC and pull out one of there teams. I'm going with Tennessee. Big stadium. Place I want to visit. Flagship school of the state. Good football tradition. They'd out orange Illinois.

Realistic pick:
Ok, I know an SEC team isn't going to leave... So I'm going to say Virginia Tech. That would help shore up the DC metro TV market. They also have a good football tradition. The school is 30,000 and the stadium seats 65,000. Interesting to see what happens when Beamer is gone.

Who I don't want:
Notre Dame: I don't want to deal with their fans yearly.... although we do own them... they're the new Iowa.

Texas: I don't want to deal with their athletic department and the Texas is king mentality.

Vanderbilt: Need a state flagship school. Plus they suck besides for a 2 year stretch where the schedule worked out.

North Carolina: Getting rid of Rutgers and taking UNC... that doesn't make much sense.

Syracuse: Fitz trashed the stadium, so if he doesn't wanna play there, I don't want to play there.

Anyone West of Indiana: I like playing "old" Big Ten teams. Nebraska has the feel of being an "old" Big Ten team so I'm ok with that. I don't want the Rutgers replacement to be East of the Indiana/Illinois border. This would put Purdue in the East and add a new team to the West. I don't really want to play Kansas or Oklahoma.

 

[NURoseBowl]

Mizzou, maybe? (although I imagine there might be academic concerns there).

 

[nycat33]

I vote kick out Rutgers. Add Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Move Purdue to the East.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

Pitt Mizzouri V- Tech if we could get duke thatd be awesome rising football team established basketball team good academics

 

[phatcat]

It's insanely boring at work, so I'll pose a question... If Rutgers does get kicked out, who do you want in the Big Ten in an ideal world? Who would you want that you think the Big Ten can actually get? Who wouldn't you want?

Who I want?
I'd really want to stick it to the SEC and pull out one of there teams. I'm going with Tennessee. Big stadium. Place I want to visit. Flagship school of the state. Good football tradition. They'd out orange Illinois.

Realistic pick:
Ok, I know an SEC team isn't going to leave... So I'm going to say Virginia Tech. That would help shore up the DC metro TV market. They also have a good football tradition. The school is 30,000 and the stadium seats 65,000. Interesting to see what happens when Beamer is gone.

Who I don't want:
Notre Dame: I don't want to deal with their fans yearly.... although we do own them... they're the new Iowa.

Texas: I don't want to deal with their athletic department and the Texas is king mentality.

Vanderbilt: Need a state flagship school. Plus they suck besides for a 2 year stretch where the schedule worked out.

North Carolina: Getting rid of Rutgers and taking UNC... that doesn't make much sense.

Syracuse: Fitz trashed the stadium, so if he doesn't wanna play there, I don't want to play there.

Anyone West of Indiana: I like playing "old" Big Ten teams. Nebraska has the feel of being an "old" Big Ten team so I'm ok with that. I don't want the Rutgers replacement to be East of the Indiana/Illinois border. This would put Purdue in the East and add a new team to the West. I don't really want to play Kansas or Oklahoma.

Temple and UMass, to get the Philly and Boston markets. HAHA kidding.

First, I agree - Kansas sucks as a football program and as a destination. It makes Iowa look civilized. Perhaps you mean Kansas State? Oklahoma not much better except a real FB program. Travel would suck for us Easterners. If you are going that far, just get Colorado, at least I'd like to go there and they have an airport.

Mediocre football program, but why NOT approach Kentucky? The SEC treats them like bald headed step children until basketball season. Football history is weak, yes, but better than ours, Indy's and arguably Purdue/ILL

Like your Va Tech idea. Here is Baltimore, I am shocked by the number of Va Tech flags I see, actual Va Tech "bars". Lots of engineers move to DC/Balt apparently. Also like their (Beamer's) history of tough defense and ST play. Not easy to reach but presumably not as bad as State College. Going their for the BBall game so that will tell me for sure.

 

[Sheffielder]

My kneejerk reaction is UVA or Virginia Tech - I think UVA wins on the academic prestige but I realize there are many other factors. I think expansion/maintaining a presence in the east is important, but I don't love any of the other options in the New York-ish market just for the sake of grabbing the market.

 

[nu08]

Connecticut

 

[LACatFan]

I like VA Tech, although I don't know how viable snatching an ACC school would be given that conference's poison pill provision. Why not be bold, and target markets both for the audience expansion and recruiting potential? For example San Diego State and maybe TCU or Houston? Yea, they're not marque programs (well TCU now is) and I know zilch about their academic rep. But hey,we're just spit-ballin.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

It's insanely boring at work, so I'll pose a question... If Rutgers does get kicked out, who do you want in the Big Ten in an ideal world? Who would you want that you think the Big Ten can actually get? Who wouldn't you want?

Who I want?
I'd really want to stick it to the SEC and pull out one of there teams. I'm going with Tennessee. Big stadium. Place I want to visit. Flagship school of the state. Good football tradition. They'd out orange Illinois.

Realistic pick:
Ok, I know an SEC team isn't going to leave... So I'm going to say Virginia Tech. That would help shore up the DC metro TV market. They also have a good football tradition. The school is 30,000 and the stadium seats 65,000. Interesting to see what happens when Beamer is gone.

Who I don't want:
Notre Dame: I don't want to deal with their fans yearly.... although we do own them... they're the new Iowa.

Texas: I don't want to deal with their athletic department and the Texas is king mentality.

Vanderbilt: Need a state flagship school. Plus they suck besides for a 2 year stretch where the schedule worked out.

North Carolina: Getting rid of Rutgers and taking UNC... that doesn't make much sense.

Syracuse: Fitz trashed the stadium, so if he doesn't wanna play there, I don't want to play there.

Anyone West of Indiana: I like playing "old" Big Ten teams. Nebraska has the feel of being an "old" Big Ten team so I'm ok with that. I don't want the Rutgers replacement to be East of the Indiana/Illinois border. This would put Purdue in the East and add a new team to the West. I don't really want to play Kansas or Oklahoma.

Relatively slow day as well, so I'll have a go.

A good place to start is the AAU membership list, as that is essentially a prerequisite for joining the B1G due to the conference's "consortium" approach on the academic side. And yes I know that Nebraska isn't on the list, but that's a very particular situation -- they were on the list when applying for B1G membership, but were taken off due to changes in how grants for agricultural studies are accounted for (to the best of my knowledge).

To me, that leaves Duke, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Kansas, Mizzou, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia, and Vanderbilt as viable candidates.

Of that lot, in order I would pick Mizzou (decent basketball and football teams), Duke (great basketball, improving football, would give Maryland a logical in-conference rival), or North Carolina (see Duke, but football doesn't have as much upside). Iowa State, Pitt, or Georgia Tech are probably the second tier. Kansas, Virginia, or Vanderbilt would get a big "meh" from me for various reasons.

 

[EvanstonCat]

It's insanely boring at work, so I'll pose a question... If Rutgers does get kicked out, who do you want in the Big Ten in an ideal world? Who would you want that you think the Big Ten can actually get? Who wouldn't you want?

Who I want?
I'd really want to stick it to the SEC and pull out one of there teams. I'm going with Tennessee. Big stadium. Place I want to visit. Flagship school of the state. Good football tradition. They'd out orange Illinois.

Realistic pick:
Ok, I know an SEC team isn't going to leave... So I'm going to say Virginia Tech. That would help shore up the DC metro TV market. They also have a good football tradition. The school is 30,000 and the stadium seats 65,000. Interesting to see what happens when Beamer is gone.

Who I don't want:
Notre Dame: I don't want to deal with their fans yearly.... although we do own them... they're the new Iowa.

Texas: I don't want to deal with their athletic department and the Texas is king mentality.

Vanderbilt: Need a state flagship school. Plus they suck besides for a 2 year stretch where the schedule worked out.

North Carolina: Getting rid of Rutgers and taking UNC... that doesn't make much sense.

Syracuse: Fitz trashed the stadium, so if he doesn't wanna play there, I don't want to play there.

Anyone West of Indiana: I like playing "old" Big Ten teams. Nebraska has the feel of being an "old" Big Ten team so I'm ok with that. I don't want the Rutgers replacement to be East of the Indiana/Illinois border. This would put Purdue in the East and add a new team to the West. I don't really want to play Kansas or Oklahoma.

I think with the next one(s), you can't add a Maryland and Rutgers again. It's got to be a Nebraska or Penn State equivalent. A power punch.

Absolutely Texas is my #1. They get us into the grandest of football states. Huge money. Massive markets. They are watching their football star fall quickly with TAMU in the SEC and even TCU and Baylor are better than them. Need to make a move. If we had to pull in OU to do it, I'd do it. If not Texas, then Notre Dame is the other one you wait for. They may never be ready. But, then maybe we never add anyone else. We may get neither of these teams, but in the end, I would not settle for anything but these two or possibly Mizzou.

Va Tech doesn't give us anything - it doesn't shore up the DC metro market at all. VaTech is Blacksburg. It is Southern Va, and they aren't the program that they used to be. Neither is Texas, but at least they have televisions. Don't want any of the other ACC schools.

 

[EvanstonCat]

My kneejerk reaction is UVA or Virginia Tech - I think UVA wins on the academic prestige but I realize there are many other factors. I think expansion/maintaining a presence in the east is important, but I don't love any of the other options in the New York-ish market just for the sake of grabbing the market.

I don't know why you think VaTech wins on academic prestige. UVA is a fantastic public school and I believe higher ranked than VaTech.

 

[SchizoCat1]

Who in the BT is thinking about kicking out Rutgers? Is this just a slow news day, or are there some facts to support this?

 

[rwhitney014]

Relatively slow day as well, so I'll have a go.

A good place to start is the AAU membership list, as that is essentially a prerequisite for joining the B1G due to the conference's "consortium" approach on the academic side. And yes I know that Nebraska isn't on the list, but that's a very particular situation -- they were on the list when applying for B1G membership, but were taken off due to changes in how grants for agricultural studies are accounted for (to the best of my knowledge).

To me, that leaves Duke, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Kansas, Mizzou, North Carolina, Pitt, Virginia, and Vanderbilt as viable candidates.

Of that lot, in order I would pick Mizzou (decent basketball and football teams), Duke (great basketball, improving football, would give Maryland a logical in-conference rival), or North Carolina (see Duke, but football doesn't have as much upside). Iowa State, Pitt, or Georgia Tech are probably the second tier. Kansas, Virginia, or Vanderbilt would get a big "meh" from me for various reasons.

No way would they do UNC with all of the academic scandals. And Delany went there, so he may want to avoid the image of playing favorites.

I think we'd balk at Duke because it hurts our differentiator in the conference. Pitt and UVA make some sense, in that Pitt's in a larger media market and couples nicely with PSU. UVA gets you a prestigious school with better ties to DC than VT has. It's a shame Boston College isn't in the AAU, because that would help make further inroads into New England even though it's also a smaller private school. But, ultimately, I think the best choice on that list is Georgia Tech. Atlanta's a huge media market in a different region - it's the capital of the Southeast. It would thus expand the media footprint, which was the driving force behind Rutgers and Maryland to begin with. It's a prestigious school with solid revenue programs, even though basketball has been down for a little while. And they have a great fight song.

Regardless, the B1G opened offices in NYC and is playing the basketball tournament there. They won't abandon Rutgers, and thus NYC, unless things go a lot more haywire than they already are.

 

[shakes3858]

But, ultimately, I think the best choice on that list is Georgia Tech.

Too far and in the short term, I don't like playing triple option teams. Too many injuries to defenders.

 

[shakes3858]

Who in the BT is thinking about kicking out Rutgers? Is this just a slow news day, or are there some facts to support this?

No one really. There was a thread about if it could happen. I'm bored so I started an "if it were to happen" thread.

 

[hdhntr1]

It's insanely boring at work, so I'll pose a question... If Rutgers does get kicked out, who do you want in the Big Ten in an ideal world? Who would you want that you think the Big Ten can actually get? Who wouldn't you want?

Who I want?
I'd really want to stick it to the SEC and pull out one of there teams. I'm going with Tennessee. Big stadium. Place I want to visit. Flagship school of the state. Good football tradition. They'd out orange Illinois.

Realistic pick:
Ok, I know an SEC team isn't going to leave... So I'm going to say Virginia Tech. That would help shore up the DC metro TV market. They also have a good football tradition. The school is 30,000 and the stadium seats 65,000. Interesting to see what happens when Beamer is gone.

Who I don't want:
Notre Dame: I don't want to deal with their fans yearly.... although we do own them... they're the new Iowa.

Texas: I don't want to deal with their athletic department and the Texas is king mentality.

Vanderbilt: Need a state flagship school. Plus they suck besides for a 2 year stretch where the schedule worked out.

North Carolina: Getting rid of Rutgers and taking UNC... that doesn't make much sense.

Syracuse: Fitz trashed the stadium, so if he doesn't wanna play there, I don't want to play there.

Anyone West of Indiana: I like playing "old" Big Ten teams. Nebraska has the feel of being an "old" Big Ten team so I'm ok with that. I don't want the Rutgers replacement to be East of the Indiana/Illinois border. This would put Purdue in the East and add a new team to the West. I don't really want to play Kansas or Oklahoma.

Adding a new team should be about Demographics, recruiting and money. For that reason, we need someplace East or South. Only reasonable program in the NE is Syracuse. South could take us to GA, FL or TX, prime recruiting and revenue grounds. Not sure what team but those are the places I would look. Georgia Tech would be an interesting addition out of GA. Out of FL, maybe Miami or even FSU. Out of TX, not sure anymore but Texas A&M would have been an interesting addition prior to them going to SEC.

TX and ND are the big fish but both come with so much baggage that it is almost a "be careful what you wish for"

 

[NUCat320]

It's insanely boring at work, so I'll pose a question... If Rutgers does get kicked out, who do you want in the Big Ten in an ideal world? Who would you want that you think the Big Ten can actually get? Who wouldn't you want?

Who I want?
I'd really want to stick it to the SEC and pull out one of there teams. I'm going with Tennessee. Big stadium. Place I want to visit. Flagship school of the state. Good football tradition. They'd out orange Illinois.

Realistic pick:
Ok, I know an SEC team isn't going to leave... So I'm going to say Virginia Tech. That would help shore up the DC metro TV market. They also have a good football tradition. The school is 30,000 and the stadium seats 65,000. Interesting to see what happens when Beamer is gone.

Who I don't want:
Notre Dame: I don't want to deal with their fans yearly.... although we do own them... they're the new Iowa.

Texas: I don't want to deal with their athletic department and the Texas is king mentality.

Vanderbilt: Need a state flagship school. Plus they suck besides for a 2 year stretch where the schedule worked out.

North Carolina: Getting rid of Rutgers and taking UNC... that doesn't make much sense.

Syracuse: Fitz trashed the stadium, so if he doesn't wanna play there, I don't want to play there.

Anyone West of Indiana: I like playing "old" Big Ten teams. Nebraska has the feel of being an "old" Big Ten team so I'm ok with that. I don't want the Rutgers replacement to be East of the Indiana/Illinois border. This would put Purdue in the East and add a new team to the West. I don't really want to play Kansas or Oklahoma.

I would love to lose Rutgers and add three.

Here are my three:
I love getting Georgia Tech, though that's not 'winning Atlanta' but instead 'getting some exposure' in Atlanta. Good school, good tradition, new big market.

Florida. Big state school fits well with our big state school conference. Also, adding the world's most interesting state could add some fun. Get access to huge markets and improve recruiting.

Indifferent between:
Syracuse/Va Tech/Virginia

I tend to think Syracuse is best to 'replace nyc', but all three add value. And, in the absence of Florida, I'd start with two.

Definitely not:
Texas. They suck at football. Also, they're pricks.

Man, I don't like Rutgers at all.

 

[hdhntr1]

I think with the next one(s), you can't add a Maryland and Rutgers again. It's got to be a Nebraska or Penn State equivalent. A power punch.

Absolutely Texas is my #1. They get us into the grandest of football states. Huge money. Massive markets. They are watching their football star fall quickly with TAMU in the SEC and even TCU and Baylor are better than them. Need to make a move. If we had to pull in OU to do it, I'd do it. If not Texas, then Notre Dame is the other one you wait for. They may never be ready. But, then maybe we never add anyone else. We may get neither of these teams, but in the end, I would not settle for anything but these two or possibly Mizzou.

Va Tech doesn't give us anything - it doesn't shore up the DC metro market at all. VaTech is Blacksburg. It is Southern Va, and they aren't the program that they used to be. Neither is Texas, but at least they have televisions. Don't want any of the other ACC schools.

You need not just FB/BB punch but also demographics that will add to recruiting and money. That means East or SE/SW. In the NE, Syracuse is the only one that adds to the footprint and has an athletic department that makes sense to add. THen the choice is GA, FL and TX. In Georgia, how about Ga Tech? In FL how about Miami or FSU or even FL . Other big area would be TX but not sure who makes sense now. A&M would have but they went to SEC

 

[stpaulcat]

Harvard

 

[EvanstonCat]

You need not just FB/BB punch but also demographics that will add to recruiting and money. That means East or SE/SW. In the NE, Syracuse is the only one that adds to the footprint and has an athletic department that makes sense to add. THen the choice is GA, FL and TX. In Georgia, how about Ga Tech? In FL how about Miami or FSU or even FL . Other big area would be TX but not sure who makes sense now. A&M would have but they went to SEC

Oh, yes, and that's why I have my 3. East does nothing. We went East and got Rutgers and Maryland. Syracuse? Please. I grew up in upstate NY and was an Orange fan, and I will tell you they bring nothing.

I'm down with GA and FL, except don't like Ga Tech (they aren't the premier school in the state) and GA would never come nor would they fit academically.

Texas is the school that makes sense in Texas and if you believe PBC, they were always #1. Notre Dame adds televisions, though not in the same way as the other schools. But, they are definitely the big fish along with UT.

I will add Florida to the list. I think FrankTheTank or some other person who was doing all the expansion rumor mongering, mentioned FL as an attractive match. It was said that the admin thinks they are slumming in the SEC academically and is very keen to upgrade their academic prestige. If so, then FL would be a great candidate too. But, most people here I'm sure would call it unrealistic. But, I'm all in on Texas and ND (maybe Mizzou if we had to fill in a spot to make an even 14), so why not add Florida to the list. I would not add anyone else and would stay at 14 unless we could get UT and/or ND (again, I'd add in OU if that's what it took to get UT).

 

[Hungry Jack]

Neither is Texas, but at least they have televisions. Don't want any of the other ACC schools.

Lmao

 

[rwhitney014]

Too far and in the short term, I don't like playing triple option teams. Too many injuries to defenders.

Atlanta's about half the distance from Chicago as Austin is. And conference membership decisions aren't made on the basis of current offensive philosophy of one team.

It's a demographics, prestige and educational decision. ND, Texas, GT, Florida, Duke, UNC, UVA all make some sense in various ways based on those factors. But of that group, Tech comes with the least baggage relative to its positives. Virginia would be #2 for me. Then maybe Duke, but like I said, I think that hurts us competitively.

 

[stpaulcat]

Atlanta's about half the distance from Chicago as Austin is. And conference membership decisions aren't made on the basis of current offensive philosophy of one team.

It's a demographics, prestige and educational decision. ND, Texas, GT, Florida, Duke, UNC, UVA all make some sense in various ways based on those factors. But of that group, Tech comes with the least baggage relative to its positives. Virginia would be #2 for me. Then maybe Duke, but like I said, I think that hurts us competitively.

Rutgers isn't a possibility to leave is it?

 

[Turk]

It's insanely boring at work, so I'll pose a question... If Rutgers does get kicked out, who do you want in the Big Ten in an ideal world? Who would you want that you think the Big Ten can actually get? Who wouldn't you want?

Who I want?
I'd really want to stick it to the SEC and pull out one of there teams. I'm going with Tennessee. Big stadium. Place I want to visit. Flagship school of the state. Good football tradition. They'd out orange Illinois.

Realistic pick:
Ok, I know an SEC team isn't going to leave... So I'm going to say Virginia Tech. That would help shore up the DC metro TV market. They also have a good football tradition. The school is 30,000 and the stadium seats 65,000. Interesting to see what happens when Beamer is gone.

Who I don't want:
Notre Dame: I don't want to deal with their fans yearly.... although we do own them... they're the new Iowa.

Texas: I don't want to deal with their athletic department and the Texas is king mentality.

Vanderbilt: Need a state flagship school. Plus they suck besides for a 2 year stretch where the schedule worked out.

North Carolina: Getting rid of Rutgers and taking UNC... that doesn't make much sense.

Syracuse: Fitz trashed the stadium, so if he doesn't wanna play there, I don't want to play there.

Anyone West of Indiana: I like playing "old" Big Ten teams. Nebraska has the feel of being an "old" Big Ten team so I'm ok with that. I don't want the Rutgers replacement to be East of the Indiana/Illinois border. This would put Purdue in the East and add a new team to the West. I don't really want to play Kansas or Oklahoma.

Interesting, shakes.
id go with kentucky but is that a stupid school? Or Louisville.

 

[shakes3858]

Rutgers isn't a possibility to leave is it?

No... but people on this board started the kick them out thread... not as vehement as the kick penn state out stupidity... so I asked the question who you want as the replacement.

 

[hdhntr1]

Atlanta's about half the distance from Chicago as Austin is. And conference membership decisions aren't made on the basis of current offensive philosophy of one team.

It's a demographics, prestige and educational decision. ND, Texas, GT, Florida, Duke, UNC, UVA all make some sense in various ways based on those factors. But of that group, Tech comes with the least baggage relative to its positives. Virginia would be #2 for me. Then maybe Duke, but like I said, I think that hurts us competitively.

I don't see how the VaTech, UNC, etc help us demographically. Same with Tenn and KY. GaTech would and a FL school would, but since we have MD, I don't see how the others do. If we had taken one of them instead of MD but in addition to doesn't really help the BIG. TX would but Oklahoma? MO is just close to the footprint but doesn't do much else. Its better than KS, etc but not by much.

 

[shakes3858]

Atlanta's about half the distance from Chicago as Austin is. And conference membership decisions aren't made on the basis of current offensive philosophy of one team.

It's a demographics, prestige and educational decision. ND, Texas, GT, Florida, Duke, UNC, UVA all make some sense in various ways based on those factors. But of that group, Tech comes with the least baggage relative to its positives. Virginia would be #2 for me. Then maybe Duke, but like I said, I think that hurts us competitively.

I don't want Texa for that reason too and others.

Yes, conference membership decisions aren't based on the current offensive philosophy of the team.... but it is a reason for me to not want them in. Maybe it's short sighted... but I don't care.

 

[Fitz51]

Tulane, Hawaii or UNLV.

 

[Styre]

Just so everyone knows, it is completely unrealistic for the Big Ten to add any schools from three of the other Power 5 conferences. The ACC, Big XII, and Pac-12 all have grant-of-rights deals, meaning that any school that leaves those conferences will have their media rights remain with their old conferences, so all of those schools are non-starters. That leaves the SEC, and the odds of any team leaving their hugely profitable rights situation are quite low.

So basically if you want to add anyone you're looking at Notre Dame, BYU, or a mid-major. And ND is halfway to being an ACC member as it is. And if you limit it to AAU members, you're left with Buffalo, Rice, and Tulane.

 

[TheC]

Connecticut

This gets my vote too. Though I'm biased. It would be beyond awesome to be in a BiG university and state!!

As for a more unbiased argument, its a major athletic program that needs a Power5 home badly. It has world-class hoops, of course and also great non-rev sports. Football is down at the moment, but they were decent not that long ago. They've been to more BCS bowls than we have (and Michigan and Penn State and a lot of other schools in the past several years). Bob Diaco might be able to build them back up and a move to the BiG would accelerate that. Plus, its a decent school and keeps a footprint in the NYC area.

 

[rwhitney014]

I don't see how the VaTech, UNC, etc help us demographically. Same with Tenn and KY. GaTech would and a FL school would, but since we have MD, I don't see how the others do. If we had taken one of them instead of MD but in addition to doesn't really help the BIG. TX would but Oklahoma? MO is just close to the footprint but doesn't do much else. Its better than KS, etc but not by much.

If we wanted to stump for UNC rather than Tech or any of the others, we could easily make the case.

Demographics:

- The B1G is not yet in the Southeast. North Carolina represents a whole new region for the conference.
- 10 million state population is larger than that of every state represented in the conference other than Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio.
- Three metro areas over 1 million (Charlotte, RDU, Greensboro).
- Major transportation hub in Charlotte.
- From this chart (https://alumni.unc.edu/PDF/WhereWeLive.pdf), there are something like 225-250K Carolina alumni in the U.S. right now, which obviously doesn't cover family members, non-alum fans, bandwagoners, etc. Of that amount, of course the most stay in-state, but the next highest totals are in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, California and New York (in that order) - all places where the conference would have a strategic interest in adding more eyeballs and TVs.
- The Research Triangle is one of the fastest growing STEM regions in the country and could provide a nice recruiting tie-in: look at all the companies who are now part of the B1G footprint!

Prestige/Education:

- AAU university - that's a key, as has been mentioned.
- It's a state flagship school.
- US News has it at #30 among national universities, behind only Berkeley, UCLA, Virginia and Michigan among public universities.
- UNC basketball is one of the premiere programs in the country. No one questions this.
- The football program, for all of its problems on-field and off over the years, has had 23 NFL players drafted since 2010. Ohio State has had 28. Iowa has had 22. Michigan has had 17. MSU has had 13. Wisconsin has had 8. We get the point.
- UNC women's soccer has won 20 ACC championships, and 22 NCAA championships. It is the best program in the country. Their men's soccer has also won 2 national titles. Their baseball program is very strong and would be a shot in the arm for a poor conference that we have. Both men's and women's lacrosse are really good, which is a nice thought for what is probably the fastest-growing college sport and for a conference that has started to assert itself as a prime destination for lacrosse (Go U!). Even their field hockey team has 6 national titles. It's a really, really good athletic department, top to bottom, if we're just looking at on-field performance.

The paper classes scandal was a big deal. They would need to prove that they're clean and compliant before an invitation would be extended, especially if Delany, a Tar Heel himself, were the one making the call. But if the next round of expansion isn't for another 5-10 years, I could see it. And if, at that time, we're looking for two schools to go to 16, grabbing UNC would make Duke or UVA much more interested, I would imagine, doubling down in the region and adding one of two more excellent schools. Given Notre Dame's intransigence (wouldn't it be awesome to snag some of the best ACC teams away from their new ACCish affiliation?) and Texas' greed, UNC is certainly a feasible option.

 

[NUCat320]

Just so everyone knows, it is completely unrealistic for the Big Ten to add any schools from three of the other Power 5 conferences. The ACC, Big XII, and Pac-12 all have grant-of-rights deals, meaning that any school that leaves those conferences will have their media rights remain with their old conferences, so all of those schools are non-starters. That leaves the SEC, and the odds of any team leaving their hugely profitable rights situation are quite low.

So basically if you want to add anyone you're looking at Notre Dame, BYU, or a mid-major. And ND is halfway to being an ACC member as it is. And if you limit it to AAU members, you're left with Buffalo, Rice, and Tulane.

Wouldn't it be fun to add Rice, SMU, and... TxAM?

It would be dumb, but it would hurt Texas' feelings.

 

[NJCat83588]

If we wanted to stump for UNC rather than Tech or any of the others, we could easily make the case.

Demographics:

- The B1G is not yet in the Southeast. North Carolina represents a whole new region for the conference.
- 10 million state population is larger than that of every state represented in the conference other than Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio.
- Three metro areas over 1 million (Charlotte, RDU, Greensboro).
- Major transportation hub in Charlotte.
- From this chart (https://alumni.unc.edu/PDF/WhereWeLive.pdf), there are something like 225-250K Carolina alumni in the U.S. right now, which obviously doesn't cover family members, non-alum fans, bandwagoners, etc. Of that amount, of course the most stay in-state, but the next highest totals are in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, California and New York (in that order) - all places where the conference would have a strategic interest in adding more eyeballs and TVs.
- The Research Triangle is one of the fastest growing STEM regions in the country and could provide a nice recruiting tie-in: look at all the companies who are now part of the B1G footprint!

Prestige/Education:

- AAU university - that's a key, as has been mentioned.
- It's a state flagship school.
- US News has it at #30 among national universities, behind only Berkeley, UCLA, Virginia and Michigan among public universities.
- UNC basketball is one of the premiere programs in the country. No one questions this.
- The football program, for all of its problems on-field and off over the years, has had 23 NFL players drafted since 2010. Ohio State has had 28. Iowa has had 22. Michigan has had 17. MSU has had 13. Wisconsin has had 8. We get the point.
- UNC women's soccer has won 20 ACC championships, and 22 NCAA championships. It is the best program in the country. Their men's soccer has also won 2 national titles. Their baseball program is very strong and would be a shot in the arm for a poor conference that we have. Both men's and women's lacrosse are really good, which is a nice thought for what is probably the fastest-growing college sport and for a conference that has started to assert itself as a prime destination for lacrosse (Go U!). Even their field hockey team has 6 national titles. It's a really, really good athletic department, top to bottom, if we're just looking at on-field performance.

The paper classes scandal was a big deal. They would need to prove that they're clean and compliant before an invitation would be extended, especially if Delany, a Tar Heel himself, were the one making the call. But if the next round of expansion isn't for another 5-10 years, I could see it. And if, at that time, we're looking for two schools to go to 16, grabbing UNC would make Duke or UVA much more interested, I would imagine, doubling down in the region and adding one of two more excellent schools. Given Notre Dame's intransigence (wouldn't it be awesome to snag some of the best ACC teams away from their new ACCish affiliation?) and Texas' greed, UNC is certainly a feasible option.

I agree. Living in NC, the school has a great academic reputation. Very difficult to get into. My daughter did her undergrad at Wake Forest and grad work at Northwestern, but was unable to get into UNC! The problem is, they are so parochial about being an ACC school that they would NEVER leave for the Big 10, which they believe is below them. There is a ton of blue blood southern money here and joining a Yankee conference would never fly.

 

[willycat]

I don't see how the VaTech, UNC, etc help us demographically. Same with Tenn and KY. GaTech would and a FL school would, but since we have MD, I don't see how the others do. If we had taken one of them instead of MD but in addition to doesn't really help the BIG. TX would but Oklahoma? MO is just close to the footprint but doesn't do much else. Its better than KS, etc but not by much.

My vote would be for Georgia Tech and Miami FL. but if Texas wants in then it's a no brainer.

 

[FeliSilvestris]

Just so everyone knows, it is completely unrealistic for the Big Ten to add any schools from three of the other Power 5 conferences. The ACC, Big XII, and Pac-12 all have grant-of-rights deals, meaning that any school that leaves those conferences will have their media rights remain with their old conferences, so all of those schools are non-starters.

I wouldn't be so sure.
1) For as long as lawyers exist, there remains the possibility that the grant-of-right itself be challenged in court (for whatever reasons) which eventually may lead to some sort of semi-reasonable out-of-court settlement (see Maryland/ACC exit-fee lawsuit).
2) Even if the grant-of-right was not challenged, the possibility exist that a school leave a conference AND its rights behind (for the remaining length of the grant). In this scenario, the TV rights of home games of the exiting school would be property of the former conference...BUT the school should still get a substantial amount of money from its former conference from his home games....that is, the former conference cannot both keep the TV rights and all the money. The new conference wouldn't of course get money from the school's home games, BUT it wouldn't give the new school any money from that concept (until the grant expires); AND the new conference may still benefit when the new school plays at other conference schools (imagine the new school was at the level of ND, TX or FL, for example). So, this seems feasible to me.... of course it may never happen, but seems feasible nonetheless.

 

[FeliSilvestris]

This gets my vote too. Though I'm biased. It would be beyond awesome to be in a BiG university and state!!

If the B1G was to go into that region in a few years, UCONN would be a strong candidate but likely UMASS would be yet stronger...today UCONN athletics is far ahead UMASS'...but that can change over the next years....PLUS the B1G brand is so strong that it can help a school like UMASS to really take off....
If this were to happen, the B1G would have a presence (at least indirectly) in the major NE metros: DC (Mary), Philly (PSU), NYC (RU) AND Boston (UMASS)....not bad at all.
BC would be another semi-reasonable way for the B1G to get in Boston, but I suspect UMASS would be a better fit overall (although its main campus is not that close to Boston).

 

[shakes3858]

There you go Feli. You had a decent post about lawyers and lawsuits and the challenge to the grant in aid, but then you have to go ruin it with Umass.

Wouldn't you think that if the big ten can bring UMass up to the level of a decent football team, then they would do even better with Uconn seeing as they start from a higher place?

 

[Styre]

BUT the school should still get a substantial amount of money from its former conference from his home games....that is, the former conference cannot both keep the TV rights and all the money.

That's the point -- yes they can. Under the ACC grant of rights deal, for example, the school forfeits its TV money and that money is distributed evenly among the remaining conference members.

You're right that this could all be challenged in court and potentially overturned, of course.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Interesting, shakes.
id go with kentucky but is that a stupid school? Or Louisville.

Let's put it this way. Both Kentucky and Louisville likely have a disproportionate amount of their student body believing the earth is flat. That ratio is likely higher than even dOSU football team.

 

[FeliSilvestris]

Under the ACC grant of rights deal, for example, the school forfeits its TV money and that money is distributed evenly among the remaining conference members.

Attempting to keep both the rights and the money would seem VERY vulnerable to a court challenge...especially if the school involved is state-owned and no referendum has approved the grant...sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen...followed by a multi-million dollar settlement in which the exiting school uses the additional money it would get from the new conference (over what it used to get) to pay for the settlement. That is what MD likely did....with the extra money it (will) get(s) from the B1G over the next years beyond what it would have gotten from the ACC MD can easily absorb the 30MM or so settlement cost.